The K1 Experience

Well, this is not particularly immigration related but it has turned into one of those experiences that have been a royal pain. Suzie, like so many folks living in large metropolitan cities had little need of a car so she had never bothered to get licensed to drive in the UK. Living in a small almost rural US City it is almost a necessity to have your license to drive. So... here is what we went through starting with a couple of months after we got married and she got in the country. First we had to get her a learners permit. Study Study Study, take the online exam multiple times until she has it down so we take the time. Then after digging extensively through the website looking for any gotchas for non-citizens and not finding any we head down to the local DMV for her to take her written test. We walk in the door and in sun faded coffee stained glory that looks like it has been there so long they built the building around it is a notice stating that non-citizens can only go to a singl...

As anyone who goes through it knows the immigration process is nothing if not SLLLOOOOWWWW. The goal of this blog has been to document our experiences as we encounter them. We have been enjoying our current period of almost no paperwork while anticipating the next big step. Removing the temporary status from Suzie's Permanent Resident card. Just wanted to let anyone following us through the process know that this blog has not been forgotten and will pick back up in a couple of months as we get closer to the time we have to sumbit our next round of paper work. In the meantime happy New Year to everyone, I hope 2008 is a good year for you. Short of going down the road to citizenship this year should mark the completion of Suzie's process of immigration paper work.

Our Change of Status Paperwork has been pulled off the shelf well ahead of when we expected it so perhaps the consolidation in Chicago has been a good thing. We did recieve a request for more information as it seems the fact they had proof of an approved K-1 was not enough. They also needed the I-797 notice of actioni that I had filed a K-1 on Suzie's behalf. Not sure I have the energy to go all out on that like I should but by all means it speaks for itself. They had proof and records in their system of a valid K-1 to the effect it allowed entry into the countr and yet they not only need that but the early round notice of action that the K-1 had indeed been filed. If we do not send the information then our application is to be cancled. Needless to say we have mailed it but it really seems silly. To top it off it seems an RFI Also places an immediate injunction on the granting of any interim work priveledges. From what we could ascertain this did not apply to the EAD. Only to inter...

Change of Status: Ok folks here we go with the next serious round of paperwork after the K1 visa status. What is required? First off here is the general documents page . The following are the forms required with listed extra documentation required for our K1 application. Documents required for other applications may vary. Read the instructions carefully for details pertaining to your application. 1) I-485 - Application To Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. a. Fee of $325 (Be aware of older forms with $315 listed) b. Copy of Birth Certificate c. Copy of Passport page with non-immigrant visa (K1 page the put in the passport) d. 2 Photos (passport styles, we had ours done at FedEx-Kinkos). e. Fee of $70 for biometrics processing (include on one check with above form fee) f. Vaccination report (medical within last year from K-1 so only this was needed) g. G-325 – Biographic information h. Copy of I-94 arrival and departure record (you get this when you enter on K-1) i. Copy ...

Oddly enough my new brother in law is marrying an Austrailian citizen and thus is going through... make that... has gone through the same process for gaining admitance down under. As luck would have it they met while she was traveling abroad for a lengthy period of time. She wound up staying in England for a year and as such the two of them have qualified as a defacto married couple in Austrailia (Common Law marriage essentially). The processing for his visa took 3 weeks. Let me say that again. 3 WEEKS. Weeks. 21 days. He has the right to work as a part of this. He says he could have had it faster except that he didn't have his medical at the same time as he applied. We took 6 months for the K-1. It is goign to take another 3 months to get the EAD for right to work. By contrast lets say Suzie and I had lived together in England for a year (We Dated for 2) and then gotten married and applied to come to the US. We would have had to apply for a K3 visa and it would have been 8 months ...

Ok I have really been avoiding this issue because frankly everywhere I looked I found contradictory information. The website has changed two or three times just during our approval process. Initially when we started the site stated the k1 visa itself was an immigrant visa and conffered the right to work for 90 days after entry or up to your change of status. I wish now I had kept archived copies of the information on the website as it changed. Now I see verbiage stating the k1 is not an immigrant visa. Some one please explain that one to me.... I suppose one could simply come here to get married on the K1 and then leave but it makes no sense. If you are not comming to stay there is no reason to even bother Uncle Sam with the details. Enter on the standard visa waiver get married and leave inside your alloted time (60 days). The whole point of going through the pain of a K1 is to come to the US in order to immigrate while you are a fiance. It holds the reasonable expectation that you wi...