new here, for the second time....

[CP7416 0]

Hi everyone, 

 

I used this site to bring my fiancé/ now husband to the US with a K1 visa back in 2006/2007.  The site and people were amazing; I met some great people, some who I still keep in contact with today.  I was able to complete the entire process only using VJ.  Well... my husband left me a year and a half ago; we are in the process of getting a divorce.  I am ok with letting him go and I was the one to file for a divorce, as he is living with his girlfriend and seems very happy.  I don't want to discourage anyone; there are people with good intentions.  Nonetheless, the above-mentioned is not my reason for coming back here.  I would like to ask a question, but thought I'd give a little background first.

Before I met my husband, I had an online boyfriend in 2005 that is from his same country (Ghana).  I decided to marry my husband because I thought my boyfriend at the time was not serious, and a little too young for me (5 years difference).  I wanted to marry and he was not on my level.  Him and I have remained friends over the years, at one point I regretted marrying my husband and wished I stayed with the bf.  Since my husband and I separated, the ex and I have rekindled our relationship, though he is still living in Ghana.  Having a long distance relationship can be very tough, as everyone on here knows.  We would love more than anything to be together.  I encouraged him to file for DV lottery; however, he was not selected.  We are wondering if there are any other routes possible to have him come here. I am aware of other possible ways, but unsure which would be the best.  I know visitor is almost impossible, student, maybe?  I don't meet many Ghanaian's who come to the US with student visas though.  We have talked about marriage some time after my divorce is final, but I am not sure if that is frowned upon by the USCIS, being as I have already done that.  I don't mind to move there, but he doesn't want me to because he says my pay will be severely reduced, which I am sure it would be.  Any advice is welcome or questions too, if you want to ask.  

 

Thanks 

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

student visa or tourist visa , may be your only options now since you are not divorced yet.

1. A student visa will allow him to stay and go and school and give you enough time to finalize your divorce. However, international tuition is not a joke. I know many who paid $10,000+ per semester..If you both can afford it. then go for it. he can also apply for assistantship (like a TA job to help with the cost). Even when his status changes, some schools are reluctant in adjusting the tuition rate to in-state tuition.

 

2. A tourist visa is on his own merit. Limit stay and cant work.

 

[Jojo92122 1,924]

You can do a K-1 fiancee visa.

 

Alternatively, you can marry and file for a CR-1 spousal visa.

 

A student visa will not work because it's a non-immigrant visa that requires the beneficiary to have funds to pay international tuition and a home that the student will return to once the course of study is finished.

 

A tourist visa is next to impossible for a single man from Ghana.  Even if he could get one, it's a non-immigrant visa limiting him to 6 months of visiting the US where he can't work, can't go to school, etc.

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

6 hours ago, Jojo92122 said:

You can do a K-1 fiancee visa.

 

Alternatively, you can marry and file for a CR-1 spousal visa.

 

A student visa will not work because it's a non-immigrant visa that requires the beneficiary to have funds to pay international tuition and a home that the student will return to once the course of study is finished.

 

A tourist visa is next to impossible for a single man from Ghana.  Even if he could get one, it's a non-immigrant visa limiting him to 6 months of visiting the US where he can't work, can't go to school, etc.

her divorce is not finalized so those options won't work.

A student visa can allow him to be here and be with her but it is going to very expensive.

[Allie D 39]

 

her divorce is not finalized so those options won't work.

A student visa can allow him to be here and be with her but it is going to very expensive.

I'm no expert but if he comes here on a student (non-immigrant) visa to be with her, isn't that immigration fraud? When the couple files an adjustment of status, they'll have to document their relationship, such as how they met, how they stayed together, etc.

 

By telling the truth, that he came to the USA on a F1 non-immigrant visa to be with her (a citizen), then he violated his stated intent (to study). So that's a red flag for the AOS process.

 

Alternatively, they could say, oh - we used to know each other a long time ago, then he came to the USA to study and we "miraculously" found each other again. That's falsification of evidence and immigration fraud.

 

Perhaps the best thing to do is visit your boyfriend in Ghana time to time, document the relationship, and apply for a K-1 visa once your divorce is finalized. If you really love each other, which I don't doubt, you'll be able to make your relationship work in spite of the inconveniences.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Allie D

[TBoneTX 45,330]

Thread is moved from Introducing Our Members to the "What Visa Do I Need" forum.

[Villanelle 4,122]

 

I'm no expert but if he comes here on a student (non-immigrant) visa to be with her, isn't that immigration fraud? When the couple files an adjustment of status, they'll have to document their relationship, such as how they met, how they stayed together, etc.

 

By telling the truth, that he came to the USA on a F1 non-immigrant visa to be with her (a citizen), then he violated his stated intent (to study). So that's a red flag for the AOS process.

 

Alternatively, they could say, oh - we used to know each other a long time ago, then he came to the USA to study and we "miraculously" found each other again. That's falsification of evidence and immigration fraud.

 

Perhaps the best thing to do is visit your boyfriend in Ghana time to time, document the relationship, and apply for a K-1 visa once your divorce is finalized. If you really love each other, which I don't doubt, you'll be able to make your relationship work in spite of the inconveniences.

 

Eh, you are somewhat correct. Intent is a funny thing. You cant see it, you cant smell it or taste it. It has no form. It only exists in ones mind. But you can have more then "one" intent when doing something. 

You dont promise when you take on a student visa that you wont have relationships in the US. If you do, you do, if you dont you dont. 

The problem is IF you are using a student visa wrong. If you are pretending to have "intent to study" when your only intent is to "cohabitate with someone in a romantic fashion" 

They or rather he, would have to be honest in the student visa interview. When its discovered (and it will be) that he has a potential romantic interest in the US it is unlikely he will get the visa (based on where hes from). The Officer most likely will question if he is going to abide by the terms of the visa (studying and coming back after) when he has a relationship in the US (and a path to status after her divorce is done). SO in that case having dual intent would work against him even though you are allowed to have it. 

Does that make sense?

Because of the difficulty in that particular embassy- I would recommend the CR visa. The previous one the OP did was about 10 years ago! Thats really not an issue. It may come up, but every 10 years she brings over someone from Ghana? If shes doing an immigration scam, shes doing it wrong! lol.. 
 

I suggest the OP reads some recent threads in the subforums for that region to get a better idea of the current climate regarding the embassy there. 

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

 

I'm no expert but if he comes here on a student (non-immigrant) visa to be with her, isn't that immigration fraud? When the couple files an adjustment of status, they'll have to document their relationship, such as how they met, how they stayed together, etc.

 

By telling the truth, that he came to the USA on a F1 non-immigrant visa to be with her (a citizen), then he violated his stated intent (to study). So that's a red flag for the AOS process.

 

Alternatively, they could say, oh - we used to know each other a long time ago, then he came to the USA to study and we "miraculously" found each other again. That's falsification of evidence and immigration fraud.

 

Perhaps the best thing to do is visit your boyfriend in Ghana time to time, document the relationship, and apply for a K-1 visa once your divorce is finalized. If you really love each other, which I don't doubt, you'll be able to make your relationship work in spite of the inconveniences.

I think I understand your point.

However, student visa will be based on it's own merit. That he qualifies to the school he applies to, he gets accepted and he can prove the financial support for his education.

We are also assuming that OP and his boyfriend will eventually get married. We are assuming that OP's boyfriend will abandon his education after he gets married. We are assuming that OP's boyfriend can ONLY use marriage to OP as the only way to stay (by the way, many others have use the lottery to adjust from F1).

 

There are so many assumptions but do they prove fraud? Nope.

because OP is not free to marry. So you can't say he is coming to marry OP and adjust and use that basis to deny a student visa.

 

I am no expert either but an assumption is not proof.

[Allie D 39]

 

I am no expert either but an assumption is not proof.

Agreed. What I wanted to say, and perhaps wasn't clear about, is that it would be wise to use a non-immigrant visa prudently. If he wants to come here to study and qualifies on his own merit, that's great! It's just discouraged to use a non-immigrant visa like F-1 to get into the USA for the purpose of getting married and adjusting status, especially given the costs of American higher education. That's what the K1 visa is for. The CR-1 is another option, as someone else has pointed out.

 

Of course, USCIS often pardons visa overstays, criminal histories, changing status from a non-immigrant visa, etc. to keep families together. I came to the USA with a student visa and met my husband at university.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Allie D

[MrsBonsu 138]

Hi, I know you want your boyfriend here the quickest way possible, but your dealing with the toughest embassy, applying for a student visa and possibly getting denied will be even more problematic, because then you will either wanna k1 or cr1 then, the reason I say this is because when ever a person applies for a visa it stays in there system FOREVER!, so research your options very carefully for your next step, you don't want them looking at two failed visa's for him when you try again for the cr1 or k1, they will also question your first marriage, but it will be him that they question not you because you won't be in the embassy, and the school route is he prepared to see it through? Coming here and them marrying and then leaving school won't look good, because he still will have to prove his intent to immigration here, which he can still be denied or told he has to go back home and wait the process out from Ghana, so my suggestion is to research and choose wisely, go to travelstate.gov and see how many student visa's are issued each year for Ghana, and look through Ghana's portal here for outcomes from past post about student visas, as with anyone going through the embassy through Ghana I wish you good luck! 

[Boiler 45,564]

Have you thought of moving, seems simplest.

[Villanelle 4,122]

Hmm, well I guess I agree that logically assumption is not proof (of fraud or anything else). But everyone seeking a visa has presumed intent to immigrate unless they can prove otherwise. This is fact. 

 

So he has to prove hes going to use the student visa as it is intended. For going to school and then returning home. When you have a partner or romantic interest in the US, it makes it harder to obtain visas that require you to return home. He can argue that she is not free to marry, so she can not sponsor him, but I dont think that small detail matters. She can easily obtain a divorce while hes here and marry and file for him. He would have to overcome that assumption. 

 

Because that Embassy is very tough- I dont see it happening. Who would be paying for the school? Can he show all the money needed for it is coming from his bank account and she had nothing to do with it? Hed obviously be going to a school near her proximity wise, so hed be going to school as well as furthering the relationship. If he does get the visa he most likely will be eligible for a status change while here. And thats fine when its a stand alone fact. But the assumption will be he intents to use the student visa to get to the US - where he will then (planned) change status via marriage. That means he does not intend to come back- so he cant have the student visa. 

 

You see the same things with people trying to get their parents visitor visas. A lot are denied because they "assume" the parent will travel to the US as a visitor and then stay to adjust. 

 

He can even get the student visa and then be turned away at the border for immigrant intent. If the OP has the means- she should travel there as much as possible. Face time is big thing with that Embassy.

 

[CP7416 0]

On 5/5/2017 at 0:26 AM, Allie D said:

I'm no expert but if he comes here on a student (non-immigrant) visa to be with her, isn't that immigration fraud? When the couple files an adjustment of status, they'll have to document their relationship, such as how they met, how they stayed together, etc.

 

By telling the truth, that he came to the USA on a F1 non-immigrant visa to be with her (a citizen), then he violated his stated intent (to study). So that's a red flag for the AOS process.

 

Alternatively, they could say, oh - we used to know each other a long time ago, then he came to the USA to study and we "miraculously" found each other again. That's falsification of evidence and immigration fraud.

 

Perhaps the best thing to do is visit your boyfriend in Ghana time to time, document the relationship, and apply for a K-1 visa once your divorce is finalized. If you really love each other, which I don't doubt, you'll be able to make your relationship work in spite of the inconveniences.

Thanks so much Allie! I wasn't sure if filing for K1 visa twice (once with my husband) and let's say I do for my bf, if that would raise a flag.  Do you know of anyone who has done it for 2 people and been successful?   We are willing to go that route in the future if it is possible.  I've visited my bf twice so far. By the time we get ready to file I will have visited again. 

[CP7416 0]

On 5/6/2017 at 9:25 AM, Boiler said:

Have you thought of moving, seems simplest.

Yes, I have thought about moving.  My bf and I have talked about it. I'd take a big pay cut if I moved and I've a young child in school. Not sure if his dad would want him to move away and I wouldn't want to leave him. Those are only a couple reasons holding me back from moving. 

Thanks and I hope your visa process is moving along nicely! 

[CP7416 0]

On 5/4/2017 at 10:43 AM, Jojo92122 said:

You can do a K-1 fiancee visa.

 

Alternatively, you can marry and file for a CR-1 spousal visa.

 

A student visa will not work because it's a non-immigrant visa that requires the beneficiary to have funds to pay international tuition and a home that the student will return to once the course of study is finished.

 

A tourist visa is next to impossible for a single man from Ghana.  Even if he could get one, it's a non-immigrant visa limiting him to 6 months of visiting the US where he can't work, can't go to school, etc.

Thanks Jojo 

Sounds like k1 or CR1 are going to be my option. Hope either one will work since I've done K1 before. Not sure how that will look for me in USCIS' eyes. I know tourist visas are almost impossible to obtain 😕. Don't think my bf would like sitting around the house for 6 months not working.  I didn't realize some foreign students pay $10k to go to school here (from another poster) really don't think that's going to be an option.