So you applied for a visa

Last week, on my new visa series, I explained how to begin the K-1 visa process and the first set of paperwork you must fill out.

So, now you've arranged all of the documents for the I-129F package. You've probably filled out a couple of forms wrong several times and had to start over; had to re-write several documents; had to translate a lot of emails; endured several arguments along the way. You've gathered together every shred of physical evidence to prove your relationship. You've checked everything forty times. You've put everything in order. But you're done with this step! That's one hurdle down.

Next, you have to find which service center to send the package to. Visa Journey recommends you make two copies of the whole package, one for you, one for your fiance. If you live together, I think one is sufficient (considering how many pages you have to copy, it's already expensive enough with one.)

Now you go to the post office and send it off!

Prepare for the anti-climax.

You should receive your NOA-1 from USCIS about two weeks after they receive your application. That means they got your package and have begun to process the application. (If you don't get this within 3 weeks of when the package arrived at the service center, then you should get in touch with USCIS, because it probably means the package never arrived.)

The worst and longest part of the process comes now, even though it requires the least amount of work. This is when you wait. And wait some more. And wait, and wait, and hear nothing. You don't know what to tell people, since everything is in limbo. It creates tension and stress not knowing what's going on. I tried calling USCIS a couple of times and was never able to speak to an actual person, and I routinely harrassed the US consulate in Rio, with mixed results. I signed up for USCIS's online case system, so that I'd receive information as soon as it was released.

We sent our application in mid-December, and received our NOA-2, which is the notification that the I-129F application was approved, on April 2nd (by email), and a week or so later by snail mail. You can get an idea about processing times here, since it depends on the service center and the amount of applications they have.

Getting the NOA-2 is a huge victory, but it's really just the beginning of a whole other slew of paperwork and bureaucracy. But fear not! It's not nearly as bad as it may seem. It's straightfoward as long as you know what you need to do, and on the next K-1 post, I'll explain the I-134 package, and how your I-129F makes its way from the US service center to your fiance's local US consulate.

Comments

[Elizabete]

Hi never forget every time you send any paper to USCIS do with receipt notice and certified mail, besides this the website work pretty well once they get your paper. I used to work in the immigration law office in NJ and you can see that is updated once a month (processing time, and there tell you what the status of the cases by date that you filed).
When is time to do the form I-693 go to Dr. Anthony D. Blau at 325 Broadway, Suite 304. NY, 10007, phone (212) 766-4433. Is fast, cheap and you get everything in about an hour or so.
if you have questions you can write.... I am pretty good with some forms, no every.

[Camila]

I do not miss going through this process. I can't complain, mine was pretty easy, and things happened pretty fast, but there's no way to avoid the anxiety. I'm now in process to get my citizenship. So, far, so good. Their timing is amazing me...

[Sam the Traveler]

I am So glad that you have taken your time,energy and expertize to include the visa info in your blog! Lucia in Brazil and me in U.S. can really relate.
I did find a way to actually speak to a person at USCIS;call the regular 800#,wait for all the long canned message to finish,then press 1 which you will be told is to order forms.After this,wait,wait wait until the robot is done.Then,he'll tell you what number to press to speak with someone.If I remember correctly,it's 0. But after talking with at least 10 different people through the months,sometimes you get one who knows what they are talking about,sometimes not. Ciao