Is it hopeless to retry for another K1 visa after denial?

[Reconnecting Reco 24]

3 minutes ago, Orangesapples said:

K1 is for people who are ready to get married. You are not. 

I disagree. The k1 wouldn't exist if that was the purpose then it would just be the CR1 visa. If I feel more comfortable getting married in my country after she sees her home for the first time, meet my son and family, and more face to face time that's not honeymoon time then that's my business. Please don't comment anymore on my post if you have no advice to my question. If we get denied again then yes marriage is the only option and I'll have to suck it up but don't say I'm not ready when id rather do it this way.

[Boiler 45,519]

You are missing the point, a K1 requires you to be ready to marry, it is not a try out and see situation, you submit a document saying your are ready to go.

[Reconnecting Reco 24]

15 hours ago, JFH said:

Now why did the embassy officer not think

your relationship was genuine? You need to fix those things before you do anything else. Repeating the same action with the same circumstances will have the same result. 
 

I’m surprised you want to have your family’s approval before you marry her. How old are you? You are both adults. If you believe marriage is right for you, just get married. 

Sorry for the confusion but I don't need my families approval it's just if I had the option of my family first meeting her I would rather it be as my fiancee and not my wife. If this isn't possible then so be it. 

 

Although our relationship is genuine she lives in a high fraud country. So they rejected it without much thought because there you are basically guilty until proven innocent. So I don't think there was much wrong with the application it's just that maybe it failed to impress them enough. Hopefully my lawyer doing it and proof of more trips will change the perspective.

[Reconnecting Reco 24]

Just now, Boiler said:

You are missing the point, a K1 requires you to be ready to marry, it is not a try out and see situation, you submit a document saying your are ready to go.

I never said I wanted to try out and see if the relationship would work but if I had to choose I'd much rather do a K1 visa then get married and wait over a year to be with my wife. Look if you're not going to answer my question or give advice why comment at all?

[Boiler 45,519]

Please re read what you have posted on this thread, that is all we have to go on.

[Unlockable 7,314]

15 minutes ago, Reconnecting Reco said:

I never said I wanted to try out and see if the relationship would work but if I had to choose I'd much rather do a K1 visa then get married and wait over a year to be with my wife. Look if you're not going to answer my question or give advice why comment at all?

People are trying give you the big picture. Also, just so you know, it is against the site's TOS to tell, instruct, or insinuate another person not to comment on this forum.

 

But to the point everyone is making is that the K1 is, indeed, for those who are ready to be married. It is not a "let's try things out and see" visa. But you stated that you wanted to be with your fiance (be careful using the word wife if you are not married yet. we have seen people get denied K1's because of that slip up also) sonner rather than later. If you look at the events, you are no closer to having her here than if you would have went the spousal visa route. It is now going to be way more than a year before your fiance is here. And to be honest, the K1 visa is far inferior visa to the spousal visa. The K1 sucks in many ways. At least if you were denied a spousal visa, you would be able to file for an appeal, you can't do that with a K1.

 

If having your family meet her is a high priority, then maybe they can travel with you to her country. Otherwise, like others have already mentioned, it would be a big risk filing another K1.

Edited January 17, 2020 by Unlockable

[Reconnecting Reco 24]

13 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Please re read what you have posted on this thread, that is all we have to go on.

You are right I apologize and you  should ha e worded it better. I am ready to get married but would rather do a K1 for reason that have nothing to do with if I'm ready or not. Just wanted to know if refiling after denial has ever been approved or even if it's possible. Regardless I'm getting married this year whether it's in America or her country. Just wanted to know if I wasted another 9 months.

[Boiler 45,519]

Is it possible, yes, has it happened yes, will it happen in your case do not know.

 

Also I do not know how long another K1 will take, presumably the first one was less than 11 months, second one could be slower which could complicate by the end of the year - without any other issues.

[Marieke H 2,509]

1 hour ago, Reconnecting Reco said:

Lawyer says it worth another shot to try again instead of marry but I'll get ready with the paperwork if she does get denied again.

It's worth it for the lawyer. They get paid for this application, and if/when it gets denied again they will offer to help you with the CR-1 and get more business from you. I would not rely on the lawyer's advice too much here.

 

The CO did not see enough evidence of a real relationship. A good way to prove a real relationship is to get married, and to spend more time together. I would do both, and not risk another K-1 denial. No one can predict if it would get denied or not, but at least you would have options after a CR-1 denial (besides all the other advantages of the CR-1).

 

I get that you want your family to get to know her first, especially your son. However, part of a long distance relationship is that that is not always possible and you have to compromise. Can you take your son with you on one of your trips? Can she Skype with your family? I would have loved for my parents to get to know my husband before we got married, but that just wasn't possible due to financial and health reasons. They ended up coming over for our wedding and met their son in law for the first time 2 days before the wedding. It was strange and awkward, but it was the best we could do. It's about the two of you building a life, with your son, and the rest of your family just may have to wait to get to know her. 

[JeanneAdil 6,509]

1 hour ago, Reconnecting Reco said:

Sorry for the confusion but I don't need my families approval it's just if I had the option of my family first meeting her I would rather it be as my fiancee and not my wife. If this isn't possible then so be it. 

 

Although our relationship is genuine she lives in a high fraud country. So they rejected it without much thought because there you are basically guilty until proven innocent. So I don't think there was much wrong with the application it's just that maybe it failed to impress them enough. Hopefully my lawyer doing it and proof of more trips will change the perspective.

you may want your family to meet and attend the wedding but you are taking that part away from  her 

and we also dealt with a high fraud country ,  the embassy reviews your packet before the interview and it makes a real impact on the interview process at the embassy.  they don't take it lightly /time spent to get to know each other and the culture of the each country are a big factor.  In Kenya the dowry would be a big question in the interview.   This is what is expected In Kenya, the dowry is often the equivalent of five years of the groom's expectable income, usually payable in postmarital installments of livestock, bicycles and money.  so,  if this question was not addressed (or you do not address it in a new application) it may have hurt this K1 and may hurt another.   Just thinking here what may have happened and what may happen again.   an agreement with her father about the dowry would go very much in your favor.

Also wonder why everyone thinks the K1 is faster/  the actual application and interview are taking almost as long now as the CR1

and the wait after marriage (in the US) for the AOS for her to be able to do anything (like study or work) is expensive (now $1225 and going up by the time you get approved to over $2000 if the new fees go into effect) It drives a lot of foreigners crazy to set around for a year waiting for the green card approval when they have no friends and family here.

 

BTW the lawyer can't do much to help you get approved / all the documents and proofs will come from you / he just fills in the application and copies your proofs and mails them in / big price to pay for someone to mail a package

we all wish you the best

but please think seriously about the spouse visa (especially since the embassy said that is what you need to do)

Edited January 17, 2020 by JeanneAdil

[Valmabe 254]

1 hour ago, Boiler said:

You are missing the point, a K1 requires you to be ready to marry, it is not a try out and see situation, you submit a document saying your are ready to go.

Add to that the letter of Intent, again, it's not a try and see situation.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

26 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

you may want your family to meet and attend the wedding but you are taking that part away from  her 

 

Very true. 

 

Also, based on what OP wrote, I assume he will wait to marry her for a few months after she arrives and submit AOS at the end of her 90 days. Then she will have to wait for many months (I hear 7-8 now) for an EAD and AP and that means that she won't be able to work or go visit home or even drive for basically a year which will definitely put a big strain on their marriage. Home sickness, combined with a culture shock and adjusting to married life is no joking matter. Take it from someone who came here on a K1 visa and married within a week and EAD took only 4 months. It was rough and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, a year would have been unbearable. Your desire to introduce a fiance and not a wife to your parents will have really negative consequences for your SO. 

Edited January 17, 2020 by Orangesapples

[Dataunavailable 82]

I am going through the same process as you OP. We are currently in the process of a second K1. It's at USCIS now, awaiting NOA2, hoping in the next month or two. 

 

I want to sympathize with what you are dealing with, it's tough. And even though there are many members here who are extremely knowledgeable and helpful, they have no idea what you are going through on a personal level, all they can go off of is what you say. The immigration process is stressful for both parties. And a denial can be a huge blow, we picked ourselves up from ours, we never fought or argued about it. We went through our paperwork, went through everything really to try and discern what the issue was. I feel it was a culmination of a few things, but keep in mind, nothing to prevent us from refiling. We got a 221G, basically the same like you, it took me going to the embassy in person on another trip to Cambodia to get some sort of answer after a lot of back and forth emails and talks with embassy employees that boiled down to the consular not believing my fiance displayed adequate intent to marry. How that is achieved is beyond me, but, it's the past, we built off of the denial and it strengthened our relationship even more, as we both knew we wanted to be together no matter what happens. 

 

CR1 is the route some people go, it can be refuted unlike a K1 if a denial is received,  but that doesn't necessarily mean that once the CR1 is back to it's specific embassy that an approval is guaranteed. I've spoke with a few lawyers on consultations, never hired one on, as people here are helpful and knowledgeable enough to point you in the right direction,  even with me as I've sometimes not agreed with answers here or felt like there was some disrespect,  I do respect their time spent answering. 

 

But the lawyer I've spoke with explained about a couple who did a spousal Visa, denied and sent back from USCIS to the embassy, denied still, they tried one more time and it was denied again. So just because someone gets married, it doesn't automatically make a Visa 100% guaranteed. It takes away an argument that a couple won't marry within 90 days of arrival, but it's not a golden ticket. 

 

People have different reasons for preferring a K1, I've talked to my fiance and she knows what to expect when she gets here and how it can take time to get things done. A K1 works better for us because to marry in Cambodia, a Male needs to make at least $2500 per month, it also almost seems required to hire what is called a fixer, to speed the process up, which can take anywhere from 20 to 60 days. We also both want my mom and family to be a part of our wedding, my father passed away and my step father is suffering with Lewy body dementia,  he is pretty much house bound with my mother looking after him. My mother has also sent me a letter of her certificate of ministry that she offered to marry us that I sent in with this petition. And my fiance wants that too, she wants my mom to be a part of our wedding, her and my mother have a really great relationship, even though they've never met in person yet. 

 

That is why we choose a K1, now if this is denied, I will do what I can to find a way to marry her in Cambodia, or most likely, some other country that isn't as difficult for a foreigner to marry a citizen. I'm not rich and I'm not poor, I'm just a 37 year old guy with a FT job, I don't have the luxury of being retired and able to travel anytime I want or the luxury of being able to just pick up from work and stay there for months, it just isn't realistic, but that doesn't mean our love for each other is less than a retired man going to the Philippines to see his fiance, or that I don't try as hard. And that's the frustration with this site at times, where it feels that you aren't trying hard enough, or someone else had an easier situation,  so why is yours so difficult. It can be heart breaking and stress inducing, but your love for each other has overcome borders, and it will overcome a denial. 

 

We also made sure this time,  since Cambodia is considered high fraud, to front load a lot more. I included multiple letters of co workers who have known me for a long time, some of them have spoken with my fiance through messages. Letters from my parents, my father before he passed away, correspondence with my congressman etc. Photos, letters of intent and how we met, Facebook posts, skype logs. 

 

We didn't just refile the same thing as last year, I also had another visit before refiling. I will hope everything works our for you, in the end, only you know how important your relationship is to both of you, 

[Besamiot 35]

3 hours ago, Reconnecting Reco said:

I appreciate your opinion and if she gets denied again I will marry while I'm there. Lawyer says it worth another shot to try again instead of marry but I'll get ready with the paperwork if she does get denied again. Plus the wait for marriage visa is twice as long so it was a gamble that I hope pays off. I just couldn't find any stories of people refiling the k1 visa after denial.

I wish you all the best. I hope it works for you guys the 2nd time.  

[Boiler 45,519]

22 minutes ago, Dataunavailable said:

I am going through the same process as you OP. We are currently in the process of a second K1. It's at USCIS now, awaiting NOA2, hoping in the next month or two. 

 

I want to sympathize with what you are dealing with, it's tough. And even though there are many members here who are extremely knowledgeable and helpful, they have no idea what you are going through on a personal level, all they can go off of is what you say. The immigration process is stressful for both parties. And a denial can be a huge blow, we picked ourselves up from ours, we never fought or argued about it. We went through our paperwork, went through everything really to try and discern what the issue was. I feel it was a culmination of a few things, but keep in mind, nothing to prevent us from refiling. We got a 221G, basically the same like you, it took me going to the embassy in person on another trip to Cambodia to get some sort of answer after a lot of back and forth emails and talks with embassy employees that boiled down to the consular not believing my fiance displayed adequate intent to marry. How that is achieved is beyond me, but, it's the past, we built off of the denial and it strengthened our relationship even more, as we both knew we wanted to be together no matter what happens. 

 

CR1 is the route some people go, it can be refuted unlike a K1 if a denial is received,  but that doesn't necessarily mean that once the CR1 is back to it's specific embassy that an approval is guaranteed. I've spoke with a few lawyers on consultations, never hired one on, as people here are helpful and knowledgeable enough to point you in the right direction,  even with me as I've sometimes not agreed with answers here or felt like there was some disrespect,  I do respect their time spent answering. 

 

But the lawyer I've spoke with explained about a couple who did a spousal Visa, denied and sent back from USCIS to the embassy, denied still, they tried one more time and it was denied again. So just because someone gets married, it doesn't automatically make a Visa 100% guaranteed. It takes away an argument that a couple won't marry within 90 days of arrival, but it's not a golden ticket. 

 

People have different reasons for preferring a K1, I've talked to my fiance and she knows what to expect when she gets here and how it can take time to get things done. A K1 works better for us because to marry in Cambodia, a Male needs to make at least $2500 per month, it also almost seems required to hire what is called a fixer, to speed the process up, which can take anywhere from 20 to 60 days. We also both want my mom and family to be a part of our wedding, my father passed away and my step father is suffering with Lewy body dementia,  he is pretty much house bound with my mother looking after him. My mother has also sent me a letter of her certificate of ministry that she offered to marry us that I sent in with this petition. And my fiance wants that too, she wants my mom to be a part of our wedding, her and my mother have a really great relationship, even though they've never met in person yet. 

 

That is why we choose a K1, now if this is denied, I will do what I can to find a way to marry her in Cambodia, or most likely, some other country that isn't as difficult for a foreigner to marry a citizen. I'm not rich and I'm not poor, I'm just a 37 year old guy with a FT job, I don't have the luxury of being retired and able to travel anytime I want or the luxury of being able to just pick up from work and stay there for months, it just isn't realistic, but that doesn't mean our love for each other is less than a retired man going to the Philippines to see his fiance, or that I don't try as hard. And that's the frustration with this site at times, where it feels that you aren't trying hard enough, or someone else had an easier situation,  so why is yours so difficult. It can be heart breaking and stress inducing, but your love for each other has overcome borders, and it will overcome a denial. 

 

We also made sure this time,  since Cambodia is considered high fraud, to front load a lot more. I included multiple letters of co workers who have known me for a long time, some of them have spoken with my fiance through messages. Letters from my parents, my father before he passed away, correspondence with my congressman etc. Photos, letters of intent and how we met, Facebook posts, skype logs. 

 

We didn't just refile the same thing as last year, I also had another visit before refiling. I will hope everything works our for you, in the end, only you know how important your relationship is to both of you, 

I seem to recollect her recently immigrated family was the main issue, the complications with her mother?