K1 visa refused (merged)

[Boiler 45,552]

2 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

You also need to note the moroccan is usually the one to make the ID here on VJ 

asking what he and his gf from US do to get K1

americans research it on immigration site 

you actually see only a small fraction of the number of applications for both K1 and Cr1 from Morocco on here

they rely a lot on asking other friends

even when i went to marry and asked what the steps were for us,  my Adil said "i'll call a friend and ask"

we were lucky to have an aunt who found out and we were able to travel to 5 cities to get the paperwork approved and marry within 4 weeks

 

Casa denies (or asks for ds5535 ) from about 10 a day 

I have noticed it varies significantly and yes you are correct now I think of it that often the USC seems to be missing. I know on the UK side I often see cases where the USC does all the running and asking about things very specific to the UK, type of conviction, medical system etc and I wonder why the UKC is not involved.

[geowrian 22,337]

Anything that is not an approval is a refusal.

However, this sounds like a 221(g) soft refusal - once they complete processing (presumably background checks, possibly with a DS-5535 being requested), that refusal can be overcome.

Nobody knows exactly what triggers a DS-5535 being requested.

I have seen cases refused after a DS-5535 was requested - presumably they discovered relevant information while performing the background checks. In one case I can think of they discovered a previous marriage that was not disclosed on any forms. But the purpose of the background checks is not related to the relationship...it's designed for security checks.

Don't worry about anybody's case but your own...you never know somebody else's full set of circumstances, nor does it change you own situation.

Best wishes.

[RJandHamid 1,133]

4 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

it is not the way to go

if you check the stats  0  were approved for a K1 in august

and Morocco is about 4 month from  completion at NVC (CR1 ) to interview as they are so backed up

K1 people wait several months to even schedule theirs

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics.html

 

Yes, it is true that there were 0 K-1 visas approved in August 2018. And we should then also mention that only 10 CR-1 visas were approved that month. Did they just feel like denying everyone that month? Maybe. Or what is more likely the case is that they didn't schedule many K-1 or CR-1 interviews because they were focused on finishing the interviews for the DV lottery since there is the September 30 deadline (there were 214 DV1, DV2, and DV3 visas issued in Casa in August 2018). 

 

But yes, overall I agree that CR-1 is the better route through Casablanca.

[Hobidyali 267]

12 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

it is not the way to go

if you check the stats  0  were approved for a K1 in august

and Morocco is about 4 month from  completion at NVC (CR1 ) to interview as they are so backed up

K1 people wait several months to even schedule theirs

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics.html

 

There are some who get their interviews in three weeks or less and some who wait months, do you think there's a correlation between a shorter wait time meaning that they will approve?

 

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

he said the man would get a form to fill out

that is ds5535  when passport is not kept

there is no other form hat needs to be filled out that embassy asks for

they can ask for additional documents but they didn't

they said a form

we, from Morocco,  who keep track on here and facebook DS5535 and Morocco ID there are watching closely who gets the ds 5535

even the wife of a USC (she from Fes) recd the form to fill out 

I have traveled from Tanager to Sidi Ifni on 6 trips and spent months over there

i hear from a dozen a day on experiences,  the dreaded 5535,  and the casa embassy (actually the anger at the american embassy there is scary)

 

[Hobidyali 267]

12 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Anything that is not an approval is a refusal.

However, this sounds like a 221(g) soft refusal - once they complete processing (presumably background checks, possibly with a DS-5535 being requested), that refusal can be overcome.

Nobody knows exactly what triggers a DS-5535 being requested.

I have seen cases refused after a DS-5535 was requested - presumably they discovered relevant information while performing the background checks. In one case I can think of they discovered a previous marriage that was not disclosed on any forms. But the purpose of the background checks is not related to the relationship...it's designed for security checks.

Don't worry about anybody's case but your own...you never know somebody else's full set of circumstances, nor does it change you own situation.

Best wishes.

"Don't worry about anybody's case but your own...you never know somebody else's full set of circumstances, nor does it change you own situation"

 

This is true but sometime there are doozis that make no sense whatsoever , whether that be an approval which makes no sense, or a denial that doesn't either.

9 minutes ago, RJandHamid said:

Yes, it is true that there were 0 K-1 visas approved in August 2018. And we should then also mention that only 10 CR-1 visas were approved that month. Did they just feel like denying everyone that month? Maybe. Or what is more likely the case is that they didn't schedule many K-1 or CR-1 interviews because they were focused on finishing the interviews for the DV lottery since there is the September 30 deadline (there were 214 DV1, DV2, and DV3 visas issued in Casa in August 2018). 

 

But yes, overall I agree that CR-1 is the better route through Casablanca.

True

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

7 minutes ago, Hobidyali said:

There are some who get their interviews in three weeks or less and some who wait months, do you think there's a correlation between a shorter wait time meaning that they will approve?

 

no,  it is sometimes a matter of someone pulling an application or the moroccan not ready for the interview,  so a spot opens up and a lucky person is 1st to open the site to schedule his/hers / or if CR1 NVC receives notice a spot is open

packets are looked at ahead of interview but not at NVC stage for approval

really does happen at embassy when packets are there

 

Edited March 19, 2019 by adil-rafa

[Hobidyali 267]

1 minute ago, adil-rafa said:

no,  it is sometimes a matter of someone pulling an application or the moroccan not ready for the interview,  so a spot opens up and a lucky person is 1st to open the site to schedule his/hers

packets are looked at ahead of interview but not at NVC stage for approval

really does happen at embassy when packets are there

 

Do you think that they know that a person will be approved before the interview?

 

20 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I have noticed it varies significantly and yes you are correct now I think of it that often the USC seems to be missing.

That being red flag #1

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

1 minute ago, Hobidyali said:

Do you think that they know that a person will be approved before the interview?

 

from one experience i was there for interview

my mother in law and several others (same day as her tourist visa interview)

they received a letter dated day before the interview (Arabic on one side and English on the other)

letter stated they were approved or denied

and seems to be from what we see for fiancee and spouse ,  we see the same CO is sent in for the interview when it is going to be approved

and the other CO's do the denials

right now there seems to be a big turnover of personal at embassy so i am behind in profile of CO's at Casa

 

[Hobidyali 267]

6 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

from one experience i was there for interview

my mother in law and several others (same day as her tourist visa interview)

they received a letter dated day before the interview (Arabic on one side and English on the other)

letter stated they were approved or denied

and seems to be from what we see for fiancee and spouse ,  we see the same CO is sent in for the interview when it is going to be approved

and the other CO's do the denials

right now there seems to be a big turnover of personal at embassy so i am behind in profile of CO's at Casa

 

That's what I think also, it can't be that this CO will determine in 10 minutes or less the fate of the applicant. From what i can tell, the questions seem to be relatively easy when people get an approval and BRUTAL and off the wall when they are getting a denial, I think it's their way of working themselves up and setting people up for failure since they can't say, "hey you are young, he/she's old, I don't believe you", or something of that sort.

Edited March 19, 2019 by Hobidyali

[Mezyan 149]

38 minutes ago, adil-rafa said:

You also need to note the moroccan is usually the one to make the ID here on VJ 

asking what he and his gf from US do to get K1

americans research it on immigration site 

you actually see only a small fraction of the number of applications for both K1 and Cr1 from Morocco on here

they rely a lot on asking other friends

even when i went to marry and asked what the steps were for us,  my Adil said "i'll call a friend and ask"

we were lucky to have an aunt who found out and we were able to travel to 5 cities to get the paperwork approved and marry within 4 weeks

 

Casa denies (or asks for ds5535 ) from about 10 a day 

Do you work at the consulate? Just curious where you are getting your statistics from. 

[Love To Teach 161]

1 hour ago, adil-rafa said:

neither do i 

I guess the good news is that they don't have to deal with the Islamabad Embassy.

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

I saw the schedule for tourist visas when my mother in law applied

i saw the schedule for K1 when we applied 

i see the stats on approval for all embassies on the government site

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics.html

 

NIV will be K1 and those types of visas

IV will show appovals of CR1 and IR1

 

and after watching all these since 2009 it gets easy to see 

1 minute ago, Love To Teach said:

I guess the good news is that they don't have to deal with the Islamabad Embassy.

elhamdo lellah

so   where do you go from here?

new interview?

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

1 hour ago, RJandHamid said:

I still think the DS-5535 is given out randomly. If you are asked to submit it, it's not because there is anything 'wrong' with your case or visa petition. And it also can't be limited to certain locations in Morocco (Fes), as we have seen many people from other cities like Casablanca and Rabat being asked for the form, as well as people from other countries like Pakistan, Egypt and other countries in the MENA region.

 

And this forum does see a good number of K-1 visas going through the Casablanca consulate, but I do think that the number of CR-1 visas is also increasing now due to it having a seemingly higher rate of approval in Casablanca vs. the K-1. And people are also beginning to realize that the CR-1 is generally superior to the K-1, at least for now with K-1 processing times being just slightly shorter than that of CR-1, but with a much higher cost. 

 

About 5-15 K-1 visas are approved on average monthly through Casablanca, vs 45-60 monthly CR-1 approvals. 

Even given out to a Canadian but we still see most are given to Fes and the northern area

no" rhyme or reason"'

 

sorry but i have to leave here and work on my new addition / the new lumber is here

Edited March 19, 2019 by adil-rafa

[Love To Teach 161]

7 minutes ago, Hobidyali said:

That's what I think also, it can't be that this CO will determine in 10 minutes or less the fate of the applicant. From what i can tell, the questions seem to be relatively easy when people get an approval and BRUTAL and off the wall when they are getting a denial, I think it's their way of working themselves up and setting people up for failure since they can't say, "hey you are young, he/she's old, I don't believe you", or something of that sort.

Yes, the decisions are obviously made BEFORE the person shows up. The amazing thing is that the US Embassy allows people to be harassed, demeaned, and basically tortured with verbal assaults and body language during these interviews. It makes me sad that the US encourages this.