Complex K-1 -> Complete

[Grant PDX 183]

Our visa process was more complex than most, so I thought I'd share my experience.  Feel free to ask questions, I'll give any advice I can if you happen to have a complex process as well.  Even with the complexity our it was pretty much straightforward and most delays were caused by us, not the process.

 

This was my 4th K-1 petition.  The 1st and 3rd are now in America following divorces.  The 2nd never completed the process, but the petition was approved.  This one and the last required waivers.  The 3rd happened prior to the application change so it required a separate written petition.  This one didn't but I updated my previous and sent it with my petition anyway to give an expanded explanation of my situation.

 

My fiance was previously married to a Mexican citizen with a Green Card living in the USA (we think, I've spoken with him and his story is always changing, so we don't really know the situation).  They were married in the Philippines a few years ago.  He came back to the US an essentially deserted her (why someone makes the effort to go to the Philippines and marry, then returns home and deserts their wife, I have no idea, but there it is).  At some point their relationship was "officially" over as he no longer responded to her except for messages to leave him and his girlfriend alone and stop bothering them.... When we began our relationship they'd been over for quite awhile but still married.  I helped him file for divorce.  Once they were divorced, 2 days after receiving the official documents, we applied for a K-1 visa.

 

So we had me with multiple petitions, her with a Philippines marriage and no recognition filed yet in the Philippines (still haven't, may or may not eventually).  Also, having been through this before, I believe I tend to submit a pretty "thin" petition.  I didn't submit an extra paper telling how we met, I just used the space provided to describe the in-person meeting.  I submitted no chats.  I submitted 3 or 4 pictures all on 1 sheet of regular office paper.  I didn't photocopy my entire passport.  Rather, I submitted main page and pages with entry/exit stamps.  I submitted a copy of BC for citizenship proof.  I did submit boarding passes and hotel receipts showing both names.  I'd only visited once prior to the petition (although I was there again while waiting NOA2.  So a relatively light petition.  No front-loading.  Know your embassy, YMMV.

 

With all of those complexities, our petition was approved in normal times compared to others on VJ, maybe a little faster than average.  No issues with medical, although she went prior to having received anything from the embassy, so she had to push to get it done.  The only issues we had were two: she didn't realize she needed to order her NBI with AKA her married name, so it had to be reordered and likely delayed us 2 weeks; the CFO wouldn't issue her certificate until they saw her visa.  The CFO said this was due to our case being complex and since she was still married in Phils they wanted confirmation she'd get the visa before giving her the certificate.  Also they wanted more detailed copies of my divorce papers.  In previous processes and the petition side they were good with the "Divorce Certificates" but this time the CFO wanted full decrees (5-10 pages).  I didn't have those so I had to order them and email her copies.  I was able to get them to her within 10 days, so by the time she had her interview she had them in hand.  She even went back to the CFO to show those, hoping she'd at least get the certificate prior to the visa arrival.  The same CFO agent demanded the visa before issuing the certificate.  She received the visa yesterday, made one more trip to Manila today to go to the CFO, and got the certificate and stamp (a 13 hour round trip ordeal).

 

Long story short, she has the visa, the stamp, and a plane ticket to fly here next Tuesday.

 

If anyone has questions about a filipina fiance situation where the fiance is still married in the Philippines I can answer.  Also, if someone is concerned about multiple filings I can shed some light maybe.  If anyone prefers to troll or criticize my past without knowing the situation, I'm good with that too.

 

Have a wonderful journey, and best of luck to everyone!

[John & Rose 7,239]

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your story.  Perseverance truly does pay off.  I wish both of you the very best!

[VanDerFran 10]

Nice, congratulations, I am on my second K1 process, firsts resulted in a divorce as well, and your story push my hopes up.

[Hank_ 9,174]

Glad everything worked and you both will soon be together.     

 

You did cover almost the whole gambit of issues for sure.  

 

  

[javadown2 308]

Congratulations, very well done/said. I found the whole process daunting at first but once you get all the correct info and file it correctly it goes smoothly. 

 

It's amazing how fast the Philippines process is, even when you have a complicated case!

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

1 hour ago, javadown2 said:

Congratulations, very well done/said. I found the whole process daunting at first but once you get all the correct info and file it correctly it goes smoothly. 

 

It's amazing how fast the Philippines process is, even when you have a complicated case!

Practice ... lol

[vnvy 3]

7 hours ago, Grant PDX said:

Our visa process was more complex than most, so I thought I'd share my experience.  Feel free to ask questions, I'll give any advice I can if you happen to have a complex process as well.  Even with the complexity our it was pretty much straightforward and most delays were caused by us, not the process.

 

This was my 4th K-1 petition.  The 1st and 3rd are now in America following divorces.  The 2nd never completed the process, but the petition was approved.  This one and the last required waivers.  The 3rd happened prior to the application change so it required a separate written petition.  This one didn't but I updated my previous and sent it with my petition anyway to give an expanded explanation of my situation.

 

My fiance was previously married to a Mexican citizen with a Green Card living in the USA (we think, I've spoken with him and his story is always changing, so we don't really know the situation).  They were married in the Philippines a few years ago.  He came back to the US an essentially deserted her (why someone makes the effort to go to the Philippines and marry, then returns home and deserts their wife, I have no idea, but there it is).  At some point their relationship was "officially" over as he no longer responded to her except for messages to leave him and his girlfriend alone and stop bothering them.... When we began our relationship they'd been over for quite awhile but still married.  I helped him file for divorce.  Once they were divorced, 2 days after receiving the official documents, we applied for a K-1 visa.

 

So we had me with multiple petitions, her with a Philippines marriage and no recognition filed yet in the Philippines (still haven't, may or may not eventually).  Also, having been through this before, I believe I tend to submit a pretty "thin" petition.  I didn't submit an extra paper telling how we met, I just used the space provided to describe the in-person meeting.  I submitted no chats.  I submitted 3 or 4 pictures all on 1 sheet of regular office paper.  I didn't photocopy my entire passport.  Rather, I submitted main page and pages with entry/exit stamps.  I submitted a copy of BC for citizenship proof.  I did submit boarding passes and hotel receipts showing both names.  I'd only visited once prior to the petition (although I was there again while waiting NOA2.  So a relatively light petition.  No front-loading.  Know your embassy, YMMV.

 

With all of those complexities, our petition was approved in normal times compared to others on VJ, maybe a little faster than average.  No issues with medical, although she went prior to having received anything from the embassy, so she had to push to get it done.  The only issues we had were two: she didn't realize she needed to order her NBI with AKA her married name, so it had to be reordered and likely delayed us 2 weeks; the CFO wouldn't issue her certificate until they saw her visa.  The CFO said this was due to our case being complex and since she was still married in Phils they wanted confirmation she'd get the visa before giving her the certificate.  Also they wanted more detailed copies of my divorce papers.  In previous processes and the petition side they were good with the "Divorce Certificates" but this time the CFO wanted full decrees (5-10 pages).  I didn't have those so I had to order them and email her copies.  I was able to get them to her within 10 days, so by the time she had her interview she had them in hand.  She even went back to the CFO to show those, hoping she'd at least get the certificate prior to the visa arrival.  The same CFO agent demanded the visa before issuing the certificate.  She received the visa yesterday, made one more trip to Manila today to go to the CFO, and got the certificate and stamp (a 13 hour round trip ordeal).

 

Long story short, she has the visa, the stamp, and a plane ticket to fly here next Tuesday.

 

If anyone has questions about a filipina fiance situation where the fiance is still married in the Philippines I can answer.  Also, if someone is concerned about multiple filings I can shed some light maybe.  If anyone prefers to troll or criticize my past without knowing the situation, I'm good with that too.

 

Have a wonderful journey, and best of luck to everyone!

Congratulations!!!

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

Have you asked for discount from USCIS for being a frequent customer?

 

For me when I show up at the USEM they know me by name since I have been there so many times.

 

Congrats on the new endeavor, Good Luck and God Speed.................

[payxibka 10,045]

1 hour ago, Chris Duffy said:

Have you asked for discount from USCIS for being a frequent customer?

 

For me when I show up at the USEM they know me by name since I have been there so many times.

 

Congrats on the new endeavor, Good Luck and God Speed.................

Frequent filer miles.. 

[Hank_ 9,174]

Actually it is because of the poster on the wall...        

 

( I see you won the recent elections )

Edited May 17, 2018 by Hank_

[deafguy72 99]

1 hour ago, Chris Duffy said:

Have you asked for discount from USCIS for being a frequent customer?

 

For me when I show up at the USEM they know me by name since I have been there so many times.

 

Congrats on the new endeavor, Good Luck and God Speed.................

He's not the only one. It's my 3rd petition then again soon 4th via DCF. I filed K1>approved but revoked due to adultery, CR1>approved; divorced, now 3rd IR1 soon interview next month then 4th via DCF for my stepdaughter. I am embarrassed for a reason 

[javadown2 308]

2 hours ago, deafguy72 said:

He's not the only one. It's my 3rd petition then again soon 4th via DCF. I filed K1>approved but revoked due to adultery, CR1>approved; divorced, now 3rd IR1 soon interview next month then 4th via DCF for my stepdaughter. I am embarrassed for a reason 

Well at least you got out before getting married on the k-1, no shame in that one. 

[Carpe Vinum 2,327]

Thanks for the honest and informative post. I will be filing my second K-1 soon. My first one was filed in 2010. Good to other multiple offenders being successful))))

[Hank_ 9,174]

1 hour ago, boris64 said:

Thanks for the honest and informative post. I will be filing my second K-1 soon. My first one was filed in 2010. Good to other multiple offenders being successful))))

You don't have an issue regarding multiple filings as it has been over 2 years since you filed last.

 

 

 

 

http://www.visaconnection-philippines.com/i-129f-petition-process.html

 

 

[Grant PDX 183]

I don't have any shame about any of it  I know my situation.  I know the path that got me here.  I'm proud of my marriages but not proud of my divorces.  In every instance I went in with good intentions and there are very few decisions I would go back and change (my most recent before my current fiance is one I would change, and I saw the writing on the wall, but tried to "do the right thing" and be hopeful and got bit).

 

Relationships fail. The visa process added to the difficulties of any relationship compounds problems.  IMO you never really know a person, and people change along the way.  The process of spending so many months waiting, most of them not together, skews a little from how "normal" relationships work (whatever "normal" means).

 

Staying together is awesome, wish I had a relationship already that went the distance.  Happiness and sanity are more important than forcing something bad to work, just for the sake of avoiding the shame of divorce.

 

For folks going through it multiple times, or with someone who was previously married, I think it's important to know it's possible, and hold your head up.  Most of the people doing a second (or third or...) filing are good people that ran into problems.  Is it my fault for falling in love easily? Maybe, but I can say I never fell out of love, just circumstances were too difficult to stay together.  I still am committed to my previous wives' happiness.  And without going into reasons for the divorces, most divorces have fault on both sides, and sometimes can't be made to work right.

 

If you are in a position that you feel uncomfortable about (multiple filing, for example) don't feel ashamed (unless you're a #######).  And still feel free to ask for help.