My green card processing timeline

As I mentioned earlier, once I had obtained my K1 Fiance visa, there wasn’t much of a rest before I arrived in the USA, gotmarried and began the next phase of the immigration procedure which included more form filling, appointment attending and evidence gathering for the USCIS.  As the green card processing went on over a period of months, I thought it might be useful to write a summary of it as a chronological list - so here is my green card processing timeline.

IMPORTANT: Be aware that not everyone’s application follows quite the same pattern as my own.  I have read various accounts and the time delays can vary considerably, as can the order of events (for example, unlike me, many people receive their temporary work and travel permits before they get their green card).

January 14^th – My wife and I got married.  This fulfilled the requirements of my K1 fiance visa.  To become a permanent resident and obtain the necessary documents for getting work, however, I needed to apply for a green card next.

February 2nd - I received my social security card after applying for it at a social security office 10 days earlier.  Although it is not essential to the process of getting a green card, doing anything official can be difficult in the USA without a social security number, which is used as a form of I.D. proof, as well as for tax purposes.  The card had written across it that I could only work with DHS authorization.

January and February - My wife and I make up a list of everything that we would need as evidence and began gathering it together for my green card application.

February 25^th - Attend a medical and get my I-693 form filled out (confirmation of my vaccine records by a US doctor).

March 14^th - Put in the application for greencard (I-485), along with applications for a temporary work permit (I-765) and travel permit (I-131), all our evidence, a check for the fee, and a green receipt card for the USCIS to stamp and return to me.

March 18^th – Received the green receipt card I sent with package back, stamped by USCIS Chicago.

March 25^th - Received notification that my forms and fee money had been received (including receipts for the temporary work [I-765] and travel [I-131] documents as well as the green card) – but also informed that I’d forgotten to include payment for the biometrics appointment and I needed to send them the money before my case would proceed.

April 3^rd - Received confirmation that they’d received the money for the biometrics and that they would send me a date for my biometrics appointment in due course.

April 17^th - Receive a “Transfer Notice”, informing me that they have transferred my case to the California Service Center to speed up the green card processing.

June 30^th - Invited to attend a biometrics appointment on July 20th.

September 18^th - Receive notification that my green card application has been accepted and they will send me a green card shortly.

September 20^th - Received my green card in the mail.

Now that the green card process was complete and I had my green card, I requested that my social security card be changed to remove the writing on it that stipulated I could only work with DHS authorization.  Received my replacement card on September 26th.

I can take a breather now regarding immigration bureaucracy until my green card runs out in 2 years time and I have to replace it.

K1 Proof of relationship

A number of people have asked me what I used for proof of relationship for the K1 visa application, so I thought that I would post up what I used.  In our case is was similar to the I-129 petition relationship proof that we used, when my wife put in the  I-129 application (although we probably gave the USCIS more than they needed at that stage).

Basically from I learnt, the standard proof of ongoing relationship that they would accept were things like photos of my wife and I together and together with family, postmarked letters and emails that we had exchanged, telephone bills that showed we had spoken over the phone, and flight tickets that showed we had visited one another.  You are allowed to censor out some of the more personal information from letters etc. I believe.

Anyway, the specific evidence that my wife and I used as K1 proof of relationship was:

Photos of us during a visit.  There was a photo of the two of us together, a photo with the two of us with my fiancee’s daughter, and a photo of my fiancé with me and my family.

The plane tickets that were used for the flights across the Atlantic, and also the ferry tickets that we used on a day trip to France together.

Some of the cards that we had sent to each other by mail – birthday and postcards.

Some printouts of emails that we’d sent each other.  Nothing too personal, of course.

Some printouts of MSN messenger and Skype conversations that we’d had together.

A phone bill to show that we had telephoned each other.  (Although that didn’t happen more than a few times as we generally used Skype to communicate, basically because Skype was cheaper and also we could use webcams, which is more personal).

UPDATE

I mailed my proof of ongoing relationship to the London Embassy, which was the correct procedure at the time, but I think someone told me that visa applicants now have to take their proof in by hand when they attend their K1 Fiance Visa interview.  The rules and guidelines can change at any time, so always double-check with the USCIS website to make sure that you are doing the right thing beforehand.

My K1 Fiance Visa Timeline

As I have had quite a bit of interest shown in my post on the fiance visa processing and wait time, I thought that it might be useful to post a simple breakdown of my significant dates in the process and put together a K1 Fiance Visa timeline.  It is not surprising that people get concerned about wait times and start wondering how long each stage of the process is supposed to take - applicants don’t get a great deal of information from the USCIS, in my experience, and it can sometimes feel like you have been forgotten, or your application has got lost in the system.

Once again, I think it wise to remind people that this is my own person experience of the K1 Fiance Visa process.  As far as I am aware, my experience is fairly typical, but other people’s experience might be different.  Processing times can vary according to factors such as how many other people happen to be applying at the same time as you, or if the USCIS are being more particular because they are responding to security concerns, or whatever.

The K1 Fiance Visa Timeline begins with the I-129 petition, which is submitted by the US citizen and ends with non-US citizen being issued with a K1 Fiance Visa.  The bureaucracy doesn’t end there, however, as you still have to move to the USA, get married, then begin the I-485 Green Card application process in order to work and live in the USA indefinitely – this process is easier than the visa, but still a pain.  (I will post a Green Card Timeline on here too, when I’ve got time).

Anyway, here is my K1 Fiance Visa Timeline:

March 2^nd.  I-129 Petition submitted by my fiancée (the US citizen) along with the I-129 Petition relationship proof.

March 13^th.  My fiancée receives a letter of receipt saying that the I-129 petition has been received.

July 2nd.  My fiancée receives notification that I-129 petition has been approved and will be sent to the National Visa Center (NVC).

July 10^th.  My fiancée receives a letter stating that the NVC has received the approved I-129 petition and will be sending the information to the London Embassy within a week.

July 19th.  I receive a letter from US embassy informing me to submit the K1 Fiance Visa forms.

August 11th.  I sent off my K1 Fiance Visa application forms to the London Embassy along with my proof, including things like my UK Police Certificate, passport-style photos etc.

September 14^th.   I receive a letter sent to me inviting me to arrange a K1 fiance visa medical exam and giving me my K1Fiance Visa interview date.

September 30^th.  Attend K1 Fiance Visa medical exam in London

October 13^th.  Attend K1 Fiance Visa interview in London.

October 21^st.  K1 Fiance Visa delivered to my workplace, where I signed for it.

Meeting the K1 Fiance Visa Requirements

Every US immigrant who wants a visa has to meet the specific visa requirements set by the US authorities.  In the case of my wife and I, it was the K1 Fiance Visa requirements that were the relevant ones.  We had to be sure that we met those requirements before we began the process that would eventually allow us to get married and live in the USA together.

Although getting a K1 Fiance visa is more expensive and takes longer than just getting a temporary visa for work or study, you can work and live in the USA more or less indefinitely once you have used your K1 Fiance Visa to enter the USA, got married and have gone through the I-485 green card application procedure.

There were four main K1 Fiance Visa requirements that my wife and I had to meet:

• Firstly, we had to show that we were legally eligible to wed under the laws of the US and my home country, the UK.  This was pretty straightforward for us as neither my fiancee nor I had been married before, so there were no messy ongoing divorces that could potentially get in our way, or anything like that.  (We were both well over the minimum age for marriage as well, I might add!)
  
• Secondly, we had to agree to get married within 90 days of me arriving in the US.  This also was no problem for us.  We were already engaged by that point and had decided upon a very small wedding ceremony, as the thought of trying to organize a big wedding would have been too daunting, distracting and, frankly, expensive for us.  We therefore opted for a simple civil ceremony attended by just a handful of friends.  Done this way, getting married in the US is pretty inexpensive and straightforward, I found, although the rules, costs and legalities do vary from state to state.  We were married in Florida and found the process quick and easy and not at all a strain on our wallets.
  
• The third of the K1 Fiance Visa requirements that I was required to meet was that I would use the K1 Fiance Visa to enter the USA with the sole intention of marrying my fiancee.  I am not a visa lawyer or a US immigration attorney, but I would guess that this clause is meant to help stop people misusing the K1 Fiance Visa.
  
• The fourth and final of the K1 Fiance Visa requirements was that my wife and I had met up during the two years before we filed for the K1 fiance visa.  We fulfilled this requirement and could prove that we had met up more than once over the time period mentioned with flight tickets, photographs, etc.  (I believe that this condition can be waived under certain circumstances, such as if your country or religion has customs that forbid a couple meeting up before marriage, or when the requirement might cause extreme hardship for the US citizen - but you would really have to check this up with the USCIS.)