K-1

[platypus15 0]

Hello guys.... it is being hard ... I am a American Citizen who holds dual Citizenship ( USA - COlombian) ... I met this fantastic woman from Iran (on-line) and we have been in contact for almost 2 years by now... we met in person in Turkey (6 months ago) and I went to Iran to visit her and her parents ... we had a great together ... now, we're planning a life together .... off course first step visa K-1 .... today an attorney I consulted said, hey we have a red flag here ... how come a Colombian, Cristian guy is going to marry a iranian, Muslin woman.... my fiance is not religious, neither am I.... so... is it really a red flag and Emigration Services might decline our application .... have you seen cases of Cristian - Muslin being rejected because of that little detail ? Than you !

[C-ma'am 684]

**Moved from K1 to MENA forum; as the questions are Embassy specific and can be best addressed here.

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

That's a tough one. It's not going to be an issue for USCIS but no way to foresee how the State Department/Embassy will view it. It should not be something that can negatively effect an application but what should/shouldn't be is sometimes irrelevant.

I am not Muslim but my fiance is. Both of us are fairly religious in our separate faiths but it doesn't get in the way of our love. In Islam and Islamic communities it's not a big deal for a Muslim man to marry a non-Muslim. However, from my understanding, it IS a big deal for a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim man. How does her family feel about you? Including a letter from her father (or mother) accepting your engagement and photos from your trip to visit them in the I-129F package would help a lot. It's not unheard of for consular officers to be tough on inter-religious couples and I expect it will come up for my fiance as well. You can do your best to overcome this by showing how genuine your relationship is and that you have support from your relatives and friends.

I wish you best of luck!

Edited November 29, 2012 by Sarah and Adnan

[fancygirl 1]

Just for some information. I am the USC who petitioned for an Iranian man. Everything went very smoothly for us. I was worried because I am much older then him and I thought it would be a red flag. His interview was in Ankara and his AP was finished in less then 4 weeks. He is free to come whenever he is ready. The most important thing is to be very organized. We used an attorny in New York, I live in Colorado. They basiclly make sure all the paper are filled out correctly. Make sure you have lots of evidence. The fact that you have met his family is great. I would get a letter from her family. We did not have anything like that. Just pictures from our trip to Turkey, passport stamps, hotel receipts and three years of chat history, e-mails and internet phone calls (free). Step one is just filling out the forms and providing evidence. That takes about 5-6 months for approval. We had an interview scheduled for Jan 16th. I bought tickets to meet him there for support, you can not go to the interview, and then they changed it to Oct 18 with less then a weeks notice. We were afraid that we were not prepared for everything they can ask. Plus you have to be there two days for the medical exam. I did not go. It went really well, commented on his organization, never mentioned the age thing, asked what work he did in Iran. That was it. I think it will be even easier for a women. A very short AP compared to a man.

Good luck. It just takes time, a lot of time and that is the hard part. We have been at this almost a year and he is not here yet. And everything has gone smoothly for us. Just make sure you do all the forms correctly, check them again and again against the instructions on the Web sites. Concider getting one the agencys to do it for you. We used Joel Turney. That is all they do, help fill out the forms and make sure you have everything you need. Money well spent.

P.S. I am not Muslim

Edited November 29, 2012 by fancygirl

[Thatgirl2 21]

That is complete and utter bullshit. That lawyer doesn't know whack. I'm a Muslim iranian citizen, and my now husband then fiance, who was also in the marines applied for my k-1 two years ago. EVERYTHING went smooth and normal, with no problem what so ever .I did EVERYTHING myself. Back then FedEx offered services to Iran so I even mailed things to the embassy myself. People have this image of iranian people getting discriminated against because of their government and political issues, but that has never been the case. Specially for liberal Muslims wo adapt to the western way and culture and fashion and speak decent English. I can honestly say you need to look into a new lawyer or doing it yourself

[Cathi 5,757]

This is not a little detail in Islam. Muslim women are forbidden to marry men who are not Muslim. The burden of proof will be on you to prove that her family approves of you and the relationship and pending marriage. Consulate officers are trained to know the customs of the countries they work in, and I can tell you for a fact that is will come up at the interview and it will be an issue. My husband is from a Muslim country and I attended the interview with him. Muslim men are allowed to marry Christian women(I am Catholic), and we were both asked at the interview about our difference in religion and how we will deal with it once he was living here, and if his family approved. Now with it being forbidden for women to marry outside Islam you will have to have strong evidence that her family, especially her father, approves.

[Thatgirl2 21]

Huh... Funny how none of the Iranians I know ever had a problem with that, actually it never comes up in iranian cases, and like mimolicious said, it could be on a cultural basis. People are not the hardcore Muslims now as they were 20 years ago, so it's understandable for a Muslim woman to be fine wi a Christian man. Is not a red flag, it's not an issue, it's just something that you might have to explain. My mother who was my legal guardian at the time wrote a letter, stating she is aware of my fiancé's religion and country of origin and that she is fine wi it. We got it notarized and sent it in with packet 3.dont get discouraged OP. I can also suggest a Farsi website for your fiancée to gather information and feel better about the process. It's called mohajersara . Com