Denied for K-1 After Waiting in AP for Two Years

[geowrian 22,338]

8 minutes ago, MyLifeForYou said:

Thank you for the great advice - this is very helpful. So, it is not standard policy to issue an NOIR stating why they believe the 1-129F is invalid? Wow. OK, well, that will make it a bit more of a challenge. Do we need to wait for the petition to "die" before getting married and filing the I-130? I just want to make sure I don't file too soon and ruin our chances with an I-130.

 

Thank you!

Correct. They stopped that practice years ago. Long story cut short: it avoids a fraud marker turning into a misrepresentation/fraud finding (and avoids a waiver being needed).

No, you don't need to wait for the petition to die to marry and file an I-130. You can include a letter in the I-130 filing stating that you want to withdraw the I-129F just in case.

 

Before marrying and filing, I do suggest finding out more about why precisely it was denied. I do think the points raised above about the red flags are important, but those red flags can also be overcome with sufficient relationship evidence. Moving forward, having a strong case and presenting it well will be crucial to your success.

You can file a FOIA request as well to attempt to obtain information on why the petition was sent back with a recommendation for revocation. However, this is beyond my level of comfort to describe how to do so, sorry. There are other VJ members who have had a refused K-1 and done this, so hopefully they can chime in if this was worth pursuing and the process to do so.

 

Best wishes.

Edited July 5, 2018 by geowrian

[MyLifeForYou 12]

1 minute ago, geowrian said:

Correct. They stopped that practice years ago. Long story cut short: it avoids a fraud marker turning into a misrepresentation/fraud finding (and avoids a waiver being needed).

No, you don't need to wait for the petition to die to marry and file an I-130. You can include a letter in the I-130 filing stating that you want to withdraw the I-129F just in case.

 

Before marrying and filing, I do suggest finding out more about why precisely it was denied. I do think the points raised above about the red flags are important, but those red flags can also be overcome with sufficient relationship evidence. Moving forward, having a strong case and presenting it well will be crucial to your success.

You can file a FOIA as well to attempt to obtain information on why the petition was sent back with a recommendation for revocation. However, this is beyond my level of comfort to describe how to do so, sorry. There are other VJ members who have had a refused K-1 and done this, so hopefully they can chime in if this was worth pursuing and the process to do so.

 

Best wishes.

Thank you so much for the great advice. I have filed a FOIA request before (in my ex-husband's case) and so thankfully I am familiar with that process. I appreciate the information about the "petition dying" and not needing to wait any specific time period. That is very helpful. Thank you again for your advice and best wishes! 

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

28 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Sounds like the I-129F was (or is being) sent back to USCIS. This only happens if they believe it is invalid...usually because they believe it's not a bona fide relationship.

Once returned to USCIS, it will sit to expire and die. Ignore the part about USCIS reviewing it for revocation, NOIR, etc. Current policy is to let it to expire. They will not issue a NOIR stating why they believe the I-129F is invalid.

agree

you will not get a notice and it will die

as our K1 it is more than likely the age

disagree with those that say do not marry till u know as we never got a writen reason

go and marry / financee will have to provide a criminal report to marry along with medical exam so u will have the answer to issues 

[MyLifeForYou 12]

1 minute ago, adil-rafa said:

agree

you will not get a notice and it will die

as our K1 it is more than likely the age

disagree with those that say do not marry till u know as we never got a writen reason

go and marry / financee will have to provide a criminal report to marry along with medical exam so u will have the answer to issues 

Thank you so much for your advice; I have read your story and admire your amazing strength! Thank you for the tip on the criminal report and medical exam. I need all the advice I can get at this point. 

[EmmNM 180]

I'm a little bit confused. How long does it take for a case to "expire and die" wouldn't that have happened already? It's been 2 years! I don't know how this works so I genuinely would like to know just in case our case is put into AP. How long do you wait in AP until you just say screw it and get married?

[Mmagic 127]

I am just wondering, beside all the grilling he took from the Counselor asking all the questions about both of you, did she ask him or tell him anything in regards to his background check or Police report? Did he mention it to you at all? 

Edited July 5, 2018 by Mmagic

[EM_Vandaveer 2,417]

13 minutes ago, EmmNM said:

I'm a little bit confused. How long does it take for a case to "expire and die" wouldn't that have happened already? It's been 2 years! I don't know how this works so I genuinely would like to know just in case our case is put into AP. How long do you wait in AP until you just say screw it and get married?

Because it was in AP. Cases can be in AP for years sometimes and still be approved. In this case, they denied it.

[MyLifeForYou 12]

12 minutes ago, Mmagic said:

I am just wondering, beside all the grilling he took from the Counselor asking all the questions about both of you, did she ask him or tell him anything in regards to his background check or Police report? Did he mention it to you at all? 

No. He said the CO never asked him a thing about himself. He is so young and has never had contact with police or any type of trouble. No questions about his background, police report, medical, nothing. It was all very intricate and detailed questions about me and my life, my past. Absolutely nothing about him. The only thing was the CO kept asking him why he wanted to be with me - why me? Why did it have to be me? He said the CO asked that at least three times. 

[MyLifeForYou 12]

4 minutes ago, EM_Vandaveer said:

Because it was in AP. Cases can be in AP for years sometimes and still be approved. In this case, they denied it.

Yes, we had seen a very few other couples in a long AP - and lucky for them, the wait was worth it and they were eventually approved. Not sure why the two-year wait; we never received any type of communication from the consulate asking for anything. My fiancé did receive a random phone call in November of 2017 (about 18 months into AP) and said a man on the other line said he was from the consulate and wanted to know "if we were still together." My fiancé told him we were. The man on the other line said, "OK, thank you, we will get your petition wrapped up as soon as possible," and hung up. That was the only thing we ever heard from them in the entire two years we were in AP. 

[EmmNM 180]

6 minutes ago, EM_Vandaveer said:

Because it was in AP. Cases can be in AP for years sometimes and still be approved. In this case, they denied it.

So how long should someone wait before just giving up on the k1 and get married? I would hate to wait 2 years in AP! At some point you just have to figure it will be denied if it sits that long.

 

1 hour ago, adil-rafa said:

agree

you will not get a notice and it will die

as our K1 it is more than likely the age

disagree with those that say do not marry till u know as we never got a writen reason

go and marry / financee will have to provide a criminal report to marry along with medical exam so u will have the answer to issues 

How long did you wait in AP? How long did you wait before deciding to give up on the K! and get married?

[Mmagic 127]

1 minute ago, MyLifeForYou said:

No. He said the CO never asked him a thing about himself. He is so young and has never had contact with police or any type of trouble. No questions about his background, police report, medical, nothing. It was all very intricate and detailed questions about me and my life, my past. Absolutely nothing about him. The only thing was the CO kept asking him why he wanted to be with me - why me? Why did it have to be me? He said the CO asked that at least three times. 

I have to say the age and maybe different religion has to do something with it. The norms in Arab countries, Older men can marry younger women, very seldom you see younger men marrying someone older than them and especially by 20 yrs different. Maybe there was not enough strong evidence to show and convince her. 

Also, by him answering every question to the tooth, she might thought all this was rehearsed to start with. 

 

My ten cents only. 

[Ash.1101 1,756]

I would say the age part is big thing, but I also noticed you said that you sent engagement party pictures. Some CO's can take large engagement parties as being akin to a wedding. Meaning they view you too married for a K-1 but not married enough for a CR-1.

But ya'll have different religion, 20 year age difference with the woman being older, an engagement party, and they seemed to know way more than they should have unless you provided it (such as the investment with a friend).

When the above poster says the thing about answering everything question perfectly, that's not always expected. If he answered questions without dropping a beat, then they actually question it a bit. Green Card interviewers have done interviews and actually say they expect the partner to mess up or be confused for a second or forget something, because that's how a normal spouse would react. Answering everything perfectly means your fiance is either a man above men or was coached prior to answer everything perfectly.

Example: I just asked my husband what my favorite side to a dinner is. He said Green beans, and I say no, He says Mashed Potatoes and I say YES! And he's like oh okay I figured it was either one, Green beans is like a close second right? And I tell him yes. This guy knows I buy mashed potatoes A LOT. But was still confused. 


Also, When your fiance left the consulate after the interview he should have recieved a 221g form. On that form, was anything checked? Was anything mentioned about a drop off location or them recommending sending in more proof?

Edited July 5, 2018 by Ash.1101

[MyLifeForYou 12]

9 minutes ago, Ash.1101 said:

I would say the age part is big thing, but I also noticed you said that you sent engagement party pictures. Some CO's can take large engagement parties as being akin to a wedding. Meaning they view you too married for a K-1 but not married enough for a CR-1.

But ya'll have different religion, 20 year age difference with the woman being older, an engagement party, and they seemed to know way more than they should have unless you provided it (such as the investment with a friend).

When the above poster says the thing about answering everything question perfectly, that's not always expected. If he answered questions without dropping a beat, then they actually question it a bit. Green Card interviewers have done interviews and actually say they expect the partner to mess up or be confused for a second or forget something, because that's how a normal spouse would react. Answering everything perfectly means your fiance is either a man above men or was coached prior to answer everything perfectly.

Example: I just asked my husband what my favorite side to a dinner is. He said Green beans, and I say no, He says Mashed Potatoes and I say YES! And he's like oh okay I figured it was either one, Green beans is like a close second right? And I tell him yes. This guy knows I buy mashed potatoes A LOT. But was still confused. 


Also, When your fiance left the consulate after the interview he should have recieved a 221g form. On that form, was anything checked? Was anything mentioned about a drop off location or them recommending sending in more proof?

These are all great points. It is so helpful for me to hear all of your views and ideas and is extremely enlightening. 

 

We have no idea how the CO got a hold of some of the information she had - like the example of the investment property. I ended up losing that house in the big housing bubble of 2008 - seven years before I met my fiancé; yet, the CO knew about it and asked my fiancé if he "knew I had money problems in the past and had lost a house." He remembered me telling him about that investment house that I had purchased and tried to flip, and so he told the CO what he knew about it. He said, "Yes, I know she had bought an old 1920s house a while back and had put a lot of money into restoring it and then lost it." The CO was surprised he knew that. It is just because we have spent hours talking about our lives. It wasn't so much that he "answered every question perfectly" - it was that he knew all about me and my past, my situations, the issues surrounding my ex-husband and his deportation. He just knew all about my life. He said he had the feeling that the CO wanted to catch him "not knowing" something about me, so as to say we didn't really have a bona fide relationship because there were aspects about me he was unaware of. The CO didn't have a "list of questions," per se, all of which he answered correctly. She would throw something out to him and he would explain it - tell her the story, how it happened, why it happened - all a result of hours and hours of talking and getting to know each other. 

 

As for the 221g form. It had the box checked: Nothing is needed at this time. The Consulate will get back with you if anything is needed. Your case is under pending review. 

 

Thank you so much for your questions and insight. 

[C&AH 104]

14 minutes ago, Ash.1101 said:

I would say the age part is big thing, but I also noticed you said that you sent engagement party pictures. Some CO's can take large engagement parties as being akin to a wedding. Meaning they view you too married for a K-1 but not married enough for a CR-1.


Also, When your fiance left the consulate after the interview he should have recieved a 221g form. On that form, was anything checked? Was anything mentioned about a drop off location or them recommending sending in more proof?

I'm wondering why it took 2 years for your K1 interview. Here is an article that might be helpful: https://mypathtocitizenship.com/wife-was-denied-k-1-visa-should-we-apply-for-cr-1-visa-after-getting-married/

[Ash.1101 1,756]

2 minutes ago, MyLifeForYou said:

These are all great points. It is so helpful for me to hear all of your views and ideas and is extremely enlightening. 

 

We have no idea how the CO got a hold of some of the information she had - like the example of the investment property. I ended up losing that house in the big housing bubble of 2008 - seven years before I met my fiancé; yet, the CO knew about it and asked my fiancé if he "knew I had money problems in the past and had lost a house." He remembered me telling him about that investment house that I had purchased and tried to flip, and so he told the CO what he knew about it. He said, "Yes, I know she had bought an old 1920s house a while back and had put a lot of money into restoring it and then lost it." The CO was surprised he knew that. It is just because we have spent hours talking about our lives. It wasn't so much that he "answered every question perfectly" - it was that he knew all about me and my past, my situations, the issues surrounding my ex-husband and his deportation. He just knew all about my life. He said he had the feeling that the CO wanted to catch him "not knowing" something about me, so as to say we didn't really have a bona fide relationship because there were aspects about me he was unaware of. The CO didn't have a "list of questions," per se, all of which he answered correctly. She would throw something out to him and he would explain it - tell her the story, how it happened, why it happened - all a result of hours and hours of talking and getting to know each other. 

 

As for the 221g form. It had the box checked: Nothing is needed at this time. The Consulate will get back with you if anything is needed. Your case is under pending review. 

 

Thank you so much for your questions and insight. 

Did either of you inquire about your case over the course of the 2 years?  I know some people will sit back and let everything take its course, but 2 years is a long time.