221(g) again

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

What?

embassy denied our CR 1 ?

embassy can deny any petition

i had to appeal and reapply

No. Embassy refuses to approve the visa but can NOT DENY THE PETITION and sends petition to USCIS with recommendation to review or recommendation to revoke.

USCIS then sends a NOID/NOIR letter to the petitioner who gets a second chance to rebut the consular findings.

Petitioner answers NOID/NOIR.

USCIS then either denies the petition or sends it back to the embassy with recommendation to approve the visa.

You had nothing to appeal, if you had won an appeal then you wouldn't have had to re file. You wasted money on an appeal.

You appeal only IF the consulate made a mistake.

Rebuttal with a NOID/NOIR is not an appeal.

I don't know the reason for your appeal so I won't speculate but returned CR1's do not have to do an appeal.

Perhaps you were misinformed by your attorney if you had one.

[Pinkrlion 2,724]

We met through our parents, her mom and dad and my father. They grew up together and introduced us in 2012.

This is the reason for the denial. They are trying to say that it is an arranged marriage to seek immigration. I would get your Senator involved. Also, having a pregnancy when you have only been there 4 times, will add to the suspicion of it being bonafide, they will not believe that it is your child.

[Daniel n Somphos 3]

It's a bit unfair. I'm in a similar boat, about to have our second interview. I will have made 5 trips total, each staying 2 weeks because that's the max my employer will allow me to take of in and length of time. I'm important to the company in a few ways, though i dont get paid like I am... The thing about our "meeting" was that a cousin introduced us as mentor and pupil in late 2010 because she needed help with her english at her university. We grew to like each other a lot, then I BROKE THE NEWS TO HER AUNT AND UNCLE THAT WE WERE IN LOVE AND WANTED TO GET MARRIED, they had no idea we were even introduced by their daughter... I was also surprised that they didnt know or that their daughter that introduced ut never gave them any information about us knowing one another, I love her family as if it was my own, we take really good care of each other and have spent the majority of our time alone together these past 2 trips, the first two were engagement and spend time with her family + interview on second trip, 3rd and 4th trip was just to spend time with her because we really needed the face to face and an actual vacation together, and Honestly... if It wasnt for her on Christmas eve night... I would have died from alcohol poisoning or something else... one of my drinks tasted funny and i dont think i have ever ever ever felt so horrible in my life, she stayed by my side for 6 hours with a waterbottle and helping me purge whatever had made me so sick out from my system... then on the 26th the day before i left i was so sick i couldnt eat anything, even the smell of food was sickening... had travellers "you know what" but thanks to the azithromycin and "bangalah" local medicine where I knew what it was, had it done here before in the states when i was really sick and it helped... so i went to the store and bought some "monkey medicine" (bangalah) but i didnt have a good coin to use... so she used the edge of the container... wasnt as painful as the coining... but it still made me wiggle like a work in somewhat tickles and pain ... i just cant stop laughing when she did that for me because its like one of those pains that just.... i dont know.... sort of tickles your funny bone until it feels like razors are cutting you, but in the end it feels great, like a super icy-hot on steroids. Next day i could eat... i could drink water... i was better for my flight back on the 27th at 11am... so i was fine the entire trip up until I was at Koh Rong... on new years eve... we spend Christmas day travelling back to Phnom Penh eating snacks to keep something from making us too hungry. I have so much evidence, but even before i had a lot and that did not help. I have many Hotel/guesthouse receipts, i just wish they listed "how many people" stayed in the room. 1 does but the rest dont... and i had to remind them of our check in dates because they "forgot" when I took her whole family to Siem Reap for our "2nd anniversary" from when we got engaged in 2013. We revisited everywhere we went then and more... i took my fiancee and I to a massage place for us to have a romantic night and relax together, little did I know it really hurt her to see another woman massage me while she was there in the same room getting the same massage.... now it's "You can have massage from man" from now on.... lol. I apologized and promised no more massages, the funny thing is... i never had a professional passage in my life, ever. So i thought it would be a good idea to have the experience with my fiancee, because she too, never had the experience. She is a real angel. Che might even be pregnant thats why I am very concerned... I dont want the birth to be without me, I really pray to God we don't get denied again. We weren't hoping for a baby just yet either, it sort of ... just happened. I'm really worried now because of your case being so similar to mine. My heart would truly break if she were denied a life without me and for her to be pregnant there without me, etc. We chose to be together WAY before her aunt and uncle ever knew and helped me relay the proposal to her mother that only knew one word in english, "no". I broke the news to my fiancee's aunt and uncle and other cousin and her husband which is a close friend of mine, that literally had no idea. the thing is ... they will most likely be suspicious because her cousin introduced us, and her aunt and uncle helped me with bringing the proposal to the table to my soon to be mother and father in law. her parents knew we were talking and all but never knew what we wanted with each other until I like the man does in the relationship... broke the ice with the parents in Cambodia and the aunt/uncle stateside.

Her father was sort of "not all for it" until he met me... and made me drink with him to see how I was, then he was all smiles every time we ever met... he treats me like his son and her mother truly is the most hospitable person I have ever met. Though the decision for the engagement was left up to her mother, she took some time to talk to Somphos to see if this was what she really wanted (this took a while as we were over speakerphone, when I heard her talking my heart was racing and then i herd her say "ja... ja!" my happiness level spiked, then her mom got back on the phone and accepted the proposal after her daughter also said that this was what we were sure that we wanted. there was even a formal visit to my mother, to see if this was ok with my mother because their family also wanted to make sure my mother was ok with me flying there for the purpose of solidifying (basically making it known to both sides of our families) our relationship and taking the next big step to get engaged, we had tons of face-to-face over skype plenty of times to where we didnt care whether we met first or not before the engagement... though her family did give us a second chance to reaffirm our choice by having us meet before the engagement to sit and talk by ourselves, it was perfect... we were nothing but smiles and even though there WAS a slight language barrier, we knew what our hearts were saying to each other. we looked to our pastor (from my city here in the USA) and everyone that traveled to Cambodia for this engagement and some mission work for the church. and gladly said yes we would love to go forward with this. They really wanted to see how we interacted with each other and I'm sure they really wanted to make sure we got along because they never observed us talking together before... we got engaged, it was my first visit but this was my and my fiancee's decision... we want to be together and share our lives, simple as that. We are loyal to an extreme, speak every day for hours...EVERY DAY. before i go to work and after i get off, its perfect timing. before i had this job, i would stay up entire nights and lose sleep just to talk to her. so you can imagine and I can imagine how heartbreaking these situations are when we're denied the opportunity to even TRY on a k-1 visa which is what it was meant for in the first place... we have a chance... if we dont get along and get married within the 90 day limit... then she goes back. But i really doubt this because we are GREAT together even in tough times. We always try to make up to each other whenever there is a misunderstanding. This is really tough, even if i knew how tough it was in the beginning, i would still go through all this trouble just to be together... i mean... whats love, if you give up on it because our Govt. had some bad cases and has caused immigration to tighten up? The thing is, I wont ever give up on her... no matter how much it takes... she is the woman I love. Above all, she is the person that chose to spend her life with me as well. Though she has a hard time reading some english, I have gotten her to the point that she can communicate pretty well in Spoken english. Some words she is unfamiliar with but thats fine, all in god time she can learn everything from an actual school here, which was my plan... to put her back in school once she is here, help her get a job, etc. I support her 110% only because I love her that much. I have big plans for her... she is a country girl. doesn't really know what she wants to do here, because she simply hasn't had the funds to do much. but when she gets here,... oh man will she have a blast... will ride her first rollercoaster... eat her first slice of a real California style pizza.... many firsts will be shared together. because thats what i want to do, share my life and experiences with her. as she also wants the same. anyways I really am crossing my fingers.... toes.... and everything I can and praying every day for a blessing to be together. I really hope we have some luck this time around.

[LionessDeon 2,060]

We met through our parents, her mom and dad and my father. They grew up together and introduced us in 2012.

This is the reason you keep getting refused. This is the key right here you need to overcome. Please listen to Ebunoluwa's advice. She knows what she speaks of. Begin preparing your rebuttal and contact your congressman. Collect any evidence you can to overcome the opinion that this marriage was arranged by your parents. Affidavits...anything.

Good Luck!

Edited January 11, 2016 by LionessDeon

[Avery Cates 1,141]

I'm sorry but anyone can have a baby with anyone?? This is my wife we're talking about.

That's fine. I could just as easily have a baby with her as you could. It wouldn't be grounds for her obtaining a visa though.

[Avery Cates 1,141]

western union transactions

How much money has been sent, and in which direction did it go?

[EricAndOrn 30]

We met through our parents, her mom and dad and my father. They grew up together and introduced us in 2012.

This is the reason you keep getting refused. This is the key right here you need to overcome. Please listen to Ebunoluwa's advice. She knows what she speaks of. Begin preparing your rebuttal and contact your congressman. Collect any evidence you can to overcome the opinion that this marriage was arranged by your parents. Affidavits...anything.

Good Luck!

THIS!

I second that opinion. Getting introduced by family members is a red flag that the relationship is not bonafide, but for immigration purposes..

Edited January 12, 2016 by EricAndOrn

[Jawaree 718]

A 221G specify what is needed from the CO, getting marry does not eliminate request,

upon getting marry the answer still have to be provided, you will run into a stonewall

without exactly whats requested,With both parents arranging this relationship it will

be scrutinized. Don't send another app. ,gather your proofs, and seek the help of your

congressperson

[NikaMo 39]

Most people here trying to help are not familiar with this embassy. One of the toughest embassy to pass interview. It's an everyday regular occurrence here. People gets denied everyday. Specially K-1 approval rate is lowest anywhere. CR-1 not far behind. Just to let everyone know just to get married in Cambodia alone is a grueling process which may be harder then visa process itself. Us citizen wish to marry a Cambodian needs permission from ministry of foreign affairs which takes more then a month and US citizen must physically present the whole time. It involves thousands in bribe money as well not to mention just to be eligible to apply applicant must earn $2600 a month and under 50 years of age. So after doing all that op still got denied. Having been going through both process just like him I can say that getting introduced by family is a red flag here 2nd to getting engaged or marry on first physical visit. But it is local Cambodian custom. So how do you get around it? How else you would get introduced to each other? Just find someone online? Then they bring that question how can you make such a decision meeting online? Op is a Cambodian ancestry and it's normal for him to get marry to a Cambodian girl. Only way to do that to a good family or good girl is first get introduced by someone trustworthy. In his case it was his parents. Again that is local custom.

221(g) would not pinpoint a reason. I saw so many of those including one for myself as K-1. It's a generic letter just says they have reason to believe the relationship is not a bonafide relationship. You can just try to guess based on what they focused on. But they never pinpoint the reason. I fought this embassy nearly 4 years and witnessed many denials many 221(g). I know.

You have to fight back once your file comes back to US. I am sure you can do that easy and case will go back to embassy. But embassy part is not easy again. Just before interview you need to contact your senators, congressman, Governor everyone you can think of. Be there for interview again and try to make another trip in between. It will change their mind. I had 8 trips by the time 2nd interview(CR-1) and had inquiry from senators to embassy as well. Whatever it was, it worked 2nd time around and we came out as victorious. You can do it too. You already visited 4 times stayed month at a time. If your wife has a baby that will be another evidence of relationship but dealing with this embassy for 4 plus years and witnessing majority of applicants getting denied, never witnessed anyone got denied who had a baby. I did witness they asked some of them for DNA test but approved later. This is based on my personal experience(Witnessing) not reading on internet.

Op has lots of evidence. In fact lot more then most people here in visa journey. I know because I have been there and helping out some people here. Again this is a tough embassy to pass because of visa fraud in the past many years ago. It's a black listed country. It's not his fault. So please go easy on him. The only other Cambodian applicant Daniel responded here also going for 2nd interview. Majority of Cambodian visajourney members were denied visa and the just disappear. Approval rate is very few and far between. Other visajourney members don't realize that and try to scrutinize the person that got denied. He cannot change the fact that he met his wife through his parents. It's the local custom! For everything else, he has better evidence of relationship then 90% of visajourney members. Believe me. I know.

One thing for sure. If you never give up there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You gotta fight for your love. You will succeed. I did and life is beautiful with our 9 month old daughter. Good luck.

[pink_niru 41]

What 221(G) Says ? you have not explained any where....

Let us know what CO said to your wife ? & what 221(G) paper says ?

[Loveherforever49 4]

Section 221(g) which prohibits the issuance of a visa to anyone whose application does not comply with the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act(INA) or regulations issued pursuant thereto. The following remarks apply in your case.

Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) prohibits a consular officer from issuing a visa to an alien if the consular officer has reason to believe the alien is ineligible. Based on the indications that you're your petition contains false statements and based on information obtained during the interview process that has caused the interviewing officer to believe your relationship with the Petitoner is not a genuine relationship, but rather one entered into solely in order to provide you with an immigration benefit to which you are not entitled , we are returning the petition to the Bueau of Citizenship and Immigration services (CIS) of the Department of Homeland Security(DHS) for review and possible revocation on fraud or material misrepresentation grounds. If CIS determines the information we are providing constitutes sufficient foundation for initiating revocation proceedings, the petitioner will be send a notice of intent to revoke that includes a statement of the facts and evidence, and the petitioner will have the opportunity to respond. Under INA 222(f) which addresses the confidentiality of visa record , we are unable to provide any further detail.

I have contacted my senator and congressman and have written affidavits from family friends and co-workers. Anything else can help? maybe a lawyer?

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Section 221(g) which prohibits the issuance of a visa to anyone whose application does not comply with the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act(INA) or regulations issued pursuant thereto. The following remarks apply in your case.

Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) prohibits a consular officer from issuing a visa to an alien if the consular officer has reason to believe the alien is ineligible. Based on the indications that you're your petition contains false statements and based on information obtained during the interview process that has caused the interviewing officer to believe your relationship with the Petitoner is not a genuine relationship, but rather one entered into solely in order to provide you with an immigration benefit to which you are not entitled , we are returning the petition to the Bueau of Citizenship and Immigration services (CIS) of the Department of Homeland Security(DHS) for review and possible revocation on fraud or material misrepresentation grounds. If CIS determines the information we are providing constitutes sufficient foundation for initiating revocation proceedings, the petitioner will be send a notice of intent to revoke that includes a statement of the facts and evidence, and the petitioner will have the opportunity to respond. Under INA 222(f) which addresses the confidentiality of visa record , we are unable to provide any further detail.

I have contacted my senator and congressman and have written affidavits from family friends and co-workers. Anything else can help? maybe a lawyer?

Any idea what they are talking about with your petition containing false statements ? I wouldn't know, you filled it out.

Any info obtained from her during the interview that was misleading ?

Go over the entire interview word for word with your wife. What did they harp on, what questions did they repeat ?

Any previous petitions /applications for her or did you petition someone before ?

As I said in my other post you will receive a NOID/NOIR and will know what the CO's findings are and can then respond specifically to what it is.

Right now you don't know and no senator / congressman

can help you, a lawyer can help you prepare a FOIA if you feel you can't do it by yourself.

You can file a FOIA request with her privacy release statement (and yours) to try to find out more. They won't tell you without

HER privacy release signature because it is confidential. This can take 6-12 months but so will waiting for the NOID/NOIR letter from USCIS.

Settle in for a long wait because returned petitions are not a priority.

Sometimes when they speak of misrepresentation, it is an unclear issue and their assumption and speculation is a misrep without

it actually being one. Their "facts and evidence" you will see in the NOID/NOIR letter and if it truly is a misrep on her part it will carry a ban.

When it comes time for your rebuttal and hopefully armed with a FOIA answer you can consult a lawyer on what his perspective is to overcome

the reason(s).

Best wishes for a resolve !

[noho01060 0]

Any idea what they are talking about with your petition containing false statements ? I wouldn't know, you filled it out.

Any info obtained from her during the interview that was misleading ?

Go over the entire interview word for word with your wife. What did they harp on, what questions did they repeat ?

Any previous petitions /applications for her or did you petition someone before ?

As I said in my other post you will receive a NOID/NOIR and will know what the CO's findings are and can then respond specifically to what it is.

Right now you don't know and no senator / congressman

can help you, a lawyer can help you prepare a FOIA if you feel you can't do it by yourself.

You can file a FOIA request with her privacy release statement (and yours) to try to find out more. They won't tell you without

HER privacy release signature because it is confidential. This can take 6-12 months but so will waiting for the NOID/NOIR letter from USCIS.

Settle in for a long wait because returned petitions are not a priority.

Sometimes when they speak of misrepresentation, it is an unclear issue and their assumption and speculation is a misrep without

it actually being one. Their "facts and evidence" you will see in the NOID/NOIR letter and if it truly is a misrep on her part it will carry a ban.

When it comes time for your rebuttal and hopefully armed with a FOIA answer you can consult a lawyer on what his perspective is to overcome

the reason(s).

Best wishes for a resolve !

are your situation been resolved?