K1- visa- No photos with family- is it a dealbreaker?

[sarabou17 36]

Hello everyone!

 

I'm about to start the K1 visa process.  I have made two trips to see my fiancé but do not have pictures of me meeting his family.  I'm wondering if I should try to make a quick trip in order to get pictures with his family before starting the K-1 visa process. With travel being so restricted now due to COVID, does anyone know if they are not as picky about pictures and visits?  These are my questions:

 

1. If my fiancé goes to the interview with no pictures of me with his family is it going to be very bad? 

2, Can I start the K-1 process and then visit his family at a later date or is it important that I have the passport stamp that I visited and met his family before I started the K1 process?

 

Thanks in advance!

[powerpuff 6,708]

Because your profile isn't complete and we have no idea which country your beneficiary is from, its hard to give any advice... some consulates are more strict than others.

 

Just from personal experience, we didn't send any pictures with our families because neither of us could visit due to travel restrictions and it was just impossible to do. 

 

I also want to add that pictures with family aren't required to file the I-129f itself as long as you meet the 2 year meeting requirement. You might need them later at interview stage (again, depending on the consulate).

Edited October 7, 2020 by powerpuff

[Boiler 45,525]

Agree very Consulate dependent and what is the social norm.

[Fe.Ta 874]

13 minutes ago, sarabou17 said:

Hello everyone!

 

I'm about to start the K1 visa process.  I have made two trips to see my fiancé but do not have pictures of me meeting his family.  I'm wondering if I should try to make a quick trip in order to get pictures with his family before starting the K-1 visa process. With travel being so restricted now due to COVID, does anyone know if they are not as picky about pictures and visits?  These are my questions:

 

1. If my fiancé goes to the interview with no pictures of me with his family is it going to be very bad? 

2, Can I start the K-1 process and then visit his family at a later date or is it important that I have the passport stamp that I visited and met his family before I started the K1 process?

 

Thanks in advance!

As the other VJer said, it is hard to say if we don't know the embassy/consulate you are dealing with, so please fill your timeline.  Now, from personal experience, my now husband and I created a letter that both of our parents signed (his mom signed one and my mom another) with their photo IDs.  In my mom's, she explained why she did not meet him (travel restrictions due to health and him not having a tourist visa to come here).  In his mom's, she explained that, even though we had only one picture together, she spent time with me for several weeks while I was in Argentina, etc.  Then, they both made statements that they did know us and had electronic interactions (Whatsapp) with our significant other and that they fully supported the engagement and future marriage.

[Crazy Cat 41,888]

@sarabou17, Have you thought about a spousal visa instead of a K-1?

 

Every couple has their own priorities, and each couple must decide which visa is better for their situation.

K-1
       
    More expensive than CR-1    
    Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)    
    Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 5-8 months)    
    Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 5-6 months)    
    Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period    
    Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.
    A denied K-1 is sent back to USCIS to expire
  

CR-1
    

    Less expensive than K-1    
    No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) required.    
    Spouse can immediately travel outside the US    
    Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival.    
    Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US    
    Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.

    Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.
  �

 

[sarabou17 36]

Sorry!  Fiancé is from Morocco.  I will complete the profile but I'm confused by it.  It asks country where I am immigrating from.  I'm a US citizen.  

Edited October 7, 2020 by sarabou17

[SalishSea 17,836]

11 minutes ago, sarabou17 said:

Sorry!  Fiancé is from Morocco.  I will complete the profile but I'm confused by it.  It asks country where I am immigrating from.  I'm a US citizen.  

So therefore you put the country where your fiance is immigrating from.....

 

@Jeanne Adil can advise specifically about Morocco.  Front-loading petitions for that consulate as well as family approval and involvement seems to be a big thing.

[Greenbaum 12,259]

39 minutes ago, sarabou17 said:

Sorry!  Fiancé is from Morocco.  I will complete the profile but I'm confused by it.  It asks country where I am immigrating from.  I'm a US citizen.  

We need a little housekeeping on your end. Many of our answers are predicated on the information you supply in your profile. When we look at the left column and can't determine your timeline OR your Embassy it's hard for us to give you a factual answer. Our answers will sometimes be tailored to a specific Embassy hence the reason for you to complete your profile. If you look at the profile of others here, they have a flag for their country, so it makes it easy for us to reply as we can quickly determine their Embassy. The country that should be used is the country where the interview will take place.
 
So, if you could help yourself out and complete your profile that sure would help us out when we want to reply to your question with factual information.

 
Timeline: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RTx4pIFfcIXyW15L-nyLuBGzwqYRx5lI/view?usp=sharing

Country and Visa Type: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RyJiLo_7WTmqvkzXXqLuOlVHm9oyhAES/view?usp=sharing

 
Once you finish that then return and you will see a flag in your profile. Select it and see what wonderful information will open up for you.
 
Thanks

[BasmaHicham 34]

I did the same with my husband now, it didn't look good. we ended up getting married because his visa got returned to USCIS to expire. My advice, have lot of pictures with family, and if you have red flags its better to get married in Morocco. 

[jaysaldi 213]

 

2 hours ago, sarabou17 said:

I have made two trips to see my fiancé but do not have pictures of me meeting his family. 

Is the lack of photos because you have never met his family or because you just didn't photograph the occasion?

 

My wife is from Cambodia and I submitted zero photos with her family in the initial application and it never occurred to me to do so. We later had an engagment ceremony with her family and presented those photos at her interview.

 

Morocco may be different.

 

If you have met his family, but didn't photograph it, perhaps you could just mention in your petition/overview of relationship when you met his family and include photos from the trip of you with fiancee in his hometown, though not with his family.

 

 Or he can mention it during the interview if asked that his family has met you, or include statements from them.

 

Again, I don't know the norms in Morocco, but the initial visa application doesn't get approved first in Morocco, it gets approved in the USA and then sent to the embassy and then he interviews and you submit supplemental info at the interview.  So even if people with Morocco experience say it's essential to have photos with family, it would be my strong guess that you visiting him later and him presenting those photos at his interview would be sufficient.

 

I can't imagine you need to submit family photos now with your K1 application.

[Just Paul 4,595]

2 hours ago, sarabou17 said:

I have made two trips to see my fiancé

two is better than one but more time is needed.

 

2 hours ago, sarabou17 said:

do not have pictures of me meeting his family

That's too bad.  You are dealing with a consulate that is notoriously difficult.   You need to front load the petition.

 

2 hours ago, sarabou17 said:

I should try to make a quick trip

You need a long(er) trip.  You need to spend time with the mother.

 

Hopefully you don't have red flags like age and religion.

 

Personally I wouldn't do a fiance visa there.  A refusal of a K1 visa isn't appealable.  A denial of a spousal can be reconsidered.

[RJandHamid 1,133]

Casablanca is tough as others have mentioned. If you are willing and able to make another trip before filing the visa petition, I would definitely encourage you to do so so that you can include those photos. Casablanca generally will not look at evidence brought to the interview, so front loading is especially important. And like others have mentioned, you might want to consider getting married and doing the spousal visa. My husband is from Morocco and we successfully went through the K-1 process a few years ago. You can message me if you have any questions specific to the Casablanca consulate.

[Beth & Achraf 328]

5 hours ago, sarabou17 said:

Hello everyone!

 

I'm about to start the K1 visa process.  I have made two trips to see my fiancé but do not have pictures of me meeting his family.  I'm wondering if I should try to make a quick trip in order to get pictures with his family before starting the K-1 visa process. With travel being so restricted now due to COVID, does anyone know if they are not as picky about pictures and visits?  These are my questions:

 

1. If my fiancé goes to the interview with no pictures of me with his family is it going to be very bad? 

2, Can I start the K-1 process and then visit his family at a later date or is it important that I have the passport stamp that I visited and met his family before I started the K1 process?

 

Thanks in advance!

Front load it much as you can, and if you can afford another trip there, then do it.   Casablanca is a tough embassy.

Best wishes.

 

[JeanneAdil 6,511]

2 hours ago, RJandHamid said:

Casablanca is tough as others have mentioned. If you are willing and able to make another trip before filing the visa petition, I would definitely encourage you to do so so that you can include those photos. Casablanca generally will not look at evidence brought to the interview, so front loading is especially important. And like others have mentioned, you might want to consider getting married and doing the spousal visa. My husband is from Morocco and we successfully went through the K-1 process a few years ago. You can message me if you have any questions specific to the Casablanca consulate.

I agree to make another trip and as said above very important to have approval from Moroccan family especially the mother

think serious about doing the marriage there and a CR1 for all the above as mentioned 

Look at the US embassy site to say what is needed for documents (getting these translated into Arabic is the most expensive part of the process)

there is considerable travel to marry in Morocco

 

1 to US embassy which must be open to all for the eligibility to marry

2 to Rabat to office of foreign minister

3 to home town and police and judge interviews

 

takes time to do all and then wait for the approval

but do go meet and spend the extra time with him

and get a few pics with his family

 

I am all for a spouse visa as we don't know what the administration will do next

[JFH 12,190]

While we are on the subject, do you have any other red flags that should be addressed before you file? As noted by previous respondents, Casablanca is one of the most difficult embassies with a very high denial rate. 
 

Do you have a large age difference?

Are you the same religion?

Do you speak the same language?

Have you been married before? 
Do you have children (either adults who have left home or minor children living with you)?

Has your fiancé previously attempted to come to the USA in any capacity? If so, what was the outcome of that attempt?

How soon after you established contact with one another did you travel to visit him?