Pre-interview stress

[mogiftney 144]

Hey guys. So, my fiancée is going to have her interview in London soon for the K1 visa. I’m super stressed, as I’d imagine just about everyone here is.

 

I guess I am mostly just worried about her previous visa denials. She was denied a tourist visa and a student visa within very close proximity to one another, but also we applied for the K1 about a month after the student visa denial and we weren’t engaged at the time of the student visa interview. They denied the tourist visa because she didn’t have a lot of money or a job and she had a US partner (me), understandable in hindsight. The student visa was denied because I was going to help cover the costs with my savings money so she could study and we could get to spend more time together in person. They didn’t like that, they figured since she has a US partner it gives her other incentives to stay in the US or something like that. They specifically said that they couldn’t approve it because she has a partner in the US. Both denials were because she “failed to demonstrate ties to her home country”. She was also denied an ESTA in between the two. I didn’t know it was an issue at the time for me to sponsor her studies, but I guess it was, and that’s fine. Now I’m just worried that all of these denials are going to hurt our chances of getting the K1 approved. Neither her or I are employed or have employment history yet but she has completed her compulsory education (we are both 19 and I have a family joint sponsor in place) but she fully intends to come here and work as soon as she has a work permit and I’m currently looking into work that accommodates my personal needs. Someone brought up the fact that the CO may think that she’s using the K1 as a way to study in the US with her student visa denial being so close to the K1 application and say she’s at risk of becoming a public charge because of it, which is far from the truth as she has changed her plans since then and now just wants to jump head first into the field she wanted to study (culinary) and work up the career ladder instead. I don’t want them to think we are trying to sneak around or do something wrong because we aren’t, we’ve been completely honest thus far and haven’t knowingly done anything wrong to them, with the exception of being misinformed about how certain visas worked before we started the K1 process because we didn’t do enough research. We’ve done everything we can to make sure we are informed about the K1 process going forward and I am just really afraid that our previous ignorance will come back to bite us here.

 

I’m asking for advice, anything that may come in handy that will help us communicate and prove to the CO that we have honest intentions and give us the best probability of receiving an approval. Any stories or experience is welcome, just want to hear others’ experiences and input here. 

 

Our joint sponsor is willing to let us stay with them as long as we want/need and back us up financially if need be until we can get up and going. They have two reliable cars my fiancée can use to get to work when she gets a job. I have enough savings to cover her travel costs and the marriage and anything else she needs while she’s here. But not enough to qualify on my own.

 

So... do we have a chance? This stress is just too much.

Edited November 8, 2019 by mogiftney

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

1 hour ago, mogiftney said:

Hey guys. So, my fiancée is going to have her interview in London soon for the K1 visa. I’m super stressed, as I’d imagine just about everyone here is.

 

I guess I am mostly just worried about her previous visa denials. She was denied a tourist visa and a student visa within very close proximity to one another, but also we applied for the K1 about a month after the student visa denial and we weren’t engaged at the time of the student visa interview. They denied the tourist visa because she didn’t have a lot of money or a job and she had a US partner (me), understandable in hindsight. The student visa was denied because I was going to help cover the costs with my savings money so she could study and we could get to spend more time together in person. They didn’t like that, they figured since she has a US partner it gives her other incentives to stay in the US or something like that. They specifically said that they couldn’t approve it because she has a partner in the US. Both denials were because she “failed to demonstrate ties to her home country”. She was also denied an ESTA in between the two. I didn’t know it was an issue at the time for me to sponsor her studies, but I guess it was, and that’s fine. Now I’m just worried that all of these denials are going to hurt our chances of getting the K1 approved. Neither her or I are employed or have employment history yet but she has completed her compulsory education (we are both 19 and I have a family joint sponsor in place) but she fully intends to come here and work as soon as she has a work permit and I’m currently looking into work that accommodates my personal needs. Someone brought up the fact that the CO may think that she’s using the K1 as a way to study in the US with her student visa denial being so close to the K1 application and say she’s at risk of becoming a public charge because of it, which is far from the truth as she has changed her plans since then and now just wants to jump head first into the field she wanted to study (culinary) and work up the career ladder instead. I don’t want them to think we are trying to sneak around or do something wrong because we aren’t, we’ve been completely honest thus far and haven’t knowingly done anything wrong to them, with the exception of being misinformed about how certain visas worked before we started the K1 process because we didn’t do enough research. We’ve done everything we can to make sure we are informed about the K1 process going forward and I am just really afraid that our previous ignorance will come back to bite us here.

 

I’m asking for advice, anything that may come in handy that will help us communicate and prove to the CO that we have honest intentions and give us the best probability of receiving an approval. Any stories or experience is welcome, just want to hear others’ experiences and input here. 

 

Our joint sponsor is willing to let us stay with them as long as we want/need and back us up financially if need be until we can get up and going. They have two reliable cars my fiancée can use to get to work when she gets a job. I have enough savings to cover her travel costs and the marriage and anything else she needs while she’s here. But not enough to qualify on my own.

 

So... do we have a chance? This stress is just too much.

I’d say given you believe they’ve denied her previous visas due to her relationship with you, that there’s a pretty good chance all things will go well now you’re actually bringing her over on a visa specific to your relationship.. 

 

🤞🤞 try not to worry so much, we all get a little panicky as the date for interview draws closer... if anything, if her denials were because of your relationship, it helps support boni fied 🤗🤗

[Kris & Crystal 47]

Yours is a bit unusual compared to the standard, but given that previous denials have been because they thought she didn't have sufficent ties to her home country and that she had a US partner I think things will go fine.

[mogiftney 144]

22 minutes ago, Duke & Marie said:

I’d say given you believe they’ve denied her previous visas due to her relationship with you, that there’s a pretty good chance all things will go well now you’re actually bringing her over on a visa specific to your relationship.. 

 

🤞🤞 try not to worry so much, we all get a little panicky as the date for interview draws closer... if anything, if her denials were because of your relationship, it helps support boni fied 🤗🤗

Thanks for the input! You’re probably right, it’s just soooo hard not to worry! 

[mogiftney 144]

8 minutes ago, Kris & Crystal said:

Yours is a bit unusual compared to the standard, but given that previous denials have been because they thought she didn't have sufficent ties to her home country and that she had a US partner I think things will go fine.

Yeah we have had a pretty rough time with everything so far, thanks for the input, I appreciate it. 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

There are brand new (Oct 15) considerations in place concerning Ineligibility Based on Public Charge Grounds that might interest you. 

 

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/10/11/2019-22399/visas-ineligibility-based-on-public-charge-grounds#h-8

 

Topics

 

A. AGE

B. HEALTH

C. FAMILY STATUS

D. ASSETS, RESOURCES, AND FINANCIAL STATUS

E. EDUCATION AND SKILLS

F. PROSPECTIVE VISA CLASSIFICATION

G. AFFIDAVIT OF SUPPORT

H. HEAVILY WEIGHTED FACTORS

 

HEAVILY WEIGHTED NEGATIVE FACTORS

A. LACK OF RECENT EMPLOYMENT OR PROSPECT OF FUTURE EMPLOYMENT

B. CURRENT OR CERTAIN PAST RECEIPT OF PUBLIC BENEFITS

C. LACK OF FINANCIAL MEANS TO PAY FOR MEDICAL COSTS

D. PRIOR PUBLIC CHARGE INADMISSIBILITY OR DEPORTABILITY FINDING

Edited November 8, 2019 by Wuozopo

[mogiftney 144]

6 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

There are brand new (Oct 15) considerations in place concerning Ineligibility Based on Public Charge Grounds that might interest you. 

 

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/10/11/2019-22399/visas-ineligibility-based-on-public-charge-grounds#h-8

 

Topics

 

A. AGE

B. HEALTH

C. FAMILY STATUS

D. ASSETS, RESOURCES, AND FINANCIAL STATUS

E. EDUCATION AND SKILLS

F. PROSPECTIVE VISA CLASSIFICATION

G. AFFIDAVIT OF SUPPORT

H. HEAVILY WEIGHTED FACTORS

 

HEAVILY WEIGHTED NEGATIVE FACTORS

A. LACK OF RECENT EMPLOYMENT OR PROSPECT OF FUTURE EMPLOYMENT

B. CURRENT OR CERTAIN PAST RECEIPT OF PUBLIC BENEFITS

C. LACK OF FINANCIAL MEANS TO PAY FOR MEDICAL COSTS

D. PRIOR PUBLIC CHARGE INADMISSIBILITY OR DEPORTABILITY FINDING

Interesting read, thanks for sharing. Do you see anything based on our post that stands out to you in relation to these new rules? I read through things and my fiancée has never been on US benefits, though she has also never been employed. The reason she hasn’t been employed was because right after she completed her compulsory education we thought she was going to study in America and focused our energy on that until she was denied the student visa and we were spending time visiting one another in that stage. At the start of our K1 petition everyone told us that her employment had no impact on our K1 case so we figured it didn’t make much sense for her to get a minimum wage job (which isn’t a lot for her as she is 19 and UK minimum wage is apparently lower when you’re younger) when she could be focusing her energy on the visa and moving to a different country as the timeline for the process was lingering around 6 months from start to finish when we started. I can afford her travel fees and other fees alike with my savings money and my family is here to back her up as well, so we didn’t see it necessary for her to work a low pay job just to quit a few months later and move to the US. I guess now that’s a problem? They shouldn’t be able to just change the terms like that and not grandfather people in because if we would’ve thought it would’ve made an impact maybe our circumstances would’ve been different.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

I have only skimmed it. They can change things and they have less than a month ago. The USCIS version is final. This one is the Dept of State getting in alignment with USCIS because there's no point in issuing a K1 visa that wouldn't stand up to the USCIS terms during adjustment of status. (I read that in there).

 

So because it's new, we have no experience with London's implementation of it. Will it be the same as always or will they ask more questions?  Mainly it's a heads up to prepare how you might address lack of any job experience from either of you or your skills, savings, etc. should it be asked. Normally London asks very little about the I-134. Do they believe you and she...each of you... will be able to live, and pay for health insurance when you have not demonstrated skills or work experience or higher education. Prepare some thoughts.

Edited November 9, 2019 by Wuozopo