BINATIONAL SAME SEX COUPLES !! Show up!

[dannsca 1]

Boston couple here! Im the peruvian part doing an AOS from an exp J1, We've been together 9.5ys (10ys in august) married about 3ys ago.

We are on the i485/EAD part of this process. Biometrics scheduled for march/26...i485 still in the initial phase.

After all this time, this is finally happening, it feels surreal, and needless to say anxiety is throughout the roof!

Good luck and speedy approval to all same sex couples (and str8 ones too!)

[Ayumi_Hamasaki 4]

I'm kind of curious what your experience while waiting at a USCIS field office was like before your interview. Let's face it. Most of them are straight (i.e., heterosexual) couples. We (same-sex couples) are still new to this. So I know we should expect to be stared at. Did you feel strange or uncomfortable before, during, or after the interview at a USCIS office?

[Jozeybee 0]

Any same sex couples here who have already had their Interview? In NYC?

Our interview is scheduled for April 9th and I'm just a little nervous. Would love it if someone can share their experiences.

Thanks!

[mm82 3]

We had our visa interview today this morning and we are APPROVED!

I am glad this process for the most part is finally over!

My fiancé was so nervous and the immigration officer that was interviewing us was such a liar, telling us he doesn't know how to speak Korean. We didn't have the option for my fiancé to do his interview in Korean. He was hoping the interview would be conducted in Korean and would feel more comfortable, since of course English is not my fiancé's first language. And there was another man watching us behind the immigration officer who was conducting the interview. I wanted to call him out on lying to us that he didn't know Korean because he was the ONLY officer interviewing all the visa applicants (because the US Embassy in Seoul is not so busy), not just fiancé visas but interviewing for other visas where some applicants didn't know any English at all.

But all that aside, he asked like irrelevant questions from the normal interview, asking me if I had met my fiancé's family etc. I had to chime in and answer some questions and was being asked questions. I thought I would be watching from the sidelines and Mr. Choi would be answering. I don't know if they were treating us differently because we were a same sex case and they didn't believe our case ... but through that ordeal Mr. Choi's fiancé visa has be approve.

I asked the immigration officer that was interviewing us if we were the first same sex K-1 visa approved and surprisingly he said we were not the first one. Makes me happy that their are others who are paving the wave for us.

SO HAPPY!

Can't wait for tonight we are going to have an engagement dinner party with our close friends in Korea and can't wait to share the good news with them. Sadly going back home to LA on Sunday and I will see him soon in June, when he finally moves to the US.

Thank you for your help and guidance everyone! May I wish you guys a fast and speedy process for your visa interviews and process.

감사합니다! ^.^

[mm82 3]

I'm kind of curious what your experience while waiting at a USCIS field office was like before your interview. Let's face it. Most of them are straight (i.e., heterosexual) couples. We (same-sex couples) are still new to this. So I know we should expect to be stared at. Did you feel strange or uncomfortable before, during, or after the interview at a USCIS office?

Hi ... we had our interview today (but this applies to US Embassy interview), so my fiancé was nervous and Korea is a very conservative country, especially when it comes to issues about same-sex marriages and relationships. So of course while waiting we got a lot of curious stares etc.

I felt at the interview they were being a little bit more cautious with us and treated us differently than the other applicants that were being interviewed. We were not offered an option to conduct the interview in Korean or English.

I thought once again we were the first same sex couple applicants being interviewed for Korea, but we were not the first one.

So don't fret ... be truthful!

Edited March 14, 2014 by mm82

[zuluweta 250]

Just arrived in USA. Port of entry : SFO. I hope to post a longer review soon of my POE experience. Nice, sunny but cool weather here in the Bay Area!

Good luck to everyone going through their immigration process. Next part of the journey : AOS.

[MabuhayDaniel 11]

Just arrived in USA. Port of entry : SFO. I hope to post a longer review soon of my POE experience. Nice, sunny but cool weather here in the Bay Area!

Good luck to everyone going through their immigration process. Next part of the journey : AOS.

congratulations!

[Davesings 30]

Just arrived in USA. Port of entry : SFO. I hope to post a longer review soon of my POE experience. Nice, sunny but cool weather here in the Bay Area!

Good luck to everyone going through their immigration process. Next part of the journey : AOS.

Welcome to the US and congrats! I'm getting excited cause my fiance arrives on the 31st and the wedding is next month! Then on to AOS!

Any same sex couples here who have already had their Interview? In NYC?

Our interview is scheduled for April 9th and I'm just a little nervous. Would love it if someone can share their experiences.

Thanks!

Let us know how the interview goes and good luck! We will be starting the AOS process in April.

[zuluweta 250]

Topic: Port of Entry Review

Arrived at SFO airport 15 March 2014. Since my fiancé and I filled up a single customs form, we had to enter together. There was no one guiding arriving passengers so we decided to line up at the US citizens and Permanent residents line, which was long but shorter than the Visitors line. As we got closer to the inspection counter, we noticed there was a separate counter for New Immigrants, which I suppose a K-1 visa holder is, but there was no one there.

So finally, we step up together to the CBP officer's counter. Based on his last name and appearance, I could tell he was Filipino-American. When my USC fiancé told him we were entering the USA together and that I had a K-1 fiancé visa, the CBP officer seemed taken aback, but he collected himself and asked to see my documents, so I gave him the yellow envelope sent to me by the US Embassy in Manila after my visa was approved. He then proceeded to go over my documents and stamped something on one document.

The CBP officer took my biometrics (digital fingerprints and face pic), then he asked my USC fiancé how long the visa process took, what each of us did for work and where we planned to live. Then he stamped my passport with the entry date, told us we have 90 days to take care of things (it seemed like he couldn't even mention the word 'marry' since we were same-sex or am I just being too sensitive?) but he wrote for the admitted until date as June 01, 2014, which is about 2 weeks shorter than the 90 days he verbalized.

Then he congratulated us and told us to enjoy life! I asked him if there was no more secondary inspection and his reply was that he just did it.

[Davesings 30]

Topic: Port of Entry Review

...he congratulated us and told us to enjoy life! I asked him if there was no more secondary inspection and his reply was that he just did it.

Congratulations guys!

[Cathymac 60]

I was wondering if anyone encountered problems after years of saying they were visiting friends then to suddenly reveal a relationship. I have never lied to a poe but couldn't say I was visiting my g/f prior to doma going . I always said friends. Will this come up at the interview?

I was wondering if anyone encountered problems after years of saying they were visiting friends then to suddenly reveal a relationship. I have never lied to a poe but couldn't say I was visiting my g/f prior to doma going . I always said friends. Will this come up at the interview?

[sharky-rex 76]

Let's hope not.

[hklad 9]

I was wondering if anyone encountered problems after years of saying they were visiting friends then to suddenly reveal a relationship. I have never lied to a poe but couldn't say I was visiting my g/f prior to doma going . I always said friends. Will this come up at the interview?

I was wondering if anyone encountered problems after years of saying they were visiting friends then to suddenly reveal a relationship. I have never lied to a poe but couldn't say I was visiting my g/f prior to doma going . I always said friends. Will this come up at the interview?

I actually experience this. During my one year work assignment in Toronto, I visited often and finally I got refused entry. That was all before DOMA fell and in the eye of the fed, there was no relationship but the CBP has all the power. Fast forward that to my embassy interview, I was simply asked "what was that about?" And I just stuck with the law that I was told I showed immigrant intent that was not allowed under the B2. That really was what I was told but you know they suspected a relationship. That was Pre-DOMA. Now, I would suggest people to disclose it since we are legally recognized and you really dont want to get caught in a lie, my two cents of course. The truth is if you seek to visit for more than a few weeks, the officer will ask anyway.

And mt K1 has been approved and I landed 10 days ago at Chicago ORD. Nothing was asked but they did send me into secondary to get processed. That was just basically 15 min of sitting in the waiting area then my passport was given back to me. That was all. So to answer your question, unless you have been refused entry, you have nothing to worry about at the embassy. They just want to be sure you two physically met within the past two years. Even if you have an official refused entry record as a tourist, just be prepared to answer the question truthfully.

Edited March 24, 2014 by hklad

[bob72601 13]

We had the same problem, except that they cancelled my finace's B2 Visa and turned him around. They said he was coming too often. They also said that he would be able to apply for another B2 Visa after he had stayed in his country for at least a year. It has been almost 3 years now and we are going for our K1 interview on April 3rd. Hope all goes well.

[hklad 9]

We had the same problem, except that they cancelled my finace's B2 Visa and turned him around. They said he was coming too often. They also said that he would be able to apply for another B2 Visa after he had stayed in his country for at least a year. It has been almost 3 years now and we are going for our K1 interview on April 3rd. Hope all goes well.

My B2 wasn't canceled but the consul wondered why it wasn't. Regardless, he asked about it. Just be honest when asked and told them the reason for the refused entry. Trust me, the refusing officer already wrote all those things in so there isn't anything to hide. I never attempted to enter with the B2 again and it was just a little under a year when I went for the K1 interview. It doesn't matter at that point because whether I was approved or denied, the B2 gets canceled anyway because going for the K1 interview is a show of immigrant intent.