K1 Denial & Trip to the Consular

[DonnaMarie 0]

I think the CO's decisions are arbitrary. My friend's friend from Morocco just got approved for a K1 finace visa in Morocco from a women he met online from Ohio. She never even met him in person until 1 week before the interview. They spent absolutely no time together and he was approved. The time together doesn't matter if it did they should have been denied. They met on the internet we met in person. They were approved. I was denied. She went to the interview. I didn't. I think I made the fatal mistake of not being there.

[pushbrk 12,886]

I think the CO's decisions are arbitrary. My friend's friend from Morocco just got approved for a K1 finace visa in Morocco from a women he met online from Ohio. She never even met him in person until 1 week before the interview. They spent absolutely no time together and he was approved. The time together doesn't matter if it did they should have been denied. They met on the internet we met in person. They were approved. I was denied. She went to the interview. I didn't. I think I made the fatal mistake of not being there.

Seems you're in denial. Your friend would have had to show primary evidence of meeting in person during the two years prior to filing the petition, or her petition would not have been approved. Also, her case circumstances may not have fit a fraud profile or had the red flags yours does. (We know nothing about your friend's case except the errant information you gave above.) If you want a better understanding of why the visa was denied, provide the following information.

Detailed report of all questions and answers from the interview. He should make it as verbatim as possible, so the sooner the better. You'll need this to know how to proceed, whether you post it here or not.

You're ten years older than him. Do you share a religion? Are you divorced? If you are both Muslim, when and why did you become Muslim.

Please don't go off on how age and religion don't matter. As a matter of culture, in North Africa, they DO matter and that's what is important, not your perfectly understandable feelings about it. The sooner you get your head around that and set the indignation aside, the sooner you'll get on a path that will actually help you be together.

[moroccogirlny 100]

I think the CO's decisions are arbitrary. My friend's friend from Morocco just got approved for a K1 finace visa in Morocco from a women he met online from Ohio. She never even met him in person until 1 week before the interview. They spent absolutely no time together and he was approved. The time together doesn't matter if it did they should have been denied. They met on the internet we met in person. They were approved. I was denied. She went to the interview. I didn't. I think I made the fatal mistake of not being there.

I wouldn't believe that story. They had to have met in person prior to filing the fiance visa otherwise USCIS would not have approved the petition.

[R and F 34]

Seems you're in denial. Your friend would have had to show primary evidence of meeting in person during the two years prior to filing the petition, or her petition would not have been approved. Also, her case circumstances may not have fit a fraud profile or had the red flags yours does. (We know nothing about your friend's case except the errant information you gave above.) If you want a better understanding of why the visa was denied, provide the following information.

Detailed report of all questions and answers from the interview. He should make it as verbatim as possible, so the sooner the better. You'll need this to know how to proceed, whether you post it here or not.

You're ten years older than him. Do you share a religion? Are you divorced? If you are both Muslim, when and why did you become Muslim.

Please don't go off on how age and religion don't matter. As a matter of culture, in North Africa, they DO matter and that's what is important, not your perfectly understandable feelings about it. The sooner you get your head around that and set the indignation aside, the sooner you'll get on a path that will actually help you be together.

Edited June 17, 2011 by R and F

[DonnaMarie 0]

I wouldn't go off on you about religion. I didn't think that it would matter until you just brought it up. I have never been married and neither has he. Therefore, no divorces on either side. I am not muslim. I am waiting for a response via email from the Moroccon Consulate regarding the questions and denial. They will not give me that information over the phone. Obviously there really isn't an appeal process for a denial of the k1 visa. Either resubmit a new one or marriage. Would a immigration attorney help?

[Golden Gate 530]

He answered a question that was asked as to why there are so many denials in Morocco.

He wasn't giving his opinion of the OP's relationship.

No need to pound me in the head for it!

[Golden Gate 530]

We spent the three weeks when I initially met him in May and then I flew back to Rome for 10days in October. Then his interview was June. I was deciding if I should go to Morocco next week and try to speak to the consulate before they send the paperwork back. Or get my paperwork together to get married in a couple of weeks and then reapply for the k3. I am getting different responses.

Ok, so you met him in May, and he has just had his interview. So, it was within the first year that you petitioned him - that is probably a 'red flag' also.

You definately need to get all the questions and responses together that happened in the interview, like Pushbrk stated.

You will probably need to spend more time with him. Based on what has happened here recently with people - they have met someone, whichever way they met them, and have moved quickly to petitioning them or marrying them. That is what creates questions with THIS consulate, particularly. Plus the age difference and the religion difference. For Americans, this might not seem like problems, but for Moroccans, it becomes more of a problem. These are not the norms of their society. Look at the reviews for the Moroccan Consulate and see what has happened recently with other people. Research other people's experiences on here in relation to this consulate. Many people here have had to overcome these 'red flags', whether it is getting pregnant before the person comes here, being older, petitioning within the first year, not being Muslim, converting. Generally, it is harder to petition a younger man than if you were a man and petitioning a female from Morocco. It's best for you to educate yourself on this consulate and these experiences. The more you know, the better. I am not sure I would put my faith in an immigration attorney.

My apologies to Pushbrk. I know that you are very knowledgeable and I didn't mean to question you. It is just that your manner of writing is different than mine. I am not used to it.

Edited June 17, 2011 by Golden Gate

[jpaula 20]

One quick addition as the OP response seems a little confused on this point. It is not the CO who will tell you what was asked/how answered. Your fiance should tell you that in as much detail as possible so that you can make an educated (important, as others have mentioned, please read the experiences of others going through Casa) guess as to the CO's reasoning.

Good luck to you.

[DonnaMarie 0]

Thanks for your reply. The reason I petitioned him so quickly is because of my age. We want to have children and time is limited in our case and niether of us have been previously married or children. You raise a great point about pregnancy. You also raise another valid point about religious differences not being an issue in the US but more so in the Middle East. Cherkaoui has lived in Italy for over 18 years total so he has adopted more of the European customs than the middle eastern customs. The OC's dont understand that. And he could have married in Italy for citizenship with various women but would never marry for that purpose. Only love and the OC's dont understand that either because he couldn't communicate any of that to them. You are right about educating myself on the Casablanca consulate and spending more time with him in Morocco. I will patiently wait for the email response for the denial and questions. Thanks again for your time.

[Golden Gate 530]

Thanks for your reply. The reason I petitioned him so quickly is because of my age. We want to have children and time is limited in our case and niether of us have been previously married or children. You raise a great point about pregnancy. You also raise another valid point about religious differences not being an issue in the US but more so in the Middle East. Cherkaoui has lived in Italy for over 18 years total so he has adopted more of the European customs than the middle eastern customs. The OC's dont understand that. And he could have married in Italy for citizenship with various women but would never marry for that purpose. Only love and the OC's dont understand that either because he couldn't communicate any of that to them. You are right about educating myself on the Casablanca consulate and spending more time with him in Morocco. I will patiently wait for the email response for the denial and questions. Thanks again for your time.

Ok. But get the questions they asked him from him while it is fresh in his mind. What language did they speak with him? English? They will probably not tell you much.

[pushbrk 12,886]

Ok. But get the questions they asked him from him while it is fresh in his mind. What language did they speak with him? English? They will probably not tell you much.

I apologize for any confusion. The detailed report of questions and answers would come from the visa applicant, not the Consulate.

[DonnaMarie 0]

He was interviewed by 5 people total. 4 of them spoke English and French. Only 1 of them spoke some Arabic and Moroccon Arabic is different from Arabic and he could not translate very well for Cherkaoui. I will get the list from Cherkaoui. I think I will make 2 trips to Morocco and start the paperwork for marriage the first trip. And then go back again the second trip for marriage. That gives him time to learn English and more time for us to spend together to solidify our relationship. Cherkaoui is under the impression the paperwork is coming back to the US and they are going to reinterview me. He told me this information was given to him from someone that works in the consulate.

[pushbrk 12,886]

He was interviewed by 5 people total. 4 of them spoke English and French. Only 1 of them spoke some Arabic and Moroccon Arabic is different from Arabic and he could not translate very well for Cherkaoui. I will get the list from Cherkaoui. I think I will make 2 trips to Morocco and start the paperwork for marriage the first trip. And then go back again the second trip for marriage. That gives him time to learn English and more time for us to spend together to solidify our relationship. Cherkaoui is under the impression the paperwork is coming back to the US and they are going to reinterview me. He told me this information was given to him from someone that works in the consulate.

Just a bad translation/interpretation of what was said. He will have received a paper of some kind indicating what they would do. Most likely, it will go back to USCIS in CA or VT, as applicable to your original case. VT, sometimes give you a chance to rebut and then reaffirms the petition but, that's no guarantee of a visa.. CA, usually just informs you the petition approval has expired. VT sometimes does that too. Consular officers probably don't really know what's going to happen and have no control over it. There ARE some times that the petitioner would be interviewed but rarely and only if they are investigating YOU for fraud or misrepresentation.

[KittyPollitt 284]

He was interviewed by 5 people total. 4 of them spoke English and French. Only 1 of them spoke some Arabic and Moroccon Arabic is different from Arabic and he could not translate very well for Cherkaoui. I will get the list from Cherkaoui. I think I will make 2 trips to Morocco and start the paperwork for marriage the first trip. And then go back again the second trip for marriage. That gives him time to learn English and more time for us to spend together to solidify our relationship. Cherkaoui is under the impression the paperwork is coming back to the US and they are going to reinterview me. He told me this information was given to him from someone that works in the consulate.

I don't believe starting the paperwork in one trip and finishing in another will work. The process to get married in Morocco takes 3-4 weeks on average. There are official documents you will need to get, and all official documents receive a stamp that expires in 90 days. The process involves a lot of travel, and waiting- the time frame can be unpredictable.

Your paperwork is coming back to the US, but will likely expire before being reviewed.

Here's the thing- Casablanca does not like K1's and on very few occasions do they get approved. They have a habit of denying these applications, I believe it is there way of "testing" the relationship. I've read that 75% of cases returned to USCIS from Casablanca do not refile. They don't expect to hear from you again- prove them wrong.

OR-

Is there any way your fiance could return to Italy, so that he might interview there? You may be able to circumvent getting married in Morocco if that is possible.

[DonnaMarie 0]

Do you think this timeline would work if I went to Morocco for 1 week in July to spend time with Cherkaoui and then went back in September or October for 3 weeks to get married and did it in a 90 time period like you said? I will take your advice about not filling another Finace visa and go the marriage route. From what I have been reading it seems Casablanca denies both types of visas if the Petitioner doesn't spend time with the applicantas evidence from yesterdays post for the K3 getting denied twice. It might help for me to make several trips to Morocco before we marry it will give Cherkaoui time to learn English. Thanks for the information on the "testing of the relationship" and % it makes sense and I do intend to "prove them wrong. No about Italy. He was not a resident. We already tried the Italy route when I went back there to visit him. He left Italy to go back to Morocco knowing he could never return to Italy so that we could be together. Thanks for your replies.