K1 meeting requirement waiver due to no passport

[jstryker 41]

Ok - back in 2004 - 2007 I was out of work and had a "VERBAL" agreement with the exwife to not worry about refiling the court ordered child support since I was out of work.

LONG STORY SHORT..... she filed for failure to pay child support for those 3 years in 2012 after she got divorced from her remarriage and judge ordered arrearage payments + penalties + interest etc.... in the sum of 80,000.

I HAVE NO PASSPORT and will not be able to obtain one due to the State Dept revoking my travel abilities due to the child support debt.

I've been "seeing" someone in the philippines on Skype for the last year and a half as well as daily email, etc... however I have no ability to meet her PHYSICALLY.

Would this constitue a hardship? If not then there truly is no such thing as a hardship short of complete paralysis or being in a coma.

[cdneh 3,112]

It would not.

I've seen two in 7 years. One for a totally bed bound man, and his fiancee had tried several times for a B2 and had been denied. The second was for a couple, one of them belonged to a small religious group, and they were not allowed to meet, even chaperoned, before marriage.

[Alaska2012 462]

Have your fiancé tried to get a visa to see you?

[jstryker 41]

I went to the immigration here in San Jose, took a number, and when I told where she was from (Philippines) the immigration clerk told me in no short terms... Fat chance in hell they will allow a single filipina here without massive ties back in the Philippines (substantial job and money)

[TBoneTX 45,580]

That's a realistic answer. Sounds as though you'll have to work on retiring that arrearage.

[Anh map 2,098]

Not much of a chance. Once you get caught up you will be able to travel. That's the way an immigration officer will see it.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

You are not unable to meet , you can meet when you have your travel rights restored.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Not a chance

[baron555 934]

I've been "seeing" someone in the philippines on Skype for the last year and a half as well as daily email, etc... however I have no ability to meet her PHYSICALLY.

Would this constitue a hardship? If not then there truly is no such thing as a hardship short of complete paralysis or being in a coma.

I don't think so. You have to honor your previously agreed-upon committments first.

[Chris and ZhiJia 146]

Another HUGE thing to remember, if you don't make arrangements with the DHHS of the county the support agreement is out of, your ex can go to court and request a judge to find you in contempt of a court order, which will have manditory jail time, unless you have an extremely good reason for not fulfilling your required obligation, and a verbal agreement between you and your ex does not exclude you from court ordered support payments.

also, never trust your Ex, they are an Ex for a reason.

FWIW, I was in the same boat with being in arrears with my support payments to the tune of 25k (long period in my life where a lot of bad stuff happened and I was unable to pay), but as soon as I stabilized myself I immediately contacted DHHS and started making additional payments to clear the amount, so that I could get my passport, and go to visit my fiance. For many months I dedicated every penny from my paycheck that wasn't required to feed myself or pay a manditory bill (Rent, Utilities, ect..) to paying off my past due child support. I was literally living off of $50 every 2 weeks as I drained my savings and each paycheck to make things right.

Edited December 23, 2015 by Chris.M

[Pinkrlion 2,724]

Unless you can meet where u dont need a passport. Aren't there parts of Mexico/Caribbean where you don't need a passport.

[Jojo92122 1,924]

It's not impossible for the two of you to meet. It's just a pain in the ### since you got your US passport revoked.

Self-help solution: Pay your child support, get your passport back, and travel to see her. Nothing stopping you from doing this right?

[Jojo92122 1,924]

Unless you can meet where u dont need a passport. Aren't there parts of Mexico/Caribbean where you don't need a passport.

How would the OP get back into the US?

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

you can make trips to Canada and Mexico without a passport and get back in using other ID's

[Russ&Caro 1,549]

FWIW, I was in the same boat with being in arrears with my support payments to the tune of 25k (long period in my life where a lot of bad stuff happened and I was unable to pay), but as soon as I stabilized myself I immediately contacted DHHS and started making additional payments to clear the amount, so that I could get my passport, and go to visit my fiance. For many months I dedicated every penny from my paycheck that wasn't required to feed myself or pay a manditory bill (Rent, Utilities, ect..) to paying off my past due child support. I was literally living off of $50 every 2 weeks as I drained my savings and each paycheck to make things right.

OP, this post by Chris M seems to be the exact solution to your problems from someone who faced the exact same dilemma. It might seem like a bummer that there is no shortcut but if you ask people in this forum, they'll tell you that shortcuts in the immigration process are few and far between. Good luck!