Traditional engagement?

[TNJ17 1,329]

Be careful with that stuff. It will look like a wedding and it will disqualify you from K1 and you’ll wait 9 months to find out it’s been denied. All you need to prove is that you are both free to marry and that you have met once in the last two years before filing. 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

7 hours ago, CP7416 said:

My fiance and I are planning to apply for K-1 visa now that my divorce is final.  Is it better to have a traditional engagement in my fiance's country?  Does traditional engagement help boost our chances of him obtaining a visa?  Or is it sufficient enough that we have a mutual agreement to get married?  We weren't necessarily planning to do a traditional engagement because I am not sure if I will be able to visit before this year is over and if that is the case  I won't be there until May at the earliest (next year).  We could not get engaged last year when I visited as my divorce was not final.  My first husband and I did have a traditional engagement 12 years ago.  It's been too long ago that if forget certain things about this process and with that, as time passes, things change.  Your help and/or advice is appreciated. 

Thanks!

I am not aware of any requirement other than the "meet in person within 2 previous years" applied to the processing of the petition. Possibly the engagement will help for the interview, but the same guidelines are applied to everyone at the petition processing stage. 

 

[Diane and Chris 651]

1 hour ago, Nitas_man said:

Possibly the engagement will help for the interview,

As others have stated, an engagement ceremony will probably hurt them for K-1. It can make them look “too married.”

[CP7416 0]

6 hours ago, Loren Y said:

Timelines change, but right now a K1 is taking 8-10 months ( Took me almost exactly 8 Months from I129f sent to Visa in Hand, and that was a simple no flags, no RFE's petition) I have seen CR1 taking 12-14 months, so maybe a 4-6 month difference. You have to decide what works best for you. And time together is time together, My fiancee and I had visits we sent in from 5 years before we even applied for the K1 and included it when front-loading the packet . If you still have passport stamps, and boarding passes, etc. include them with the petition even if they were over 2 years ago, it didn't cause any problems with my petition, and even at the interview the CO mentioned that we had proof of our relationship from 5 years ago, and that is something he doesn't see much, so I think it was a benefit to include it, but overall we had over 10 visits of 2-3 weeks each before we applied, and I had 1 visit while waiting for NOA2 that I had her take to the interview with her for additional evidence, but the CO didn't ask to see it, she mentioned it, but he was fine with what we had submitted.

I don’t know much about front loading the packet, this is another thing I’ll have to learn. I have passport stamps but boarding passes I didn’t keep, either that or they are too faded you can’t read much. We mainly chat via fb messenger. Do you recommend something better that we can show chat history? 

Good to know we can still include visits over 2 years ago. Thanks! 

Edited September 9, 2018 by CP7416

[Loren Y 2,755]

1 minute ago, CP7416 said:

I don’t know much about front loading the packet, this is another thing I’ll have to learn. I have passport stamps but boarding passes I didn’t keep, either that or they are too faded you can’t read much. We mainly chat via fb messenger. Do you recommend something better that we can show chat history? 

Passport stamps are one of the best things to have. Maybe hotel receipts if both your names are on them, things that show you together. I used mostly Line messenger for our chats, and I attached some pages with copies of " Screenshots", so you should be able to show the same thing with Facebook messenger. We went on some tours and other things together where we got tickets that were stamped and dated, so we included those also. You don't want to get too carried away with chat logs, they won't read them all more than likely, but cherry pick a few good sections to include in the petition to show you planning things together etc. Do some searching here and you will find some good examples of what people " Frontloaded" their petition with. I only had boarding passes for some of my trips, and best to use photos in easily recognized landmarks. We were always taking photos together in front of signs and things showing we were there together.

[Loren Y 2,755]

I'll send you a link in an email with a good example of how to put together a trip packet for your petition.

Edited September 9, 2018 by Loren Y

[Sugarlegetiti 566]

59 minutes ago, CP7416 said:

I don’t know much about front loading the packet, this is another thing I’ll have to learn. I have passport stamps but boarding passes I didn’t keep, either that or they are too faded you can’t read much. We mainly chat via fb messenger. Do you recommend something better that we can show chat history? 

Good to know we can still include visits over 2 years ago. Thanks! 

Try WhatsApp, that is what I used both chat and call logs. On your next trip keep your boarding passes it can be emailed to you. 

[O&GForever 387]

15 hours ago, CP7416 said:

My fiance and I are planning to apply for K-1 visa now that my divorce is final.  Is it better to have a traditional engagement in my fiance's country?  Does traditional engagement help boost our chances of him obtaining a visa?  Or is it sufficient enough that we have a mutual agreement to get married?  We weren't necessarily planning to do a traditional engagement because I am not sure if I will be able to visit before this year is over and if that is the case  I won't be there until May at the earliest (next year).  We could not get engaged last year when I visited as my divorce was not final.  My first husband and I did have a traditional engagement 12 years ago.  It's been too long ago that if forget certain things about this process and with that, as time passes, things change.  Your help and/or advice is appreciated. 

Thanks!

Speaking from experience, do not do a traditional engagement party. It will not help your K1 case, in fact it will do the opposite. There are many on this site who have been denied for that very reason...my now husband and I included. The Ghana embassy doesn’t care that it’s traditional for the country or that some people don’t view it as a wedding, they will deny you if they get any hint of a ceremony. Learn from others mistakes and don’t do it. 

[CP7416 0]

4 minutes ago, O&GForever said:

Speaking from experience, do not do a traditional engagement party. It will not help your K1 case, in fact it will do the opposite. There are many on this site who have been denied for that very reason...my now husband and I included. The Ghana embassy doesn’t care that it’s traditional for the country or that some people don’t view it as a wedding, they will deny you if they get any hint of a ceremony. Learn from others mistakes and don’t do it. 

Thanks so much for your advice.  I definitely won’t do it now that so many of you are telling me not to.  I’m sorry that happened to you.  Was your husband able to get a spousal visa?  One reason I want to try k1 is if it’s denied, we can always try CR1.  

[O&GForever 387]

14 minutes ago, CP7416 said:

Thanks so much for your advice.  I definitely won’t do it now that so many of you are telling me not to.  I’m sorry that happened to you.  Was your husband able to get a spousal visa?  One reason I want to try k1 is if it’s denied, we can always try CR1.  

Yes, he was approved in February 2017. I traveled to Ghana a few months after our K1 was denied, we got married and started all over with the CR1. He’s been here about a year and a half now. 

 

Ghana is a very difficult embassy to get through. They have been approving more visas there then I have seen in the years I’ve been dealing with immigration. But that doesn’t mean it will be any easier. Make sure to do your homework. Definitely front load your case with plenty of quality evidence. Some would say you don’t need much other than a genuine relationship, but what works at some embassies won’t work in Ghana. More trips, more chats and call logs, more different types of evidence are needed for Ghana. I know K1 and CR1 visas are different, but check out the review I wrote about our interview. I listed everything we submitted and will give you an idea of what it takes to be successful there. 

 

 

 

[CP7416 0]

27 minutes ago, O&GForever said:

Yes, he was approved in February 2017. I traveled to Ghana a few months after our K1 was denied, we got married and started all over with the CR1. He’s been here about a year and a half now. 

 

Ghana is a very difficult embassy to get through. They have been approving more visas there then I have seen in the years I’ve been dealing with immigration. But that doesn’t mean it will be any easier. Make sure to do your homework. Definitely front load your case with plenty of quality evidence. Some would say you don’t need much other than a genuine relationship, but what works at some embassies won’t work in Ghana. More trips, more chats and call logs, more different types of evidence are needed for Ghana. I know K1 and CR1 visas are different, but check out the review I wrote about our interview. I listed everything we submitted and will give you an idea of what it takes to be successful there. 

 

 

 

I’m glad you were finally successful and hope you and your husband and doing well and that he likes it here. I went through k1 process with my ex husband 11-12 years ago (same embassy), back then it wasn’t too difficult. I’m sure it’ll be different this time.  I’ll check out your review. Thanks for your advice and answering my questions. 

[Rocko20 159]

12 hours ago, Loren Y said:

Timelines change, but right now a K1 is taking 8-10 months ( Took me almost exactly 8 Months from I129f sent to Visa in Hand, and that was a simple no flags, no RFE's petition)

Agreed. It took mine 8.2 months just to get the NOA2, 10 months for visa in hand.

[Mrsamoah2019 593]

No!!!! If u file k1 do not do an engagement party they will think it's a wedding and deny you...Ghana too??...o no no no 

[CP7416 0]

2 hours ago, Mrsamoah2018 said:

No!!!! If u file k1 do not do an engagement party they will think it's a wedding and deny you...Ghana too??...o no no no 

Thanks Mrs Amoah 

I’m not going to do it 😅

It was ok back in the day, not that we did it for any reason other than to have an engagement with his family and friends. We did include pics somewhere along the way.  BUT it seems as things have changed over the years. 

Thanks for reaffirming that I better not do it. Well less money for us to spend, so that’s a good thing. 

 

[CP7416 0]

21 hours ago, Rocko20 said:

Agreed. It took mine 8.2 months just to get the NOA2, 10 months for visa in hand.

It seems like that’s the same amount of time K1 has taken for years (on average). 

Thsnks!