K1 fiance visa - once approved, how long until visa arrives in the mail?

[tinto]

Hi,

My fiance has an interview on June 7th at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires for the K1 fiance visa. Everything has gone smoothly until now so we expect them to approve him with no problems.

Has anyone been through this process recently and received a K1 visa? How many business days after the interview/approval did you receive the packet and visa stamp in passport so you could fly to the U.S.?

I found conflicting information on the website. One part said within one week, but the FAQs below don't make any sense:
http://argentina.usembassy.gov/faqs4-.html#c

How long after the interview will the visa be issued?

On the day of your interview, if you are found to be fully documented and eligible to receive a fiancé or immigrant visa, the visa will be issued to you the same day and delivered w/ the pacakge by DHL.

If the visa is not issued at the time of interview, how can I collect it?

You can come back to the consulate on any day after issuance of the visa to collect your visa in person, or arrangements can be made to have the visa mailed to you. Instructions for mailing of your visa will be given to you on the day of your interview.

Here's where it talks about one week:
http://argentina.usembassy.gov/immigrant_visas/how-to-begin-an-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-the-visa-interview-and-adjudication.html

If all the required documentation is in order and the interviewing officer is satisfied that the beneficiary qualifies for the immigrant visa, the visa will be authorized and you will receive your visa within one week. If not, you will be instructed how to proceed with your case.

Please be advised that if your visa is approved, you will pay for the visa delivery service with our designated courier, DHL before you leave the Embassy compound.

 

[Wisconsin]

I don't have an answer for you as I just sent my first packet in, but I do have a question. How long has the process taken so far for you? Did you get any RFEs? Time for the waiting to begin! Congrats to you!

 

[Heather G]

I believe the visa is "granted" in the moment of the interview, then you leave your fiance's passport with them, pay the dhl office outside and they send it to you, that is the part that can take a week.

 

[tinto]

I'm just curious if it actually takes a week. The interview is a Thursday at 9 am so in theory he should have it by the following Thursday (which is a U.S. holiday but the visa and packet should already be in transit by then).

Wisconsin:
The USCIS received my petition for the K1 fiance visa on 8/6/09
I received the approval in the mail on 11/6/09 - fairly quickly!

Then my fiance and I had to ask for an extension from the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires because of tragic circumstances in his family that required me to move back to Buenos Aires for 2 years to help out/support them.

I moved back to the U.S. at the end of 2011. My fiance submitted the fiance visa packet to the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires on 5/10/12. On 5/15/12 they emailed back with his interview date of 6/7/12!

We didn't have any RFE. For the petition (I-129F, etc.), I submitted a fairly long document with emails we had written in Spanish that I translated to English. We also submitted lots of photos with captions. And maybe a few receipts from trips but we didn't have too many of these. During the 2-year gap, we emailed the Embassy every six months with an update on our timeline so that our case would remain active.

Then for the actual fiance visa packet (all the DS- forms, etc.), for evidence we submitted more emails, photos, only one travel receipt, and a couple of wedding invitations addressed to both of us.

One thing they asked my fiance to bring for the interview was the following:
Police Certificates. The certificate specifically mention that the certificate is requested “con excepción al artículo 51 del
Código Penal”
He has to go back to get his "antecedentes penales" certificate of no criminal background with that line on it, apparently, because the copy he submitted was just a regular one.

You can look online at all the forms for the fiance visa packet, including the affidavit of support. Get a head start on the non-time-sensitive ones because there is a ton of paperwork. For example, if your fiance(e)'s vaccinations aren't up to date, s/he can get them now. Hep A, Hep B, etc. Some you don't need to enter the U.S., but you'll need them later after you're married so might as well get those out of the way. Things like the medical exam from the Embassy-approved doctor, criminal background check from Argentina, and financial information must be current. However you can start getting an idea of what they need from the sponsor.

Hope that helps!