The paperwork has been mailed. Within a day or two, the USCIS California Service Center should receive our thorough an polite request for a K1 visa for Duncan. You can see the time line here, but in sum, it looks like about 7-9 months. We might get lucky and go a little faster, but since average processing time for the first portion is about 5 months, I'm trying to be realistic.
The total package contains 103 pages and is neatly bound and tabbed in a blue Acco folder. It contains photos, forms, copies of forms, redacted emails, Facebook screenshots, Skype conversations, professional histories, a birth certificate, financial and travel records, receipts, hand-written letters and even a picture of my ring.
I hope our reviewers find us witty, but I suspect not. Generally, I live in fear of getting the wrong reviewer who will cite us on a minor detail that I left out that will continue the delays. I cannot imaging what this process must be like for someone who doesn't speak English and/or doesn't have the benefit of the type of work I have done in the past. VisaJourney.com has been a huge help to us.
What the hell took you so long to file?
We were engaged by the end of July (though made no announcement until it was clear that Mom would find out from us and not, say, Facebook), but The English had to update his official documents, and some items required signatures. Arguably, I should have reviewed the documents while in the UK, but in the end, we kept finding new things that had to be signed instead of emailed or faxed. Then we had the Sheep Incident, where we learned that Customs does not accept packages that make sheep noises and are presumably unable to discern the hopeful bleating of Shaun the Sheep toys (and the soft rustle of our visa paperwork with them) from hostile intent. Part of the documents were carried by a friend from London to Seattle and the remainder ended up neatly folded in a Diwali card which took over TWO WEEKS to arrive in the US, though normal air mail takes only 2-4 days. The card was square and presumably USPS can't auto-sort it. Sixteen days of hope-and-dismay at the mailbox.
FAQ
Can't you just get married and th--? Yes, but the wait would be longer.
Can The English come here while you wait? No.
Can you work from the UK? Unlikely.
When will you see him again? Probably after Christmas.
How about Canada? He can live and work in Canada, but his jobs are in London.
What if he gets a job here? If you want to hire him, please feel free.
Did you use an attorney? I spoke to an attorney, but it was expensive, and most of the time I spent was gathering info. When the greencard bits happen, we'll probably hire someone to finish the process.
How much did it cost? $455 for the application, and we've spent a couple hundred more on passport photos, printouts and shipping.
Did you include the engagement story? No. You can make a deal with The English if you want to hear it.
"I have a friend/coworker/neighbor who married a foreigner, and they..." It's been helpful to hear others' experiences, but many people you know probably a)got married before 2001, or b)were already on a work or student visa when they got engaged. Maybe I could find an attorney that could cut off a few weeks, but what I've read and the attorney I spoke to indicate that we are on the right path. Optimally, The English gets a job here that sponsors him on a work visa, but the odds of that happening are very low. I would gladly work in London for a year, but all my clients are here (plus my previous client had about all of me they could take), and it's hard to keep building out a practice from London. Then again, any London start-ups who want to hire me: I am exceedingly clever and an important component of your organisation, and you want to hire me starting in January.
Feel free to ask more questions and/or check the previous post for other questions.
8 years ago
