Living with foreign spouse in their country. How long before immigrating?

[AlexBa 5]

In the eyes of the consular, how long should husband and wife live together before spouse immigrates to US? I am able to take a 3 month leave of absence from my job. Would this be considered enough time spent together? When I do arrive in Nigeria it will make my 5th trip there.

[The Mean Lady 604]

Since you've visited 4 times before, I don't see why you HAVE to leave there at all.

A lot of couples immigrate and never live together at all. Just visits.

[AlexBa 5]

Since you've visited 4 times before, I don't see why you HAVE to leave there at all.

A lot of couples immigrate and never live together at all. Just visits.

[The Mean Lady 604]

obviously i meant *live* there, not leave there.

In case anyone misunderstands.

[AlexBa 5]

Logically that would make sense. However we are talking about Nigeria. A little background might make things a little clearer. Our original I-129f was returned to USCIS as we were denied the K-1 visa. Reason: Beneficiary only marrying to immigrate to the US. We already have that red flag. The longest time we have spent together at one time is 3 weeks. It has been recommended that I move there to continue to show that our marriage is legitamate. My question is this: Will 3 months suffice for demonstating that we are indeed committed to our marriage? When this journey started a few years ago it was with the intent for my husband to move here to the US.

[The Mean Lady 604]

Logically that would make sense. However we are talking about Nigeria. A little background might make things a little clearer. Our original I-129f was returned to USCIS as we were denied the K-1 visa. Reason: Beneficiary only marrying to immigrate to the US. We already have that red flag. The longest time we have spent together at one time is 3 weeks. It has been recommended that I move there to continue to show that our marriage is legitamate. My question is this: Will 3 months suffice for demonstating that we are indeed committed to our marriage? When this journey started a few years ago it was with the intent for my husband to move here to the US.

How many times had you visited when your 129 was denied?

[Darnell 8,478]

i would like to know the entire backstory before commenting.

[souleymon 27]

i would like to know the entire backstory before commenting.

:blink:

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

How many times did you visit before the first denial? How many times, and for how long, since? Did any of your family travel with you to the wedding or at any other time?

No body can tell you for sure how many visits. how long a time living together will get the approval. The longer you can spend, the better.

[AlexBa 5]

i would like to know the entire backstory before commenting.

[AlexBa 5]

We had only met one time before the interview and that was when we were engaged. I was unable to go back before that due to my brother having terminal cancer. My brother has been deceased now for over a year. My husband never got to meet him. Anyway, back on topic. We were very naive when it came to Nigeria immigration and didn't find VJ until after we had filed. My husband didn't have a computer until we married. LOL. We are technically challenged. So when the I-129 was sent in all we had was a photo album (for those reading-dont't send an album)our text messages and no phone logs as we both had prepaid phones. We saved all our calling cards but they don't count anymore. The interview took all of 2 minutes. K-1 denied due to beneficiary only marrying to immigrate to us. I was sent email stating I could refile I-129 or go to Nigeria and marry. We married in Sept 2011 at which time I stayed 3 wks. Went back in Feb 2012 where we flew to Calabar to visit family and friends. Traveled again for our 1st anniversary in Sept 2012. There you have the short version. Back to my original question. Will 3 months spent consegutively together in Nija be enough time together to demonstrate that our marriage is indeed legitamate?

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

My answer remains the same: It will help (as will your other visits, but no-one can tell you for sure. No-one can say "If you stay 2/3/6 months, you will definitely get approved."

[onye uwaoma 131]

If you do a through research about those who got visa approval even with a single visit of about one week, it will amaze you to know how difficult your question now is, since there are some strong proof of genuine relationship other than mere number of visits... You know some people may not have the money and all the time to travel to where their spouses are, yet that alone wouldn't affect the main bona fide of their relationship... The CO knows what to expect from real couple to be able to determined their genuine intents... You have had a great visit if that's all that counts... Good luck!

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Your first petition was inadequate and you got denied. Had you not had a first petition your second seems more than enough. But you have a denial so you have a slightly higher bar to meet. From what I have seen the magic number is about a month of face time with at least one trip of more than 2 weeks. You have covered the family and friends angle ( if you spent 3 months there in a hotel and never got to meet mom and dad that is a large red flag) They will probably still investigate a bit more because of the original denial. One woman I know of ( no longer around ) got denied and went and stayed for months and still got denied when the home visit revealed that the "cousin" that lived in the compound was really a traditional wife. ( the fool tried to convince her they could all be a happy family when confronted) So the answer to getting an approval is probably but ...

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.