My Visa Journey thread

[stringpuller 74]

4 minutes ago, Roel said:

Does it make you finally realize that you should probably do more face to face time?

Is there somthing that maybe went wrong with your application process that you could pass along to me? Some experience? 

[Scandi 4,166]

29 minutes ago, stringpuller said:

Anyone ever use this service?

With so many saying the difficulties why so mant going it alone? 

 

It's not difficult if you have read up on the whole process and understand every single part of it, just like most of us who have responded in this thread. That's why people keep telling you to get more facetime in, and to do all the research needed. Because those are the two main factors.

[LionessDeon 2,060]

22 hours ago, stringpuller said:

Is what it is. It may be difficult but im going to go for it and see what happens. I will discuss the issue with her. Considering our life situations i dont see how the consulate could not think this would be a good thing for her life. But we will see. 

The only thing that will matter to the consulate is if you have proven a bonafide relationship.  

 

21 hours ago, stringpuller said:

I get you. I think a relationship should always be a benefit for both ppl. As a man i dont know not one friend or family member who doesnt want a better life for their wives but maybe i maybe ignorant of some ppls insincerity. 

If shes faking ill personally hire her an acting agent because shes in the wrong business hahaha

Oh you'd be surprised.

20 hours ago, Diane and Chris said:

Then this is the place to come for good advice most of the time. There are some negative people here but most are very helpful and genuinely sincere. Best of luck!  

Some see negativity others see reality.  What you may feel is negative may be very helpful warnings.

16 hours ago, stringpuller said:

Joel thanks and honestly there are things that just cant be faked. Touch, eyes, sounds and body language. 

She is a very ingrained individual in her community and culture and her many friends that i have seen heard of and finally met led me to have a concern of actually having her leave those behind but has reassured me that her being able to return and visit will be enough for her to cope. 

I cant believe this process gas turned into such speculations to be honest. Lol 

Again, Oh you'd be surprised.

15 hours ago, stringpuller said:

Im already regretting comming here and posting. I think maybe ill hire somone to help get us through this process. I dont know we will see. 

Why because everyone isn't seeing your relationship with the rose colored glasses that you have on?  That does not by any means negate the usefulness of their advice.  You are a new member.  I have been on this website for 4 years.  I've seen alot and read alot!  You don't need to hire anyone.  Read the guides.  Everything you need is right here.  If you aren't prepared to take ALL that is offered by this discussion forum keep your postings to direct questions only.  VJers tend to be very blunt and direct.  Don't take it personally.  We are all here to help.

Edited April 9, 2018 by LionessDeon

[Roel 7,192]

12 minutes ago, stringpuller said:

Is there somthing that maybe went wrong with your application process that you could pass along to me? Some experience? 

Yes. In my experience more face time is the best what you can do.

Me and my husband spend 2 weeks together on first visit. Then another couple of weeks on the next visit. Then I applied for a tourist visa and spend a month with him and his family in the US. Then he visited me and my parents in my country two more times.

 

And honestly, it's not about the immigration process here or any requirements...

You SHOULD want to spend more time with your partner just to be sure you actually want to spend the rest of your life together.

 

[stringpuller 74]

43 minutes ago, Roel said:

Yes. In my experience more face time is the best what you can do.

Me and my husband spend 2 weeks together on first visit. Then another couple of weeks on the next visit. Then I applied for a tourist visa and spend a month with him and his family in the US. Then he visited me and my parents in my country two more times.

 

And honestly, it's not about the immigration process here or any requirements...

You SHOULD want to spend more time with your partner just to be sure you actually want to spend the rest of your life together.

 

Some peoples life situations they cannot get away from work for an exact perfect way to do this way. Or afford all the time to travel and be away from there responsabilities. 

How did you two spend so much time away from careers? And afford this? 

Edited April 9, 2018 by stringpuller

[stringpuller 74]

37 minutes ago, Roel said:

Yes. In my experience more face time is the best what you can do.

Me and my husband spend 2 weeks together on first visit. Then another couple of weeks on the next visit. Then I applied for a tourist visa and spend a month with him and his family in the US. Then he visited me and my parents in my country two more times.

 

And honestly, it's not about the immigration process here or any requirements...

You SHOULD want to spend more time with your partner just to be sure you actually want to spend the rest of your life together.

 

And i also can be blunt but when the new guy is blunt he gets threatened for expulsuon. I would just rather the thread be closed. No big deal. 

 

My girlfriend is going to see somone tmmr in her country and see what she can learn from her ppl too. 

 

[Roel 7,192]

19 minutes ago, stringpuller said:

Some peoples life situations they cannot get away from work for an exact perfect way to do this way. Or afford all the time to travel and be away from there responsabilities. 

How did you two spend so much time away from careers? And afford this? 

We made it work because it was important. Simple.

[stringpuller 74]

7 minutes ago, Roel said:

We made it work because it was important. Simple.

Well happy for you 2. Congrats. 

[yuna628 9,676]

28 minutes ago, stringpuller said:

Some peoples life situations they cannot get away from work for an exact perfect way to do this way. Or afford all the time to travel and be away from there responsabilities. 

How did you two spend so much time away from careers? And afford this? 

OP, I first met my husband online back in 2003. We did not get married until 2015. That's a long time of knowing one another. Granted, I knew he was the one, the very first day he flew in to visit me, but we weren't about to leap without looking. We certainly couldn't afford the off time and travel through various years of our lives and life has a way of making people wait on things. At some point, we spent a good three years apart, and only having online and phone contact. When you love someone, you make sacrifices, and make it work.

When we put our package together for the USCIS, we tried to present a picture of just how long we had known each other, how committed we had been to the relationship, and of course how bona fide this was. Probably more bona fide looking than others I've seen, and we had a low fraud country. This will not be the case for you. You're going to have to work.. twice.. three times as hard to prove the reality of what may appear to be weak, and the officer is not going to care one bit how either of you feel about it.

 

The paperwork requirement is that you have met with two years, but that is only one part of it. You will need to convince a CO from a very high fraud country that you have a bona fide relationship... and for many, unless they are careful and committed, this is a burden too high to pass. Other posters here, have seen too often the pain and anguish of individuals who have had their heart torn apart when an officer denies them. Everyone likely goes through the phase that they think they need to drop heavy money on a service or a lawyer, when that isn't the problem at all. The process to file is easy, it's the proving the rest that is hard... and none of those 'extras' are going to get you to the finish line.

 

You may love each other deeply, or only one of you may love deeply.. we are not in the relationship and we are not to know. But we do know that likely meeting more will help. Marriage is a huge thing, let alone immigration. Taking a step back, slowing down, saving more money, and visiting is always wise and may do a lot to help your case. You of course can become annoyed at those urging caution and press forward, but all of us want you to be successful. Hopefully you should also want it to be more successful too, which means doing everything you can at all possible to make it so, even if it means taking a step back and spending more time beforehand together. Not that you want to, but because you might have to in order to get her here in the end.

[stringpuller 74]

6 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

OP, I first met my husband online back in 2003. We did not get married until 2015. That's a long time of knowing one another. Granted, I knew he was the one, the very first day he flew in to visit me, but we weren't about to leap without looking. We certainly couldn't afford the off time and travel through various years of our lives and life has a way of making people wait on things. At some point, we spent a good three years apart, and only having online and phone contact. When you love someone, you make sacrifices, and make it work.

When we put our package together for the USCIS, we tried to present a picture of just how long we had known each other, how committed we had been to the relationship, and of course how bona fide this was. Probably more bona fide looking than others I've seen, and we had a low fraud country. This will not be the case for you. You're going to have to work.. twice.. three times as hard to prove the reality of what may appear to be weak, and the officer is not going to care one bit how either of you feel about it.

 

The paperwork requirement is that you have met with two years, but that is only one part of it. You will need to convince a CO from a very high fraud country that you have a bona fide relationship... and for many, unless they are careful and committed, this is a burden too high to pass. Other posters here, have seen too often the pain and anguish of individuals who have had their heart torn apart when an officer denies them. Everyone likely goes through the phase that they think they need to drop heavy money on a service or a lawyer, when that isn't the problem at all. The process to file is easy, it's the proving the rest that is hard... and none of those 'extras' are going to get you to the finish line.

 

You may love each other deeply, or only one of you may love deeply.. we are not in the relationship and we are not to know. But we do know that likely meeting more will help. Marriage is a huge thing, let alone immigration. Taking a step back, slowing down, saving more money, and visiting is always wise and may do a lot to help your case. You of course can become annoyed at those urging caution and press forward, but all of us want you to be successful. Hopefully you should also want it to be more successful too, which means doing everything you can at all possible to make it so, even if it means taking a step back and spending more time beforehand together. Not that you want to, but because you might have to in order to get her here in the end.

No one here is annoyed i assure you. Im grown up enough in relationship experience to know what im looking for. I appreciate your input. Ill continue to read and let the chips fall were they may. 

I can take responsability for my own decisions but i appreciate the positive vibes. You must have met a swell guy for him to wait that long for you. Better man then me because a decade is to long. 

 

[stringpuller 74]

1 hour ago, Roel said:

Yes. In my experience more face time is the best what you can do.

Me and my husband spend 2 weeks together on first visit. Then another couple of weeks on the next visit. Then I applied for a tourist visa and spend a month with him and his family in the US. Then he visited me and my parents in my country two more times.

 

And honestly, it's not about the immigration process here or any requirements...

You SHOULD want to spend more time with your partner just to be sure you actually want to spend the rest of your life together.

 

I do want to spend more time with her. I would like to have her in my home. Not judge her and speculate her motives and treat her like a speculative piece of property. 

My focus right now is to finish the paperwork properly and do the best we can. If its denied we appeal or refile or walk away. 

Until then i will keep studying 

[Jenny17655 284]

I met my fiance on social media and communicated back and forth for a few months before I went to meet him in person.  We spent about 2 weeks together and that confirmed everything I already knew about him. I filed 2 months after returning because that's how long it took me to get everything together.  We will know each other 1 year by the time my petition is approved.  We communicate more than most married couples and I wish I could visit him again but circumstances don't always allow for that.  You are correct you only have to have met in person one time in 2 years.  If you are in love then go for it!!!!!!

[Scandi 4,166]

1 hour ago, Jenny17655 said:

I met my fiance on social media and communicated back and forth for a few months before I went to meet him in person.  We spent about 2 weeks together and that confirmed everything I already knew about him. I filed 2 months after returning because that's how long it took me to get everything together.  We will know each other 1 year by the time my petition is approved.  We communicate more than most married couples and I wish I could visit him again but circumstances don't always allow for that.  You are correct you only have to have met in person one time in 2 years.  If you are in love then go for it!!!!!!

You need to see the difference between the petition and the visa, they are two different things.

 

Just because the requirement for the petition is to have met at least once within the last two years doesn't mean that will be the case for the visa. Many embassies require WAY more than that to issue a visa.

[stringpuller 74]

2 minutes ago, Scandi said:

You need to see the difference between the petition and the visa, they are two different things.

 

Just because the requirement for the petition is to have met at least once within the last two years doesn't mean that will be the case for the visa. Many embassies require WAY more than that to issue a visa.

Relax im getting that point. You and 20 other ppl are making that clear. Perhaps its time to change the written requirements. 

After reading and contemplatiom im thinking of asking Mai to apply for a B visa and come visit the US and spend a bit of time here. I can support her during her stay and she can see how it is here before we apply for K1. 

[JoelThai 313]

1 hour ago, Jenny17655 said:

You are correct you only have to have met in person one time in 2 years.  If you are in love then go for it!!!!!!

 

The meeting one time in 2 years is only a small piece of the puzzle and is utilized by the USCIS as a high level fraud indicator to determine if processing of the application should continue.   Once the process reaches the local Embassy, additional evidence of an ongoing relationship is required as others have mentioned.

 

For those who are not already familiar, there are four phases to the K1 process, and each serves a specific purpose to validate eledgibily for a Visa and detect fraud.   (The summary below was derived from information I gathered from the March 15th Senate Committee review:

 

https://www.c-span.org/video/?425416-1/immigration-officials-testify-procedures-prevent-fianc-visa-fraud

 

1) First phase:  The I-129F Application.   This phase is handled by the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Service.  There purpose is to validate the application to confirm that both the beneficiary and the petitioner are both eligible.   They are generally looking to validate that criminal history and marriage history do not preclude continuation and evaluation of possible granting of the K1 Visa.   The USCIS performs both background and security checks  and reviews for applicability of the Child Protection and Safety Act and IMBRA.  They are generally not reviewing the validity of the relationship at this stage.   Having met in the prior 2 years is a requirement of the USCIS used as a simple "high level' indicator to eliminate fraud.   In other words, if you have not met in person in the last two years, there is no reason for them to spend additional time on your case.

 

2) Second phase:  NVC (National VIsa Center) Review.  The NVC is a branch ot the Department of State.   This phase begins after the USCIS has approved the petition.  In other words, the USCIS has identified that both the beneficiary and the petitioner are eligible for a K1 Visa, but has not review the details of the actual relationship for possible fraud.  The NVC reviews the application for potential fraud indicators, and if any are found, further review is performed or the petition is returned to the USCIS.  If everything checks out, they forward the petition to the local adjudicating embassy,

3) Third phase:  Consular Review at local jurisdiction Embassy.  The Embassy is also a part of the Department of State.  During this phase, the Embassy will request evidence of an on going relationship directly from the beneficiary.  The Embassy will review this evidence and perform further review for fraud indicators.   The Consular adjudicators are trained to detect fraud and assess the validity of the identity of the beneficiary and that they qualify for the K1 Visa Category.  Again fraud indicators are identified to validate eligibility.  If the relationship is determined to be true and no possible evidence of fraud is identified, then a K1 Visa will be issued.   If there is doubt, the Visa will be denied or the case will be placed in Administrative Processing for collection of further evidence.

 

4) Adjustment of Status:   The last phase, taking place in the US by the USCIS reevaluates the validity of the relationship and grants permanent residency.

Edited April 9, 2018 by JoelThai