Undergoing through the K-1 visa process is a long and tedious, not to mention expensive, journey. In this blog, I’ll be writing about my experience from the start of my petition until the current status we’re currently in. I am doing this to keep myself reminded of everything, to share my experience to everyone, and because I just love to blog hehehe.
But I want to make a few clarifications before I start!
- I used Mrs Presson as a guide right after we submitted the papers for the petition (that’s why we got delayed, because we didn’t know about her blog yet when we submitted the papers. If only we’d known earlier, we could have avoided getting delayed for 2 months. So just a tip, if you want a thorough step by step guide, Mrs Presson’s blog is the answer! She’s really helpful!)
- This is solely my experience, and of course it’s not the same with everyone else who’s going through the K-1 petition
- Nope, I won’t be helping you with your own petition haha 😀
My then-fiance and now husband have known each other since we were 6 (we’re classmates from grades 1-6 in elementary) and we’re both from the Philippines despite him already being a US citizen right now. I could say (but I can’t be entirely sure) that our relationship is easier to prove. But then again, one can never be sure. USCIS does not discriminate. As long as your relationship is legit, there’s nothing to worry about.
May 2015
– My (then) fiance visited me in the Philippines for the first time after we became a couple. It’s my first time to see him again since we graduated in elementary!
– He stayed in the Philippines for 2 weeks.
October 2015
– He visited the Philippines for the 2nd time, and stayed there for 20 days! Yaaay!
– We also got engaged hehehe
November 2015
– We submitted the petition to USCIS around November 9 (I think). We followed the instructions here
– Our petition was received on November 24
January 2016
– It took a while to get an update from USCIS again haha!
– Apparently, my (then) fiance forgot to include a photocopy of the engagement ring in the packet that we send, that’s why they needed additional evidence lol.
February 2016
– We submitted the needed paperworks to USCIS the first week of the month
March 2016
– My (then) fiance visited me again for the 3rd time ♥
– Our petition got approved! Woohoo!
– Please bear in mind that having your petition approved doesn’t mean you’ll be getting your visa right away. That’s an entirely different thing!
– We have to wait for around a month to get a Manila Case#. Without that, I can’t have my medical exam nor can I schedule an interview at the embassy.
April 2016
– I think I’m a bit unlucky because while the others got their Manila Case# in less than a month, mine really took exactly a month haha!
May 2016
– I went to SLEC (St. Luke’s Extension Clinic) to have my medical. It costs Php 11,300. The medical took 2 days, and I had to be there for literally 12hours each day.
June 2016
– I scheduled an interview on June 2.
– I got approved!
– Submitted my resignation paper (and started rendering 30days before I leave) on June 7
– I got my visa on June 17
– Had my CFO seminar on June 23
– Booked my flight June 26
July 2016
– Flew to the US on July12
– Registered marriage on July 14
August 2016
– Got married August 8 (Lucky 8/8)
That’s the very brief summary of my K-1 visa journey. This is not the end though! Because after getting married within 90days since I arrived here in the US, there’s still a couple more paperworks that we need to submit. I’ll talk about that on my next entries!
This post may not be really helpful, but I just want to share my experience. The entire petition took 9 months from the moment we submitted the papers until the time I arrived here in the states. It’s long and tedious, but really worth it!
A Red Rose in the Black Darkness 