How long does it take to go through each step of filing the fiance visa for a Filipina girl ?

Question

I finally sent off my petition for my fiance in the philippines and I am trying to get some insight on how everything works from this point forward. I have heard that it takes six months but i am starting to think that this is pretty impossibe to acheive. My petition was recieved and is currently still pending at the USCIS office in California. I was told that it "if approved", it would be forwarded to the National Visa Center for processing and then forwarded to the US Embassy in Manila for a scheduled interview with a US consular officer. I have all of my paperwork, pictures, letters/emails, proof of engagement, and other documents on file but i am just worried about the time issue. My papers were recieved at the USCIS on May 14, 2007 so i am trying to find an accurate timeline on how long each step takes. Im sure there must be someone who has been through a similar situation and may be able to tell me more about how it goes from this point. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

you can go to http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1li...  and there are other people and a timeline that you can go to for more help. it will give u a timeline that other people went through for their visas.

Answer 2

I gather petition processing times are a bit slow right now.  Don't be afraid to telephone them to find out.  You will get a receipt once your application is approved.  It is actually pretty hard for the initial petition not to be approved so don't worry about that.

The big unknown is how long it will take for the petition to be dealt with at the Manila Embassy.  Partly, that depends on your fiancee.  Has she visited the manila Embassy website?  Procedures are different for each Embassy.  She will need to think  about birth certificate, police report and inoculations.  Please bear in mind that the Philipines is bad for visa fraud.  They will scrutinize her application very closely, which takes more time.

As a guide, I had my petition approved in June 2001 and had my interview just over four months later, in October 2001.  That waas from the London Embassy, which has quite a quick turnaround.

What you might want to think about is the wedding.  As I am sure you are aware, it is beneficial to get married as soon as possible after the immigrant arrives in the USA.  My wife and I opted for a quick ceremony in front of the Mayor a few days after we arrived and then organized another ceremony a few months later, along with a nice reception for our family and friends.  I have known others who wanted to be married just the once and wanted the big wedding.  That caused them considerable anxiety as they tried to plan everything around a date they could not pin down until a few weeks before.  I know this last bit is not what you asked, but thought I'd throw it in anyway.