Naive mistake: should I withdraw K1 application?

[Unidentified 2,930]

5 hours ago, Jaquelly said:

 

Why would you even risk going through the entire process of a K1 visa for a party? I don't get it. You can have a celebration afterwards. This process isn't about romance and making your family happy. If this person rolls the dice and has an engagement party, USCIS might deny them. Is it smart to even take that risk?

The process no but you're still getting married and you still want to share that with your friends and family. Life is short. Personally I would probably just go through with it and see what happens. I didn't get to have a wedding with my family. Sadly I didn't even get to have a wedding with my husband's family because destiny wanted other things and it was just me and him. If I could turn back time I would probably have done something similar. 

[Jaquelly 1,647]

3 hours ago, Unidentified said:

The process no but you're still getting married and you still want to share that with your friends and family. Life is short. Personally I would probably just go through with it and see what happens. I didn't get to have a wedding with my family. Sadly I didn't even get to have a wedding with my husband's family because destiny wanted other things and it was just me and him. If I could turn back time I would probably have done something similar. 

 

I understand that that's your perspective on it.  However, I tend to give advice not on how I would do things, but on how it should be approached from an immigration standpoint.

 

I don't know how many people have to say to someone not to do something/do something before it is a clear and obvious answer, but we see a lot of this (especially in the K-1 area of the forums). It is always a resounding cry of "don't do it!" because we've seen people get denied time and time again.

[vocaledge 3,340]

3 hours ago, Unidentified said:

The process no but you're still getting married and you still want to share that with your friends and family. Life is short. Personally I would probably just go through with it and see what happens. I didn't get to have a wedding with my family. Sadly I didn't even get to have a wedding with my husband's family because destiny wanted other things and it was just me and him. If I could turn back time I would probably have done something similar. 

Its not about what we would want to do, but how USCIS or the consular section of DOS will perceive what happened.  They can be two hugely different things and I truly dont think we should be giving advice or even unconstructive opinions that can severely harm someones own case.  Just my 0.02...

[geowrian 22,337]

5 hours ago, vocaledge said:

If they send you an NOID, you simply reply stating that a) the party hasn't happened yet and will not be going ahead (you said it will be in the summer), and b) you misstated 'unofficial wedding' instead of 'engagement celebration'.

 

You haven't HELD the party, and therefore, right now, you haven't done anything wrong.  I've seen NOIDs reversed after responses, and this seems like the most logical, simplest and safest course of action.

DON'T HAVE THE PARTY!

Just for reference, the case I referred to above (the Australian couple) was denied without a NOID and before the "unofficial marriage" ever occurred. They first issued an RFE asking about the event, where they stated it was not a legal marriage. Then the I-129F was denied.

I believe that worked out better overall because the event turned into a legal marriage (since they were already denied the I-129F).

[Unidentified 2,930]

27 minutes ago, vocaledge said:

Its not about what we would want to do, but how USCIS or the consular section of DOS will perceive what happened.  They can be two hugely different things and I truly dont think we should be giving advice or even unconstructive opinions that can severely harm someones own case.  Just my 0.02...

They are clearly aware that there's a chance that they will get denied and are already thinking about going ahead with the cr-1 so no. There's no harm in saying that it's okay to weigh your options and see what you want to do. There's a difference between saying "you'll be fine" and saying "you know your potential risk, weigh your options."

[S*UK 543]

19 hours ago, missileman said:

and another thing.......Some K-1 people have had issues with Social Security numbers, Drivers licenses, etc.......With a CR-1, the immigrant is immediately a legal permanent resident upon entry into the US....

 

Just food for thought.

Couldn't agree more. Being in the US without a green card, driving license, work permit or advanced parole is not a life of freedom. Had we known how little I can actually do here without those pieces of paper we probably would have married and filed CR-1. 

[Unidentified 2,930]

33 minutes ago, Jaquelly said:

 

I understand that that's your perspective on it.  However, I tend to give advice not on how I would do things, but on how it should be approached from an immigration standpoint.

 

I don't know how many people have to say to someone not to do something/do something before it is a clear and obvious answer, but we see a lot of this (especially in the K-1 area of the forums). It is always a resounding cry of "don't do it!" because we've seen people get denied time and time again.

I'm not telling this couple to do anything. They are clearly a well informed couple who know what they're doing. They have already sent everything in and they either have to wait and see what happens or do with the cr-1 and that's their choice. 

[Illiria 980]

6 hours ago, vocaledge said:

Surely its very simple....

If they send you an NOID, you simply reply stating that a) the party hasn't happened yet and will not be going ahead (you said it will be in the summer), and b) you misstated 'unofficial wedding' instead of 'engagement celebration'.

 

You haven't HELD the party, and therefore, right now, you haven't done anything wrong.  I've seen NOIDs reversed after responses, and this seems like the most logical, simplest and safest course of action.

DON'T HAVE THE PARTY!

K1 don’t get a NOID, it just gets sent back to expire. 

[vocaledge 3,340]

4 minutes ago, Illiria said:

K1 don’t get a NOID, it just gets sent back to expire. 

Not true - @Melodica256 had an NOID and returned it - and then continued the process, completed her interview last Friday, so thats absolutely not the case.

[Illiria 980]

3 minutes ago, vocaledge said:

Not true - @Melodica256 had an NOID and returned it - and then continued the process, completed her interview last Friday, so thats absolutely not the case.

That’s new, so the case was denied at the interview, sent back to the us, the petitioner received an NOID, replied, it was reaffirmed, and then the beneficiary had a second interview? 

 

Or was it a request for evidence where they just had to send in more things and carry on?

 

can you link to the post? 

[vocaledge 3,340]

5 minutes ago, Illiria said:

That’s new, so the case was denied at the interview, sent back to the us, the petitioner received an NOID, replied, it was reaffirmed, and then the beneficiary had a second interview? 

 

Or was it a request for evidence where they just had to send in more things and carry on?

 

can you link to the post? 

No. It wasn't an RFE, I know the difference :-)

She had an NOID at the USCIS level, she returned a response and it was then approved and progressed to the NVC as normal with a K-1.

I can't link you, although I'm sure you could find it in our June 2017 filers thread - we discussed it in PM literally last week

though.

[geowrian 22,337]

30 minutes ago, Illiria said:

That’s new, so the case was denied at the interview, sent back to the us, the petitioner received an NOID, replied, it was reaffirmed, and then the beneficiary had a second interview?

24 minutes ago, vocaledge said:

She had an NOID at the USCIS level, she returned a response and it was then approved and progressed to the NVC as normal with a K-1.

Sounds like a NOID issued before approval. Yes, that can happen.

What @Illiria referred to was having the K-1 visa refused then the I-129F reaffirmed. Big difference (and note that it would be a NOIR in that case, not a NOID....but as stated, they don't review returned I-129Fs so that's a moot point now anyway).

 

So say that USCIS approves the petition knowing about the issue. Then it's sent to NVC then to the embassy., The CO determines that they are not going to get married in the US because they may actually be married ("too married" for a K-1). The I-129F then gets sent back with recommendation to revoke. However, current USCIS policy is not to review this and the I-129F expires.

Edited February 26, 2018 by geowrian

[vocaledge 3,340]

36 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Sounds like a NOID issued before approval. Yes, that can happen.

Correct - thats exactly what I was saying.

[Zzyzx 106]

11 hours ago, Jaquelly said:

 

Why would you even risk going through the entire process of a K1 visa for a party? I don't get it. You can have a celebration afterwards. This process isn't about romance and making your family happy. If this person rolls the dice and has an engagement party, USCIS might deny them. Is it smart to even take that risk?

To set the record straight, I stated very clearly don't have the party.    

 

11 hours ago, Zzyzx said:

Just my 2 cents if I were in the OP's shoes: I would cancel the party and roll the dice since the K-1 visa is already in process.  And if asked in the interview about the statement, explain that after learning more about the process, you canceled the party in effort to avoid any misinterpretations.  Perhaps I'm wrong, Estonia isn't one of those countries where a party or religious ceremony by itself, constitutes a "legal" marriage.  So this issue most likely isn't on the radar for the CO's there.    

But overall I agree, the normal wedding routine should be on the backburner when deciding to go the immigration route for marriage. 

[Jaquelly 1,647]

5 minutes ago, Zzyzx said:

To set the record straight, I stated very clearly don't have the party.    

 

But overall I agree, the normal wedding routine should be on the backburner when deciding to go the immigration route for marriage. 

I must have misread, it was well after midnight for me. I apologise.