Would a visa approval be more assured if a citizen went abroad and married first?

[MissingHerSo 10]

Hate to say it, but without meeting in person your chances is at about 0%, VERY RARE does this go through withoust having met in person. Having a foreign fiance come to USA is a expensive task, and so if it is a finance problem of going to meet her, you may want to think things over, Sorry to be so blunt but its the truth. But if you two really love each other is what the USCIS wants you to prove, LOVE will find a way for you to get there and meet her, and eventually be together for the rest of your lives. Good Luck and God Bless both of ya......

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

^{You ask if the visa is more assured if you marry From you current position of having never met almost any path is more assured. One of the things they insist on is you two meet. Without that you are wasting your money and your time}

[MissingHerSo 10]

Without having met in person your chances is almost a 0%, RARELY does a petition go through without that requirement, Second, you mentioned finances, it is very expensive to bring a foreign fiance into the USA so you may want to think about things. Third, age difference, I dont think its a problem. USCIS just wants you to prove you two are really in love, and love in GOD will find a way for you to visit and meet that requirement. Sorry to be so blunt but its the truth. GOD bless you on your journey

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Not having met will be a denial. Go visit and repeat the K1 or marry and do the CR1. Go to your regional forum and follow the threads there to gain more insight into

the way your embassy handles cases. Most everyone goes through mandatory AP there after the interview, which can last from a few weeks and months to years of waiting.

Prepare for a very long wait but hope for the best. Just a reality check.

[David & Diana R 1,005]

Go meet her. Take lots of pictures. Get married if you love her. Return to US. Save all receipts for trip, airline boarding passes, hotel receipts, etc.... Lots of photos. Then re-file for a CR-1 VISA. That is your best bet. But I think you have to close out the first application first. Can someone answer this question? Good luck...but I think you gotta meet.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

You can wait for the denial or withdraw the petition now.

[cee-gee 20]

Hi, I'm new here and know very little about this process and what to expect etc.

We have been waiting 13 months now, and have not heard a word other than asking for some verification. We have a three year relationship of cyber contact and are becoming a little impatient and frustrated.

Though in all fairness, there are extenuating circumstances with our case, and actually, I was hoping that at first, 'no news was good news', meaning that the more time they take to decide, perhaps could mean that our case is getting serious positive consideration. But each day as it drags on, I become more fearful that may not be the case.

Of course, we are also in the stage of thinking of a plan 'B' should her visa be rejected. And plan 'B' is actually one I considered before but turned away from it because just the expense alone can create some serious financial difficulties, plus health considerations as well.

But my question is concerning this other option and I do not have a clue if it is feasable or will even matter. So I wonder if anyone has this experience or has heard of anyone that has.

My thought was that if I went to her country, and we were wed there, does USCIS give a higher percentage consideration, or is it a 'lock' or does it even matter that we now are husband and wife?

As well, anything in the advisory catagory would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Not having met is a huge issue for USCIS, I understand that traveling to visit can be a financial strain; but if your petition was approved, you would have to have an affidavit of support. The point I'm trying to make is, that if it is financially difficult for you to go visit (meet) her, then how would you be able to support her? Even if your petition was approved, your visa would probably be denied because of the support issue.

When you file your petition, USCIS wants you to have met within 2 years of filing. If you have not met, only under extreme circumstances will your petition be approved; even then it is rare. You really need to meet in person, take pictures, save everything from your visit (boarding passes, passport stamps, hotel receipts, etc...)

Part of the reason why USCIS looks at an age difference as a potential issue is that it could be a fraudulent relationship (ie: mail order bride). I'm not saying that in your particular case, as long as you can prove that you are in a relationship; the age difference won't be an issue. (After you have met of course!)

Like everyone else has said, you need to meet in person!!! It is extremely important. I know that proving that you love someone seems unfair, but it's a process all of us have/ have had to go through.

And if you do decide to get married, you will need to close out your original file; then refile.

Good luck!

[sn530 27]

hummmm... I think i spent 4 minutes reading same thing over and over.

so the conclusion should be.

no meeting = no visa

additionally there is a form for financial support you have to fill out... do you meet the requirment... because if you dont then dont bother spending the money for the visa application. also pakistan recently has been putting people in extended AP for not meeting the income requirment and they also do not accept a cosponsor for K1 (fiance visa).

Good luck.

[Shiobhan 235]

Denial...Go to plan B now not later find the funds to buy ticket, spend a month at least

with her, file petition, pay for medical, dhl fees, I 864 could cost you a pretty penny,

so don't waste money petitioning without meeting her, it takes time and money...Can you

afford to support her & yourself if you are now having great medical problems?

[EAS 45]

While the posters here want to give the best advice they can, it is not a foregone conclusion that you can't get approval without having met within the preceding two years of submitting an I-129F petition. SEE THIS.

Depending on how well you support your hardship case, you may well be approved.

If it were me I wouldn't count on it, but then again I am not in your circumstances.

[Artisan 138]

While the posters here want to give the best advice they can, it is not a foregone conclusion that you can't get approval without having met within the preceding two years of submitting an I-129F petition. SEE THIS.

Depending on how well you support your hardship case, you may well be approved.

If it were me I wouldn't count on it, but then again I am not in your circumstances.

In that case the two had actually met once two and a half years prior and also had a LOAD of additional evidence as to the hardship of visiting again.

[larru 0]

I would suppose all of you are correct about us having to meet. Though it makes no sense to add in the instructions that if you can show extreme hardship it will be considered. Why do they even bother?

In this day & age, with technology being what it is, we speak with each other usually twice daily by 'chat', often over the phone, and even have audio/video which we have utilized greatly. I have taken my laptop around on the farm and shown it to her etc. We argue like any other couple over various issues on occasion and the whole gambit.

If you get technical, as to the requirements of meeting in person, that can be done in a one time trip, and we have been communicating as we are today, for three years.

I know there's no one here who can change anything, and from the feedback, it looks very bleak so seems like the only option is to prepare for the worse and decide what can be done in the way of a 'plan B'

Has anyone used any of these agencies that are advertised? Or just an attorney or other outside help? I have no plans of giving up and perhaps the worse case scenario is my fate and I'll die in the effort, but I won't stop here.

Thanks for everyone's feedback, good, bad, or indifferent, it is appreciated. It just sounds like no solutions are here, and maybe nowhere, but we are both committed and will just have to see what's next.

[aaron2020 11,651]

While the posters here want to give the best advice they can, it is not a foregone conclusion that you can't get approval without having met within the preceding two years of submitting an I-129F petition. SEE THIS.

Depending on how well you support your hardship case, you may well be approved.

If it were me I wouldn't count on it, but then again I am not in your circumstances.

In the case you linked, the OP had met her fiancé. It was 2 and a half years before she filed. She had financial and child are issue. She also went with her mom to meet him in a Muslim country.

The big difference here is that the OP has never met his fiance.

I see big differences between meeting outside the 2 years and having hardship vs. never having met at all.

[larru 0]

OK, I fully concede to the wisdom of the majority, likely, we will be denied. That being said, I now need to develop a strategy that will get her accepted.

Again, I'm in the blind, more or less. The majority of the feedback says to go meet.. Assuming I am successful in that, Would it be best to just stop the current proceedings or wait for the letter of denial and simply begin the process after having met?

Once being there, if it's not helpful that we be married, is it detrimental as far as USCIS is concerned?

I would also like to say, that my position, personally, as far as the extreme hardship is concerned, I wrote them a letter attached to my forms etc. and explained essentially what I have said here on this forum; That being, in the event of a do or die scenario, and there are no choices or options left, certainly I will go meet her. But that still does not negate the risks. I have done a great deal of travelling in my lifetime, though nothing of this magnitude. I don't know what the length of time I would actually be in the process of traveling, but Pakistan is 8000 miles from here, so I would expect the better part of 48 hrs. or more. The only 'certain' way to know how it will affect me, is to do it.

It would be nice to be supported by you folks in a constructive and informative manner. Right now, the mere concept of this undertaking already feels hopeless, and I, helpless. Please believe that I am not some old fool taken in by the guiles of a young huckster trying to find her way to the states so she can get shed of me and proceed with her 'real' plans. This lady is just that, a fine lady, a teacher, capable, in my opinion of having her choice of men in her country and living well for her lifetime. Unfortunately and apparently, the society in which she lives, majorically gives but few women any other way to succeed as we in this country know it. Their system is geared primarily for men, and most decent jobs are reserved for them, if there even are any. I have even offered to help her into this country without having to marry someone to get here. She has gracefully declined, stating that her only reason for even coming was for that purpose, and otherwise there is nothing here for her. She refuses to take a red cent from me, and there were times when she desparately could have used it. Instead, she finds ways to buy and send me gifts!

The internet is full of offers from beautiful young women who prey off of men as myself, and I have been approached for many years and many times from various countries.

When we met, I was not looking for anything beyond friendship and to fill my curiosity of other cultures, which she gladly guided me with. We formed a friendship, fell in Love and the rest is history.

Her family is not supportive of this and she suffers greatly under their insistence that she take any of the proposals they have brought to her, which is their culture. She has turned them down and now suffers the ire of her family.

Teachers there are not paid well, and though she owns a portion of the house and land in which she lives, but has no say in what is done to and with it and is expected to pay beyond her own share of expenses, due to this decision of hers. She has lived in this anger fild atmosphere since then. I have always felt the pangs of guilt because she is committed to me, but insists it is her choice.

I will be chatting with her in several hours, and because of this hopless situation, I am going to appeal to her, and beg her to make another decision and no longer consider this relationship as viable or fruitful. But if she refuses, I will not abandon her. It is my regretful hope that she will see the wisdom in it to bend to the will of her own culture. And I will not say that it will make me unhappy if she refuses, but there will be a sad concern for her welfare.

From there, I will be making plans to go to her country and fulfill this obligation that my country insists as mandatory for whatever the reasoning is, which in truth, matters not one hoot to me! .

[Boiler 45,581]

You have to meet, it does not have to be in Pakistan.

Where do you get such a long travel time from?