Apr 2, 2008

Personal K1/K2 Visa Processing Experience

This is my personal K1 Visa Process. The following is the step-by-step process that I went through to get my K1 Visa.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as I can and will answer your questions with the best that I can.

K1 Visa is a type of visa for fiance(e) of a US citizen and would come to the US to be wed to his/her petitioner within 90 days after arriving to the US.


My K1 Visa Timeline



07 Feb met online
07 June 6 got engaged
07 Sep 12 met in person

==============================

07 Oct 19 sent packets to USCIS, Vermont Service Center via attorney
07 Nov 03 received receipt/tracking number(NOA1)*
08 Feb 19 petition approved(received thru email)
08 Feb 25 NVC* sent packets to US Embassy Manila
08 Feb 29 received letter from NVC containing the case number
08 Mar 07 should receive NOA2* but USCIS said that they had the wrong address; should receive it within 45 days(sucks!)
08 Apr 01(AM) called USE to set an appointment date
08 Apr 01(PM) letter from USE arrived stating that I may call the service center to set an appointment date (I already did)
08 Apr 17 paid DELBROS for document verification
08 Apr 24 done with my medical examination at SLMCEC.
08 Apr 29(PM) done with my son's medical exam
08 Apr 29(AM) first Interview date - was postponed due to delay of my son's medical examination
08 May 05 request for Document Verification forwarded to NSO from DELBROS
08 May 06 final Interview date
08 May 30 Visa on hand

Total processing time: 7 months and 11 days



*note:
NOA - Notification of Action from the USCIS
NOA 1 - notice that the USCIS received your case and would be queued for processing.
receipt/tracking number - comes with NOA 1; used for checking the status of your case on the USCIS website.
NOA 2 - the approval of the petition
NVC - State Department's National Visa Center; would receive the approval from USCIS, do a background check for the petitioner, and forward the case to US Embassy if case found eligible.


Details





10/11/07

initial sending of packets to attorney

attorney seen discrepancies, requested hard copy of pictures


10/18/07

final sending of packets to attorney


10/19/07

attorney received packets

attorney forwarded packets to USCIS Vermont Visa Center


11/03/07

USCIS Vermont Visa Center received packets

We received tracking number (Notice of Action 1)to be used on checking the status of our case on http://www.uscis.gov.


02/19/08 (EST)

petition was approved


02/25/08

NVC sent packets to US Embassy Manila


02/29/08

a letter received through mail from State Department's National Visa Center (NVC).

stating the approval, the action taken, and the case number


03/07/08

Received an e-mail from the USCIS saying that the post office returned the Notice of Action (NOA) 2 on 03/06/08 because it was undeliverable.


03/08/08

called the USCIS and said that the address they have was wrong and they would send the notice again in 45 days.

called the attorney to verify if this would really affect the processing of my Visa, they said that the processing would continue even if we didn't receive the NOA2 yet since the NVC aready had the NOA2.


03/12/08

called NVC, said that they already sent the packets to US Embassy Manila.


04/01/08

called US Embassy Manila (1-808-101-7878) to set an appointment date

got appointment date: April 29, 2008 at 7:30 AM

04/24-25/08

medical examination at SLMCEC.

my son was referred to a dermatologist because they found something in his skin that seems to be not normal

brought my son to the dermatologist and good to know it's nothing serious

04/29/08

my son's medical exam results was released and would be forwarded to the USE

04/30/08

called USE to re-schedule my appointment date

got appointment date: May 06, 2008, 7:30 A.M.

05/06/08

Interview - approved

05/09/08

called Delbros and talked to Robbie - in charge of document verification request

knew that my document verification request was forwarded to NSO last 05/05/08

05/23/08

Andy called US Embassy and was informed that our visa is in final review and we should hear from them next week

05/30/08

8:15:31 am - got 2 text messages from Delbros saying that mine and my son's visas is for delivery starting tomorrow up to the next 2 days

around 3:00 pm - visa was delivered (it was very quick) ::dance:: ::dance:: ::dance::




13 comments:

  1. Hi Jona,
    Have a good day!
    Im Lira from davao..I just want to ask regarding K1 VISA,just got the approval last nov 25 thru email,what should i do now?when is the right time to call the NVC for inquiry if they recieved our case?i hope you can help me about this,thank you and more power and may god bless you always and your family...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Lira! Thanks for dropping by my site.

    Congrats for the approval.

    Normally, the NOA2 will be received by Manila US Embassy 2 weeks after the approval. So, if you were approved Last Nov 25. The notice should be at USE by Dec. 9 or earlier.

    I suggest that you pay the doc verification as early as now. Steps can be found at the US Embassy website.

    Then by 2nd week of december, call US Embassy to check if they already received your case approval. If yes, set an interview date and inform them that you already paid the document verification. If they don't have it yet, call again until they will have it. But like what I said, it should arrived to them 2 weeks after the case was approved.

    After you have your interview date, get the medical exam at least a week before the interview date but earlier the better so that in case you'll encounter problem with your medical exam, you won't need to postpone your interview coz you'll have enough time to settle it.

    I hope this helps. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  3. hello jona,
    i saw ur blogs,sobrang happy ako kasi im starting to get crazy about this visa processing.but u really helped me a lot.i just have some things tha confuses me..about dun sa 08 Apr 17 paid DELBROS for document verification.kasi i got a letter from the USE saying im eligible to call for an appointment but because im still completing my documents,im thinking of paying the application tomorrow at BDO then get the medical examination the next day..then after i get these done,i will call for an appointment.my question is what is that delbros document verification thing?is it the same as paying the 131$ in BDO?and like if i call for an interview appointment,how long?will it be like i call wednesday,they schedule it 2 weeks after?and one more thing,if my fiance cant send me the form 1040,will it affect that much?cuz he said he havent file for tax since 2005 because he's been in iraq,and he just go back last mid december.
    i hope you can help me with these.maraming salamat po and may GOD bless you and your family so much!

    sincerely,
    pearl

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Pearl,

    Sorry for being late in getting back to you. We were out of town for the last couple of days and didn't have Internet connection. But I hope I'm not yet too late.

    Anyway, thanks for finding my blogs helpful. With regards to your concern, first, the DELBROS payment that I've mentioned is for the document verification. When I applied for my Visa, it was stated at the US Embassy website that visas depending on marital status such as K1 and K3 requires doc verification. I checked it today on their website and it's not stated there anymore. So, I'm not sure if it still applies now. But, no, it's a different payment from the one you'll pay at BDO. The doc verification will be paid at Metrobank. I'll suggest that you just call US Embassy to set the interview appointment which would only take 30 minutes max, and ask them regarding the doc verification. They'd give you the available dates which would be at least 2 weeks from the day that you'll call them then you'll just have to choose which one is more convenient for you.

    In your fiance's 1040 case, just get the latest 1040 that he has, whether it's from 2005. Just make sure that you have things that would show his financial status cos the 1040 is just one of the evidence for financial stability of your petitioner.

    I hope I was able to answer and help you. Good luck and God bless.

    xoxo,
    Jona

    ReplyDelete
  5. hi jona,
    Im nes just want to ask about delbros, i already pay it last feb17,2009, and i emediately text them, many times but i never receive any message from them or reply.what should i do? do you there fax no?
    i hope an answer from you. thanks

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Nes.

    I know I'm way too late but I still tried. You can get their contact infos from their site: www.delbros.com.

    Good luck! :-)

    xo,
    Jona

    ReplyDelete
  7. hi Jona,

    thanks for your very enriching site...got some querries...got mail from USE last Aug.20,2009 informing that my case is now eligible to be sched for visa interview. am still finalizing my other documents needed then shortly after everything is ready i will call Visa Info Services to request an interview appointment. but there's one thing that i wanted to be clarified about. hope you can help me. my fiance included the names of my 2 sons ages 17 and 12 respectively in his petition I-129.my Q is: "will my 2 boys be automatically be granted K2 visa in case my K1 visa be approved? coz am a bit confused of the K1 and K2visa procedures. or Do i need to pay a separate $131 to each of my children for their K2 visa application along with my K1 application too? pls help me understand coz my desire is to bring my 2 boys with me right away whenever my visa will be approved, Godwilling.

    looking forward to hearing from you.Godbless and more power. have a wonderful day!

    Christine

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Christine
    You need to apply separate K2s for your 2 boys w/c means pay another $131 and schedule an appointment for them though usually they'll gonna have the same appointment times as yours.
    Good luck!

    xoxo,
    Jona

    ReplyDelete
  9. hello ask ko lng kung un age n 7 yrs.old need ko bayaran ng separate s bdo?hope u can answer my question.Thanks a lot i will wait 4 ur responce.

    ReplyDelete
  10. hy im jan, ano ba ang ibig sabihi ng delbros?im just confused betwween document verification and delbros.

    ReplyDelete
  11. hi, good day..
    hope someone can help me…
    we already received NOA2. does anyone here knows if i can get a med exam at st. lukes even if i havent received any letter form the embassy yet. i called st. lukes and the lady said i can go as a walk in applicant but im not really sure because the lady talks too fast and i think she didnt understand what i asked.
    thanks…

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello there. I'm Hayes. I just finish interview and my application approved last dec 20,2010.,but until now my Visa is not yet delivered. I want to be with my fiance soon.
    Thank you.,

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete