Two questions about k1 visa for HCMC consulate.

[davidlee1995 0]

Hello everyone, I have two separate questions regarding the k1 visa for the Ho Chi Minh City consulate.

 

1. I am using a co-sponsor for my visa, I am a college student and only work part-time, my mother is my co-sponsor. I keep hearing different things about using a co-sponsor for the HCMC consulate. I contacted two lawyers and one immigration adviser about this topic and got three completely different responses. The immigration adviser told me that the consulate in HCMC absolutely will not accept a co-sponsor, they never do under any circumstances. One of the lawyers told me that the consulate in HCMC use to not accept co-sponsors but since 2014 they now do accept them, but they are picky and strict about it. The other lawyer I contacted said that he's never heard of a case where the HCMC denied anyone for using a co-sponsor. So I am wondering if anyone here has any insight into this issue, or has anyone here used a co-sponsor? Its so frustrating that I can't get a clear answer.

 

2. Prior to applying for the k1 visa me and my fiancee (Under the recommendation of the immigration adviser) had a traditional engagement ceremony as well as a wedding. The immigration adviser said that the consulate will not approve anything without lots of pictures of an expensive engagement ceremony to prove that our relationship is valid. We had a real engagement ceremony, my mom (who is also my cosponsor) was present and we have picture of all of us and my fiancees mom together. Someone of a different forum told me I made a huge mistake applying for a k1 visa rather than the spousal visa because if the consulate see us together in what looks like a wedding, they will not give us a k1 visa because we are "too married".  I though because we are not legally married then it would be ok to apply for a k1 visa, I didn't even realize that the engagement ceremony and wedding were two separate things because we had them on the same day at the same time. We first were wearing the traditional  Vietnamese dress thing, then my wife changed into a wedding dress and I put on a suit. The person from the other form told me that at the interview we should not tell the interviewer that we had a wedding or show them any pictures of her in a wedding dress. So basically Engagement ceremony is mandatory for k1 visa , wedding is not OK for k1 visa, even though both of those events for us was together as one event. Does anyone have any insight into this? 

 

Thanks again for your help everyone, this is my first post here and I apologize for how disorganized my post is.

Edited January 29, 2018 by davidlee1995

[frontgear 194]

I don't advise you to lie, but the fact that you did have a wedding will make your wife ineligible for a K-1 Visa. Whether or not you two decide to tell the CO at time of the interview about this fact is entirely up to you.

 

Good luck.

[geowrian 22,337]

If you had a wedding, the safest route is to withdraw the K-1 and go for a CR-1 (once getting legally married/registered). If USCIS or the CO sees anything at all that could be construed as a wedding, they will deny the petition or visa. Same for CBP upon entry. There is a risk involved in continuing the current path even if it was not technically legal (and PLEASE confirm this first...if it was legal and just not registered, doing a k-1 would be fraud).