k1 denied under 221(g) - no relationship with you and petitioner, advise please!

[NikLR 13,227]

Lets me assure you that I was not making this a religion issue. The United States does not does not discriminate when in regards to Sex, color or religion so lets make sure of that. The couple from my understanding have met all the requirements to to petition and it was approved, no problems there. Now on the other hand, the CO came to a conclusion for one reason or another to deny her the VISA. What and why that was the CO decision.

The WHY from the CO was that there wasn't enough relationship evidence. Why? Because they've spent 1 week together in 3 years. That's not enough.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

US has no such laws. From Pakistan I know some cases where non muslim men or women were fiancees of muslim men or women and there cases were approved, but with a lot of wait time. The CO looks and local customs and practices but if he sees a good case, he approves it.

They do not deny a K-1 solely because they do not share the same religious beliefs.The CO would also be aware of the usual engagement customs of that country. I would guess mailing a ring before even meeting in person is not one of them. However, I believe they were speaking about a non-muslim marrying a muslim in Malaysia. I did a quick search and the person that said marrying there would be an issue because the non-muslim would need to convert to Islam seems to be correct.

[Jafifa1978 3]

well we getting my fiance to fly down here again in couple of months time, at the same time he said he will make a call to the CO office down here to ask it to be reviewed by a senior consular or supervisor just as one of the lawyer on the visajourney.com has advised us to.

i would agree with NLR and few more couples on here that has been kind enough to give me some feedback,judging from the questions that was asked, i do believe the red flag is because 1 week is not enough and because he was married twice.

Nothing was asked about religion or age different or anything like that before i get denied under 221 (g). Our next step is to get him down here to spend at least another week or 2, and then perhaps get another appointment but this time he will come with me to the embassy.

And whatever pch1 saying is pretty much make sense as well, because to be honest, i dont want him to have to convert down here just because he wants to marry me because religion is not an issue in the first place. I read some of the feedback too that the evidences that was gathered need to be presented in a proper manner with cover page and also a letter of statement from both of us saying that we intend to get married after 90 days of arrival in USA. which we dont have it in the first place, but they did made me sign a statement of it when i went for the interview the other day.

[Jafifa1978 3]

is there any couple in here that have a different religions relationship before? it would be nice to have some guidance from some who knows what they dealed with before too when it comes to that topics please, thank you.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

For goodness sakes there is so much wrong advice in this thread.
Where do I start !

Let me start with Japan.

If you want to marry in a third country make 100% sure by researching online AND calling in person about the Japanese requirements

for 2 foreigners to marry or else you will be going there and coming back unmarried like us with trying to marry in Cyprus after our

K1 was refused and returned !
The requirements can be quiet crazy and not everything you read online about it will be fact in real life when you try to get your

wedding permit/license in front of clueless bureaucrats.

It can take weeks to get it done there, one of you may have to have a residence permit.

Either find out from someone who did this (both being foreigners not one being Japanese) and research it.
Some CO's wonder why you want to marry in a third country and get a bit suspicious as to why not in the presence of your family,

the couple hours shorter flight reason doesn't hold water. Some beneficiaries hide their marriage to a USC from family.

FRONTLOADING: DO front load, search out the threads and reasons why and don't listen to people who say not to do it. Rubbish.

Disregard advice where people are only telling you embassy specific things in their experience at their embassy and haven't

got an inkling of an idea about what's going down in other consulates. Apples and oranges and a whole other fruit basket.
I get so sick and tired of people talking about doing what works for an easy country like the PI, for heavens sake stop posting rabbit

turds and get a clue about other consulates or stay in your regional forum.
DIFFERENT RELIGIONS: Though there is no law about interfaith marriage, CO's do have discretionary authority to refuse the visa
if they think it is not the cultural norm in the country to marry someone from a different religion if other things are also not quiet right and they suspect that the beneficiary is marrying a non muslim just because they want a green card. Diplomatic immunity is irrelevant, cultural

custom is not.
They would not come right out and tell you so but they will use the blanket statement of "not bona fide, for immigration benefits only".
SUPPORT MONEY: Embassy specific. Period. Some gifts for Birthdays or now and then are perfectly fine. A sugar daddy who lavishes
thousands on you is not at certain embassies.

ONE WEEK TRIP: Embassy specific. Bottom line is YOU need more face time for YOUR embassy (the 90 day nonsense is irrelevant,

a K1 is intent to marry not a dating visa to go see if you want to marry within 90 days). Neither do they care who has how long of a vacation
to accomplish marrying a foreigner, not their problem nor concern.

QUALITY/QUANTITY: Certainly quality, meaning to have adequate evidence laid out to tell your story from beginning to end, versus

hundreds of mindless chat fillers is better. You said he had "a picture of you both" and "a picture of all 3 of you". That is NOT enough.
Submit many more categorized by each trip and /or event.....you have to tell a story with your pictures and all other evidence.
If it is 5.5 inches thick then so be it. Ours was 12 pounds second time around and about 15 inches thick plus about 150 photos.
Why ? Because their excuse was they wanted more evidence and that's exactly what they got and I don't care how long it took

them to go through it. I even asked them what more exactly do you want only to be told we can't tell you that. Really ?!
We had plenty the first time around.
This is your second time around so do what you have to do. I am NOT saying do what we did but I am saying two photos aren't

enough. Figure out how much you need to tell your particular love story adequately to a stranger who doesn't know you.
Every couple has their unique timeline and story, every embassy has their quirks on what they want.

We had 5 trips by the second time around and it took us 5 years so we had a lot of evidence of old and current evidence.
You need to figure out what works for your embassy and not someone else's. Read your embassy's reviews and the threads

from your regional forum. Visit and have him be there for the next interview also. If he doesn't like to travel then perhaps

he should have thought about that before dating someone in another country.
Best wishes and a successful next petition and approval !

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

well we getting my fiance to fly down here again in couple of months time, at the same time he said he will make a call to the CO office down here to ask it to be reviewed by a senior consular or supervisor just as one of the lawyer on the visajourney.com has advised us to.

i would agree with NLR and few more couples on here that has been kind enough to give me some feedback,judging from the questions that was asked, i do believe the red flag is because 1 week is not enough and because he was married twice.

Nothing was asked about religion or age different or anything like that before i get denied under 221 (g). Our next step is to get him down here to spend at least another week or 2, and then perhaps get another appointment but this time he will come with me to the embassy.

And whatever pch1 saying is pretty much make sense as well, because to be honest, i dont want him to have to convert down here just because he wants to marry me because religion is not an issue in the first place. I read some of the feedback too that the evidences that was gathered need to be presented in a proper manner with cover page and also a letter of statement from both of us saying that we intend to get married after 90 days of arrival in USA. which we dont have it in the first place, but they did made me sign a statement of it when i went for the interview the other day.

Don't count on getting another appointment in 2 months when he comes to see you, he needs to call the consulate immediately

and preferably go through a senator with the request rather than himself because they probably won't even allow him to get through to

the CO or section chief. If he doesn't want to convert which is his right not to then have a plan on how you will address the issue

with celebrating certain holidays, how children will be raised, etc. If you two have discussed it thoroughly then convey that to the CO

at the next interview.

Have your fiance write a narrative timeline of how you met, fell in love, your compatibility and how you will face your differences together such as your diverse religious beliefs and frontload it with the petition. There are examples of the timeline relationship letters here on VJ,

google it.

[Jafifa1978 3]

Hi Ebunoluwa,

thanks you very much for your advice,that really helped a lot for me to understand as you have helped me to break it down in details thoroughly. i can see it clearly more visit is needed to make this thing success thats why we getting him down here in couple of months, even if there is no chance to get another interview by then,at least it will add more proof to our relationship.

Great idea on the timeline relationship. I used to read it before that it may help in the applications but there was so much infos every now and then it confused us and thats when we didnt send any out.

Dont mind if i ask your opinion on getting an immigration lawyer's help, what do you think about that or if you do have any experiences or anything that you aware of it, please do share,thank you.

[TBoneTX 44,925]

This one probably merits enshrinement in the pantheon of All-Time Greatest VJ Posts:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/600253-k1-denied-under-221g-no-relationship-with-you-and-petitioner-advise-please/?p=8198989

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Hi Ebunoluwa,

thanks you very much for your advice,that really helped a lot for me to understand as you have helped me to break it down in details thoroughly. i can see it clearly more visit is needed to make this thing success thats why we getting him down here in couple of months, even if there is no chance to get another interview by then,at least it will add more proof to our relationship.

Great idea on the timeline relationship. I used to read it before that it may help in the applications but there was so much infos every now and then it confused us and thats when we didnt send any out.

Dont mind if i ask your opinion on getting an immigration lawyer's help, what do you think about that or if you do have any experiences or anything that you aware of it, please do share,thank you.

I had a lawyer that I handpicked from a list of many that came recommended and ended up firing him.

You don't need a lawyer IF you both come here and spend some time researching, reading, asking questions.

Subscribe to the CR/IR forum so you can read and study all the relevant posts and answers.

Before you act read and ask specific questions here. Get into the flow of the forum to learn before you petition again.

Study the guides. http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

Disregard the K3 as it has become obsolete years ago.

Save the money that a lawyer would cost and use it to visit more.

YOU both know your relationship best and a lawyer would tell you the same (or probably less) than what the guide says,

you do the leg work to gather all documents and he puts a stamp on it and mails it at the tune of a couple thousand dollars

or more.

[pch1 64]

For goodness sakes there is so much wrong advice in this thread.

Where do I start !

Let me start with Japan.

If you want to marry in a third country make 100% sure by researching online AND calling in person about the Japanese requirements

for 2 foreigners to marry or else you will be going there and coming back unmarried like us with trying to marry in Cyprus after our

K1 was refused and returned !

The requirements can be quiet crazy and not everything you read online about it will be fact in real life when you try to get your

wedding permit/license in front of clueless bureaucrats.

It can take weeks to get it done there, one of you may have to have a residence permit.

Either find out from someone who did this (both being foreigners not one being Japanese) and research it.

Some CO's wonder why you want to marry in a third country and get a bit suspicious as to why not in the presence of your family,

the couple hours shorter flight reason doesn't hold water. Some beneficiaries hide their marriage to a USC from family.

FRONTLOADING: DO front load, search out the threads and reasons why and don't listen to people who say not to do it. Rubbish.

Disregard advice where people are only telling you embassy specific things in their experience at their embassy and haven't

got an inkling of an idea about what's going down in other consulates. Apples and oranges and a whole other fruit basket.

I get so sick and tired of people talking about doing what works for an easy country like the PI, for heavens sake stop posting rabbit

turds and get a clue about other consulates or stay in your regional forum.

DIFFERENT RELIGIONS: Though there is no law about interfaith marriage, CO's do have discretionary authority to refuse the visa

if they think it is not the cultural norm in the country to marry someone from a different religion if other things are also not quiet right and they suspect that the beneficiary is marrying a non muslim just because they want a green card. Diplomatic immunity is irrelevant, cultural

custom is not.

They would not come right out and tell you so but they will use the blanket statement of "not bona fide, for immigration benefits only".

SUPPORT MONEY: Embassy specific. Period. Some gifts for Birthdays or now and then are perfectly fine. A sugar daddy who lavishes

thousands on you is not at certain embassies.

ONE WEEK TRIP: Embassy specific. Bottom line is YOU need more face time for YOUR embassy (the 90 day nonsense is irrelevant,

a K1 is intent to marry not a dating visa to go see if you want to marry within 90 days). Neither do they care who has how long of a vacation

to accomplish marrying a foreigner, not their problem nor concern.

QUALITY/QUANTITY: Certainly quality, meaning to have adequate evidence laid out to tell your story from beginning to end, versus

hundreds of mindless chat fillers is better. You said he had "a picture of you both" and "a picture of all 3 of you". That is NOT enough.

Submit many more categorized by each trip and /or event.....you have to tell a story with your pictures and all other evidence.

If it is 5.5 inches thick then so be it. Ours was 12 pounds second time around and about 15 inches thick plus about 150 photos.

Why ? Because their excuse was they wanted more evidence and that's exactly what they got and I don't care how long it took

them to go through it. I even asked them what more exactly do you want only to be told we can't tell you that. Really ?!

We had plenty the first time around.

This is your second time around so do what you have to do. I am NOT saying do what we did but I am saying two photos aren't

enough. Figure out how much you need to tell your particular love story adequately to a stranger who doesn't know you.

Every couple has their unique timeline and story, every embassy has their quirks on what they want.

We had 5 trips by the second time around and it took us 5 years so we had a lot of evidence of old and current evidence.

You need to figure out what works for your embassy and not someone else's. Read your embassy's reviews and the threads

from your regional forum. Visit and have him be there for the next interview also. If he doesn't like to travel then perhaps

he should have thought about that before dating someone in another country.

Best wishes and a successful next petition and approval !

Great response that hit it in the nail~ She have enough information now to take her to the next level...well done!

[Jafifa1978 3]

Trust me PedroKiske, i know it is but unfortunately what Anitafeliz is true, there is too much fraud cases thesedays when it comes to visas and at the end of the day some of us have to suffer for it, its a hard and long road to go, but if it is a true love, we just have to keep fighting

[Jafifa1978 3]

PedroKiske,

My fiance was beyond his belief and said the exact same thing you have said,he really didnt expect that i would get denied that easily and you are right,for some of us, travelling all the time is not something that everybody can do especially when it comes to money wise of perhaps some other family matters too,we're devastated,but we are learning to accept it and working on to do whatever we can to make this happen.

[AP16 30]

PedroKiske,

My fiance was beyond his belief and said the exact same thing you have said,he really didnt expect that i would get denied that easily and you are right,for some of us, travelling all the time is not something that everybody can do especially when it comes to money wise of perhaps some other family matters too,we're devastated,but we are learning to accept it and working on to do whatever we can to make this happen.

Well I hope everything goes well for you and you can overcome all this injustice in the end. Be strong and fight for your relationship!

[C & L Scott 0]

well honestly yes we do have different religion and culture, i am a muslim and he is not, but the truth is, he just hates to fly that long, he never fly before in his whole life and the first time he ever get on the plane is when he came down here that one time, flight to malaysia is 16 hours and he was just wondering if meeting half way would be okay since the flight is much shorter, it has nothing to do we trying to run from the culture or anything like that

Hi guys! HI Jafifa1978. I'm a newbie and find that your case is really helpful. Sorry for K1 denied. Me and my fiance are gathering all the document and will send the petition sooner and it already get me nervous. As a Malaysian (but i'm a Christian), different religion can be an issue. My fiance fly more than 20 hours to visit me and its a part of tough journey of being apart but it worth more than anything. I suggest that he fly to Malaysia to meet you again, meeting you and your family will b good since you have different religion, culture etc. I can understand if different religion will b a red flag in Malaysia. If he can spend more time, that will be good. But love always win! If you can get married in Malaysia, that will be better. I wish you best luck with new petition.

[baron555 934]

hi merrytooth, yes he does sent me money regularly but not really like a big amount every now and then, it probably for something like to buy my daughter a presents, or buy us some new shirts or shoes and he does it willingly just like taking care of us like his own family.

Im not sure what red flag is about in the first place but yes he is 11 years old older than me and different religion as well, but nothing was asked about it in the first place.

how much time usually we need to spend time together before there is any possibility we can get approved though merrytooth? thank you so much for at least replying to my post, we was clueless, no idea whats going on at all and just got rejected by piece of paper and not given a reason for it

He broke one of the cardinal rules of international relationships......Never send money to someone that you have not met in person first.

I would agree, your Internet relationship was not enough to convince the CO.

Why did he wait 3 years to visit you? That is the bigger question. Unless there is a very compelling reason, I would say that you two were not serious about the relationship, because it took 3 years to meet in person. Nothing personal is meant and I hope you can understand the seriousness of being serious about this.

Also, who would ask someone to marry them without meeting in person first?

Big red flags all around. Sri.

You two should spend lots more time together and document the seriousness of the relationship before you file again.....or get married and file for CR-1 visa.