K-1 Fiance Visa : Same-sex

[iamnate 0]

So with the recent DOMA rulings, I believe I can now petition my long term bf back in the Philippines. I'm very excited with this, and I've been trying to process all our documents ASAP. I've never petitioned anyone before, and I have couple of questions that you guys may hopefully help me with.

1. Can my bf rent a PO box in the phils. and use it for sending our documents (it's because his parents does not approve our relationship and has long been trying to stop us) And can that (both using a PO box, and his parents being against us (bf is 23 y/o) affect our approval in anyway? As an alternative, can I use my family's address back home instead as his mailing address?

2. For the past 3 years, I have been visiting him back home yearly, but all my tickets, passes, even hotels, are all under my name....and not his ( we do have photos together, though). Would that suffice as proof of our relationship?

Thank you guys for your help.

Sincerely,

Jonathan

[FulanoDeTal 19]

So with the recent DOMA rulings, I believe I can now petition my long term bf back in the Philippines. I'm very excited with this, and I've been trying to process all our documents ASAP. I've never petitioned anyone before, and I have couple of questions that you guys may hopefully help me with.

1. Can my bf rent a PO box in the phils. and use it for sending our documents (it's because his parents does not approve our relationship and has long been trying to stop us) And can that (both using a PO box, and his parents being against us (bf is 23 y/o) affect our approval in anyway? As an alternative, can I use my family's address back home instead as his mailing address?

2. For the past 3 years, I have been visiting him back home yearly, but all my tickets, passes, even hotels, are all under my name....and not his ( we do have photos together, though). Would that suffice as proof of our relationship?

Thank you guys for your help.

Sincerely,

Jonathan

Hi Jonathan,

There are a number of same-sex couples that have joined in recent weeks, so we'll be in this together and learning as we go. From what I've read, here are my thoughts on your questions:

1. While older posts suggest that in the past a foreign post office box was acceptable for mailing purposes to the foreign fiance, more recent posts say that a physical street address is now required for mailing in an attempt to cut down on fraud. It appears that there would be no problem using your family's physical street address for this purpose in connection with the I-129F petition itself, but keep in mind that the U.S. Embassy will later be using that address for mail to your fiance. You will need to use your fiance's actual physical address for the G-325A Biographic Information form that you will send in for your fiance along with the I-129F petition.

2. As far as proof of physically meeting goes, I'm in a similar situation as my fiance lives in Brazil. I sent a complete copy of my U.S. passport showing my Brazilian visas and many trips to Brazil, along with several dated photos of the two of us together. If I had thought about it I probably would have included my fiance's passport showing our trips together outside of Brazil as well, but if we're asked for more evidence we can produce that. I think if you can connect the "primary evidence" (your passport stamps, boarding passes, etc.) with some credible secondary evidence of the two of you together (such as dated photographs) you should be OK.

3. I also suggest that you read the information available in the Philippines portal on this site, as it will give you a great deal of country-specific information that will be important for your visa process.

Good luck!

[Fred&Tonton 5]

Hi Jonathan,

I think using your parents address would be better than a PO Box, and as far as his age I would not see any problem because he is of age and can decide for himself.

I was told that USCIS is supposed to be sensitive to situations like this.

Your passport stamps, boarding passes, photographs, emails or chat logs should give you some good material for evidence.

I'm glad that both our families approve of our relationship, going on 9 years now.

Hold on, be brave and go for it.

Best of luck

Fred and Tonton

[iamnate 0]

Hi Jonathan,

There are a number of same-sex couples that have joined in recent weeks, so we'll be in this together and learning as we go. From what I've read, here are my thoughts on your questions:

1. While older posts suggest that in the past a foreign post office box was acceptable for mailing purposes to the foreign fiance, more recent posts say that a physical street address is now required for mailing in an attempt to cut down on fraud. It appears that there would be no problem using your family's physical street address for this purpose in connection with the I-129F petition itself, but keep in mind that the U.S. Embassy will later be using that address for mail to your fiance. You will need to use your fiance's actual physical address for the G-325A Biographic Information form that you will send in for your fiance along with the I-129F petition.

2. As far as proof of physically meeting goes, I'm in a similar situation as my fiance lives in Brazil. I sent a complete copy of my U.S. passport showing my Brazilian visas and many trips to Brazil, along with several dated photos of the two of us together. If I had thought about it I probably would have included my fiance's passport showing our trips together outside of Brazil as well, but if we're asked for more evidence we can produce that. I think if you can connect the "primary evidence" (your passport stamps, boarding passes, etc.) with some credible secondary evidence of the two of you together (such as dated photographs) you should be OK.

3. I also suggest that you read the information available in the Philippines portal on this site, as it will give you a great deal of country-specific information that will be important for your visa process.

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply I called USCIS, he went ahead and got himself a PO box. My sister who recently filed petition for her fiance told me most of the documents they were gonna send will also be sent on petitioner's email (just as long as you fill out the e-notification form). As for the proof, I'm afraid I have too much chat logs, and skype logs. But I think it's better than getting an RFE. LOL.

Thanks again.

Hi Jonathan,

I think using your parents address would be better than a PO Box, and as far as his age I would not see any problem because he is of age and can decide for himself.

I was told that USCIS is supposed to be sensitive to situations like this.

Your passport stamps, boarding passes, photographs, emails or chat logs should give you some good material for evidence.

I'm glad that both our families approve of our relationship, going on 9 years now.

Hold on, be brave and go for it.

Best of luck

Fred and Tonton

Hi. Thanks for the reply. Are you petitioning your bf back in the phils as well?

[Ralphiey 13]

My bf too is processing my petition, though we are paying a lawyer to do it for us just not to make any mistake along the way. Good luck to all of us here.

[GayK1inTexas 12]

Hey ... just wanted to share the news with you all.. my fiance and I got K1 Visa approval today from the Jakarta Consulate. We have been on cloud nine all day. He had such a good experience with consulate interview who was very supportive of the DOMA decision and was excited because it was his first LGBT interview and approval..... Hope you guys will be having the same experience soon... best of luck to all.... YAHOOO.. btw we were crying...lol because we never thought it would be possible.... take care all.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Hey ... just wanted to share the news with you all.. my fiance and I got K1 Visa approval today from the Jakarta Consulate. We have been on cloud nine all day. He had such a good experience with consulate interview who was very supportive of the DOMA decision and was excited because it was his first LGBT interview and approval..... Hope you guys will be having the same experience soon... best of luck to all.... YAHOOO.. btw we were crying...lol because we never thought it would be possible.... take care all.

That's awesome and super fast! You are the first visa I have seen get approved! How did you manage with Texas not being a gay-marriage state? Did you get a RFE or anything about where you would marry?

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

Hey ... just wanted to share the news with you all.. my fiance and I got K1 Visa approval today from the Jakarta Consulate. We have been on cloud nine all day. He had such a good experience with consulate interview who was very supportive of the DOMA decision and was excited because it was his first LGBT interview and approval..... Hope you guys will be having the same experience soon... best of luck to all.... YAHOOO.. btw we were crying...lol because we never thought it would be possible.... take care all.

Congrats!