1-130 Visa Timeline - Only 30 Days

After we decided we wanted to spend our lives together, we had to deal with how do we get together. Where to we live? Malaysia or the US? We decided to try both. The only way he was ever going to get into Malaysia was to get a job there. We tried many ways, submitted many resume's but to no avail. So we opted for the 2nd best option and immediately set out to find out to brave the I-130 jungle.

Naturally, we searched online and were baffled by what we found. There was so much! It is so easy to be overwhelmed by the information you get and it can make you very nervous, very worried trying to think if you have everything and if you have what it takes to be approved. As with everything else on the net, a lot are advertisements be it application how-to kits or immigration lawyers. Some are truly helpful sites for those who think it better to brave it themselves like we did and save some bucks. Whichever way you choose, we want to say it is not as bad as it seems to be and it is not quite as complicated as it looks. However we do not deny it can be heartbreaking.

Since there are so many sites offering help and information on I-130, we will not go thru that but we would rather recommend you to The I-130 Help site. You will find this in the K-1 Ring of Gold below. This site has helped us time and again and is one that we continually refer to in our journey. It has good links to all the information that you NEED to know and WANT to know.

One of THE MAIN questions for us was HOW LONG? We were anxious yes and I bet you are too. It is no fun being apart after a while, especially when you are both committed and sure about each other. Everyone's experience is different. We have however made an observation that if petition is filed in the US, it can take longer than filing with the US embassy of a foreign country....BUT!!!! we are not experts or lawyers. This is not a definitive statement but merely an observation.

We were very fortunate and we owe as big part of this to the efficient staff of the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. All in all, we completed the process in 30 days, much quicker than anyone we have known so far. But please do not be mislead. Our quick approval was largely credited to our months of research and preparation. We collected every single documentation and anything that might help the documentation ahead of time. If it all could be done in one day, we could have produced every document required immediately and we think that is the key. PREPARATION! PREPARATION! PREPARATION! Below is the timeline how long it took us. Good Luck to you!

Update 2/16/2002
By now, the K3 Visa has been in place for a while. This book was written prior to the LIFE Act and our experiences that happened before the Act (you lucky sods ;) so anyway, be aware that even without applying for the K3, we completed our process rather quickly. Whether you are applying for the K3 or not, we think this book should still be able to assist you in your preparations. If you have not heard about the LIFE Act, please click here to find out. I could be worth your while. Unfortunately we cannot provide more assistance on that because we never had the chance to go that route. So do check it out at the INS website. It could mean you don't have to stay apart while processing your visa!