same sex couple-k1 visa questions

[jayjay02 124]

My fiance and I (Same sex, male couple) filed the I129f on July 27th  and got the NOA1 on August 1st, our case was transferred to CSC and we were told to wait until we get the  I-797 form in the mail. We are really excited and have some questions. 

 

• Are the interviewers at the embassy in the Dominican Republic native to that country, and is the interview held in English or in their native language (Spanish)?
• The Dominican Republic is not a nation that approves homosexual rights, will that affect our case?
• Is there any benefit for the petitioner to attend to the interview with the beneficiary in the Dominican Republic?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[Coco8 1,042]

4 minutes ago, jayjay02 said:

The Dominican Republic is not a nation that approves homosexual rights, will that affect our case?

No

 

4 minutes ago, jayjay02 said:

Is there any benefit for the petitioner to attend to the interview with the beneficiary in the Dominican Republic?

It varies by country whether petitioners can go to the interviews. Look that up at the consulate website or send an email asking whether you are allowed to attend the interview. 

It is hard to say how much would it benefit the process. It won't hurt. It definitely helps in high visa fraud countries. I don't know enough about the Dominican Rep. to tell you that, but if you have been together for a short amount of time or you haven't had much face to face time, it would be positive. 

If you cannot be at the interview you can go a bit earlier and add that as evidence at the consulate stage.

[jayjay02 124]

On 5/8/2017 at 3:47 PM, Coco8 said:

No

 

It varies by country whether petitioners can go to the interviews. Look that up at the consulate website or send an email asking whether you are allowed to attend the interview. 

It is hard to say how much would it benefit the process. It won't hurt. It definitely helps in high visa fraud countries. I don't know enough about the Dominican Rep. to tell you that, but if you have been together for a short amount of time or you haven't had much face to face time, it would be positive. 

If you cannot be at the interview you can go a bit earlier and add that as evidence at the consulate stage.

thank you so much.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

There is usually a native pre-screener that takes your documents etc, but the actual interview will be with an American CO.  Interviews are in English unless requested otherwise; if NOT in English, be prepared to explain how you and your fiance communicate.

 

No.

 

Attending the interview (or waiting outside, and the beneficiary bringing in the US citizen's passport to show they are outside as necessary) is usually considered a good thing.

[C-ma'am 684]

**Post moved from K1 to Caribbean, for better assistance with questions related directly to the embassy

[phildinftlaudy 17]

On 8/5/2017 at 3:39 PM, jayjay02 said:

My fiance and I (Same sex, male couple) filed the I129f on July 27th  and got the NOA1 on August 1st, our case was transferred to CSC and we were told to wait until we get the  I-797 form in the mail. We are really excited and have some questions. 

 

• Are the interviewers at the embassy in the Dominican Republic native to that country, and is the interview held in English or in their native language (Spanish)?
• The Dominican Republic is not a nation that approves homosexual rights, will that affect our case?
• Is there any benefit for the petitioner to attend to the interview with the beneficiary in the Dominican Republic?

 

Thanks in advance.

Hi jayjay02:

I live in South Florida and I married my same-sex partner from Dominican Republic. We started the process in July 2015 and he was approved for the K-1 visa and moved here in May 2016. We married in June 2016, received AOS at the end of October 2016.

 

In response to your questions:

1) Interviewers at embassy are from United States. The interview is primarily in English; however, the interviewers are bilingual and will ask which language your fiance is most comfortable responding in. We responded in "Spanglish."

2) No impact on your case as it relates to the D.R. not being a nation that approves same-sex marriage / rights.

3) Definitely a benefit to petitioner attending the interview. I have heard that applications are many times denied if petitioner doesn't attend. I think it is particularly important to be there since it is same-sex K-1 application. Also, it can be extremely stressful waiting for and going through the interview - it speaks volumes to the beneficiary and to the consulate if the petitioner is there to "go through" the stress with the beneficiary.  Just my 2 cents.

 

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

Phil

[jayjay02 124]

On 7/8/2017 at 2:06 PM, phildinftlaudy said:

Hi jayjay02:

I live in South Florida and I married my same-sex partner from Dominican Republic. We started the process in July 2015 and he was approved for the K-1 visa and moved here in May 2016. We married in June 2016, received AOS at the end of October 2016.

 

In response to your questions:

1) Interviewers at embassy are from United States. The interview is primarily in English; however, the interviewers are bilingual and will ask which language your fiance is most comfortable responding in. We responded in "Spanglish."

2) No impact on your case as it relates to the D.R. not being a nation that approves same-sex marriage / rights.

3) Definitely a benefit to petitioner attending the interview. I have heard that applications are many times denied if petitioner doesn't attend. I think it is particularly important to be there since it is same-sex K-1 application. Also, it can be extremely stressful waiting for and going through the interview - it speaks volumes to the beneficiary and to the consulate if the petitioner is there to "go through" the stress with the beneficiary.  Just my 2 cents.

 

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

Phil

Thanks for answering all of our questions, we are now reading about the next steps, so that everything is ready when they contact us if everything turns out to be ok.  

[jayjay02 124]

On 7/8/2017 at 7:52 AM, Penguin_ie said:

There is usually a native pre-screener that takes your documents etc, but the actual interview will be with an American CO.  Interviews are in English unless requested otherwise; if NOT in English, be prepared to explain how you and your fiance communicate.

 

No.

 

Attending the interview (or waiting outside, and the beneficiary bringing in the US citizen's passport to show they are outside as necessary) is usually considered a good thing.

thanks!