K1 to DCF possible?

[millefleur 5,047]

**Moved from DCF Discussion to What Visa Do I Need - Family Based Immigration to be among similar threads**

[Shellimedz 33]

3 hours ago, username_taken said:

I dont want to re-hash things that have already been went over multiple times- so Im only going to say this once in a different way then has already been posted in hope it makes it clearer for the OP.  For the K visa you need to be single (not married). The Embassy can ask you to prove you are 'not married'- esp because they have a copy of a license or certificate you previously presented to them. Now I understand your point that USCIS wanted you to prove the certificate was legit the first time around and you couldnt- BUT and this a big BUT- but that doesnt mean that USCIS determined or made a finding that you werent married the first time. They only determined that you couldnt PROVE you were married. Theres a difference between 1. not being able to prove you are married and 2. being able to prove you are single. I know it sounds like mincing words but USCIS views this as distinct and separate findings. They didnt make a finding that you were single but rather that you couldnt prove you were married. When doing the K you will have to prove you are not married- ie show the certificate they have is invalid (vs the first time where you had to show it was valid). Does this make more sense. People here are not being rude or misunderstanding but rather trying to make sure you understand whats going to happen.... Also after you marry on the K you file AOS which includes the EAD/AP card. It is suppose to take 90 days to get the EAD/AP after filing but currently there is an overflow of petitions and it has been taking 4-6 months to get the card. So realistically when someone comes on a K they can expect 3-6 months of not being able to work or travel and then 1- 1.5yrs to get the actual card. Its not that much time difference from attempting to do DCF in terms of how long before you can work in the US. Maybe its best to encourage your partner to embrace the 3-6 months of time off in the US to get settled and set up your home and get to know the area and neighbors. Some K's volunteer to keep busy. There are also free online classes and hobbies to keep someone busy. Downtime can be good.

Maybe they can submit the k-1 application with a copy of the lawsuit and a letter from an attorney saying that they are legally single because they were scammed by the company in DC. I feel like it's worth a chance. On the other hand the DCF thing I don't see how that could happen. 

[JFH 12,191]

5 hours ago, OliverBa said:

I get what you all are saying, but I don’t trust CBP officers to make that determination at entry. I would lose my mind if he were to get the visa, only to get turned around at customs because of one person deciding he might overstay. I can’t bear it. And again, he won’t get approved anyway is not a viable option, he’s been denied by Australia, NZ, Denmark, England, Germany, Canada, and Spain. All of these countries we have applied to, showed more than 50,000 USD in funds available, a  letter from his employer here in China, property in China and America that we own, pre-purchased return tickets and detailed itineraries, and every time, he gets denied. Denmark was the most honest and told us the truth, they flat out said it’s because of where he’s from and people from his country are known overstayers and not to bother applying again because any subsequent application would result in the same decision. So, again, tourist visa is out, it’s not going to work.

Why on earth did he apply for a visa for the UK? There is no visa for England, by the way...You would both need a marriage visa to marry there as neither of you is an EU citizen. There is a considerable waiting period/residence period there between getting the license and being able to marry. For non-EU people it’s probably the most difficult place to marry. That was definitely a waste of time and money. 

 

Chinese passport-holders have visa-free travel to 74 countries. On a global scale, there are over 120 countries whose passports are less accepted than Chinese passports. Most Caribbean islands do not require visas for Chinese passport-holders. Have you considered a Caribbean wedding? There are people here with passports from even more restricted countries and they make things work. 

[JFH 12,191]

1 hour ago, Shellimedz said:

Maybe they can submit the k-1 application with a copy of the lawsuit and a letter from an attorney saying that they are legally single because they were scammed by the company in DC. I feel like it's worth a chance. On the other hand the DCF thing I don't see how that could happen. 

I don’t think that would work. All the lawsuit proves is that the person was found to have scammed them and taken money for a service they could not provide. It doesn’t prove that the OP is single. Even the previous denial does not prove that they are not married. As previously mentioned, USCIS were not satisfied that the OP was married. They didn’t say “you’re not married” they said “we can’t find sufficient evidence that you are married”. Big difference. 

[SalishSea 18,072]

16 minutes ago, JFH said:

Chinese passport-holders have visa-free travel to 74 countries.

Has he specifically said that his husband holds a Chinese passport?  I know they live there, but I was under the impression it was some other country from the nebulous "third world country" references.

[SalishSea 18,072]

13 minutes ago, JFH said:

I don’t think that would work. All the lawsuit proves is that the person was found to have scammed them and taken money for a service they could not provide. It doesn’t prove that the OP is single. Even the previous denial does not prove that they are not married. As previously mentioned, USCIS were not satisfied that the OP was married. They didn’t say “you’re not married” they said “we can’t find sufficient evidence that you are married”. Big difference. 

And again, getting scammed is sad and and deserving of sympathy, but.....in terms of USCIS and DOS, one is responsible for the documents one provides, as evidenced by your signature on the dotted line.

[Boiler 45,906]

We do not know his nationality by implication not Chinese.

[OliverBa 61]

1 hour ago, JFH said:

Why on earth did he apply for a visa for the UK? There is no visa for England, by the way...You would both need a marriage visa to marry there as neither of you is an EU citizen. There is a considerable waiting period/residence period there between getting the license and being able to marry. For non-EU people it’s probably the most difficult place to marry. That was definitely a waste of time and money. 

 

Chinese passport-holders have visa-free travel to 74 countries. On a global scale, there are over 120 countries whose passports are less accepted than Chinese passports. Most Caribbean islands do not require visas for Chinese passport-holders. Have you considered a Caribbean wedding? There are people here with passports from even more restricted countries and they make things work. 

I am a EU citizen as well, I hold a Spanish passport based on ancestry. My fiancé isn’t Chinese, he’s from Senegal. And again we are gay, most carribean islands do not allow gay marriage, or if the few that do, because of his nationality, he will need a visa. there only two places we could go to get married where he doesn’t need a visa. St Helena and Ascension Island, both of which are difficult to travel to because they are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. And applying to UK for a tourist visa was mainly to get us into the EU,  not to get married in the UK, as I had a plan for us to get married in Denmark and had already made arrangements with the marriage bureau there for us to get married, but we couldn’t get him a Schengen Visa. If anyone could tell me of a country that a Senegalese passport holder can travel to visa free, that also allows gay marriage, id love to hear from you. Because I haven’t found any other options outside of those two islands, one of which had no commercial flights, the other of which requires us to go to South Africa and get a boat. Which would require him to get a South African visa application approved..... ugh

Edited April 17, 2019 by OliverBa

[OliverBa 61]

54 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

And again, getting scammed is sad and and deserving of sympathy, but.....in terms of USCIS and DOS, one is responsible for the documents one provides, as evidenced by your signature on the dotted line.

What if we get an annulment? An annulment would make the marriage null in void. That should work as proof that we are single right?

[VNN 147]

13 minutes ago, OliverBa said:

What if we get an annulment? An annulment would make the marriage null in void. That should work as proof that we are single right?

I believe this option was mentioned from some of the previous posts. However (also from some previous posts), you may want to find a good divorce attorney in order to zero out your 50-50 marriage. 

[Lemonslice 4,947]

2 hours ago, OliverBa said:

I am a EU citizen as well, I hold a Spanish passport based on ancestry. My fiancé isn’t Chinese, he’s from Senegal. And again we are gay, most carribean islands do not allow gay marriage, or if the few that do, because of his nationality, he will need a visa. there only two places we could go to get married where he doesn’t need a visa. St Helena and Ascension Island, both of which are difficult to travel to because they are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. And applying to UK for a tourist visa was mainly to get us into the EU,  not to get married in the UK, as I had a plan for us to get married in Denmark and had already made arrangements with the marriage bureau there for us to get married, but we couldn’t get him a Schengen Visa. If anyone could tell me of a country that a Senegalese passport holder can travel to visa free, that also allows gay marriage, id love to hear from you. Because I haven’t found any other options outside of those two islands, one of which had no commercial flights, the other of which requires us to go to South Africa and get a boat. Which would require him to get a South African visa application approved..... ugh

If he does get a visa to South Africa, you could get married there, no? (and skip the boat ride) 

It is my understanding that it will be legal in Taiwan in a few months also. 

 

Make sure to clarify you really are NOT married though, before doing anything else. 

[OliverBa 61]

8 minutes ago, Lemonslice said:

If he does get a visa to South Africa, you could get married there, no? (and skip the boat ride) 

It is my understanding that it will be legal in Taiwan in a few months also. 

 

Make sure to clarify you really are NOT married though, before doing anything else. 

I looked into South Africa before, even if he could get a tourist visa to South Africa, it would require him to apply twice, because South Africa requires that you register your intended marriage atleast 6 months before the date of your intended marriage, so we would need together him a visa, go there and register the intended marriage, leave, have his visa expire, apply again, hopefully get approved, and then travel there 6 months later for our wedding. 

 

Im going to get to first marriage annulled on paper next week and get that copy so we have all our ducks lined up. It’s just crazy to me how frustratingly difficult this all is. But we’ll find a way, we’re going to try to apply to France next.