Easy Countries For Fiance & Spouse Visas

[desert_fox 32]

I can generalize an answer also. Any country under the VWP would be the easiest, more difficult for the former eastern block countries, high fraud from countries like Russia and former satelites, P.I's Africa sub-sahara (nigeria), many counties of latin America and the Caribbean, and most difficult from Middle East and Arab countries where all kinds of background checks are required.

Remember, these are general statements and based upon my opinion, just like all of my answers.

[TimsDaisy 0]

It's important not to confuse *ease* and *speed*.

Some countries benefit from not being "high-fraud" areas or areas in which the US has particular security concerns (ie: not a great time to be a would-be immigrant from the Middle East. Rightly or wrongly, those cases have higher security checks and slower processing times).

Those countries where applicants don't face high scrutiny, however, don't necessarily enjoy speedy processing times. Look at Montreal. Not high-fraud, but the wait for an interview is a whopping 6 months! The UK does enjoy a non-high-fraud, faster-in-comparison processing time, but it's the exception, not the rule.

So, is the OP looking for "easy" - as in, not so many question or presumptions? Or "easy" as in "fast?" Just not the same thing here.

[Minya's wife 25]

Small question here....since we're generalizing. If countries such as those of the FSU and the Phillipines were "hard" w/ respect to getting Fiance & Spouse visas (the original question posed by the OP), why are they among the top in the world with the most of these visas being issued? Or is that corrolation not important to the generalization of which country is easiest?

ETA: Not sure about the countries of the FSU, but according to the list posted here about a week ago, the most # of K1's issued came from Phillipines, no?

Edited July 5, 2007 by Paula&Minya

[1HappyGuy 45]

I don't think you can state any opinion on which country is easier than others, or more likely to have fraud. The fraud that would exist is between a man and a woman. If the parties involved haven't gotten to know each other well enough to discover if it is indeed a true relationship, then it is the fault of the individuals.

That being said, there are some countries in which the process tends to run slower. Some of that has to do with the laws of the country and some have to do with the U.S. embassy in that country. Any other slow down is usually due to poorly submitted applications, insufficient documentation or no direct relations with the country in question.

The fact of the matter is that fraud exists everywhere, even in America. We have seen it here on VJ where someone arrives to discover the situation isn't what they thought it would be. This is why we have IMBRA now.

[pushbrk 13,096]

No, and experiencing the process personally is not a reliable way to know if a country is high fraud. I don't understand why you are offended. A high fraud post is a high fraud post. That says nothing about any specific relationship. It's just statistics. If you think some country I mentioned isn't high fraud, you may be correct. If so, say so. Nothing about my post is personal to any person or relationship.

If you have a different answer. Say so and why.

I am not offended in any way. I am questioning why you are stating items as fact when you cannot support them other than your opinion.

I'm not stating items as fact. What part of "in general" and "tends to be" did you not understand?

[payxibka 10,047]

I'm not stating items as fact. What part of "in general" and "tends to be" did you not understand?

There typically needs to be some level of substantive fact in order for you to opine or classify items, generally speaking, in one category or another... I simply would like to know the basis of this.... We toss terms around like "High Fraud Posts' but I have yet to see a listing of these or what even defines a post as a high fraud post....

Edited July 5, 2007 by fwaguy

[pushbrk 13,096]

I don't think you can state any opinion on which country is easier than others, or more likely to have fraud. The fraud that would exist is between a man and a woman. If the parties involved haven't gotten to know each other well enough to discover if it is indeed a true relationship, then it is the fault of the individuals.

That being said, there are some countries in which the process tends to run slower. Some of that has to do with the laws of the country and some have to do with the U.S. embassy in that country. Any other slow down is usually due to poorly submitted applications, insufficient documentation or no direct relations with the country in question.

The fact of the matter is that fraud exists everywhere, even in America. We have seen it here on VJ where someone arrives to discover the situation isn't what they thought it would be. This is why we have IMBRA now.

Primarily, we're talking about visa fraud. This as a perpetration of a crime and it can happen in multiple ways. Sometimes both parties are engaged in a fraudulent scheme. Sometimes it is only one of the parties while the other is duped. I wouldn't address "easy" countries at all. I was addressing which countries tend to have more visa fraud associated with coming to the US. We can know which countries have more fraud by knowing which countries have a higher percentage of visa denials for fraud.

"Difficult" countries, in my view, are those where applicants are subjected to more stringent security checks based on our current security concerns. Those "difficult" contries may actually have less incidence of fraud than some of the high fraud countries on anybody's list.

Security concerns tend to impact the immigration process somewhat differently than fraud concerns do.

Edited July 5, 2007 by pushbrk

[pushbrk 13,096]

Small question here....since we're generalizing. If countries such as those of the FSU and the Phillipines were "hard" w/ respect to getting Fiance & Spouse visas (the original question posed by the OP), why are they among the top in the world with the most of these visas being issued? Or is that corrolation not important to the generalization of which country is easiest?

ETA: Not sure about the countries of the FSU, but according to the list posted here about a week ago, the most # of K1's issued came from Phillipines, no?

I don't think so. Don't confuse raw numbers with the percentage of fraudulent cases. High fraud relates to a percentage and/or a high raw number of fraudulent cases.

The big raw numbers of cases is an entirely different matter.

[pushbrk 13,096]

I'm not stating items as fact. What part of "in general" and "tends to be" did you not understand?

There typically needs to be some level of substantive fact in order for you to opine or classify items, generally speaking, in one category or another... I simply would like to know the basis of this.... We toss terms around like "High Fraud Posts' but I have yet to see a listing of these or what even defines a post as a high fraud post....

The data is anecdotal. You're not going to see the US DOS publish a list of high fraud posts for public view.

[TimsDaisy 0]

Come on, are we really having this fight? Why do people take it personally? If YOUR relationship is legit (and I certainly have never seen a reason to question most VJ members), then don't take it personally when it is pointed out that OTHERS may not have such pure and noble intentions.

And OF COURSE there are higher-fraud posts. Do a google search of visa fraud or just apply common sense and you'll find the motivations for citizens of economically depressed, unrestful, etc, countries to get away and into another more stable country are plentiful.

The UK faces the same sorts of struggles. In fact, many EU countries do.

So, yes, certainly, some citizens of some countries face harder realities that will create stronger motivation to get to the US or UK, etc, by whatever means necessary.

And OF COURSE, that doesn't mean that ALL citizens of those countries are so motivated. It's a damn shame that the ones with legit relationships suffer higher obstacles because of fraudulent jerks.

But let's not be so sensitive that we try to paint the world with the happy-brush.

[Minya's wife 25]

Small question here....since we're generalizing. If countries such as those of the FSU and the Phillipines were "hard" w/ respect to getting Fiance & Spouse visas (the original question posed by the OP), why are they among the top in the world with the most of these visas being issued? Or is that corrolation not important to the generalization of which country is easiest?

ETA: Not sure about the countries of the FSU, but according to the list posted here about a week ago, the most # of K1's issued came from Phillipines, no?

I don't think so. Don't confuse raw numbers with the percentage of fraudulent cases. High fraud relates to a percentage and/or a high raw number of fraudulent cases.

The big raw numbers of cases is an entirely different matter.

The OP only asked which countries are "easy"? Wouldn't the big raw number of cases, as you put it, add to the "difficulty" level of the country, if for no other reason that the process in those countries is slower due to the high volume of applications processed?

I'm not confusing anything....visa fraud occurs in all countries. The higher volume of visa applications, would lead one to think that the %-age of fraud also increases...or at least the %-age of the possibility for fraud.

-P

[Yodrak 7]

-P,

A higher volume of applications might lead to a higher volume of fraudulent applications, but not to a higher percentage of fraudulent applications.

Yodrak

..... The higher volume of visa applications, would lead one to think that the %-age of fraud also increases...or at least the %-age of the possibility for fraud.

-P

[Minya's wife 25]

-P,

A higher volume of applications might lead to a higher volume of fraudulent applications, but not to a higher percentage of fraudulent applications.

Yodrak

..... The higher volume of visa applications, would lead one to think that the %-age of fraud also increases...or at least the %-age of the possibility for fraud.

-P

Thanks Yodrak. Math was never my forte, sorry! But I do want to follow your statement up w/ a question. If higher volume of applications = higher volume of fraudulent applications, does that indicate anything, or can one deduce anything from that....w/ regards to the OP's question, and the subsequent discussion?

[pushbrk 13,096]

-P,

A higher volume of applications might lead to a higher volume of fraudulent applications, but not to a higher percentage of fraudulent applications.

Yodrak

..... The higher volume of visa applications, would lead one to think that the %-age of fraud also increases...or at least the %-age of the possibility for fraud.

-P

Thanks Yodrak. Math was never my forte, sorry! But I do want to follow your statement up w/ a question. If higher volume of applications = higher volume of fraudulent applications, does that indicate anything, or can one deduce anything from that....w/ regards to the OP's question, and the subsequent discussion?

A higher volume of applications means they need more staff and/or may get behind. I'm not equating time with difficulty in obtaining a visa. Waiting is diffucult but the OP had a context to their question and the context was scrutiny due to fraud and/or security risk.

Let's say a Consulate gets 10,000 K1 applications in a year and ends up sending back 1,000 because the relationship was entered into only (in their opinion) to derive an immigration benefit for the applicant. That's 10% fraud. Another country has 50,000 applications and sends back 2000 for fraud. The second country has twice as many fraud cases but the percentage is 4% compared to 10% for the first country. Now lets assume country two has five times the staff to take care of five times the applications. Which one is likely to process applications faster? More importantly, which set of Consular officers is going to be more focused on exposing fraud?

Now let's say a third country has the same application and fraud numbers as country two above but only half the staff. The focus on fraud will remain the same but since they have only half the staff, cases take longer from Consulate in to interview in country three than country two.

Anyway, the "difficulties" we are talking about is scrutiny due to fraud percentages and security risks, not waiting time.

Edited July 5, 2007 by pushbrk

[payxibka 10,047]

A higher volume of applications means they need more staff and/or may get behind. I'm not equating time with difficulty in obtaining a visa. Waiting is diffucult but the OP had a context to their question and the context was scrutiny due to fraud and/or security risk.

Let's say a Consulate gets 10,000 K1 applications in a year and ends up sending back 1,000 because the relationship was entered into only (in their opinion) to derive an immigration benefit for the applicant. That's 10% fraud. Another country has 50,000 applications and sends back 2000 for fraud. The second country has twice as many fraud cases but the percentage is 4% compared to 10% for the first country. Now lets assume country two has five times the staff to take care of five times the applications. Which one is likely to process applications faster? More importantly, which set of Consular officers is going to be more focused on exposing fraud?

Now let's say a third country has the same application and fraud numbers as country two above but only half the staff. The focus on fraud will remain the same but since they have only half the staff, cases take longer from Consulate in to interview in country three than country two.

Anyway, the "difficulties" we are talking about is scrutiny due to fraud percentages and security risks, not waiting time.

OK, so now lets come full circle on this... does the above explain why from when NVC forwards petition to consulate interview date in Dominian Republic it takes maybe 18 mos? or in Guangzhou or Manila it might take 4-6 months?