The requirement of seeing eachother hasn't happened yet!!

[Cham 3]

might I ask WHY does she not want to leave the USA? if this important to her she will.

Otherwise it just wont happen and your petition will be rejected. Photos are a HUGE part of having met with pictures of you both together.

[Old Dominion 26]

As others have observed, some couples have never met before getting the K1 visa. My friend had medical reasons for not traveling to the climate in the Phils. They first met when she arrived at a nearby airport. But that was 16 years ago. Even at that, it took political pressure to be persuasive.

Out of curiosity, does she dislike the idea of traveling outside US borders for a reason other than a fear of flying? What is your country?

[FCH 1]

WOW!! Not even one person encourages us to start with that. It seems that you are all sure that they won't approve the petition, will they?!! Can't I just say that we hadn't met because I was denied a visa.

Anyways, I think that meeting in a neutral country is the best thing to do. In that case, I will need to keep some photos for us and copies of our tickets maybe. Anything else?!!

Any other opinions, please.

its not that we dont encourage you.

the thing about VJ is, you ask for their opinion and you get it.

when we started the whole K1 process, i thought it was just sending papers and stuff but it was more than that. not to mention the expenses, all files you have to carefully lay out and updating your papers... and then the dreadful wait. its emotionally draining.

K1 or K3 or any process having family or loved ones come over to be together is also a pure test of love and patience. and evidence of that love or relationship.

im sure many would agree that it is a rettible waiting game but all worth it, believe me.

so if you cant comply with meeting you fiance then dont go through it cos other than the fees, the paper work and waiting and all... its just gonna fall on frustration.

meeting in a neutral country might work.

but just remember the basic need is... you have to meet.

and i really wish you guys will.

4 years in a relationship has gotta be something worth trying everything for.

best of luck.

[rmncm 0]

I'm just guessing but maybe the USC has a reason not to visit....maybe they were denied a passport due to a felony or child support or some other reason...If this is the case then this whole process is going to take much much longer. Listen to everyone, you have to meet in person or you'll be denied but if you want to file then by all meens do so and waste your money.

[Kwagga 0]

My fiance doesn't fly at all, and it took me 10 years to make that flight to the US to be with him. I regret having waited all those years to be with him, but I'm now as happy as anything knowing that soon we'll be together forever.

One of you have to make that flight sooner or later if you're serious about your relationship, else you not going to be able to go ahead with the K1.

[Anna and Jeff 3]

"Pursuant to 8 C.F.R. $ 214.2(k)(2), the petitioner may be exempted from this requirement for a meeting if it is

established that compliance would:

(1) result in extreme hardship to the petitioner; or

(2) that compliance would violate strict and long-established customs of the beneficiary's

foreign culture or social practice, as where marriages are traditionally arranged by the

parents of the contracting parties and the prospective bride and groom are prohibited

fi-om meeting subsequent to the arrangement and prior to the wedding day. In addition to

establishing that the required meeting would be a violation of custom or practice, the

petitioner must also establish that any and all other aspects of the traditional

arrangements have been or will be met in accordance with the custom or practice."

That is what you are up against. G/L to you. - J

[rebeccajo 14]

Just to make you happy though, I'll be the maverick and encourage you to file without meeting. It won't succeed but our government could use the $455 donation, particularly if it's coming from you, the foreigner.

[♥Stiggy♥ 0]

Hope you can meet before you waste your $ applying

Edited January 27, 2009 by ♥Stiggy♥

[nowhereman 1]

To the OP: The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off.

[maliciant 7]

If you can't get a visa... and she can't get on a plane because she has an extreme phobia about it and can get medical documentation stating that's the case... then *maybe* it could be waived, but honestly, you just need to know why she won't leave the US to meet you, honestly though if it's not possible to meet, it's probably not going to be possible to get married either.

[maya62 7]

I just wanna know if it is at all possible to apply for the k1 visa with a reasonable explanation for the lack of that requirement. Is it at all possible to start?

It is NOT possible to petition for a fiance one has never met in person - it will be rejected and the fee will not be returned.

(This will occur in virtually every case - the only exception would be if you had not met for religious reasons - and forget about developing 'sudden religious reasons' because they know which circumstances this applies to.)

Just to reinforce what has already been said, you can look at the cases of people who have gone before you.

Go to www.uscis.gov, click on the "Laws and Regulations" link at the top. Then click on the "administrative decisions" link on the left.

From there, click on the "administrative decisions" link near the bottom of the page, and search for "D6 - Fiancees and Fiances of U.S. Citizen (K-1)".

Now you can look at the administrative decisions issued in any year you like. It shows cases that were denied and appealed, and what decision was made and why.

You'll note that somewhere around 1/3 of the K-1 cases that reach this stage do so because the petitioner and beneficiary didn't provide proof of meeting in person during the required time frame. Every one of these cases that I've seen was denied (I haven't looked at them all, though, so maybe there's an exception somewhere). Failure to provide proof of the in-person meeting seems to be the biggest single reason for denial of K-1 cases.

If you're bored and/or you want to see the reasons for other cases' failures so that you may avoid them, there's lots of interesting reading there.

I'll save you some time... I've read several years worth of these case decisions and found ONE instance of a person who had some kind of life-threatening, chronic, extremely well-documented (from what I gathered) illness that prevented him from flying. I think his fiancee had documentation of having been denied a tourist visa, too. Other than that, dozens of cases where the USCIS denial was upheld.

Still haven't heard why the USC doesn't want to leave the US to meet her future husband...

Best of luck, whatever you decide.

[KimandRuss 0]

There's no need for rude comments or suggestions. It doesn't help anybody.

The OP is obviously just looking for a way to be with the person he loves. I think most of us have felt some sense of desperation with the process. Let's just give him the answers he's looking for and accept that he wont be happy with the truth. None of us would be. I know I wasn't!

I know i've heard of just the one case mentioned above moving forward without having met this requirement. I'm sorry to say but if you send the petition without having met it's very likely you will wait for quite some time only to have your petition returned with no refund.

good luck to you!

[Saddle Bronc 124]

WOW!! Not even one person encourages us to start with that. It seems that you are all sure that they won't approve the petition, will they?!! Can't I just say that we hadn't met because I was denied a visa.

Anyways, I think that meeting in a neutral country is the best thing to do. In that case, I will need to keep some photos for us and copies of our tickets maybe. Anything else?!!

Any other opinions, please.

Sales-pitch alert. I agree with that, and am suggesting the third-country: Canada (specifically, Calgary area).

[Stinky Monkey 1]

Maybe she would go on a ship somewhere and you can fly out to meet her.......................

Drive to Mexico, we had a great holiday there last year

Where there is a will there is a way

I know that in the UK you can get help for people who have a phobia of flying, maybe she could go on one of those cources for people with a fear of flying

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hello,

I'm so happy that I found this place. Now I can post everything that will happen to me and my future wife. We can post together and hopefully get the encouragement that we really need.

Anywas, she wants to apply for a k1 fiancee visa for me with USCIS. We just need to know one thing before we start with this. I tried to apply for a visitor visa but was denied twice. And she doesn't want to leave the U.S. So, one requirement is missing here. We have never met. But we have been corresponding for 4 years now. We have sent photos and always talked on the phone. I just wanna know if it is at all possible to apply for the k1 visa with a reasonable explanation for the lack of that requirement. Is it at all possible to start?

No, unless you can prove that some religious reason prevents from meeting before. Good luck with that.

Another consideration is the reasons you were denied visas. It is not unusual for the USA to deny tourist visas to people from certain countries, and if this is the reason, it is not a problem. If there were some other reason, this could be a problem.

But somehow you will have to plan to meet in person. In case you wonder it does NOT have to be your country or the USA, it can be anywhere, if that helps.