Application Received

Stage one is complete! It is a small, but significant one. The story so far:

The first step to getting a K1 fiancé visa is to create an I-129F package, which is the Petition for Alien Fiance.

I had the easy job, one side of paper where I needed to put details of where I was born, my job, where I have lived etc, much like a credit application. Along with this I had to send a letter literally stating that I was able, and wanted, to get married, and a passport photo. For my other half it was a different matter. The following is a checklist taken from the fantastic visajourney.com website:

1. Payment as required by USCIS.
2. Cover Letter
3. Form I-129F: Petition for Alien Fiance
4. Declaration of how you met in person in the last two years.
5. Original statements certifying an intent to marry within 90 days of entering the US on a valid K-1.
6. Proof of having met in past two years.
7. G-325A filled out by the US Citizen with their information, signed and dated
8. One passport-type photo of the US Citizen.
9. G-325A filled out by the foreign fiance with their information, signed and dated.
10. One passport-type photo of the foreign fiance.
11. Copy of the Birth certificate for the US Citizen.
12. Copy of final Divorce Decree(s) or Certificate(s) for the US Citizen and/or foreign fiance if either has been previously married.
13. Proof of Legal Name Change if either the US Citizen and/or foreign fiance is using a name other than that shown on the relevant documents.
14. In regards to Section C Question 2, if applicable provide certified copies of all court and police records.

All of this had to be packaged up in a very specific way (for example, for the passport photo: Write the full name of the US citizen on the back. Place in a plastic bag and label the bag “Photo of “. Attach the bag to a sheet of paper and place behind the corresponding G-325a.). This then went off to be processed and, a couple of weeks later, our I-797C, Notice of Action has arrived!

This NOA basically just means that they have received everything we sent, and we now have a case number. Nothing has been checked or processed, but it made it there, and has been accepted into their system.

The next period of waiting is to see if we have sent everything we should have. The worst case is receiving a RFE – request for evidence. This will mean that we missed something (or didn’t send enough). However, if all goes well our next correspondence should be telling us that our application has been checked and approved – the NOA2.

The NOA2 will signify that our application (not the visa itself…) has been approved and has been sent to the embassy for processing. There will be lots to do at that point – police checks, getting vaccinations and so on, prior to the interview; but for now we are waiting again.