Another child inquiry for the experts! 2 children,,,,only 1 will come on K2

[bcoghl]

On the I-129 it asks for all children of your fiance.  My challenge is this:

My fiance and her parents have decided that only the oldest daughter, 16 years old, will come with my fiance, K-2.  The youngest daughter will remain in Ukraine and come over a couple of years later.  This was not my decision, nor is it why I proposed. 

My question:  On the I-129 it asks for the names of the children....should I insert both, or only the daughter that will be traveling with her mother.  I don't want any confusion later on when they receive the info for the interview and visa processing.

Thoughts on the form only, please.  The moral, or immoral, reasons for only 1 daughter have been discussed in length and the family has made their decision.  Not to my liking, but I am not the family YET.

Appreciate any info anyone can give.

Thanks!  Brian

[JR]

How is the question worded?
Is it asking for how many children she has? (The mentality may be that however many children there are eventually they'll be coming over)
Or is it asking how many will accompany her?
Remember the form is for immigration not sensus.

[bcoghl]

The I-129 asks and I quote:

"list all children of your alien fiance"

I am wondering about "inferance" as it relates to the K-2.  That is my concern.

[calmissile]

I just checked my I-129F which was approved by USCIS this week.  The form asks about her life, including all her children, ex-husbands, etc.  They want the info on all of her children regardless of age.  In our case, she has a son that is over 21 so cannot come on her visa.  It was necessary to list both children anyway.

I recall on the State Department web site, there was a question about 'Can children come later?'  You might want to search for that answer and find out what the rules are for this situation.

Hope this helps... Good luck.    BTW, the USCIS approval took 5 months and 4 days for approval.

[bcoghl]

Doug,

Thanks for the clarification.  Yes, on the K1, children can come within year of the parent.  I was just confused because of my own confusion.  Thanks for setting me straight.

[calmissile]

Probably not necessary now, but since I found the quote I will post it for anyone else that is interested.

Are My Children Required to Travel with Me?
Your children may travel with (accompany) you to the United States or travel later (follow-to-join). Like you, your children must travel within the validity of their K-2 visas. Separate petitions are not required if the children accompany or follow to join you within one year from the date of issuance of your K-1 visa. If they want to travel later than one year from the date your K-1 visa was issued, they will not be eligible to receive K-2 visas, and separate immigrant visa petitions will be required. If your child has a valid K-2 visa and you have already adjusted status to that of permanent resident, your child may still travel on the K-2 visa.


I also recommend to my friends to use a visa agency whenever possible. The costs were well worth the money.  They also can help avoid mistakes in the applicaton which will create delays in the process.  Our K-1/K-2 filing is over 1/2 inch thick of paperwork including all the supporting documentation.  The nighmare was so much easier using a professional to organize everything for both of us....... just my 2 cents worth.

[Gator]

My question:  On the I-129 it asks for the names of the children....should I insert both, or only the daughter that will be traveling with her mother.  I don't want any confusion later on when they receive the info for the interview and visa processing.

List both children.  This is the standard for all entries:  the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. 
 
Regarding the implications of leaving one child behind for a couple of years, does your UW family recognize that another petition will be required?  This will take time and money, and there is always the possibility for delays in receiving approval.  You could check with an immigration attorney or at least some experienced laymen such as Visajourney.com.

[ML]

I also recommend to my friends to use a visa agency whenever possible. The costs were well worth the money.  They also can help avoid mistakes in the applicaton which will create delays in the process.  Our K-1/K-2 filing is over 1/2 inch thick of paperwork including all the supporting documentation.  The nighmare was so much easier using a professional to organize everything for both of us....... just my 2 cents worth.

I have opposite recommendation re use of 'help.'

In the process of doing anything like  this, the affected persons have to actually come up with all the documents needed.  When you get a third party involved, what they frequently do is screw up something.  They aren't as careful as affected persons because it isn't their life.

I have sold 4 pieces of property in last year.  I can type up deeds myself, but this state requires that deeds by typed up by lawyers, which really means their clerical staff.  So in each case, there were typos, etc., that held up the closings.

I will have a hellacious tax return to file for 2011 tax year.  Each time I am tempted to think of using a tax accountant . . . I remember my own words typed above, that I will really have to come up with each and every fragment of paper and number myself to give to them.  All they can then do is screw it up.

If one doesn't have enough expertise after reading the rules, then ask as many questions for free as you can and even pay for some expertise; but then prepare all  documents (visa apps, tax returns) yourself.

[calmissile]

ML,  How many K-1/K-2 have you prepared and submitted?

[viking]

I cannot question the reasons why one child will be left behind, but who knows if and when this decision may be reversed. List ALL the children. List the one staying behind as a K2 to follow. You then have one year from the time the mothers visa was issued to have this one go for an interview. One year is a long time. Perhaps after being here for awhile her mother may change her mind. It should not affect anything later on, but does provide an avenue in the short term.

[Jack]

ML,  How many K-1/K-2 have you prepared and submitted?

cal, ML chooses what questions from the peanut gallery he is going to answer.

cal, is this going to be a multi-part quiz?

Are we ALL all going to post our experiences with K-1's?

Point me to the thread where this info for everyone is/will be posted.

[JR]

I was just confused because of my own confusion. 

Sounds confusing ))

[ML]

ML,  How many K-1/K-2 have you prepared and submitted?

Re-read my post.

I was giving my general thoughts on the preparation of documents and forms for all types of situations.  Pretty clear I would say, based on the two examples I gave.

[Turboguy]

As far as the slightly off topic question of if you are better off doing it yourself or getting help I have seen this discussed a million times here and on VJ (ok, I am exaggerating.  It was probably only 50-60 times.)   
 
I think I first got interested in this question when I filed my first K-1 on the exact same day that one of our other RWD members did, with me doing it without help and him using an attorney. 
 
What I believe is that unless you have a complicated situation most people are better off doing it themselves for the exact reason ML says.  Adding a third person will slow it down and add to the chances of problems. 
 
 

[Faux Pas]

As far as the slightly off topic question of if you are better off doing it yourself or getting help I have seen this discussed a million times here and on VJ (ok, I am exaggerating.  It was probably only 50-60 times.)   
 
I think I first got interested in this question when I filed my first K-1 on the exact same day that one of our other RWD members did, with me doing it without help and him using an attorney. 
 
What I believe is that unless you have a complicated situation most people are better off doing it themselves for the exact reason ML says.  Adding a third person will slow it down and add to the chances of problems.

So, what was the outcome of your K-1 versus the other member? Time and result?

[Turboguy]

Well there is more to the story.  He had started with another lawyer and the guy just set on things for months.  So he then changed lawyers and our K-1's (with his new lawyer) were filed the same day.   Lawyers do so many and most of the work is done by the assistant they hired last week.   The other guy got an RFE because the lawyer forgot to send everything.   Mine sailed right through.   The other member found working with a lawyer to be a pain and to cause delays.  For example if there is an RFE, it sits on the lawyers desk until he gets to it, then he writes the applicant for the info.  The applicant sends the lawyer the info and then when he gets to it he sends it in.  The other thing he noticed was he never heard anything.  The communciation goes to the lawyer if you use one and to you if you don't so you may or may not know for a while or at all if you get your NOA1 or NOA2 etc.
 
Anyway I gained a month on him until it reached the embassy.  He was using Kiev and I was using Moscow and Kiev let he gain most of that month back so our visas were issued about the same time but my real processing time was a month faster than his. 
 
I applied for 2 K-1's for my first fiancee, (the second was withdrawn 10 days after filing and one for my wife and managed to never get an RFE.  If someone just pays attention to the instructions and spends some time on VJ it is really a pretty easy process.  My wife and I did get into Administrative Review for quite a while but that had nothing to do with the application. 
 
If someone has problems like a criminal record or something that makes it unique they should definately use a lawyer but for the run of the mill every day K-1/ K/2 a lawyer will slow the process and increase the likleyhoold of RFE's and delays. 

[Faux Pas]

If someone has problems like a criminal record or something that makes it unique they should definately use a lawyer but for the run of the mill every day K-1/ K/2 a lawyer will slow the process and increase the likleyhoold of RFE's and delays.

Thanks TG. I was just curious about the comparison. I filed my own as well. I had no problem with packet whatsoever. Actually, I was surprised at how easy it was to do. I should note that mine took 11 months to reach approval with zero RFEs. The timeline at VJ was 8 months when I filed. There was a RWD member that filed after me and got an approval in just under six months. I do not know if he used a lawyer or not.

I made countless trips to the local USCIS office (200 miles round trip) and could not get a direct answer for anything. It wasn't until I notified my US Senator's office that it was approved. In all that time never a request for more evidence or any notification after the NOA. It was damn frustrating.

I can't see where a lawyer would make any difference though. Seems like wasted money to me as well as another useless step in an already frustrating process. IMHO

[Turboguy]

Some people just like the comfort of having someone do it for them.  Others fall for the false claims that the lawyer would get it approved faster.   I would think most of the second catagory would have fallen by the wayside after falling for the claims on pay by the letter sites with fake ladies.   
 
There is no preference given to an application filed by a lawyer and if nothing else the time you lose from getting your material ready until seeing the lawyer will be wasted time and everyone doing a K-1 seems to be on pins and needles until it is approved.