uscis is giving me problems with K1

[Pennycat 880]

Thanks, as mentioned I contacted the National Personnel Record Center in Sept. but received no reply. You can only fax or mail them, they don't take phone calls as far as I know.

So I take it that I should not simply give up, that's there's hope to get thru this tangled process?

BTW, I thought about writing an op-ed piece to the Washington Post but checked with my security manager and that's a no-no too; I can't afford to lose my job at the Pentagon

Gee, if only there were people whose entire jobs it were to call private numbers to offices within federal agencies whose only job it is to respond to such calls from such individuals.

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

Thanks, as mentioned I contacted the National Personnel Record Center in Sept. but received no reply. You can only fax or mail them, they don't take phone calls as far as I know.

So I take it that I should not simply give up, that's there's hope to get thru this tangled process?

BTW, I thought about writing an op-ed piece to the Washington Post but checked with my security manager and that's a no-no too; I can't afford to lose my job at the Pentagon

You work at the Pentagon yet you are talking about forging legal documents? Also, why are you complaining about the USCIS when they were completely within their rights to deny your I-765's as you had no basis to file them, and getting mad that you are being asked for documents (divorce decree/evidence of divorce) that everyone who goes the process needs to provide?

I am curious to read this op-ed.

[SE18 2]

i wasn't going to forge anything; but the thought crossed my mind; i'm sure thoughts have crossed your mind that you don't act upon, perhaps?

[SE18 2]

An untold story of immigration

In this presidential debate, immigration has come to the fore unlike in any recent election cycles. The Donald speaks about a wall on our Southwest border. Hillary calls for a compassionate immigration policy. And then, there are those many Syrian refugees hoping to make it into our country.

As riveting as those daily news stories are, there's an untold story of immigration; that of ordinary American citizens dealing with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.

USCIS can be an especially crass organization to deal with. I am one of those U.S. citizens, who fell in love with a foreigner, and, had a falling out with USCIS.

She's a Filipina, a nationality that USCIS considers least desirable, because there's so many trying to immigrate. Sorry I fell in love with someone from the wrong nationality and race.

What now separates us being together is the incredibly dense and opaque USCIS bureaucracy.

We met online. We felt that we had fallen in love through daily correspondence, but there's nothing like face-to-face. In June, I was with her in Manila. Spent lots of time together. Met her two lovely daughters, 18 and 20. Engagement rings followed. I filed for a K1 fiancee visa.

We thought we'd be together at least by October 2016, well before Nov. 5, when the oldest girl turned 21. At 21, she would not be allowed to accompany her mom because she would be considered no longer a "child," but a "daughter," and the wait to emigrate would be 15 years.

So the clock started ticking. Weeks turned into months.

In September, I received official notification from USCIS that stated I had most likely forged my fiancee's signature on her G-325A Biographic Information form. Not true.

Also, USCIS told me that the three Form I-765 filing fees I'd filed for Application for Employment for my fiancée and her two daughters had been denied. Each form cost me $380 for a total of $1,140. My money was not returned to me.

Additionally, USCIS told me that I could not even get married because of a divorce certificate I lost. The divorce occurred in 1981. I had been married to a Japanese national. I called Japan and spoke to the clerk at the court where divorce records are kept. Apparently, they purge divorce records between a foreigner and a Japanese national after 27 years. It even states as much on the Japanese Embassy website.

So I did the next best thing I could do. I produced a page from my Marine Corps Service Record Book, stating the name of the lady I divorced and the date the divorce took effect. The Marine Corps and the other services are very scrupulous when it comes to a spouse's identification card and that person's access to benefits such as health care. In other words, you have to produce a divorce certificate, which I did at the time.

Naturally, I thought this would suffice. But instead, I was told that this was secondary evidence and that an authentic divorce decree would be needed.

In all fairness to USCIS, the agency needs to be sure that they have all of the I's dotted and the T's crossed when it comes to evidence, as they do get audited.

Also, there are bad people in this world who would, if they could, take advantage of the system to get people into the U.S. for profit.

But a little bit of common sense and humanity would go a long ways in dealing with law-abiding American citizens.

Perhaps morale is bad at USCIS and there's a lack of communications between the workers and management, conveying the message of adhering to law but having a sense of decency?

Homeland Security, of which USCIS is part, undoubtedly has a morale problem. The Washington Post article, "Homeland Security ranks dead last in morale--again but Jeh Johnson's morale is high" of Sept. 29, 2015, points to this. It cites the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, shown DHS ranked last among government agencies.

How many other people have had toxic dealings with USCIS? I don't know, but I recently attended a convention in Washington, D.C., in which USCIS had a booth. I told my story to a gentleman manning the booth who spoke with a British accent. He told me he too had a hard time with USCIS when he emigrated here to marry his American wife.

A co-worker married a Filipina and he had his own horror story. Another co-worker who married a Filipina did not have a problem with USCIS. So, maybe there's not a pattern. Maybe there are just a few bad apples like there are in any organization.

But don't feel bad for me. I'm persistent. I work in government so I'm used to dealing with the maze. Also, I'm a journalist so I can give voice. The lost money won't hurt me too much as I'm employed and I can work to make it up.

But what about those possible countless people who fell in love and might not be able to afford to lose the money or who might not be able to negotiate the maze and don't have money for lawyer fees? Do they deserve this treatment from USCIS? If they treat me, a retired Marine Corps veteran like this, how would they treat someone else?

I don't have the answers to this and I don't think Jeh Johnson does either.

[Boiler 46,358]

Just as well it was not published.

[SE18 2]

rather than snobby comments, I would appreciate helpful info.

[Georgia16 2,858]

An untold story of immigration

In this presidential debate, immigration has come to the fore unlike in any recent election cycles. The Donald speaks about a wall on our Southwest border. Hillary calls for a compassionate immigration policy. And then, there are those many Syrian refugees hoping to make it into our country.

As riveting as those daily news stories are, there's an untold story of immigration; that of ordinary American citizens dealing with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.

USCIS can be an especially crass organization to deal with. I am one of those U.S. citizens, who fell in love with a foreigner, and, had a falling out with USCIS.

She's a Filipina, a nationality that USCIS considers least desirable, because there's so many trying to immigrate. Sorry I fell in love with someone from the wrong nationality and race.

What now separates us being together is the incredibly dense and opaque USCIS bureaucracy.

We met online. We felt that we had fallen in love through daily correspondence, but there's nothing like face-to-face. In June, I was with her in Manila. Spent lots of time together. Met her two lovely daughters, 18 and 20. Engagement rings followed. I filed for a K1 fiancee visa.

We thought we'd be together at least by October 2016, well before Nov. 5, when the oldest girl turned 21. At 21, she would not be allowed to accompany her mom because she would be considered no longer a "child," but a "daughter," and the wait to emigrate would be 15 years.

So the clock started ticking. Weeks turned into months.

In September, I received official notification from USCIS that stated I had most likely forged my fiancee's signature on her G-325A Biographic Information form. Not true.

Also, USCIS told me that the three Form I-765 filing fees I'd filed for Application for Employment for my fiancée and her two daughters had been denied. Each form cost me $380 for a total of $1,140. My money was not returned to me.

Additionally, USCIS told me that I could not even get married because of a divorce certificate I lost. The divorce occurred in 1981. I had been married to a Japanese national. I called Japan and spoke to the clerk at the court where divorce records are kept. Apparently, they purge divorce records between a foreigner and a Japanese national after 27 years. It even states as much on the Japanese Embassy website.

So I did the next best thing I could do. I produced a page from my Marine Corps Service Record Book, stating the name of the lady I divorced and the date the divorce took effect. The Marine Corps and the other services are very scrupulous when it comes to a spouse's identification card and that person's access to benefits such as health care. In other words, you have to produce a divorce certificate, which I did at the time.

Naturally, I thought this would suffice. But instead, I was told that this was secondary evidence and that an authentic divorce decree would be needed.

In all fairness to USCIS, the agency needs to be sure that they have all of the I's dotted and the T's crossed when it comes to evidence, as they do get audited.

Also, there are bad people in this world who would, if they could, take advantage of the system to get people into the U.S. for profit.

But a little bit of common sense and humanity would go a long ways in dealing with law-abiding American citizens.

Perhaps morale is bad at USCIS and there's a lack of communications between the workers and management, conveying the message of adhering to law but having a sense of decency?

Homeland Security, of which USCIS is part, undoubtedly has a morale problem. The Washington Post article, "Homeland Security ranks dead last in morale--again but Jeh Johnson's morale is high" of Sept. 29, 2015, points to this. It cites the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, shown DHS ranked last among government agencies.

How many other people have had toxic dealings with USCIS? I don't know, but I recently attended a convention in Washington, D.C., in which USCIS had a booth. I told my story to a gentleman manning the booth who spoke with a British accent. He told me he too had a hard time with USCIS when he emigrated here to marry his American wife.

A co-worker married a Filipina and he had his own horror story. Another co-worker who married a Filipina did not have a problem with USCIS. So, maybe there's not a pattern. Maybe there are just a few bad apples like there are in any organization.

But don't feel bad for me. I'm persistent. I work in government so I'm used to dealing with the maze. Also, I'm a journalist so I can give voice. The lost money won't hurt me too much as I'm employed and I can work to make it up.

But what about those possible countless people who fell in love and might not be able to afford to lose the money or who might not be able to negotiate the maze and don't have money for lawyer fees? Do they deserve this treatment from USCIS? If they treat me, a retired Marine Corps veteran like this, how would they treat someone else?

I don't have the answers to this and I don't think Jeh Johnson does either.

People in here are helping you and many have given you good advice on how you can get the stuff you need.

You keep saying "They didn't give me my money back bla bla..".... NO they will not return any kind of money even if denied.

You keep writing as if it's everybody else fault that your process is not going the way you want to, or that they are not here in time for the oldest daughter to make it. but fact is if you had done your research before starting this she actually might have made it AND you would have saved your money for the EAD's you filed for. Also the expedite will not go anywhere.

Also for the highlighted in your post, how have they treated you bad? People don't loose money or need a lawyer if they do their research first like 90% in here have done. I can't see why they have treated you SO bad, you could just have done your homework before starting all of this.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You pay for adjudication, not approval.

You can file all sorts of forms that you are not eligible for. They are not going to waste time and money returning the funds to you for your mistake.

[*Snowdrop* 604]

I can tell by your earlier comments that you are feeling hopeless about your case. The immigration process is far from perfect and after nearly ten years on this forum I have seen and experienced myself the unfairness of the system. But the way forward for you immediately is just to work through the various blocks to your case one at a time. There are many many people on here and in general with finances or spouses from the Philippines who immigrate successfully and easily so you are not being discriminated because of that.

1. Your divorce proof.

You have a rare situation - but I can't believe it's impossible to solve. You probably need specialist help with this although there were some suggestions a few posts ago on this thread that might be useful.

An immigration attorney in Japan who specializes in US immigration might be able to tell you what kind of document is accepted by USCIS and how to get it. Or a family/divorce lawyer in Japan? Although this problem is rare I am sure you are not the first to have this issue. Are you still in touch with your ex-wife? might she have copies of the divorce document.

2. The 'forged' signature

You know it isn't forged but if they think it is then they won't accept it. It's going to be easier to just get your fiance to sign a new copy.

Once you have those two issues sorted out, it might be that you have to start the application process all over again. If so then I recommend you work through the guides at the top of this site to get a good overview of everything that you need to do. And to make sure you include the right forms and don't accidentally file something you shouldn't again. This site is a great resource for information on how to do everything and you will find people are helpful when you are asking for specific information.

Good luck.

[Boiler 46,358]

Lots of good info on VJ, but you do not seem that interested in taking it.

VJ is a DIY site, not everybody is suited to DIY and this may well be a case where professional assistance is in order.

[Anitafeliz 1,133]

I don't think USCIS cares who you fall in love with. They rule out people who don't qualify and or look suspicious of fraud.

If you have true relationship evidence and evidence of your last marriage being terminated then you are A ok.

What I would do if I were you. Is the following:

A) Stop crying about moneys I lost due to misfiling forms. There is no point to crying over spilt milk. The money will not be returned to you.

B) If cant find my divorce....see if ex has a copy....if ex is remarried she should have. or Divorce again if all else fails with Japan Government.

C) Reapply. The ship has sailed for your future step daughter move on. Once you can prove free to marry....follow the K1 or CR1 steps only.

If you follow the you should be ok

and lastly STOP taking advice from your friend just because he did things wrong and didn't get caught doesn't mean he did anything right or legal.

Edited October 18, 2016 by Anitafeliz

[Jojo92122 1,924]

Instead of blaming USCIS for your mistakes, you need to own up to them. Many of us get through this process without any problems because we researched before we filed.

Your fees was to adjudicate the case which USCIS did. You are not paying for an approval. You paid for someone to process the forms that you filed. Your mistakes and USCIS did its job.

You have gotten good advice which you should follow. Stop whining and blaming USCIS for your mistakes.

[agrabs 250]

rather than snobby comments, I would appreciate helpful info.

You are angry and frustrated with USCIS because YOU didn't keep a copy of your divorce decree and now you are having a difficult time getting a copy. It is clearly stated in what is required for K1. Here's a helpful tip. Once you do get a copy -make more as you will need to submit a copy of your divorce decree with every application you submit in this process from K1 to N400. K1 is only the first step and each application requires attention to detail, lots of documentation, and research before sending it in.

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

For the record, USCIS does and has historically actually made the process quite easy for Filipinas. They expedited petitions after a hurricane and at the moment they aren't even requiring financial documents for K1s (unless that has changed in the past 2 or 3 weeks). The age differences common in American male and Filipinas wouldn't be given immense scrutiny in many other countries, but not the Philippines.

I'd almost dare to say that they are given preferential treatment as a beneficiary group.

[Pennycat 880]

An untold story of immigration

In this presidential debate, immigration has come to the fore unlike in any recent election cycles. The Donald speaks about a wall on our Southwest border. Hillary calls for a compassionate immigration policy. And then, there are those many Syrian refugees hoping to make it into our country.

As riveting as those daily news stories are, there's an untold story of immigration; that of ordinary American citizens dealing with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.

USCIS can be an especially crass organization to deal with. I am one of those U.S. citizens, who fell in love with a foreigner, and, had a falling out with USCIS.

She's a Filipina, a nationality that USCIS considers least desirable, because there's so many trying to immigrate. Sorry I fell in love with someone from the wrong nationality and race.

What now separates us being together is the incredibly dense and opaque USCIS bureaucracy.

We met online. We felt that we had fallen in love through daily correspondence, but there's nothing like face-to-face. In June, I was with her in Manila. Spent lots of time together. Met her two lovely daughters, 18 and 20. Engagement rings followed. I filed for a K1 fiancee visa.

We thought we'd be together at least by October 2016, well before Nov. 5, when the oldest girl turned 21. At 21, she would not be allowed to accompany her mom because she would be considered no longer a "child," but a "daughter," and the wait to emigrate would be 15 years.

So the clock started ticking. Weeks turned into months.

In September, I received official notification from USCIS that stated I had most likely forged my fiancee's signature on her G-325A Biographic Information form. Not true.

Also, USCIS told me that the three Form I-765 filing fees I'd filed for Application for Employment for my fiancée and her two daughters had been denied. Each form cost me $380 for a total of $1,140. My money was not returned to me.

Additionally, USCIS told me that I could not even get married because of a divorce certificate I lost. The divorce occurred in 1981. I had been married to a Japanese national. I called Japan and spoke to the clerk at the court where divorce records are kept. Apparently, they purge divorce records between a foreigner and a Japanese national after 27 years. It even states as much on the Japanese Embassy website.

So I did the next best thing I could do. I produced a page from my Marine Corps Service Record Book, stating the name of the lady I divorced and the date the divorce took effect. The Marine Corps and the other services are very scrupulous when it comes to a spouse's identification card and that person's access to benefits such as health care. In other words, you have to produce a divorce certificate, which I did at the time.

Naturally, I thought this would suffice. But instead, I was told that this was secondary evidence and that an authentic divorce decree would be needed.

In all fairness to USCIS, the agency needs to be sure that they have all of the I's dotted and the T's crossed when it comes to evidence, as they do get audited.

Also, there are bad people in this world who would, if they could, take advantage of the system to get people into the U.S. for profit.

But a little bit of common sense and humanity would go a long ways in dealing with law-abiding American citizens.

Perhaps morale is bad at USCIS and there's a lack of communications between the workers and management, conveying the message of adhering to law but having a sense of decency?

Homeland Security, of which USCIS is part, undoubtedly has a morale problem. The Washington Post article, "Homeland Security ranks dead last in morale--again but Jeh Johnson's morale is high" of Sept. 29, 2015, points to this. It cites the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, shown DHS ranked last among government agencies.

How many other people have had toxic dealings with USCIS? I don't know, but I recently attended a convention in Washington, D.C., in which USCIS had a booth. I told my story to a gentleman manning the booth who spoke with a British accent. He told me he too had a hard time with USCIS when he emigrated here to marry his American wife.

A co-worker married a Filipina and he had his own horror story. Another co-worker who married a Filipina did not have a problem with USCIS. So, maybe there's not a pattern. Maybe there are just a few bad apples like there are in any organization.

But don't feel bad for me. I'm persistent. I work in government so I'm used to dealing with the maze. Also, I'm a journalist so I can give voice. The lost money won't hurt me too much as I'm employed and I can work to make it up.

But what about those possible countless people who fell in love and might not be able to afford to lose the money or who might not be able to negotiate the maze and don't have money for lawyer fees? Do they deserve this treatment from USCIS? If they treat me, a retired Marine Corps veteran like this, how would they treat someone else?

I don't have the answers to this and I don't think Jeh Johnson does either.

You filed on July 22nd. You expected to be together by October? 3 months and change? And you think that people are going to find it outrageous that it didn't happen? Especially given your failure to follow instructions?

Most people don't even get out of USCIS stage in 3 months, forget having the visa in 3 months. Anyone who told you otherwise either lied to you or filed a long time ago when USCIS's California center was moving quickly enough that 4 months from petition to immigration was theoretically possible but those days are over and have been for a while. USCIS's own processing times are "within 5 months" which basically means "up to 5 months" and then you start on the embassy process which takes 1 to 2. Anything under a year is a gift, really and most people

You also are refusing to acknowledge your own mistake in applying for those EADs. That is unequivocally, 100% your own doing. Sorry. If you're not going to read instructions that are available on every single webpage for every single USCIS form out there, or are incapable of understanding them, you need to hire someone to help you with this process. Look at the linked PDF of the instructions you should have followed for the EAD petition. Under "Who May File Form I-765", scroll down to Page 5, under Family-Based Nonimmigrant Categories to 1 A. For the K visas, "File Form I-765 if you are filing within 90 days from the date of entry." Had they entered yet? No. Then they can't file. Simple as that. If you wanted them to have work permits upon arrival, you needed to marry abroad and file for a spouse visa.

Your failure to read or comprehend is what has wasted $1200. Not USCIS. You may not agree with the fact that K visas don't get work permits on arrival (I don't either), but you can't apply for something that you're not eligble for and then throw a temper tantrum when you're told you're not elgible for it. So stop it. Admit your mistake, learn from it and move on. There is a 0% change you get that money back and honestly, why should you? Someone still had to open it, read it, and make a decision on it. That right there costs $380 per, apparently. USCIS doesn't get government funding, it's entirely based on fees. Why should the rest of us see our fees go up to take care of the overage caused by people who don't read or can't understand (or who think that, policies be dammed, they're going to apply for it anyway and expect it because they're special or something)?

You have also been told that there IS actually a way to try to get your divorce decree, if the military still has it. That is also the same way that you can try to see if USCIS can accept a combination of secondary evidence and affidavits etc like they can do for missing birth/death records. And that is: CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN'S OFFICE. That is what the people in the district offices do for a living and really is your last resort here. Yep, your guy might not be reelected. But, as again already explained to you: that doesn't make a bit of difference. They can and will still help you. Or one of your other two elected representatives to Congreess (you have one Representative and two Senators).

You are making excuse after excuse on why you can't help yourself, why none of this is your fault, how you're some kind of poor, put upon victim of all this. You're not. You're someone who didn't follow instructions and who has a bit of a problem procuring mandatory evidence (which I know is frustrating, we had a similar issue with vaccination records), but who hasn't exhausted his options in getting the evidence or getting the need for it waived. And what blows my mind is that instead of perusing those options, you're continuing to waste time feeling sorry for yourself and complaining here when you've got a pretty serious ticking time clock if you want the entire family to immigrate. Which I personally am starting to question because a potential solution to this is a phone call away and... nothing.

Get yourself an immigration attorney or visa company. It's clear you don't have the temperament or ability to do this on your own. You have probably missed a good deal of other supplemental evidence in your petition as well, which would result in an RFE or petition denial.