Tough CO questions relationship due to recent divorce

[Bertls Engelchen 0]

My fiance had his 1st interview on 8/19 and was told that everything looked fine and that his visa would arrive in a week. But instead, he was called back to a 2nd interview on 9/21 where he was grilled by a tough Consular who asked him a bunch of questions about my parent's and brother's history and my financial situation. She didnt' even want to look at the photographs he brought and thought it was ridiculous that he also brought the receipt of the engagement ring. He had a stack of our e-mails from the past two years, but since all our e-mails are in German, she told him that she needed them in English (though their instructions stated that documents can be in the native language of the beneficiary!). Her final instructions to him were for me to send her additional financial documents (in original) and the e-mails in English for further review.

After calming down from this major road block in our journey, I tried to analyze my situation from an objective point of view. I can see why she might question our relationship, as we were both married when began communicating in 7/2007. My divorce was final in 11/2008 and his divorce was final in 1/2009. He visited me here in US in 12/2008 and 12/2009. The reason I never visited him (which she also questioned) was because of financial reasons and my three young kids. Another possible red flag is that he still lives with his ex in the same apartment, although the CO did not question him on that (Their divorce was mutual, she knows about us and she agreed that he can stay there til he gets his visa, instead of having to find a new place... ).

In addition to translating e-mails from the past two years, I thought that maybe a personal letter addressed to the CO may help, in which I was going to tell her exactly how our relationship evolved while we were in a crumbling marriage. Yes, the whold thing did start out as an affair in the beginning, but it is what it is and unless you lived in our shoes no one shall judge... I asked a VJ member to read my my letter and she was kind enough to give me her honest feedback. She felt that talking about our relationship as an affair until we got divorced might not be such a good idea.

I personally thought that by being brutally honest and opening up my heart and soul might show the CO that our love is for real, but maybe I'm wrong?! So here's my question: Is giving too much detail or too much of the truth maybe not so good?? Please let me know what you think! I'm so confused now!

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

It's difficult to say whether the CO's motives are what you believe they were, based only on what you've written here. You think your recent divorces may be the primary cause for their suspicion. From what you describe, this is certainly a possibility. However, I don't understand how this is related to your "parent's and brother's history" and your "financial situation".

I think it's more likely that whatever they suspect is directly related somehow to the questions they asked at the second interview, and the additional evidence they requested.

Based on what little information you've provided, I'm going to conjure up a theory, Sherlock Holmes style. Forgive me if I'm completely off base with any of this.

Did your brother sponsor a foreign fiancee or bride in the past? Did your parents co-sponsor for him? Was he married before he met his foreign bride, and did he divorce just prior to sponsoring her? Did he subsequently divorce, and now his immigrant ex-wife has legal status in the US? Has he since reunited with his previous wife, or has she reunited with and/or sponsored her previous ex-husband? Bear in mind that these are all questions that the CO would most certainly know the answer to.

Now, let's switch to your case. They are asking you for "original" financial documents. Would these happen to be detailed bank statements? Are your parents also co-sponsoring your fiance? Are they also asking for bank statements from your parents?

If the answers to many or most of these questions is "yes", then they suspect you and your brother may be involved in visa fraud, and that you may have been paid to sponsor a foreign fiance or spouse. There are red flags to make them suspect this. A US citizen involved in this sort of scheme will often get a "temporary divorce" so that they can qualify to be sponsors. The timing of the divorce relative to the visa application process is a red flag. Also, a US citizen involved in such a scheme will usually have limited financial resources or financial problems that gives them a motive to become involved in the scheme for profit. The fact that they didn't ask your fiance any questions about his ex-wife living in the same apartment doesn't mean they didn't know about this or find it suspicious - it may only mean they didn't care to hear any explanations or excuses from him about it. If they're asking for bank statements, then they're looking for evidence of the "payments".

If this may be what the CO is suspicious of, or if you think you have a good idea what their suspicions are, then first focus on addressing those suspicions. At this point, it doesn't sound like they are much interested in any evidence you have of an ongoing relationship because they think the relationship is a sham. They can ask for the emails to be translated if they like - emails are not "documents" - they are "evidence". I suspect that rejecting them because of the language was an excuse not to look at them. Odds are that the CO speaks enough German to understand them. The thing is that a visa scammer could come up with plenty of photos and emails also, and if they are suspecting a scam then they want to see unbiased evidence that either confirms or denies their suspicions.