Does it matter how long we've been married? And, can I always tell the truth?

[Matt&Masha 0]

Hi all,

When doing the I-130 filing does it matter how long my spouse and I have been married? This is in Russia. Is there some fear that if we file too soon after getting married that our desires to live together in my country are illegitimate? I'm just afraid that if I'm completely honest about everything (we don't live together, she's young, I'm young, we'll live with my Dad in the US for a bit) some of their alarms trigger. I wish I could understand the Consulate's opinion toward all this. I have nothing to hide, we'll do it all by the books, and in our interviews, we know each other so well we can just be honest about everything.

Please assuade my fears

[Cathi 5,748]

always tell the truth to immigration..... ALWAYS!!! If you lie it will catch up to you and they will deny your visa and ban you from the US for misrepresentation. Why would you even consider lying, or even asking if it's OK?

[ABDyJLSO 9]

If you browse through people's profile on here you'll find that many people send in the I-130 shortly after getting married. We sent ours in a month after and USCIS approved it a month later. What's more important is your relationship with the person and documentation of that, not when you signed paperwork to make it official. If it's a real relationship, then you should have no problems. Always tell the complete truth.

[Matt&Masha 0]

Congratulations on the quick turnover! Well, the problem is that in October my fiance applied for a tourist visa to the USA through an agency. They instructed her to make up a story about this Italian boyfriend who lives in the EU. They told her it'd be the only way to get her the visa, but it didn't even work. When we talked about this, my fiance says that if asked about him (since they typed this information in at the consulate) she'll say that they broke up. I really hope this doesn't bite us in the ###.

[ABDyJLSO 9]

That makes your case a bit more complicated. This agency was clearly a scam if they instructed you (or her) to lie. I'll turn this over to the experts around here, but even in this case I think it would be best to tell the complete truth. She wanted a tourist visa and followed the advice of what she believed to be a credible agency. I would explain this completely and truthfully in your petition and do the same at the interview. It would be much worse to cover one lie with another. But again, wait until someone with more experience than me chimes in.

[MIDUVIL 34]

In october 2014?

When did you married?

[TomandCatie 7]

Hi all,

When doing the I-130 filing does it matter how long my spouse and I have been married? This is in Russia. Is there some fear that if we file too soon after getting married that our desires to live together in my country are illegitimate? I'm just afraid that if I'm completely honest about everything (we don't live together, she's young, I'm young, we'll live with my Dad in the US for a bit) some of their alarms trigger. I wish I could understand the Consulate's opinion toward all this. I have nothing to hide, we'll do it all by the books, and in our interviews, we know each other so well we can just be honest about everything.

Please assuade my fears

Just be truthful. Don't embellish or tell tiny white lies on ANYTHING. Just the honest truth and tons of stuff to back it up. Pictures, letters, ect...

Also, no, I don't think that's too soon... we filed a year after... but our relationship was very rushed looking and I was worried they would think it was strange.

We met in mid-late 2011 and got married in mid 2012, got engaged after only a few months, which I was worried would look bad, but we told the truth, showed pics of our dates, and places we went together, and just let our love be our proof