K1 Interview Scheduled But Still Concerned!

[Lexi and Shay 2]

Hi everyone! 

(Lexi = Petitioner, Shay = Beneficiary)

We are finally near the end of our I29-F journey, nerves are all over the place because we are at a very critical and life changing point, for many reasons other than, but including as well the K1 process. We are keeping as positive as possible, lol, in spite of the recent Trumpian executive orders concerning the affected middle eastern countries. Our friends and family members also constantly have us in their prayers. 

We do have a few areas of concern which we would appreciate being addressed:

Facts

I (Shay) met my fiancee in April 2016.We both are musicians, among other things however as our university backgrounds include other fields. We met at the venue we were scheduled to perform. Our relationship developed quickly after that- we fell in love and decided quite quickly that we were meant for each other, mostly because we have quite a lot in common in terms of personality, interests, passions, (we're both especially passionate about Nigerian food! ), age difference is about a year. We've pretty much lived together since May, she only travelling once for a few weeks (in September) to go see her family because of the Louisiana floods, during which we decided to take the opportunity to file our petition. The process has gone pretty quickly and smoothly, only slowed down a little bit by an RFE requesting she send more appropriate passport photos. My mother lives in the U.S with a sibling of mine- she's been there for quite a while now. 

Concerns

1. I had applied for the first time for a tourist visa in November 2015  to visit my mother for Christmas (December) in the U.S, who I hadn't seen for quite a long time, roughly the same amount of time I have lived here in Dubai (approximately 8 years). I was denied (INA 214(b)) for the quite common failure to demonstrate sufficiently strong ties. I asked him why, and he gave reasons which included me having immediate family there that makes them doubt that I would come back. I further asked him where else I may have made mistakes and he said, that I should do proper research for the visit visa eligibility requirements and apply next time with the right requirements. He was quite right, I hadn't done much research and thought it'd be straight forward based on my previous travel experiences. My mother then decided to take time off work, risked losing her job but came to see me anyway, and we finally reunited. I actually had no intention of applying again, until Lexi and I decided to get engaged to be married and I reluctantly but happily decided to apply for the K1, reluctantly because I was still smarting a little bit from tourist visa denial. Anyway my first concern is, should this still be a red flag, even though the purpose for which I applied initially was eventually fulfilled ?

2. My fiance and I met coincidentally the same month my mom visited, and although we have text evidence showing the reason my fiance came to Dubai: her aunt had invited her over. However its not her first time coming to the UAE, this is just another reason for concern on our part. 

3. Like I said, we've lived together since May last year, first at the venue we gigged at, and then I decided to rent an apartment and surprised her with it when she came back. So although we initially sent loads of texts and pictures to USCIS, we don't really have much texts anymore, neither do we have call logs or online interactions. However I have loads of pictures, including us in our humble little apartment, engagement party pictures, places around Dubai, even showing memorable occasions like UAE's birthday and Christmas time. I couldn't do New Years because duty called. What other substantial evidence can I add to strengthen the validity of our ongoing relationship?

4. We got engaged relatively shortly after we met (4 months after) and filed the following month, so 5 months after meeting. This decision was made primarily because, asides our certainty of compatibility, she has to go back in February to write her bar exam (she's a law graduate) and further her career which I've consistently pushed her to focus on. So being here is going to slow down or likely even deter her progress: this is one of the reasons why we want to get married over there, another reason being both her family and friends and my family are in the U.S as well. Will the time length between meeting and engaging still count against us in spite of all the time we've spent together?

5. Her friends and family are aware, and we've been making wedding plans, but it's been a bit tricky making any definite plans and announcements because it still depends on the consular officer's decision. However she has contacted a judge and a court official to book us in for the court marriage, and already making enquiries for DJs and caterers for the main wedding ceremony. Any ideas of further ways we can prove our intent to marry?

6. Because she has been travelling quite a bit, she hasn't had the required income figure, however, she does have a online job as an ESL teacher, with pay stub evidence, etc. Prior to requesting to take a break in September from teaching to focus on studying for her exam, she active, but because the hours were flexible she could choose to work however many hours she wanted. But according to the employment agreement, the salary she would receive if she worked 8 hours per day would be well substantially above the poverty line. My mother also agreed to supplement with an affidavit of support from her side, in case they have issues with this. Will these suffice, and can my fiance use a online printout of her tax returns and bank statements? (She is here so flying back to get these documents would be a very high expense relative to the cause).

I'm a bit nervous because I feel they would scrutinize me more being Nigerian, and also probably due to the facts presented, although in the DS-160 i presented pretty much all the information to the best of my knowledge. Also last at the embassy in Abu Dhabi when I was applying for the tourist visa, the CO didn't really let me answer questions fully, didn't look at any of my documents or proofs showing I had to come back, so I'm quite beside myself that a repeat of the last time may happen (hopefully not!). Lexi also requested that she accompany me to the interview in an email, but all we got was an automated response. 

Sorry about the long post. :), but we would appreciate any pointers. 

Thanks. 

Edited January 30, 2017 by Lexi and Shay

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

CO's generally make decisions on things before the interviews themselves, so as for the denied tourist visa, that shouldn't hold anything against you. A lot of people on here get denied one. Long as you were honest on the application you're fine. 

 

Make sure you both resubmit "updated" letters of intent to marry. You can definately add in letters from others and even a tentative wedding date with a court; but this in itself can always be canceled/changed so I don;t know how much weight that actually holds.

 

If she makes above the poverty line, she should be fine on her own as long as she is going to retain that employment of course. Your mother you said? Is she a USC? I believe only USC's can count as supporters for the I-186 since it is a legal binding document (i may be wrong; but if she is then that is fine)

[Lexi and Shay 2]

13 minutes ago, Ben&Zian said:

CO's generally make decisions on things before the interviews themselves, so as for the denied tourist visa, that shouldn't hold anything against you. A lot of people on here get denied one. Long as you were honest on the application you're fine. 

 

Make sure you both resubmit "updated" letters of intent to marry. You can definately add in letters from others and even a tentative wedding date with a court; but this in itself can always be canceled/changed so I don;t know how much weight that actually holds.

 

If she makes above the poverty line, she should be fine on her own as long as she is going to retain that employment of course. Your mother you said? Is she a USC? I believe only USC's can count as supporters for the I-186 since it is a legal binding document (i may be wrong; but if she is then that is fine)

Thanks for the reply dude, yes I did state my previous visit attempt in the application, and explained what the CO had said.  I'm just hoping they'll view the distinction between the two applications. 

The letters of affirmation from both our side should not be a problem, we are about to request one from her mother. And yes i agree regarding the wedding date court being changeable, but I'm believing confirmation with the court official she's in touch with should help with our intent. 

She is at the moment still employed by the company, and we have emails from her employers consenting to her returning to work in March (after her exams). Also she's already applying for legal jobs, so when she gets back to the states she's very likely to have one of her previous legal jobs to supplement this income.

My mom on the other hand is a legal permanent resident, although she has been eligible for citizenship since last year, i think she's just been way too busy with work to be able to file for herself. 

 

Edited January 30, 2017 by Lexi and Shay

[pantonia 39]

On 1/30/2017 at 8:10 AM, Lexi and Shay said:

Hi everyone! 

(Lexi = Petitioner, Shay = Beneficiary)

We are finally near the end of our I29-F journey, nerves are all over the place because we are at a very critical and life changing point, for many reasons other than, but including as well the K1 process. We are keeping as positive as possible, lol, in spite of the recent Trumpian executive orders concerning the affected middle eastern countries. Our friends and family members also constantly have us in their prayers. 

We do have a few areas of concern which we would appreciate being addressed:

Facts

I (Shay) met my fiancee in April 2016.We both are musicians, among other things however as our university backgrounds include other fields. We met at the venue we were scheduled to perform. Our relationship developed quickly after that- we fell in love and decided quite quickly that we were meant for each other, mostly because we have quite a lot in common in terms of personality, interests, passions, (we're both especially passionate about Nigerian food! ), age difference is about a year. We've pretty much lived together since May, she only travelling once for a few weeks (in September) to go see her family because of the Louisiana floods, during which we decided to take the opportunity to file our petition. The process has gone pretty quickly and smoothly, only slowed down a little bit by an RFE requesting she send more appropriate passport photos. My mother lives in the U.S with a sibling of mine- she's been there for quite a while now. 

Concerns

1. I had applied for the first time for a tourist visa in November 2015  to visit my mother for Christmas (December) in the U.S, who I hadn't seen for quite a long time, roughly the same amount of time I have lived here in Dubai (approximately 8 years). I was denied (INA 214(b)) for the quite common failure to demonstrate sufficiently strong ties. I asked him why, and he gave reasons which included me having immediate family there that makes them doubt that I would come back. I further asked him where else I may have made mistakes and he said, that I should do proper research for the visit visa eligibility requirements and apply next time with the right requirements. He was quite right, I hadn't done much research and thought it'd be straight forward based on my previous travel experiences. My mother then decided to take time off work, risked losing her job but came to see me anyway, and we finally reunited. I actually had no intention of applying again, until Lexi and I decided to get engaged to be married and I reluctantly but happily decided to apply for the K1, reluctantly because I was still smarting a little bit from tourist visa denial. Anyway my first concern is, should this still be a red flag, even though the purpose for which I applied initially was eventually fulfilled ? It'll probably be ok. You did everything by the book and your explanations are reasonable.

2. My fiance and I met coincidentally the same month my mom visited, and although we have text evidence showing the reason my fiance came to Dubai: her aunt had invited her over. However its not her first time coming to the UAE, this is just another reason for concern on our part. I'm not sure about this point, why would it be a problem?

3. Like I said, we've lived together since May last year, first at the venue we gigged at, and then I decided to rent an apartment and surprised her with it when she came back. So although we initially sent loads of texts and pictures to USCIS, we don't really have much texts anymore, neither do we have call logs or online interactions. However I have loads of pictures, including us in our humble little apartment, engagement party pictures, places around Dubai, even showing memorable occasions like UAE's birthday and Christmas time. I couldn't do New Years because duty called. What other substantial evidence can I add to strengthen the validity of our ongoing relationship? It's fine that you don't have logs/texts etc. On our I-129f we also got a silly RFE (I sigh every time I think about how dumb/lazy they can be) and on it they specifically said that texts/call logs weren't evidence. They specifically asked for pictures as better evidence. From many stories that I've read, when the officers are "picture people", they like to see photos of you two and other people in the photos. For example your fiancee and your family/friends and viceversa. They can use them to ask you if you know who each person in the picture is, etc. I think photos of engagement party and such are really good. I used screenshots of these photos from social media, since it includes the dates and shows likes/comments, lending to the truthfulness of the relationship.

4. We got engaged relatively shortly after we met (4 months after) and filed the following month, so 5 months after meeting. This decision was made primarily because, asides our certainty of compatibility, she has to go back in February to write her bar exam (she's a law graduate) and further her career which I've consistently pushed her to focus on. So being here is going to slow down or likely even deter her progress: this is one of the reasons why we want to get married over there, another reason being both her family and friends and my family are in the U.S as well. Will the time length between meeting and engaging still count against us in spite of all the time we've spent together? It can always happen that you get an a** of a person to interview and wants to make your life hard. But under normal circumstances, it shouldn't really matter. I wasn't even asked when we got engaged or anything.

5. Her friends and family are aware, and we've been making wedding plans, but it's been a bit tricky making any definite plans and announcements because it still depends on the consular officer's decision. However she has contacted a judge and a court official to book us in for the court marriage, and already making enquiries for DJs and caterers for the main wedding ceremony. Any ideas of further ways we can prove our intent to marry? What better proof of intent to marry than filing for a K-1 visa and spend hundreds of dollars and time and resources to do it? The boilerplate Letter of Intent offered on this forum is more than enough. Also, they don't really concern themselves with the intent to marry, since not doing it won't hurt them, it'll only hurt you (You'd be forced to go back home after 90 days). What they care about is proof of a bonafide relationship, which you seem to have plenty of.

6. Because she has been travelling quite a bit, she hasn't had the required income figure, however, she does have a online job as an ESL teacher, with pay stub evidence, etc. Prior to requesting to take a break in September from teaching to focus on studying for her exam, she active, but because the hours were flexible she could choose to work however many hours she wanted. But according to the employment agreement, the salary she would receive if she worked 8 hours per day would be well substantially above the poverty line. My mother also agreed to supplement with an affidavit of support from her side, in case they have issues with this. Will these suffice, and can my fiance use a online printout of her tax returns and bank statements? (She is here so flying back to get these documents would be a very high expense relative to the cause). I'm not sure I understand your fiancee's financial situation. She could make above the poverty guidelines requirements, but isn't actually doing so right now? If this is correct, I'd say to include a co-sponsor to make sure you are ok. In her bank statements and tax returns, does it show that she made above the poverty guidelines last year? Also, I am not 100% that a permanent resident can be a co-sponsor (I think they can but I'm not sure), so maybe your mom wouldn't qualify.

I'm a bit nervous because I feel they would scrutinize me more being Nigerian, and also probably due to the facts presented, although in the DS-160 i presented pretty much all the information to the best of my knowledge. Also last at the embassy in Abu Dhabi when I was applying for the tourist visa, the CO didn't really let me answer questions fully, didn't look at any of my documents or proofs showing I had to come back, so I'm quite beside myself that a repeat of the last time may happen (hopefully not!). Lexi also requested that she accompany me to the interview in an email, but all we got was an automated response.  I recommend you look on VisaJourney for experiences of people through the Abu Dhabi embassy to see how it is. In my embassy, the US fiance is allowed to come to the interview too. From what you say here you should be ok, but I don't know how hard the officers at your embassy can be.

Sorry about the long post. :), but we would appreciate any pointers. 

Thanks. 

 

[Lexi and Shay 2]

Hey pantonia, thanks a lot for your reply, and shedding clarity. 

My fiance and I met coincidentally the same month my mom visited, and although we have text evidence showing the reason my fiance came to Dubai: her aunt had invited her over. However its not her first time coming to the UAE, this is just another reason for concern on our part. I'm not sure about this point, why would it be a problem?

*This is probably just me overthinking, but my home country is a high fraud spot, and so I'm anticipating some extra scrutiny based on my nationality even though the UAE has been my home for pretty much 9 years. What I mean is they might think whether my mom may have had something to do with setting us up, but like I said anyway I have text evidence showing her reasons for coming. I just asked this because I'm trying to address every possible loophole i can think of. But, just like you said, it's up to individual CO's uniqueness in judgment. 

*Facebook  is pretty much the only social media I use, and it's mainly for work (personal promotion). Never in my history of using Facebook have I put my personal business on there, especially stuff to do with dating and relationships. I'm very big on discretion when it comes to this, however I did set my relationship status to engaged to her.

* What better proof of intent to marry than filing for a K-1 visa and spend hundreds of dollars and time and resources to do it?  I fully concur, it's been pretty resource expensive so far. 

* I'm not sure I understand your fiancee's financial situation. She could make above the poverty guidelines requirements, but isn't actually doing so right now? Okay so her online teaching job has pretty flexible hours, all she just has to do book the sessions ahead and hours, she could do any amount of hours in a day. The rate per hour is well above the minimum wage level at least, so what she could be making if he did, at least 8 hours would be much significantly above the poverty line. Like i said, she decided to take some time to travel so was doing less hours, and now she is focused on studying so she decided to take a break (apparently passing the bar is really tough). So to answer your question, she made quite below the poverty line last year. As for the acceptability of LPR as co-sponsor, I've read in many places that it's accepted. Seeing as this is similar to Ben&Zian's point above, I believe that the I-186 (which is the affidavit for immigrant/spouse visa petitions) requires the US citizenship on the part of the sponsor, the I-134 is required for non-immigrant/fiance petitions. 

I recommend you look on VisaJourney for experiences of people through the Abu Dhabi embassy to see how it is. In my embassy, the US fiance is allowed to come to the interview too. I did already, and so far everyone's accounts have been that they've been at best pretty chilled, at worst quite firm and serious but still would grant the visas. definitely not hostile like in the high fraud country accounts I read about. Actually an embassy official eventually replied our email eventually with " The visa interview is only for the applicant, the petitioner will not be admitted for interview. Thanks ". I was just happy they replied! 

Edited February 1, 2017 by Lexi and Shay

[pantonia 39]

4 hours ago, Lexi and Shay said:

Hey pantonia, thanks a lot for your reply, and shedding clarity. 

My fiance and I met coincidentally the same month my mom visited, and although we have text evidence showing the reason my fiance came to Dubai: her aunt had invited her over. However its not her first time coming to the UAE, this is just another reason for concern on our part. I'm not sure about this point, why would it be a problem?

*This is probably just me overthinking, but my home country is a high fraud spot, and so I'm anticipating some extra scrutiny based on my nationality even though the UAE has been my home for pretty much 9 years. What I mean is they might think whether my mom may have had something to do with setting us up, but like I said anyway I have text evidence showing her reasons for coming. I just asked this because I'm trying to address every possible loophole i can think of. But, just like you said, it's up to individual CO's uniqueness in judgment. I think you will be fine. Because of the expected extra scrutiny it is good to be as prepared as you can, but you seem to have as much evidence as you'll get, and your situation isn't particularly a red flag.

*Facebook  is pretty much the only social media I use, and it's mainly for work (personal promotion). Never in my history of using Facebook have I put my personal business on there, especially stuff to do with dating and relationships. I'm very big on discretion when it comes to this, however I did set my relationship status to engaged to her. That's ok, it's just a suggestion but definitely not necessary. Normal photos will be ok as long as there are plenty of them and you have family/friends of each other on some of them.

* What better proof of intent to marry than filing for a K-1 visa and spend hundreds of dollars and time and resources to do it?  I fully concur, it's been pretty resource expensive so far. 

* I'm not sure I understand your fiancee's financial situation. She could make above the poverty guidelines requirements, but isn't actually doing so right now? Okay so her online teaching job has pretty flexible hours, all she just has to do book the sessions ahead and hours, she could do any amount of hours in a day. The rate per hour is well above the minimum wage level at least, so what she could be making if he did, at least 8 hours would be much significantly above the poverty line. Like i said, she decided to take some time to travel so was doing less hours, and now she is focused on studying so she decided to take a break (apparently passing the bar is really tough). So to answer your question, she made quite below the poverty line last year.You'll definitely need a co-sponsor (make sure also that your embassy allows for co-sponsors, some don't). The potential to earn more is not enough evidence. They require tax returns, bank statements and or letters of employers to have actual solid proof that your fiancee makes above the poverty guidelines. If not, like in your case, you absolutely need another sponsor. This part is very important, so make sure that whoever sponsors you meets all the requirements and that you have sufficient proof. As to your original question about tax returns and bank statements, they have to be copies, so printing them is ok. For the second stage though, in the US applying for AOS, I'd suggest getting an actual tax transcript from the IRS (super easy to do online and it arrives on the mail a few weeks later). As for the acceptability of LPR as co-sponsor, I've read in many places that it's accepted. Seeing as this is similar to Ben&Zian's point above, I believe that the I-186 I-864 you mean?(which is the affidavit for immigrant/spouse visa petitions) requires the US citizenship on the part of the sponsor, the I-134 is required for non-immigrant/fiance petitions. For the K-1 petition you need the I-134 first. But once you are in the US and apply for AOS, she'll have to fill out I-864, so make sure that your co-sponsor/joint sponsor is eligible for both. I recommend you look on VisaJourney for experiences of people through the Abu Dhabi embassy to see how it is. In my embassy, the US fiance is allowed to come to the interview too. I did already, and so far everyone's accounts have been that they've been at best pretty chilled, at worst quite firm and serious but still would grant the visas. definitely not hostile like in the high fraud country accounts I read about. Actually an embassy official eventually replied our email eventually with " The visa interview is only for the applicant, the petitioner will not be admitted for interview. Thanks ". I was just happy they replied!  Aw that sucks, but yeah at least they replied. They may still allow her in with you and just have her sit and wait at the actual interview part, but I guess at that point it doesn't really matter.

 

[Lexi and Shay 2]

Thanks for the info, much appreciated! We've got loads of photos, so now we're working on acquiring the joint sponsor documents. Hoping for the best!

[Lexi and Shay 2]

 hey guys, I got approved yesterday, interview went pretty well. Just wanna thank you guys for the information, and especially a huge one to user pantonia because I almost got 221(g)ed for exactly the financial docs part you pointed out. Fortunately I was able to get the cosponsor docs a few days before the interview. My status on CEAC is now on AP and i should have my passport w/visa in a couple of days, likely Sunday. Once again thanks, and I gotta say, this site is amazingly invaluable. 

[pantonia 39]

3 hours ago, Lexi and Shay said:

 hey guys, I got approved yesterday, interview went pretty well. Just wanna thank you guys for the information, and especially a huge one to user pantonia because I almost got 221(g)ed for exactly the financial docs part you pointed out. Fortunately I was able to get the cosponsor docs a few days before the interview. My status on CEAC is now on AP and i should have my passport w/visa in a couple of days, likely Sunday. Once again thanks, and I gotta say, this site is amazingly invaluable. 

Hey! I'm so happy for you guys! I wish you both all the luck and happiness in the world!

[NikLR 13,232]

I knew youd be okay except for the sponsorship so I'm glad you have a joint sponsor.  

 

For informational purposes, a joint sponsor (for either the I-134 or I-864) can be any USC or LPR that is domiciled in the USA and earning at or above, or has assets at or above, the poverty guidelines for their household size plus immigrant.