RFE for bona fide marriage

[moe313 0]

Hello, my name is mohamed. I filed a I-130 and I -129F for my wife who lives in  Yemen. I am a us citizen, so I filed in Dec 15 2016

and on march 20 I got a RFE for bona fide marriage, so I sent them wedding photos, western union receipts, rental lease under my name and her name, and flight tickets is that enough documents? although I don't have any chat history from before marriage, is that okay and  what should I expect after they receive it, will they have me do an interview or will they approve it and how long does it take for my status to change. 

 

Thank You!

[Lenchick 133]

3 minutes ago, moe313 said:

Hello, my name is mohamed. I filed a I-130 and I -129F for my wife who lives in  Yemen. I am a us citizen, so I filed in Dec 15 2016

and on march 20 I got a RFE for bona fide marriage, so I sent them wedding photos, western union receipts, rental lease under my name and her name, and flight tickets is that enough documents? although I don't have any chat history from before marriage, is that okay and  what should I expect after they receive it, will they have me do an interview or will they approve it and how long does it take for my status to change. 

 

Thank You!

Sounds like enough. What proofs of bona fide marriage did you send initially with your application?

[moe313 0]

1 minute ago, Lenchick said:

Sounds like enough. What proofs of bona fide marriage did you send initially with your application?

thank for the reply, in my initial packet I have sent them my flight ticket to Yemen and wedding photos, but now I sent them our flight tickets to Cairo and photos and rental agreement in Cairo and the western union, also were staying in Cairo because of the war in Yemen

[SabRob 154]

Do you have pictures of you and your wife before you got married? If you do, make sure you send those, too. 

[moe313 0]

2 minutes ago, SabRob said:

Do you have pictures of you and your wife before you got married? If you do, make sure you send those, too. 

Unfortunately we don't. do you think that would cause my case to go for an interview for me the petitioner?  

[ASMS 86]

4 minutes ago, moe313 said:

Unfortunately we don't. do you think that would cause my case to go for an interview for me the petitioner?  

Could you give a little background of your relationship? how you met each other, and for how long before of the wedding?

 

 

[SabRob 154]

8 minutes ago, moe313 said:

Unfortunately we don't. do you think that would cause my case to go for an interview for me the petitioner?  

'm not sure, don't know what to tell you, sorry. I think that what they want you to send them is any evidence you have of your relationship with your wife before you got married. (Pictures, e-mails, chat logs, phone call logs, boarding passes from visiting each other, any financial support, receipts from when you visited places together, letters you exchanged)

[moe313 0]

it was an arranged marriage between both families and met her 2014 in Yemen I included the passport page for that also to them. 

[SabRob 154]

https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/AFM/HTML/AFM/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-3481/0-0-0-4484.html you should do some reading here, just search for "arranged marriage" in this document.

[moe313 0]

12 minutes ago, SabRob said:

'm not sure, don't know what to tell you, sorry. I think that what they want you to send them is any evidence you have of your relationship with your wife before you got married. (Pictures, e-mails, chat logs, phone call logs, boarding passes from visiting each other, any financial support, receipts from when you visited places together, letters you exchanged)

Thanks for your help I appreciate it. I will get back to you as soon as they reply.

[ASMS 86]

Basically your marriage have a red flag because it was arranged.

It means USCIS will scrutinizes more on your relationship, which could be challenging too for the moment of the Interview.

 

Also, the fact that your wife is from Yemen could raise the security checks, not just because of the current situation in there, but because that country is usually listed as high fraud countries.

 

Just make sure to be very patient, positive, and proactive with the all the evidence and documents you will be asked for.

Edited April 9, 2017 by ASMS
add something

[geowrian 22,337]

The arranged marriage is a red flag, but not a reason for a denial. Arranged marriages are recognized by USCIS, but they still have to be proven as bona fide with a real relationship...not contracted for the purpose of obtaining an immigration benefit. Yemen is also a tough embassy from what I've seen from others here.

 

The Western Union receipts won't really have any sway...people not in a bona fide marriage make payments just as easily. They don't want to see payments so much as a shared responsibility. The rental lease is a good example of something that people in a real marriage do. They likely also want to see evidence prior to the marriage. If you don't have it, then you don't have it and should just send what you do have.

 

You mentioned also sending an I-129F. I'm assuming this is for a K-3 visa? K-3 is obsolete, so it most likely will either be denied/rejected, or approved and sent to NVC and then administratively closed there. The I-130 will remain open and will proceed with the IR-1/CR-1 visa instead of a K-3. I just don't want you to be surprised when it happens...it doesn't mean anything is wrong.

 

As others noted, you just need to stay positive and be patient and go through the process with whatever you do have as proof of a bona fide relationship. Good luck!

[Kastrs 723]

OP, arranged marriages are VERY common culturally, it is NOT a red flag in this case

 

iA you have provided enough evidence of bona fide marriage

the best things to provide are proof of ongoing relationship-chat logs if you are not living together, rental agreements and shared bills if you are, and proof of facetime together, if you live together provide evidence of that, if not provide all plane tickets/passport stamps

 

pictures although nice are secondary evidence

 

[ASMS 86]

4 minutes ago, Kastrs said:

OP, arranged marriages are VERY common culturally, it is NOT a red flag in this case

 

iA you have provided enough evidence of bona fide marriage

the best things to provide are proof of ongoing relationship-chat logs if you are not living together, rental agreements and shared bills if you are, and proof of facetime together, if you live together provide evidence of that, if not provide all plane tickets/passport stamps

 

pictures although nice are secondary evidence

 

Probably you want to read again the link provided (which is only a section where

you can find the same information) https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/AFM/HTML/AFM/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-3481/0-0-0-4484.html.

They may be common, but it doesn't mean they will not raise questioning about. Never said they are not valid.

 

it says:

"On the other hand, a marriage which was contracted solely for immigration purposes does not confer benefits under the Act. A number of factors may raise questions about the intent of the marriage, and therefore necessitate more in depth questioning (see             Chapter 15             regarding interviewing techniques), or even a field examination (see             Chapter 17             ) or an investigation (see             Chapter 10.5(d)           ). Some indications that a marriage may have been contracted solely for immigration benefits include:            

      ·         Large disparity of age;        

 

      ·         Inability of petitioner and beneficiary to speak each other's language;      

 

      ·         Vast difference in cultural and ethnic background;        

 

      ·         Family and/or friends unaware of the marriage;        

 

      ·         Marriage arranged by a third party;          

..."

[Kastrs 723]

21 minutes ago, ASMS said:

Probably you want to read again the link provided (which is only a section where

you can find the same information) https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/AFM/HTML/AFM/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-3481/0-0-0-4484.html.

They may be common, but it doesn't mean they will not raise questioning about. Never said they are not valid.

 

it says:

"On the other hand, a marriage which was contracted solely for immigration purposes does not confer benefits under the Act. A number of factors may raise questions about the intent of the marriage, and therefore necessitate more in depth questioning (see             Chapter 15             regarding interviewing techniques), or even a field examination (see             Chapter 17             ) or an investigation (see             Chapter 10.5(d)           ). Some indications that a marriage may have been contracted solely for immigration benefits include:            

      ·         Large disparity of age;        

 

      ·         Inability of petitioner and beneficiary to speak each other's language;      

 

      ·         Vast difference in cultural and ethnic background;        

 

      ·         Family and/or friends unaware of the marriage;        

 

      ·         Marriage arranged by a third party;          

..."

1- I know a couple of people who work/worked at the embassy in Egypt and am familiar with the line of questioning at that particular embassy

2- Culturally marriages arranged by parents are incredibly common, this is so unlikely to come up as an issue it is not a red flag, no need to worry the OP for something that is really not an issue

 

Culture is the key point here, if it is against the cultural norm it raises red flags