K1 visa denied, next course of action?

[AKR 6]

I am based in pakistan and my fiancee resides in NY, we started talking last year and developed liking for each other. upon her first visit to my city, we got committed in islamic relation called Nikah, let me make it clear that for us, its just a religious contract that we will marry each other. Their attorney in US suggested k1 visa(as we didnt know much about visas so for initial petition we hired the attorney). After k1 was filed, my fiancee along with her family visited pakistan and we got married (it was a sudden plan) and honestly we didnt even know its consequences until i was refused. Like every other couple, we kept waiting for the long procedure which lasted 9 months in total. In my interview everything went well but the pictures part got me in trouble. I added one picture of us on stage, dressed very nicely (not in red though which is considered wedding costume here).

So the CO rightfully denied my visa by saying he is sending my case to nvc and cant give me visa , and i should apply for cr1/ir1 depending on the exact date of my marriage (quoting his words).

 

Now people who would label me for visa fraud, misrepresentation etc. Kindly do understand that a genuine couple not knowing consequence of wedding during this process should do what? Keep in mind that CO's decision was merely on the basis of photos i provided in the interview(i didnt even know if i shouldnt have shown such photos). So it wasnt a deliberate visa fraud etc.. 

And he also has no proofs to prove us married thus far. Because we never referred each other as husband and wife and even the nikah thing wasnt disclosed to him. Please advise the right course of action if experts are available here;

1-Can we file an appeal making a stance that we'd just thrown a big engagement party for my relatives in pakistan as they wont be attending my wedding in usa. 

2-If we apply for CR1, wouldnt they refuse it and charge me for visa fraud because this will provide them documentary evidence that we were married and didnt withdraw our k1 petition?

3- shall we do a court marriage (legal marriage only) in recent dates and then apply for CR1? But we wont be able to proof a big wedding or many people in that (which is culture of my country) and also it would be very hard for my fiancee to come in pakistan as she already took 3 trips this year.

4- any other possible and best course of action? 

Please avoid hurtful remarks and just give me guidance. Already too depressed.

 

Edit: our status in both countries , pakistan and usa , is single.. 

There is no documentary proof against us that even we did nikah.

Edited November 15, 2018 by K A R

[Dashinka 24,494]

1 minute ago, K A R said:

I am based in pakistan and my fiancee resides in NY, we started talking last year and developed liking for each other. upon her first visit to my city, we got committed in islamic relation called Nikah, let me make it clear that for us, its just a religious contract that we will marry each other. Their attorney in US suggested k1 visa(as we didnt know much about visas so for initial petition we hired the attorney). After k1 was filed, my fiancee along with her family visited pakistan and we got married (it was a sudden plan) and honestly we didnt even know its consequences until i was refused. Like every other couple, we kept waiting for the long procedure which lasted 9 months in total. In my interview everything went well but the pictures part got me in trouble. I added one picture of us on stage, dressed very nicely (not in red though which is considered wedding costume here).

So the CO rightfully denied my visa by saying he is sending my case to nvc and cant give me visa , and i should apply for cr1/ir1 depending on the exact date of my marriage (quoting his words).

 

Now people who would label me for visa fraud, misrepresentation etc. Kindly do understand that a genuine couple not knowing consequence of wedding during this process should do what? Keep in mind that CO's decision was merely on the basis of photos i provided in the interview(i didnt even know if i shouldnt have shown such photos). So it wasnt a deliberate visa fraud etc.. 

And he also has no proofs to prove us married thus far. Because we never referred each other as husband and wife and even the nikah thing wasnt disclosed to him. Please advise the right course of action if experts are available here;

1-Can we file an appeal making a stance that we'd just thrown a big engagement party for my relatives in pakistan as they wont be attending my wedding in usa. 

2-If we apply for CR1, wouldnt they refuse it and charge me for visa fraud because this will provide them documentary evidence that we were married and didnt withdraw our k1 petition?

3- shall we do a court marriage (legal marriage only) in recent dates and then apply for CR1? But we wont be able to proof a big wedding or many people in that (which is culture of my country) and also it would be very hard for my fiancee to come in pakistan as she already took 3 trips this year.

4- any other possible and best course of action? 

Please avoid hurtful remarks and just give me guidance. Already too depressed.

Personally, I think you should just follow the COs recommendation and file for the spousal visa.  In many ways that is a much more superior visa in the long-run and less expensive.  There are so many stories of folks having elaborate engagement ceremonies, or religious ceremonies that end up being denied for a K1 as the CO finds them "too married" for a K1, even if they are not legally married. 

 

As to your second point, were you legally married with a valid marriage certificate?  If not, I don't think it will have any impact on a CR1 application, but it means you will need to legally marry before filing for the CR1.

 

Good Luck!

 

Btw, I wouldn't call what you did fraudulent, it was just a mistake that happens quite often when it comes to immigration.

[debbiedoo 2,339]

of course you were denied.

 

you were married.

 

you can not appeal a K1 denial. even for the rare circumstances when you can... youre MARRIED. k1 isn't the visa you need. you made the process longer by getting married.

 

file for a CR1 and make sure you read and understand all of the requirements

[ahm12 83]

Just apply for spouse visa, you guys are married. 

You cant be married and do fiancé visa. 

[JJ89 13]

Did the officer say why you were denied?

6 minutes ago, K A R said:

2-If we apply for CR1, wouldnt they refuse it and charge me for visa fraud because this will provide them documentary evidence that we were married and didnt withdraw our k1 petition?

1. You need to be married before applying for cr-1.

2. Your marriage date would be after your k1 visa interview date if you are not yet married. I do not see how this would be classified as fraudulent if you applied for cr-1 visa without cancelling k1 visa. Someone correct me if i'm wrong. 

[debbiedoo 2,339]

Just now, JJ89 said:

Did the officer say why you were denied?

1. You need to be married before applying for cr-1.

2. Your marriage date would be after your k1 visa interview date if you are not yet married. I do not see how this would be classified as fraudulent if you applied for cr-1 visa without cancelling k1 visa. Someone correct me if i'm wrong. 

theyre already married

[AKR 6]

1 minute ago, Bill & Katya said:

Personally, I think you should just follow the COs recommendation and file for the spousal visa.  In many ways that is a much more superior visa in the long-run and less expensive.  There are so many stories of folks having elaborate engagement ceremonies, or religious ceremonies that end up being denied for a K1 as the CO finds them "too married" for a K1, even if they are not legally married. 

 

As to your second point, were you legally married with a valid marriage certificate?  If not, I don't think it will have any impact on a CR1 application, but it means you will need to legally marry before filing for the CR1.

 

Good Luck!

 

Btw, I wouldn't call what you did fraudulent, it was just a mistake that happens quite often when it comes to immigration.

Some folks are accusing me of misrepresentation by saying that i did nikah(which is religious form of wedding but if the women is not sent to live with husband, we dont call it wedding unless the couple start living together)

 

CO suggested cr1 but also added said that it will affect my future application. He meant that i made a deliberate choice of k1 while i was already married. But our actual marriage took place in march and we were unaware of the fact must to stop k1 if u marry during the process.

So the date on nikah(religious marriage only) paper is january while the k1 was filed in february. Wouldnt it be providing them proof to charge me with visa fraud?

[debbiedoo 2,339]

1 minute ago, K A R said:

Some folks are accusing me of misrepresentation by saying that i did nikah(which is religious form of wedding but if the women is not sent to live with husband, we dont call it wedding unless the couple start living together)

 

CO suggested cr1 but also added said that it will affect my future application. He meant that i made a deliberate choice of k1 while i was already married. But our actual marriage took place in march and we were unaware of the fact must to stop k1 if u marry during the process.

So the date on nikah(religious marriage only) paper is january while the k1 was filed in february. Wouldnt it be providing them proof to charge me with visa fraud?

fraud isnt your concern. get your marriage certificate and file the CR1

 

this really isnt difficult.

[JJ89 13]

2 minutes ago, JJ89 said:

Did the officer say why you were denied?

1. You need to be married before applying for cr-1.

2. Your marriage date would be after your k1 visa interview date if you are not yet married. I do not see how this would be classified as fraudulent if you applied for cr-1 visa without cancelling k1 visa. Someone correct me if i'm wrong. 

I did not read your post correctly. Sorry everyone. You should not have gotten married.

[NYCruiser 423]

What did you put on the Application for a K1 with the State Department (DS-160)? Did your fiance say she was married or single? Basically if you said you were single, but if there are records you are married, is that not lying?

[Dashinka 24,494]

1 minute ago, K A R said:

Some folks are accusing me of misrepresentation by saying that i did nikah(which is religious form of wedding but if the women is not sent to live with husband, we dont call it wedding unless the couple start living together)

 

CO suggested cr1 but also added said that it will affect my future application. He meant that i made a deliberate choice of k1 while i was already married. But our actual marriage took place in march and we were unaware of the fact must to stop k1 if u marry during the process.

So the date on nikah(religious marriage only) paper is january while the k1 was filed in february. Wouldnt it be providing them proof to charge me with visa fraud?

Please excuse my ignorance, but is the nikah document a legal marriage certificate in Pakistan?  If not, then you will need to do a legal wedding then file the CR1, and it should be easy to explain when the CR1 interview comes around.

[AKR 6]

2 minutes ago, JJ89 said:

Did the officer say why you were denied?

1. You need to be married before applying for cr-1.

2. Your marriage date would be after your k1 visa interview date if you are not yet married. I do not see how this would be classified as fraudulent if you applied for cr-1 visa without cancelling k1 visa. Someone correct me if i'm wrong. 

Yes he said "you are married and apply for cr1 , it will affect ur future application" i dont know what he meant by that. Probably he felt i applied k1 on purpose and hide my marriage which actually took place in march, k1 was applied in february, and interview was in november. And the date on religious marriage paper( nikah) is january

[jakejon 1,197]

2 minutes ago, NYCruiser said:

What did you put on the Application for a K1 with the State Department (DS-160)? Did your fiance say she was married or single? Basically if you said you were single, but if there are records you are married, is that not lying?

There’s a good point here! What exactly did you write as your status on your DS-160? Did you say you were single? 

Edited November 15, 2018 by jakejon

[AKR 6]

17 minutes ago, JJ89 said:

Did the officer say why you were denied?

1. You need to be married before applying for cr-1.

2. Your marriage date would be after your k1 visa interview date if you are not yet married. I do not see how this would be classified as fraudulent if you applied for cr-1 visa without cancelling k1 visa. Someone correct me if i'm wrong. 

The nikah document has date of january and my i129f was filed in february. Legal marriage in pakistan is also based on nikah papers which needs to be registered. N that was done in january

[AKR 6]

16 minutes ago, NYCruiser said:

What did you put on the Application for a K1 with the State Department (DS-160)? Did your fiance say she was married or single? Basically if you said you were single, but if there are records you are married, is that not lying?

On ds160 we wrote single. In all documents we wrote single. 

But we were in a religious marriage in january and actual marriage in march. 

No, US embassy doesnt have any record to prove us married