K-1 Poverty Levels?

[sheepishmareep]

Hey guys,

I'm new here, a little background: Met my fiance 2 years ago online, we've visited each other twice and talk endlessly on Skype. We got engaged a year ago, and he (a UK citizen) wants to move to my home country (USA) to be with me.

I am graduating university in a month, and will be looking for full time work. I currently work part-time with the federal government, but will be switching to full-time once I graduate (it's a term employment, which means I can work until September). I plan on finding full-time employment (with higher pay) before my term ends, and I have high prospects of continuing government employment!

Anyway.. I want to petition him to come over here in 4ish months. I made enough for the one-person limit on the poverty scale this year.. but because I work part-time I didn't earn the full amount I would (which is above poverty). Will this be a problem in petitioning? Or could I use a letter of new employment, working full-time? Could someone else assist me in the sponsor, like use their income?

Thanks

[nichole]

There is no proving of income for you to petition. Your affidavit of support(I-134) will be taken by him when he goes for an interview in London. That could easily be 4 months or more after the petition is sent in by you. So you're looking at 8+ months from now on your time line of applying.

You can have a joint sponsor, if their income by itself is enough to support their existing family plus your fiance.

[sheepishmareep]

Thanks nichole

So, when I petition there will be around a 4 month wait for his interview? If he does well in the interview, what happens next?

Also, when he gets here he has to apply for an adjustment of status within the 90 days, right? And can we work while on the fiance visa?

Thanks again

[nichole]

Thanks nichole

So, when I petition there will be around a 4 month wait for his interview? If he does well in the interview, what happens next?

Also, when he gets here he has to apply for an adjustment of status within the 90 days, right? And can we work while on the fiance visa?

Thanks again

When you petition, there could be a 2-4 month wait to get the petition approved. Then the case is sent to the Embassy in London. It could take them a month to send him the information of how to apply for the visa at the Embasssy. [Add time here for however long it will take him to prepare his forms and gather documents] He fills in four forms to mail back. He gathers documents that will be presented at the interview (including your Affidavit of Support). When he has all that gathered, he fills out their checklist that he has everything for the interview and mails that back. Then it could take another month or more for London to send him an interview letter. The interview could be a month more from when they mail him the letter.

To speed things up, he should gather the proper documents needed before waiting for them to send him instructions. It's all on US Embassy London website. He has to order things like a police certificate and have photos made and signed by someone who will verify his identity just to order the police certificate. He needs a certified copy of his birth certificate, which in the UK is called the "long form" because it must list his parents' names. Apparently there is a "short form" often used for school things, but isn't accepted. If ever divorced, arrested, etc then there's official court documents to order if he doesn't have copies. He should find copies of his immunization records or get his NHS doc to provide a list and sign it. Getting all this done early saves time. When the instructions from the London Embassy arrived, meaning they were ready to process, we had the 4 forms and the checklist of documents ready to put in the mail back to them the same day. As soon as you mail in the I-129 petition, then start studying the next step (Embassy) and be preparing for it while you wait on the petition approval.

So jumping forward..... he's had his medical exam and goes to the interview. London is very easy. No proving your relationship or showing pictures and emails to them. They are most interested in the Affidavit of Support documents. They ask a few questions like "How did you meet?" When did you propose?" "Does she have children?" "Have you made any wedding plans yet?" It's more like a chat with somebody you've just met.

So they say, "you're approved." He leaves his passport so they can put the visa in it. He pays the courier who will deliver it in a few days. He has 6 months to use that visa to enter the US. It's a one time only entry, so he can't leave the US (and expect to get back in) until he has married, applied for adjustment of status, work authorization, and the advance parole(I-131) travel document has been received. That's $1010 so budget for it.

He can not work until he gets the work authorization card (EAD) or the green card. Normally the EAD card takes about 60 days and is faster than the GC. Remember you can't even apply for the EAD until you have married and prepared all the documents and applied for adjustment of status. (EAD and the AP travel document are free with AOS.)

[sheepishmareep]

Thank you, nichole! You've been a wonderful help