Need B-2 Visa to meet requirements of K-1 Visa

[aaron2020 11,651]

We met online in January, 2015. We have been in constant daily contact via Skype (both text and video), email, regular mail, and telephone ever since. I have been counseled by a licensed mental health professional regarding our relationship, and they have found nothing negitive about the relationship.

He has never traveled outside the Philippines. He only recently obtained his Philippine Passport.

The point WSteve is that these people probably are not in the same position as you. Their circumstances were probably much more favorable than yours to overcome the presumption of immigration.

Good luck.

It's incredibly hard to give you advice when you are not willing to share the reason why you can't travel. You want advice on how to get a waiver based on your circumstances of why you can't travel without disclosing why you can't travel. Impossible to advise you.

[WSteve 0]

I'm still confused as to why you cannot visit him. It sounds like you are well invested in this relationship. Maybe we can help you if you give us a tick more information

good luck

I am legally barred from leaving the country (USA) due to a prior felony conviction. I am not now incarcerated. And yes, my fiance is completely aware of the felony and all the circumstances involved.

[zuluweta 250]

I am legally barred from leaving the country (USA) due to a prior felony conviction. I am not now incarcerated. And yes, my fiance is completely aware of the felony and all the circumstances involved.

Are you a registered sex offender by the way? Because if you are, then having a face-to-face meeting with your BF won't help your desire to petition him to the U.S. The Adam Walsh Act prevents sex offenders from sponsoring foreigners for immigration unless you can meet certain strict conditions.

Even if you're not an RSO, without any travel history and significant ties to the Philippines that would compel your BF to go back (and specially having a U.S. Citizen BF) plus a visa denial already on record, the chance that your BF can obtain a tourist visa to the U.S. is low.

He can always try to apply for a visitor visa at a cost of less than $200 but like I said, he will have a difficult time proving to the visa officer at the embassy that he has no immigrant intent in applying for a tourist visa.

[Boiler 45,952]

Presumably at some point you do not become legally barred from getting a passport and then it would come down to which country you can both get a visa to.

[WSteve 0]

After 4 solid 8-12 hour days researching and seeking advice on the internet, I am convinced that I need legal representation in order to have any reasonable hope of success. I think I may have found an attorney that has experience and a track record dealing with my particular circumstances. Today is Labor Day Holiday, so I can't contact him today. I have been told and believe I am more effective in communicating issues in writing (because I force myself to think very carefully about that I write and constantly proof read and edit again and again). Therefor, I think I will begin a letter to the attorney outlining the situation to the best of my ability.

I am not a wealthy man and neither is Gerson. But we are committed to each other and willing to do whatever is necessay to be together.

I appreciate the advice you all have given me. It has made me think more critically about the situation.

I wish all of you the best.

Sincerely,

WSteve

[Hypnos 6,578]

Since your case is not straightforward, speaking to an attorney is a good idea. However, if your conviction is related to sexual offences against minors then under the Adam Walsh Act it's highly unlikely you will be able to petition anyone for any kind of visa. You give no details about your conviction - as is your right - but that's something to bear in mind.

[Boiler 45,952]

J Craig Fong would be a good one.

[WSteve 0]

J Craig Fong would be a good one.

I have spoken with an attorney who has experience in representing such cases. He says he can help us file the K-1 application.. The probability it will be denied is 99%. That would cost $5,000 in attorney fees, flat rate. The second step would be to file an appeal to the Department of Homeland Security with a denial probability of 99% also. That would cost an additional $3,000 in attorney fees, flat rate.

The next step would be appealing the decision of the Department of Homeland Security in Federal court. For this, the attorney required and initial retainer fees of $7,500. Depending on the government defendant's response, this litigation might cost between $10,000 to $30,000, with a completely unkonwn probability of success. There simply have not been enough cases adjudicated to establish precedents.

By the time you add in a couple of thousand dollars for filing fees and documents, the total cost could run between $20,000 and $40,000, with no guarantee of success.

[HFM181818 750]

So why enrich some attorney with such a low chance (actually, less than 1%) of success? If you think (or if the attorney convinced you) that if you outline all of this proposed expense in some sort of cover/invitation letter to a CO in the PI, in the hope that the CO will overlook 214b of the INA, think again. The USG does not owe anyone a visa...they are not there to hand over a visa to someone who is not qualified (or determined not to be qualified) just because of some inconvenience....because all of this back and forth about how much it would cost, how long it would take, etc, does absolutely nothing to bolster your fiancé's case that he will return to the PI after a visit. It might only help explain why he wants to go, but why somebody wants to go the US is not the critical factor (with tourist visas) - the critical factor, will the applicant return? Does the applicant have strong enough reasons to return, instead of staying put, getting married, file for AOS, etc, and circumvent the entire K1 process....ask yourself...if your BF really has something so overwhelming in the PI than you in the US, what would be (realistically) be? Owning a car? Paying an electric bill? Having elderly parents who allegedly need his care (but oddly will stop needing care the day your BF leaves for the US with a K1 visa)? Siblings? A job paying $219 a month?

I doubt there is much that would act as a very strong reason for him to return (your promises to that effect have zero value)...

There are certainly a lot of missing parts to this situation, but trying to plead his case based on what it might cost to avoid having to adhere to our laws regarding face-to-face meeting won't have any positive effect on his tourist visa application.

[Boiler 45,952]

I have spoken with an attorney who has experience in representing such cases. He says he can help us file the K-1 application.. The probability it will be denied is 99%. That would cost $5,000 in attorney fees, flat rate. The second step would be to file an appeal to the Department of Homeland Security with a denial probability of 99% also. That would cost an additional $3,000 in attorney fees, flat rate.

The next step would be appealing the decision of the Department of Homeland Security in Federal court. For this, the attorney required and initial retainer fees of $7,500. Depending on the government defendant's response, this litigation might cost between $10,000 to $30,000, with a completely unkonwn probability of success. There simply have not been enough cases adjudicated to establish precedents.

By the time you add in a couple of thousand dollars for filing fees and documents, the total cost could run between $20,000 and $40,000, with no guarantee of success.

Not sure if it was the guy I mentioned that you spoke to but it seems to be to me that you got an honest assessment.

[Mollie09 1,543]

So why enrich some attorney with such a low chance (actually, less than 1%) of success? If you think (or if the attorney convinced you) that if you outline all of this proposed expense in some sort of cover/invitation letter to a CO in the PI, in the hope that the CO will overlook 214b of the INA, think again. The USG does not owe anyone a visa...they are not there to hand over a visa to someone who is not qualified (or determined not to be qualified) just because of some inconvenience....because all of this back and forth about how much it would cost, how long it would take, etc, does absolutely nothing to bolster your fiancé's case that he will return to the PI after a visit. It might only help explain why he wants to go, but why somebody wants to go the US is not the critical factor (with tourist visas) - the critical factor, will the applicant return? Does the applicant have strong enough reasons to return, instead of staying put, getting married, file for AOS, etc, and circumvent the entire K1 process....ask yourself...if your BF really has something so overwhelming in the PI than you in the US, what would be (realistically) be? Owning a car? Paying an electric bill? Having elderly parents who allegedly need his care (but oddly will stop needing care the day your BF leaves for the US with a K1 visa)? Siblings? A job paying $219 a month?

I doubt there is much that would act as a very strong reason for him to return (your promises to that effect have zero value)...

There are certainly a lot of missing parts to this situation, but trying to plead his case based on what it might cost to avoid having to adhere to our laws regarding face-to-face meeting won't have any positive effect on his tourist visa application.

He's not talking about B2 anymore,he mentioned that's what would happen for a hypothetical K1 application

[HFM181818 750]

BTW, the 'article' you posted about visa denials was written by.....you guessed it, an immigration attorney, who is annoyed because the fewer people allowed to enter the US, the less business he could get by encouraging an AOS or COS, while his cash register rings and rings, to the tune of around $400 an hour. While much of what he said is true, in that people from developing countries have demonstrated for years that the odds of them complying with the terms of a tourist visa when they have an American BF or GF is less than 5%....mostly so they could get away from their country, where prospects for a secure future are usually far from what they could be in the US....and that is just a plain fact of life....having nothing to do with chastising consular officers for their decision-making, but rather, as is typical with attorneys, a failure (on his part) to acknowledge the actual statistics (which he neglected to mention)...

In real life, just about no one cares what some immigration attorney has to say about anything. But you did find out from yours how truly interested they are in billable hours.

[HFM181818 750]

While he may be talking about an eventual K1, I suspect that he might try to throw all of these numbers into a letter (for his fiancé to present at his next B2 interview) designed to generate sympathy by a CO in Manila...I really doubt he is willing to ante up 20 grand or more in what will very likely turn out to be an exercise in futility.

[Mollie09 1,543]

While he may be talking about an eventual K1, I suspect that he might try to throw all of these numbers into a letter (for his fiancé to present at his next B2 interview) designed to generate sympathy by a CO in Manila...I really doubt he is willing to ante up 20 grand or more in what will very likely turn out to be an exercise in futility.

I doubt that the fact that a K1 and multiple appeals would be expensive would sway a CO to grant a B2. He's even less likely to return to PI under those circumstances.

[Boiler 45,952]

While he may be talking about an eventual K1, I suspect that he might try to throw all of these numbers into a letter (for his fiancé to present at his next B2 interview) designed to generate sympathy by a CO in Manila...I really doubt he is willing to ante up 20 grand or more in what will very likely turn out to be an exercise in futility.

That is all about why he wants to go which is unlikely to be the issue.