Yes, I am! And I hope you're getting ready too. :)

Well today, I had the time to take some photos of everything that I'll be bringing to the embassy for the interview. It's overwhelming to just look at these things and remember all the time I spent completing all the documents I need. Falling in line was the worst part but the rest like having things printed and photocopied was a breeze. I have everything I need and I'm now confident to head on to my interview.

This is it. Most of these things, if not all, have already been posted in my previous blog entries. I'm just reposting the completed version now.

I'll be bringing my folder, a heap of paper as the proof of genuine relationship, and plastic envelopes which hold original boarding passes and plane tickets in the pink one and our photos in the green one.





A closer look.
You'll see the blue receipt from BDO, my USEM letter which has the St. Luke's stamp already as evidence that I went to the required medical examination, underneath that is the email printout of the USEM interview schedule and my completed DS forms.

Here is another shot of my NBI clearance, birth certificate and CENOMAR.

These are the financial documents that are separated as photocopies and originals, the proof of genuine relationship and my 2x2 photographs.

And lastly, a closer look of the two envelopes that hold boarding passes, plane tickets, hotel receipts and our photos.



I've even prepared three outfits for the interview itself. My J loves the second look but I like the third. So to lessen the argument, maybe I should wear the first. :p

And of course the shoes, I'd prefer flipflops or really flat sandals on regular days. Above are almost four-inch heels. I'm almost 5'9'' in those shoes. I look like a tower! But I guess that's where the extra confidence comes from. :p


To all those who are preparing for their upcoming interview, I wish all the best. :)

Labels: 1-134, evidence of support, forms, k1 interview, k1 requirements, paperwork for k1 interview, pictures, requirements

We all know I have been sick, so apologies for those who have been waiting for updates. But what a big update this is! I'm almost done with my antibiotics, I've received all remaining paperworks that I need from J and say what... a new blog layout too? :p I hope you all like it. I think, it's cleaner version of what I had before. I've lost my comments page but hey the chat box is there for all of you to leave comments or just feel free to say anything. And although I want to thank J's insomnia attack, because I have too much time in my hands right now, I'm also wishing him a good rest as he has been working too hard lately.


Shall we begin?



It was late afternoon, last Thursday, when I received my USPS package from J, which was delivered via FedEx. We didn't know anything when we were trying to gather the paperworks. That's why I'll be sharing photos of it and its contents so that other people trying to complete the package will know the difference of a 1040 from a W2. It was a good thing that J's dad is anal about documents that he kept all of J's tax records since 2007. Also thanking my future mother-in-law for helping J gather all his pay stubs since January 2010. :)  We were actually done gathering those files in 10 minutes. Miss Michelle from his HR was also quick in trying to respond in giving him an employment letter and a copy of his insurance policy. The thing that we needed to wait for was the bank statement that came early August. With everything that was placed in separate envelopes, let's just say I received a hefty amount of original paperworks.

This is the exact copy of the US Embassy requirement with regard to financial documents or the Evidence of Support. As you can see, I've murdered my copy with an orange highlighter and my black pen.


You need SIX basic things to complete this evidence to "substantiate the I-134."

1. The two-page I-134 form, completed by your Fiancé and notarized.


2. US Federal Income Tax Return or Form 1040. I found that this has different versions, depends on whether your Fiancé completed his form manually or electronically.


3. Wage Statement or Form W2. The perforations are just a big temptation as I just want to tear it to pieces. :p


4. Employment letter stating salary.


5. Bank statement.


6. Pay stubs. Although not part of the requirement, it has been suggested many times in VJ to just bring some. J gets paid bi-weekly, so I have around 14 of his pay stubs!




There you go, the exact things I received from J. Just a few reminders, because these are very important files, please do make it a point to photocopy them. Before J sent them, he also scanned all these. It's not bad being anal sometimes. We'll never know what might happen, right?

Besides, it does say in the Important Reminders:

"We will try to return documents that you submitted and asked us to return, but do not give us anything that cannot be replaced. Make copies of important documents and submit copies along with the originals you want returned to you."

Labels: 1-129F, 1-129F package, 1-134, evidence of support, fiance visa, financial documents, forms, k1 interview, paperwork for k1 interview, requirements, visa interview

So this is it, it all comes down to filing the needed paperworks. Make sure that your fiancé IS a US Citizen. Only US Citizens can file a I-129F and there's no other what if's here.

One of the most useful website I've been to is Visa Journey where there are sooooo many helpful people who could answer most of all the questions you have about it. So until now, if I need to clarify something, I just post the questions there and wait for people to comment on it.

So with this post, we will follow the Step-by-Step Guide on How to File for a K-1 Visa for your Foreign Fiance(e) and show you sample images of how we've handled our DIY I-129F.

Let's get started.(Photos have been blurred out as these are exact print screens of what we have submitted to USCIS and therefore has private information on it. And since we both never married before, never imprisoned, never had a name change, we didn't have paperworks for those.)

1. Payment as required by USCIS -- amounting to $455. My Fiancé used personal check. For check format, please see this link. It's the official USCIS instructions. It's a PDF file and check instructions will be on Page 5.

2. Cover Letter. -- This is like a table of Contents of everything you've placed in your package.

3. Form I-129F: Petition for Alien Fiance(e) -- the most important part of the packet as you will need to fill out important details about the USC and the Foreign Fiancée.

4. Declaration of how you met in person in the last two years. This should be a single typed page attachment regarding question 18 of the I-129F. Make sure to sign and date it. 

 

5. Original statements (from both the US Citizen and foreign fiance) certifying an intent to marry within 90 days of entering the US on a valid K-1.

6. Proof of having met in past two years. -- Suggested list will be seen in VJ too. Here's one part of ours, photographs with labels like dates, where the picture was taken and who are present in the picture. 

And J's passport stamps.

7. G-325A filled out by the US Citizen AND another copy filled out by Foreign Fiancée, signed and dated. Some websites would suggest submitting 4 copies. Nobody will get hurt, so we did submit 4 copies of each of our G-325As.

8. Passport-type photo of the US Citizen AND Foreign Fiancée, one for each. Write the full name at the back. Place in a plastic bag and label the bag "Photo of ." Attach the bag to a sheet of paper and place behind the corresponding G-325A.

9. Copy of the Birth certificate (front and back) for the US Citizen OR a copy of ALL pages of the US Citizen's passport issued with a validity of at least 5 years OR a copy of the US Citizen's naturalization certificate (front and back). This is used to establish citizenship. With J, we had some problems with the naturalization certificate as there was nothing printed on the back but has a seal which cannot be captured by the copier he has back home. So just to be sure, he sent in a photocopy of his passport too.

  

We front loaded our application with adding more details proving a genuine/ongoing relationship. Here are so of the things we've attached: Phonebills with highlights

when my J called me, money transfers and of course the popular wall-to-wall conversation in Facebook.

Here's a closeup of the labels.

These are just guides to help you visualize what the contents will look like. On my next post, I'll show you our folders and mailing envelopes, too. Ciao!!

Labels: 1-129F, 1-129F package, fiance visa, forms, k1 visa, pictures, pinay, pinoy