K1 denied

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

10 minutes ago, Peot said:

I just wanted to add something that may or may not help the OP and others looking - There ARE forms you can fill out to prove you are single, depending on your country: Some sort of notarized "single status affidavit". Some can show tax returns showing single status. Some also call it a "statement in lieu of certificate of non-impediment to marriage". Basically stating "There is nothing that would impede me from being married. Maybe there's something similar for your country you can obtain?

 

However, trying to commit fraud is an entirely different subject.... they usually don't take that lightly, even if you're trying to be honest about it now, and usually ignorance does not make you innocent.

My only question would be.... If you weren't legally married in the past, and knew that, why would you claim you were? That's what threw all the red flags. The USCIS assumes that something further is going on, and the denials will follow you because of this. It's not going to be easy unless you can prove a marriage never happened or that it was legally dissolved now through some kind of affidavit. 

 

An immigration lawyer may be able to help.

There's nothing like that in Ghana.

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

2 hours ago, Jojo92122 said:

Many people including my relatives in Vietnam do not have a problem with lying on legal forms.  They don't think it's a big deal or important.  There is always a fixer to help if there are problems.   I have relatives with 2 or 3 different birth certificates obtained at different times in their lives.  To them, it's just paper.  You can always have a redo if you lie on a previous legal form.

 

Once they get to the US, they slowly start learning the importance of one set of facts on all legal forms and keeping records.  They learn that there are no fixers and it's extremely hard to fix a lie or fix accidental inaccuracies in their records.

Same thing in Ghana

In Ghana, you are not culturally from where you were actually born (due to kinship issues) but either from your mother's hometown or your father's hometown depending on the tribe.

And this is totally different from the west. we have so many people with birth certificates that do not show actually where they were born but  a different location.

 

[geowrian 22,338]

It's pretty much a catch-22 at this point. If he somehow proves he isn't married, then that's verification that he lied previously. If he cannot prove that he is now single, then he doesn't qualify for the visa. Either way, they have every reason to refuse the visa now.

 

I'm not sure if a misrep/fraud charge would qualify here, though...OP stated that his tourist visa applications were denied. As such, I don't see how it was a misrepresentation was of a material fact. He would have been denied even if he told the truth, so that's probably the "escape" there. It does mean the CO will probably never believe a word he says...but I don't think it qualifies for a misrep or fraud ban.

Edited May 24, 2017 by geowrian

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

3 hours ago, Kobby said:

That's true the denial sheet given to me says I was ineligible under section 221(g) of the INA,when I checked it said that denial comes when documents are incomplete,so maybe when I am able to provide i was divorced it might help my case 

A waiver is something that you might need in the future in order to overcome this.

 

[Peot 161]

7 minutes ago, IcezMan_IcezLady said:

There's nothing like that in Ghana.

According to the internet there is.... Registrar General Department. http://rgd.gov.gh/

They offer "single status certificates" specifically to prove you are legal to marry.

 

It involves going to the office, filling out a form, and paying a fee.

[Jojo92122 1,924]

1 minute ago, IcezMan_IcezLady said:

Same thing in Ghana

In Ghana, you are not culturally from where you were actually born (due to kinship issues) but either from your mother's hometown or your father's hometown depending on the tribe.

And this is totally different from the west. we have so many people with birth certificates that do not show actually where they were born but  a different location.

 

In Asian countries, it's not about where someone was born or which parents' home village.  It's sheer laziness and indifference since the prevalent problem is lack of a consistent birthday.  Asians count count age like Westerns.  Birthdates are not celebrated traditionally.  I have cousins with birth certificates with different birth years because they lied about their ages to get out of military services.  There is also the Lunar calendar.  

 

To them, it's not important because you can get a guy to fix you up with another birth certificate or legal document, etc.

[IcezMan_IcezLady 582]

Just now, Peot said:

According to the internet there is.... Registrar General Department. http://rgd.gov.gh/

They offer "single status certificates" specifically to prove you are legal to marry.

 

It involves going to the office, filling out a form, and paying a fee.

That's new. I never knew about that..thanks.

 

The practice is Ghana, has been that you either publish in the news paper for 21 days before you can be legally married.

That 21 days is for anyone that has objection to the marriage to speak up. So I find it interesting that they will have such a form and still do the 21 days announcement.

[Peot 161]

3 minutes ago, IcezMan_IcezLady said:

That's new. I never knew about that..thanks.

 

The practice is Ghana, has been that you either publish in the news paper for 21 days before you can be legally married.

That 21 days is for anyone that has objection to the marriage to speak up. So I find it interesting that they will have such a form and still do the 21 days announcement.

Well I don't trust a lot of what I read on the internet as fact though.  I would still head down to the Registrars office and ASK what the process is if I were him. The local regional offices are listed on that site I linked. Information like that is usually free.

This site makes it seem very simple:

https://www.wikiprocedure.com/index.php/Ghana_-_Single_Status_Certificate

 

But only the actual Registrars office will be able to tell you the proper procedure. 

Edited May 24, 2017 by Peot

[Unshakable Faith 493]

1 hour ago, geowrian said:

It's pretty much a catch-22 at this point. If he somehow proves he isn't married, then that's verification that he lied previously. If he cannot prove that he is now single, then he doesn't qualify for the visa. Either way, they have every reason to refuse the visa now.

 

I'm not sure if a misrep/fraud charge would qualify here, though...OP stated that his tourist visa applications were denied. As such, I don't see how it was a misrepresentation was of a material fact. He would have been denied even if he told the truth, so that's probably the "escape" there. It does mean the CO will probably never believe a word he says...but I don't think it qualifies for a misrep or fraud ban.

It doesn't matter if the visa was denied or not, it can still be material in the sense that one "attempted" to gain a benefit.   Also would count as material because it closed off a line of questioning concerning ties to his home country.

 

It sounds as if the problem happened when you weren't legally married but said that you were (by putting it on documents as married).  Now when you're with someone else, you've got to show that you were never legally married even though you stated you were.  Cultural marriages happen all the time like this, my fiance's brother had a traditional marriage in Nigeria while he was physically in Canada and his fiance was physically in the US.  The difference is, they registered their marriage with the government and later consummated the marriage- so it is legal in the eyes of the US.  Your issue was stating that you were legally married without making the marriage legal.  As others have stated, it makes it seem as if you purposely lied to try and prove ties and subsequently came up with the "I was married but not legally" story.  No one (especially a CO) knows which one is true, and that's where the trouble is.  Either way, honesty is key.  If you lied on purpose, say that you lied on purpose.   If you put married because you were traditionally married, then say that.   The issue with scenario two is that you put in the most recent paperwork that you had never been married.

They probably will not really buy the whole "traditionally married" but not legally married story because now you've come back to say you've never been married.  

 

I feel for you if you have been misguided with horrible immigration advice from someone in regards to this paperwork.  But when you signed your name, you swore that every piece of information was correct and true.  As someone said, ignorance is not innocence. 

 

There's ways to fight yourself out of this but you have to be completely honest and be ready for a lengthy process.

Edited May 24, 2017 by Unshakable Faith

[sinayion 29]

The OP still hasn't said if he was really married following Ghana's cultural traditions, or if he just lied...

[dolly123 9]

Man I feel and understand what you are going through. I strongly believe you can go ahead with the court marriage and file for spousal visa and on your day of interview, vividly explain the situation that your previous marriage was a customary marriage and not a court wedding. Some of the people here are judging you wrongly and they don't know what they are saying. When I was going for my interview l read so many things here about denial which was not different from my case but for first time in my life l got my visa to come to the US. Don't give up and your story will be peoples testimony. 

[Scandi 4,178]

16 hours ago, Kobby said:

My K1 visa was denied and wanted to know the best way to address it again,met my fiancé in 2013,but before then I had already applied for a B1/B2 in which I stated I was married,in 2013 I applied again for the B1/B2 and still denied, the marriage was not a legal marriage but I stated on the form married in my previous applications that was in 2013,2014 when I applied for the B1/B2.we applied in 2016 for the k1 and was approved and have my interview few days ago and was denied,CO said how was I married in 2013/2014 and was still with my fiancé of which intend to marry now,mean while it was over but since it was not binding by law didn't have documents to prove it was no,more.Another thing was,filling the form the question that says have you been married before we put no?and that is where I think the issue came from.Now my question is,should we re apply for the K1 and correct that error or get married and apply for spousal,if so how soon can we get married and then how long will it take to get approved,sorry it was long...any help will be much appreciated.

It's people like you (liars) that make it so hard for other people in your country to get visas. You lied to the American embassy and then you come here to ask for advice on how to try to get another chance to enter the US.. Have you no shame?

[Auds 223]

4 hours ago, dolly123 said:

Man I feel and understand what you are going through. I strongly believe you can go ahead with the court marriage and file for spousal visa and on your day of interview, vividly explain the situation that your previous marriage was a customary marriage and not a court wedding. Some of the people here are judging you wrongly and they don't know what they are saying. When I was going for my interview l read so many things here about denial which was not different from my case but for first time in my life l got my visa to come to the US. Don't give up and your story will be peoples testimony. 

If you lied, admit to it and i believe you can get a waiver once married as its not material fraud. Its a ling process about 2.5 years perhaps from marrying and filing.

 

your lawyer will help.

 

[caliliving 606]

It's easy to see he lied on the b2 to say married thinking he would have an easier chance of getting a visitor visa. 

First I think u need a lawyer to get out of this mess. Also Ghana is the hardest embassy of all. Where is your fiance thru all this? Makes me question how real that marriage is (and I'm sure the IO will question that too). Ghana is a high fraud country so hire a lawyer and good luck. 

 

[GazLisa 1,168]

4 hours ago, Scandi said:

It's people like you (liars) that make it so hard for other people in your country to get visas. You lied to the American embassy and then you come here to ask for advice on how to try to get another chance to enter the US.. Have you no shame?

Agree 100% sick and tired of reading stories like this,seen far too many since I applied for K1 visa