212 (a)(6)(c)(1)

[the rock 0]

Hi Everyone,

My wife had an interview at the Mumbai (Bombay) Embassy, India for her CR1 Visa on Sept. 2. She was drilled by 4 different officer and was told that her visa denied because we did not have the photos of our religious ceremony. There were no other red flags in our. We are of the same age, caste, education level, I visited her during summer, and joint financial account where I continue to sent her money. She was given a white 221g slip. Now here are the questions that I have:

-What to do next? They only gave her slip and told her that they will investigate and if she lied then she will get 90 years penelty.

-We told them that our religious took inside the temple and that photos or videos were not allowed. They said that thats not how its now done in our caste. Should we have a full blown religious ceremony and give them photos?

-Where will our file be now? Would it be with the Embassy or transfer to USCIS? What will they do?

-I remember seeing a similar case about a 4 months ago on this website where the wife got rejected at the same embassy because they did not have a full blown wedding ceremony. Does anybody know the contact info or email address of that person? He might know something and what steps to take.

Thanks in advance for your help and condolances!!!

[Harsh_77 718]

After your religious ceremony - did you guys register the marriage and get the marriage certificate?

Did you guy print the wedding invitation and did she have copy of invitation with her?

Pictures are really important, yes lot of temple would not allow you to have picture inside, but what CO expects is some pictures outside the temple.

Some ppl on this forum has claimed that pictures are secondry proof, i have always diagreed with them, pictures will tell lot of things to CO.

Did you guys do the reception? Have any pics from reception?

Oh main thing, you can start gathering things on Mumbai end but start contacting your congressman / senator and see what they can do.

Edited September 2, 2011 by Harsh_77

[No-Where-Man 147]

Hello

Im sorry for hearing these news about your case

As of the pictures and as every embassy is different, so someone from the same embassy experience would tell you about that, but as of your Questions:

Hi Everyone,

My wife had an interview at the Mumbai (Bombay) Embassy, India for her CR1 Visa on Sept. 2. She was drilled by 4 different officer and was told that her visa denied because we did not have the photos of our religious ceremony. There were no other red flags in our. We are of the same age, caste, education level, I visited her during summer, and joint financial account where I continue to sent her money. She was given a white 221g slip. Now here are the questions that I have:

-What to do next? They only gave her slip and told her that they will investigate and if she lied then she will get 90 years penelty.

I didn't ever hear of a 90 years penalty, if they are not going to send the application back then they will investigate it and will build a decision upn the findings, they may ask for a second interveiw where you might be asked to be ther, worest case scenario that the final decision is NO and petition is returned to USCIS which in turn will send you an INTENT TO REVOKE notice and give you the chance to prove your situation(it's a a long way though as I hear), so please follow up even everyday, contact your congressman and try to get around what happened and where your application is.

-We told them that our religious took inside the temple and that photos or videos were not allowed. They said that thats not how its now done in our caste. Should we have a full blown religious ceremony and give them photos?

Someone knows the traditions should answer that question

-Where will our file be now? Would it be with the Embassy or transfer to USCIS? What will they do?

Answered above

-I remember seeing a similar case about a 4 months ago on this website where the wife got rejected at the same embassy because they did not have a full blown wedding ceremony. Does anybody know the contact info or email address of that person? He might know something and what steps to take.

Thanks in advance for your help and condolances!!!

Edited September 2, 2011 by no_where_man

[sherryandyashpal 7]

i am sorry to hear abt your situation, i cant offer any help, but I am hoping that you can get the info you need to get them to reconsider..

[the rock 0]

The CO also took a statement from her in which she was COERCED to write that she did not get legaally married and that she only had engagement.

[the rock 0]

Hello

Im sorry for hearing these news about your case

As of the pictures and as every embassy is different, so someone from the same embassy experience would tell you about that, but as of your Questions:

How do we know that the file is returned to USCIS or is with the embassy?

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

No point having a ceremony now, that is not what they want.

Do you not have any photos of the day? Maybe not of inside the temple but posed shots beforehand, or when getting ready, or in front of the temple after the ceremony? It's ok if they are not by an expensive photographer but having no photos at all of what is the biggest day of your life is considered a bit odd. Can you supply other proof of the ceremony, such as receipts for car hire/ flowers etc? Affidavit from the priest who married you and friends and family who were at the wedding? Emails showing how you planned the wedding together?

[the rock 0]

The problem is that we never had a religious ceremony. We only had civil ceremony. Our religious ceremony is scheduled for january 2012.

[sweetdevil 0]

for CR1 visa, picture are important.. i ahd my interview for CR1 on 18th august at mumbai consulate and was asked to show wedding pictures..m indian and they know what happens in indian wedding ceremony..officer asked me to show phera picture from my wedding album..they consider this as more authentic information..

after interview i was handed over 221g white form. on that form 'we are doing adminstrative work and will contac you when done' was ticked. Officer asked me to submit certain info like my resume, invitation letter from petitioner, past, current and future research intend to do in US, purpose of going US and details of my international travel in last ten years except US.

I have a doubt. I have done my masters in pharmacy. so is it bcos of my educational background that m asked to submit these info. I sent them email on 20th august but hv not got any reply.. I dont knw when will they reply. Is any body having similar experience..? pls reply..

[msupreme2284 0]

The CO also took a statement from her in which she was COERCED to write that she did not get legaally married and that she only had engagement.

Can you prove that she was coerced? If she wrote/ signed that statement then your I-130 application is invalid --She's not your spouse. I will suggest that you hire immigration lawyer who can help you with this case.

[Harsh_77 718]

The problem is that we never had a religious ceremony. We only had civil ceremony. Our religious ceremony is scheduled for january 2012.

Dude you did not respond to my question, if you just had a civil ceremony means you went to court and signed the paper - you should have a marriage certificate in that case.

Also in your previous post you said you had marriage in temple and pic were not allowed in temple.

for CR1 visa, picture are important.. i ahd my interview for CR1 on 18th august at mumbai consulate and was asked to show wedding pictures..m indian and they know what happens in indian wedding ceremony..officer asked me to show phera picture from my wedding album..they consider this as more authentic information..

after interview i was handed over 221g white form. on that form 'we are doing adminstrative work and will contac you when done' was ticked. Officer asked me to submit certain info like my resume, invitation letter from petitioner, past, current and future research intend to do in US, purpose of going US and details of my international travel in last ten years except US.

I have a doubt. I have done my masters in pharmacy. so is it bcos of my educational background that m asked to submit these info. I sent them email on 20th august but hv not got any reply.. I dont knw when will they reply. Is any body having similar experience..? pls reply..

Have you travelled to US before or lived in US before?

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

The problem is that we never had a religious ceremony. We only had civil ceremony. Our religious ceremony is scheduled for january 2012.

In the first post, you wrote you told them you had a ceremony inside the temple and no photos were allowed. Does that mean you/ she lied to the CO?

And you mention she signed a paper... that is very serious, she essentially admitted she comitted visa fraud and now may have a lifetime ban. You are very lucky you were given the chance to provide more evidence.

Those issues open a whole different can of worms, or rather two... is there anything else you haven't told us yet? We cannot help unless you tell us the whole story.

Edited September 2, 2011 by Penguin_ie

[Casprd 167]

The key now is to try to stop the case before it goes back to USCIS. There are some inconsitencies with your posts that are probably at the root of the reasons for the white slip. The questions is did you get legally married? and does the civil marriage correspond to what is normal for your caste? If so, where is the marriage certificate and was this included in the packet. You say you got married in the temple but it was a civil marriage.

Unfortunately, signing the form that says you were only engaged and not married when you presumably previously said you are married is going to be a major prolem. Likely they will come up with a charge of material misrepresentation resulting in a lifetime ban for her. If you are a naturalized citizen then there may very well be some consequences for you also so it is important that you gather all the proof you can to show that yes you were legally married when you submitted the petition. Notarized official copies of the marriage certificate or whatever is the equivelent for India. Pictures if you have any at all and I would even go so far as to get notarized affadavits from as many attendees as possible. I would also get an experienced immigration attorney who can deal directly with the consulate in India.

Of course if you didn't get legally married but presented yourself as such on the forms then all bets are off and there is nothing you can do. Again if that is so then you need to consult a US based lawyer as well as there can be repurcussions for you whether you are a US born citizen or a naturalized citizen.

[the rock 0]

Ok lets start from the beginning.

I got into contact with my wife around June of 2010. I went to India to meet here and said yes for marriage (a very common procedure for arrainge marriage in India). On january 5th my mom came to india and we decided to have a small celebration. The plan was to have a ring ceremony and then civil marriage. then i came to US and I filed for I-130 for CR 1 visa. In may i decided to back to india to be with her for a month. along the way my file was moving smoothly. now comes september when she has her interview.

we have all the proof that we are together and deeply in love (which is true!!!). however they wanted to see the religious ceremony pictures. my wife told them that we had our ring ceremony, the registration, and then marriage inside a temple (which is around 50 miles away from the marriage registration place, but it is common in india to go that far for ur personal temple). she told them photos and videos were not allowed inside temple.

now the officers and translators grilled my wife for 3-4 hours. they told her that if i had applied for K-1 visa then she would have gotten the visa already. they told her to write a letter (in her mother tongue)that she is not married according to hindu ceremony. then they handed her a letter with check mark on section 212(a)(5) saying that petitioner and the beneficiary are not married and section p212(a)(6) saying that for material representation to gain immigration benefits.

my problem is i don't where the file is. is it back to USCIS or still in India?

now what are the options for us?

right now i m planning to contact my senetor and representative to help. i m also planning to send an email to the consulate asking how to get the visa and what is the next step.

i m also planning to let the counsulate know that our wedding did happen in the temple but we don't have any photos. however if they are insist, we are willing to do a full blown religious wedding in january and that i m willing to come to interview with my wife.

please any help will be appreciated

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Why did she say she had a ceremony in a temple where no photos were allowed if that isn't true? Now you want to lie in an email and say it was there when it wasn't? You said you had ring ceremony and civil marriage and went home. Why did she add to the story?