We're engaged! ??? on K-1 Visa's...

[Zoidberg]

Hi everyone.. Greetings from Yalta! Sveta and I are sitting here in this internet cafe and just wanted to say hi. Got here on May 23 and spent 2 days in Dnepropetrovsk and went to Simeiz after and have stayed here since. It is wonderful and a good time to be here. We are now engaged and look forward to our new life together. We know it will be a long ride ahead for us but it is fun now.

Anyway, we have tried to get to the BCIS webpage but we keep getting cut off. We want to get everything we need in order before I come back home on June 17. I know most of what we need but was wondering if some of you guys can tell me what we may have forgotten. We will be back on in a few days. This is what I think we need...

1) her birth certificate - certified and translated.
2) passport type photo's of both of us.
3) Letter from both of us saying that we are able to get married - What is this letter supposed to say? Does she just write saying she wants to marry me and we have met etc?
4) She was never married so we do not need anything about that? Only if she was married she would need something saying she was divorced, right?

We have all the paperwork as I printed it out and left it in Dnepro. Do we need anything else? She thinks she has to go to Kiev to get some things certified but she should be able to do everything in Dnepro, right?

Any help is much appreciated.

Nobby & Sveta

[CS767]

... in response to We're engaged! on K-1 Visa's... , posted by Zoidberg on Jun 5, 2003

Congrats Nobby,I really loved Yalta.Good internet connex also.cs

[MarkInTx]

... in response to We're engaged! on K-1 Visa's... , posted by Zoidberg on Jun 5, 2003

Hey... sorry I missed this before.

Congrats, Zoidberg...

Don't forget to keep all receipts for hotels, apartements, ect -- you will need them for the proof of visit.

Also, as the others said, you need ADIT style photos, not passport style. They are a little different...

The letter simply has to say that you two met, and that she wants to marry you and you her... straightforward and silly, but it is asked for...

You are right about the Divorce certificate -- don't need it unless she was married.

You can get things certified anywhere there is a notary. (You did get your translation certified, right???)

If you have any other questions, feel free to drop me a line. (I think you still have the email address...right? markjoel60 AT hotmail...) Things have changed recently, but I can give you the rundown on what we did to get Viktoriya out of Ukraine.

[Zoidberg]

... in response to We're engaged! on K-1 Visa's... , posted by Zoidberg on Jun 5, 2003

Thanks for all your help. I will post my trip report when I get home. I thought all of what you said is all we will need now but I wanted to make sure.

We have plenty of photo's together so that will not be a problem. She has birth cert already so we'll get it translated. Been spending the full time in Simeiz on the Black Sea and it has been nice. Will be going back to Dnepro in 2 days. It will be sad to leave this area as we really enjoyed ourselves here.

Thanks again for all your help and I'll post more when I return after the 17th....

Z.

[exlabman]

... in response to We're engaged! on K-1 Visa's... , posted by Zoidberg on Jun 5, 2003

Don't know if you have been following the BCIS saga but they are months behind and processing about half as many I-129F's as they are receiving. The Texas center that I sent mine to is now working an those received on Dec 8,02 and have a backlog of over 4,000 so Think DCF  much much quicker

Larry
Atlanta

[cherokee]

... in response to BCIS is a joke ..better think DCF, posted by exlabman on Jun 5, 2003

We went through Vermont and I filed in late Dec. 2000 and my wife was here in February and if you factor in the holidays, not bad......
Sorry to say we moved to Florida and have to go through Texas for her I-751
but we'll see I guess.

[Michael B]

... in response to BCIS is a joke ..better think DCF, posted by exlabman on Jun 5, 2003

But it's going away soon. See Gary Bala's post on the Latin Board.

[exlabman]

... in response to Re: BCIS is a joke ..better think DCF, posted by Michael B on Jun 5, 2003

This is decided on an embassy by embassy basis. Some do allow DCF and some do not.

Larry
Atlanta

[Scaught]

... in response to We're engaged! on K-1 Visa's... , posted by Zoidberg on Jun 5, 2003

[This message has been edited by Scaught]

There have been some good responses to your request.

I suggest you download the G-325A from the internet if you can. If you click on the link below, instead of searching for it through page after page, your computer might not crash. Here's the link.

http://www.immigration.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/g-325a.htm

The computer you are on will need Adobe Reader. If the one wherever you are at doesn't have it, download it or go to another internet cafe that might have it.

Like someone else said, the G-325A form you'd get from BCIS automatically makes three copies (like carbon paper). The idea is you download the form now, have Sveta fill just one form out, take it home and fill out the quadruplicate form by getting the form from BCIS and then copying her information.

The only other thing that I would do right at this moment would be what others also said, which is get plenty of pictures of you two together in Ukraine, if you don't have enough from your other trip(s) when you saw her.

The other things can wait, and getting them shouldn't cause any significant delays. Don't make yourself crazy gathering papers right now. Enjoy your time together and getting to know her better. Take a or some trips together to get to know each other even better.

So I vote for having Sveta fill out one G325A form, you take it home, and have more pictures taken of you two together, and the rest can be done later.

[Bobby Orr]

... in response to We're engaged! on K-1 Visa's... , posted by Zoidberg on Jun 5, 2003

325A form filled out by her.  You can do yours later.
Fiance visa 3/4 face photos - you might as well take yours as well since you would probably be with her.
Pictures of you together.
Write a letter how you met etc. yourself.
Get her birth certificate copy, official translated.
I forget exactly when it has to happen, but you should start thinking about when she should start getting the police clearance.
Make sure she has an International Passport - it could take a while for her to get depending upon which city she is from in Ukraine.
See this for more help: http://www.k1faq.com/

[Bobby Orr]

... in response to See finace visa information on this site, posted by Bobby Orr on Jun 5, 2003

http://www.oddstray.com/k1_visa/photos.html

This is the link for picture specifications.  You may not have time to sit and surf so I made it easy for you.  The 325A form and the fiance visa pictures as well as pictures together are all you need done on her part for now.

[SteveM]

... in response to picture information, posted by Bobby Orr on Jun 5, 2003

While you are at it, might as well get a bunch of extra photos done.  She (and any children) will need them for the Embassy and for the medical exam, plus both of you will need them to adjust her status here after you get married.  She will also need them for a work authorization card and for advanced parole.  You will need them for future visits over there.  We were always running back to a photo shop for one reason or another, and wished we had just gotten a bunch done at once.

[Cold Warrior]

... in response to We're engaged! on K-1 Visa's... , posted by Zoidberg on Jun 5, 2003

Good Luck and best wishes to both of you.

[Travis]

... in response to We're engaged! on K-1 Visa's... , posted by Zoidberg on Jun 5, 2003

The letter is simply a letter of intent. That you intend to marry. You'll need photo's of you two together. You don't need to prove she was never married, so your correct, only if she was previously married you'd need a divorce decree. What you need is her biographic info, signed by her, photos and you to fill out the I-129.

By the way, congratulations!

[Michael B]

... in response to Congratulations, posted by Travis on Jun 5, 2003

The form for the biographic info is 325A, she needs to sign it (all 4 copies) and also to write her name in Cyrlic(spelling?). You will need the same forms for yourself. You will both need some pictures, sample pictures are on the BCIS web page (but they're really hard to find) most passport type photo shops should also have the sample photos and know how to do them (they are NOT the same as passport photos, you should be facing the camera at an angle instead of straight on)