Many of you guys have probably seen this.
But I just read it for the first time. (Snowwego sent me the URL) It is the most clearly written thing I have read which explains the whole process. It is what he followed, and he got through the whole process without a hitch.
The URL for it is: (Hmmm... Patrick, why can't I post this link??? It's just the Warsaw Embassy website!!! It's banned???)
OK... here is the text:
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Fiancé Visas Processing
The U.S. Embassy in Warsaw processes Fiancé visas for Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine. The Fiancé or K visa allows the prospective spouse of a U.S. citizen to travel to the United States for the purpose of marriage. The minor children (under 21) of your prospective spouse can also travel to the United States with a K visa. We hope that this guide will answer most of your questions about K visas.
Terminology used in this guide:
Fiancé -The term Fiancé will be used to include both male and female prospective spouses
INS - The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Petitioner - The U.S. citizen who files a petition with an INS office in the United States on behalf of a Fiancé asking that he or she be admitted to the United States for the purpose of marriage
Petition - INS form I-129(F) “Petition to Classify Status of Alien Fiancé or Fiancé for Issuance of Nonimmigrant Visa”
Beneficiary -The Fiancé named in the petition
K-1 -Visa The visa category for the Fiancé of a U.S. citizen
K-2 -Visa The visa category for the minor children of a K-1 visa holder
Packet 3 -Information that the Embassy sends to your Fiancé, which specifies the documents that must be obtained and presented at the visa interview
Packet 4 -Information that the Embassy sends to your Fiancé setting an appointment date and explaining how to obtain the required medical examination
First Step - Filing
To begin the K-1 process, you file a petition at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) office having jurisdiction over your current or intended residence in the U.S. There is a filing fee of $110.00 for the petition. As with all fees connected with visas, this fee may change without prior warning. The children of your Fiancé should be listed in the petition even if they will not be traveling at this time. INS sets the requirements for petition approval. Petitions for K-1 visas cannot be filed or approved outside the United States.
You must present the following supporting documentation with your petition:
· Evidence that you are an American citizen, such as your birth certificate, Naturalization Certificate or your American passport
· Your Fiancé's birth certificate
· Proof of termination of any prior marriages of the petitioner and beneficiary, such as a divorce decree or death certificate
· Evidence that you have met your Fiancé and evidence of your relationship, such as letters, telephone bills, and photos
Original documents bearing the signatures and seals of the issuing authorities are required. Any documents in a foreign language should be accompanied by an English translation. This documentation confirms your identity and that of your future spouse and proves that both of you are legally free to marry. You should have met with your Fiancé during the two years prior to the filing of the petition. Ask INS directly if you have further questions about the petition process and petition approval requirements. Please remember that petition approval is only the first phase of this process. Petition approval is not visa approval. The petition only supplies the basis on which your Fiancé can apply for a K visa. Your Fiancé must still establish eligibility to receive a K visa.
INS will notify you when they have approved the petition and will send it via diplomatic pouch to the U.S. Embassy for further processing. Be sure to specify that the approved petition should be sent to Warsaw if your Fiancé is in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia or Belarus. The U.S. Embassies in those countries do not process Fiancé visas. If your petition has been misdirected to Kiev, Vilnius, Riga or Minsk it will take eight to 12 weeks before it reaches Warsaw. You do not need to contact the U.S. Embassies in Kiev, Vilnius, Riga or Minsk regarding a misdirected petition. They will automatically forward the petition to Warsaw via registered diplomatic pouch. If your petition has been sent in error to Moscow or to another Foreign Service post, you should contact that post and ask them to forward the petition to Warsaw. Do not contact the Embassy in Warsaw with a request to retrieve your petition from another Embassy. It is your responsibility to contact the post with the petition and request a transfer of the petition to Warsaw.
Second Step - Transfer from INS
When your petition is approved, INS will forward it to the Embassy. INS will cable notification of the petition approval if you have requested this service at the time of filing. There is an extra charge for cable notification of petition approval. The practices of INS offices regarding cable notification of petition approval vary. If you have any questions about cable notification of petition approval please direct them to INS. It takes four to six weeks for the actual approved petition and its supporting documentation to reach the Embassy. Your petition is valid for four months, but can be extended by the Embassy if a visa cannot be issued during that period and the intention to marry still exists.
When you have received the approval notice from INS, you may request the Embassy to open a provisional case file for your Fiancé. Opening a provisional file allows us to start processing the case before we receive the petition from INS.
To open a provisional file we will need the following items:
· A copy of the approval notice from INS
· Your Fiancé's full name, date of birth, and place of birth
· A complete current mailing address for your Fiancé
This information should be sent to us by fax. The fax should clearly state that you wish a provisional K-1 file to be opened for your Fiancé. If you have an e-mail address, include it in your fax.
Third Step - Processing
For all cases we send a name-check cable that requires a reply from the FBI. We usually receive these responses within ten days, but some cases take substantially longer. If the beneficiary was born in Russia or is traveling on a Russian passport, we must also send an additional name-check cable that has a fifteen working day turnaround period. If your fiancée is Russian or was born in Russia, you should send the Embassy your full name and address, as this information is required for the additional cable.
When we open a provisional file, we send a Packet 3 to the beneficiary. The Packet 3 tells the applicant what documents he or she must collect prior to the visa interview. Packet 3 for applicants from countries of the former Soviet Union is in Russian. The Embassy in Warsaw has forms and information sheets in Russian and staff who can speak Russian to ensure accurate communication with all applicants we process from Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine. We, of course, also have forms in Polish and in English. Packet 3 asks your fiancée to assemble the following documents:
· Valid passports for the beneficiary and any dependent children
· Birth certificates for the beneficiary and any dependent children
· Proof of termination of any prior marriages
· A police certificate from the current place of residence of the beneficiary, as well as from any place or places of residence for 6 months or more since attaining the age of 16.
· Police certificate(s) for any dependent children over 16
Most of the countries of the former Soviet Union have phased out or are phasing out old Soviet passports. All Ukrainian applicants must have the current Ukrainian passports before notifying the Embassy that they have collected the documents listed in Packet.
Original documents bearing the signatures and seals of the issuing authorities are required. Any documents in a foreign language should be accompanied by an English translation.
When your fiancée has collected all the documents specified in Packet 3, he or she should notify the Embassy by returning the form in Packet 3 (Optional Form 169) certifying that all required documents have been obtained. We accept faxed copies of Optional Form 169.
Fourth Step - Scheduling
The Embassy will send out Packet 4 explaining the process of obtaining medical exams and scheduling an appointment for a visa interview when we have received the following items:
It is necessary for us to have the actual petition on hand in order to conduct an adequate visa interview for most K visas. We open cases on the basis of telegraphic notification from INS of petition approval, but we do not schedule them until the actual petition arrives and the other conditions listed above have been met. On average, the first available appointment is about six weeks from the time when all the conditions listed above have been met.
· The actual approved petition from INS or telegraphic notice of approval from INS
· Clearances from the required name checks
· A signed Optional Form 169 from the beneficiary
After receiving the above-referenced information, we make every effort to schedule interviews as soon as possible. However, because of our heavy workload of Fiancé cases, the first available appointment may be up to a few months after the above-listed conditions are met.
Packet 4 contains an appointment date and instructions on where to go to complete the medical examination. Applicants may have the required medical exams in Kiev or in Warsaw. The medical exams must be performed by one of the physicians identified in Packet 4. K1 and K2 visa applicants are not required to submit proof of vaccinations or to undergo any vaccinations until they adjust status with the INS. Therefore applicants may wish to consider carrying their vaccination records with them to the United States to facilitate this process.
In addition to mailing Packet 4, we will, upon request, notify by e-mail or ordinary mail attorneys of record or interested petitioners not represented by an attorney that Packet 4 has been sent and an appointment date has been set. The basic information contained in Packet 4 can be found on the Embassy webpage
Fifth Step - Interview
Visa interviews are by appointment only. Beneficiaries should not travel to Warsaw until they have received an appointment date from the Embassy. Applicants who appear without appointments are not interviewed. Appointment dates for K visas are posted on the Embassy webpage in the first few days of each month. If your Fiancé's case number appears on this listing and your Fiancé has the Packet 4 information available from the website, he or she may come to the Embassy even if a Packet 4 has not been received in the mail. On the date of the appointment your fiancée should come to the Immigrant Visa section of the Embassy in Warsaw. Minor children under 14 do not need to attend the interview. We open at 8:00 a.m. and we accept cases until 10:00 a.m. We do not assign individual appointment times.
Your Fiancé will fill out a Nonimmigrant Visa Application (OF-156) in duplicate, as well as a supplement to form OF-156. Each dependent child also needs Nonimmigrant Visa Applications in duplicate. Original documents, not copies, should be brought to the interview. Originals of primary documents, such as birth, marriage, and death records, will be returned to the applicant after the interview.
Your Fiancé will be asked to present:
· Valid passports for the beneficiary and any dependent children
· Birth certificates for the beneficiary and any dependent children
· Proof of termination of any prior marriages of both petitioner and beneficiary
· Police certificate(s) for the beneficiary and any dependent children over 16 years of age
· Vaccination results for the beneficiary and any dependent children
· Medical exam results for the beneficiary and any dependent children
· Proof of adequate financial support once in the United States to ensure that your Fiancé and dependent children will not become public charges
· Supporting documentation verifying the relationship between the petitioner and beneficiary
Petitioners should not use the contractually binding Affidavit of Support form I-864. This form is not required for K visas. Documentation regarding financial support can be in any form so long as it contains enough detail and information for the consular officer to conclude that the beneficiary will not become a public charge. Petitioners may submit the "old" Affidavit of Support form I-134 if they wish.
After a consular officer has reviewed the case, your Fiancé will be interviewed. The consular officer will ask your Fiancé questions about your relationship, such as how you met and when you decided to marry. The consular officer is required by law to verify that your relationship with your fiancée is real, that you met at least once within the last two years, and that you do intend to marry within 90 days of your Fiancé's arrival in the United States. Your Fiancé will be required to sign a statement regarding his or her legal capacity to marry and intention to marry. The consular officer will thoroughly review the case to make sure that your Fiancé is eligible to receive a U.S. visa. Provided everything is in order at the time of the interview, your Fiancé will receive a visa the same day. Your Fiancé and each dependent child will pay a $65.00 non-refundable machine-readable-visa fee on the day of the interview. This fee must be paid in cash in U.S. or Polish currency.
If your fiancée is not issued a visa, he or she will be given notification in writing at the time of the interview. Please review this notification before contacting the Embassy with questions about the case.
Supporting documentation, including the K petition, birth certificate, Nonimmigrant Visa Application, and medical exam will be placed in a sealed envelope and given to the applicant for presentation to INS at the port of entry. We do not keep copies of this documentation at the Embassy.
