Wife did not make it past homeland and got k-1 cancelled

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

They kept him so long he missed his connection and had to spend his first ever night in the United States sleeping on a bench in O'Hara airport.

That's worse than waterboarding! You can't even order a hot dog there unless you speak Spanish. It is the only airport in the world I could not order a hot dog in because I did not speak the language! Or I should say I COULD order a hot dog with everything but nothing else because no matter WHAT I said...I got a hot dog with everything! Someone let THOSE people in!

[Julie y Pat 67]

If she had his wedding band with her, maybe she was wearing hers. CBP sees that on a K1, "is your husband here to pick you up?" "Yes, my husband"

[NY_BX 397]

If she had his wedding band with her, maybe she was wearing hers. CBP sees that on a K1, "is your husband here to pick you up?" "Yes, my husband"

...and all the red flags came flying out. I can see it happening. This is really unfortunate. Until the OP gets copies of the paperwork and a detailed account of the events, we will be guessing. LAX isn't oblivious to immigration procedures. Like New York, a lot of immigrants wanna make it to "Hollywood." A big clue as to what unraveled this tragedy is missing.

[aaydrian 479]

This seems to be a communication problem. It will be difficult to grasp a good idea of what happened at LAX because the S Korean fiancee basically doesn't understand English and the American fiance (OP) doesn't speak S Korean. Because of this its pretty impossible for the SK fiance to accuratley relate what occured between her & immigration to the OP and the OP to correctly tell us VJers the details. Just going to have to wait for paperwork.

What could have happened:

1)CBP asks what address will you be staying/spouse's address? Fiance answers wrong and later tells OP that CBP asked to describe his home.

2)S Korean fiance may have repeatedly refered to OP as husband.

3)Giving OP wedding band. Officers in their experience thinks its unusual for foreign unmarried female to have a wedding band and not be married (suspicion compounded by calling OP husband).

3)During the wedding band exchange, officers may have been confident in their decision to deny entry because the OP & fiance hardly if ever spoke & the little spoken chances are showed the strong language barrier between the USC & SK.

[marklovetina 52]

sorry to hear about what happened, that is really sad... but sometimes it really happen that's why there is a saying dont be so sure yet until you pass your POE...

[Sveta & Ron 23]

i read the words alot of husband, wife and even wedding bands if i was the officer i would raise an eyebrow

[Gosia & Tito 199]

I would make an appointment with the consualte, perhaps they can re-issue her visa since she did not actually enter the USA. Seems very wierd that a fiancee would be rejected for not knowing about your home. I am sure my wife could not have described my home before she saw it.

Nor mine could've described my family beyond how many siblings I have

Is there a chance that she needed a translator and none was provided? I know my wife (who speaks English well) was completely lost when she landed in Houston and "whatever it was they were speaking, was not English" (what she described could be nothing more than a thick Texan twang).

[P+J 47]

Something really crazy must have happened at POE. This is just not at all common. It had to be above and beyond her saying "husband." I think we would need play by play details of what happened to make sense of it. It had to have been like a domino effect coupled with limited English skills that yielded such a disaster. Something she said had to have been very severe or severely misinterpreted.

Edited April 26, 2012 by Paul86

[Gosia & Tito 199]

This was the LAX, no idea what was in her passport, again they didn't let me talk to her, only see her briefly so she could hand me my wedding band, I do not speak korean and she is crying the whole time, what can I do,

Before you jump on the next flight to Korea, and assuming she is safe in Korea (even with friends, but out of any physical harm), the first thing you might want to do is see a good immigration attorney. Preferably one in your area, but does not need to be, immigration law is federal; anyone in the country can do.

Before you see this attorney, you need to have information related to what went on, at the very least, what is in the passport, what is in any document she was given, etc. The attorney might know (IANAL) how to get info from the reports of what happened at the airport.

Misunderstandings happen and someone at the airport who already had a bad hair day does not help, but it's happened and you need to be one thinking straight.

I'd document everything as you recall it, for future reference when your attorney starts a case. Is best to not have to 'remember' but to have it written down.

As I said above, you need to be the one thinking straight, as hard is it will be.

[P+J 47]

Definitely an attorney is the right way to go now. Although you often don't need one in this process, now it's clearly necessary. They may be able to assist you in fully exploring your options and navigating the intricacies of this situation because it's certainly going to be very complicated from here on out. The question they asked was very bizarre. She definitely must have reached an officer on a very bad day because this is just not common at all for K1s.

Edited April 26, 2012 by Paul86

[Gosia & Tito 199]

I need some real help. My fiance did not make it past the homeland security screening and was sent back. k-1 was cancelled. Any recommendations for lawyers or what could I do to fix this.

Since it has not been mentioned, I'd also contact your representative and even get a phone apppointment. You need to communicate the sense of urgency to his/her staff. Don't know if this could help, but the key is to leave no stone unturned.

[Ayman___ 92]

I'm so sorry Must have been so scary for her.Hope she's okay

[RickJovi 81]

This seems to be a communication problem. It will be difficult to grasp a good idea of what happened at LAX because the S Korean fiancee basically doesn't understand English and the American fiance (OP) doesn't speak S Korean. Because of this its pretty impossible for the SK fiance to accuratley relate what occured between her & immigration to the OP and the OP to correctly tell us VJers the details. Just going to have to wait for paperwork.

What could have happened:

1)CBP asks what address will you be staying/spouse's address? Fiance answers wrong and later tells OP that CBP asked to describe his home.

2)S Korean fiance may have repeatedly refered to OP as husband.

3)Giving OP wedding band. Officers in their experience thinks its unusual for foreign unmarried female to have a wedding band and not be married (suspicion compounded by calling OP husband).

3)During the wedding band exchange, officers may have been confident in their decision to deny entry because the OP & fiance hardly if ever spoke & the little spoken chances are showed the strong language barrier between the USC & SK.

On #2, I don't think her wearing a wedding band is the cause for anything. My fiancee is wearing her engagement ring and wedding band and we are just engaged. I just wanted her to wear the whole set to keep them together. I wish they would even try to deny her for a BS reason like that.

[charlie1 4]

your fiancee or your wife?something is tricky there.how could she describe your house and she never been in it or the US!!!

or if you guys got married on a K1 visa in her country.then they asked her if she married to you and she said yes.so they turn her back home.

[RickJovi 81]

i read the words alot of husband, wife and even wedding bands if i was the officer i would raise an eyebrow

Why raise an eyebrow. My fiancee wearing her wedding set doesn't mean she id married. I gave her the whole set to keep them together ad we are just engaged. A fiancee wearing her wedding seet is not grounds to deny here for anything.