What to do?

[johnvan 0]

Well, I guess I'm living proof that you can pull off. I do recall that we had the same concerns so we did not send in pictures that looked like a marriage, just pictures of the party afterwards with me and her family.

Yes, that sounds exactly like what we did- with the praying at the altar and the insence and all. Well, ignorance is bliss I guess.

Okay, one MORE change to my story. In talking to my wife she tells me that in fact she DID show pictures of our wedding ceremony as well and they raised no issue about it. I guess as long as you don't obtain a marriage license, it's not a legal marriage

Thanks everyone for all your help. We decided to start the process for the K-1. I am glad to see that someone had gone thru the same situation Dalegg. I believe that as long as the marriage isn't legal then it should be ok, because If I wanted to file for the K-3, I would not be able to, because we are not legally married. Should we take the chance of including the photo's from our wedding party and ceremony? Could submitting this evidence risk our approval? Can we send our petition in without these photo's, and then supply them at the interview as evidence? If they were to ask why weren't they submitted with the petition, she could just say that we worried if they saw these pictures, they may have questions, therefor we wanted to provide them at the interview, so we could explain the circumstances. We wanted to have a ceremony for her family and friends, but we never filed papers for the marriage, because we are going to get legally married in the US. Is this to risky to provide this info?

[dalegg 143]

Send your I-129F petition in without these pictures. It may cause unnecassary confusion for the people on the US side of things. Send in pictures of you two doing other things in Vietnam, like sight-seeing and what-not.

[silverbutterfly228 0]

Thanks everyone for all your help. We decided to start the process for the K-1. I am glad to see that someone had gone thru the same situation Dalegg. I believe that as long as the marriage isn't legal then it should be ok, because If I wanted to file for the K-3, I would not be able to, because we are not legally married. Should we take the chance of including the photo's from our wedding party and ceremony? Could submitting this evidence risk our approval? Can we send our petition in without these photo's, and then supply them at the interview as evidence? If they were to ask why weren't they submitted with the petition, she could just say that we worried if they saw these pictures, they may have questions, therefor we wanted to provide them at the interview, so we could explain the circumstances. We wanted to have a ceremony for her family and friends, but we never filed papers for the marriage, because we are going to get legally married in the US. Is this to risky to provide this info?

On this site under visa FAQ, section 4, the last two questions address your situation. you'll be fine.

It would be better i think to send the photos in with the i-129f because than USCIS knows from the start. The consulate can't argue about those photos because USCIS saw them and approved the petition. Just send in an explanation clearly stating it wasn't legal and your not married.

[dalegg 143]

On this site under visa FAQ, section 4, the last two questions address your situation. you'll be fine.

It would be better i think to send the photos in with the i-129f because than USCIS knows from the start. The consulate can't argue about those photos because USCIS saw them and approved the petition. Just send in an explanation clearly stating it wasn't legal and your not married.

The consulate in Vietnam can argure anything they want to! They couldn't care less whether or not the USCIS agent who approved the petition felt the case looked good. I like what you are saying though. As a matter of fact that is exactly what I did in my letter of intent. I stated that we had an engagement ceremony in Vietnam and that I intended on Marrying her within the first month of her arrival (I wanted to seem anxious, and I was. We were married the first week). We didn't show any pictures of the ceremony at anytime until the interview though.

[silverbutterfly228 0]

On this site under visa FAQ, section 4, the last two questions address your situation. you'll be fine.

It would be better i think to send the photos in with the i-129f because than USCIS knows from the start. The consulate can't argue about those photos because USCIS saw them and approved the petition. Just send in an explanation clearly stating it wasn't legal and your not married.

The consulate in Vietnam can argure anything they want to! They couldn't care less whether or not the USCIS agent who approved the petition felt the case looked good. I like what you are saying though. As a matter of fact that is exactly what I did in my letter of intent. I stated that we had an engagement ceremony in Vietnam and that I intended on Marrying her within the first month of her arrival (I wanted to seem anxious, and I was. We were married the first week). We didn't show any pictures of the ceremony at anytime until the interview though.

Well after reading a posting a week ago about visa denials and red flags from a lawyer, it was stated that consulate can't deny because of evidence that was already known when the case was approved. its only if the evidence wasn't shown to USCIS at the time of the petition approval that the consulate can decide to deny. If i read that posting wrong than i'm sorry, but that's what i understood from it. i can't seem to find the posting now to link it

[silverbutterfly228 0]

i found the link http://www.ilw.com/articles/2006,0323-ellis.shtm

"consular officers do not have the authority to question the approval of petitions without specific evidence, generally unavailable to DHS at the time of petition approval, that the beneficiary may not be entitled to status due to fraud, changes in circumstances or clear error on the part of DHS in approving the petition. Conoffs should not assume that a petition should be revoked simply because they would have reached a different decision if adjudicating the petition. …”

What does that language mean? It means an approved petition is prima facie evidence of eligibility for an immigrant visa, unless a consular officer finds substantial evidence of ineligibility. More importantly, this evidence must have been unknown and unavailable to DHS at the time it approved the petition."

"If DHS approves the petition anyway, a consulate is not supposed to deny a petition for that same reason."

so i say better to send the pictures or inform them of the event at time of filing the petition.

[dalegg 143]

i found the link http://www.ilw.com/articles/2006,0323-ellis.shtm

"consular officers do not have the authority to question the approval of petitions without specific evidence, generally unavailable to DHS at the time of petition approval, that the beneficiary may not be entitled to status due to fraud, changes in circumstances or clear error on the part of DHS in approving the petition. Conoffs should not assume that a petition should be revoked simply because they would have reached a different decision if adjudicating the petition. …”

What does that language mean? It means an approved petition is prima facie evidence of eligibility for an immigrant visa, unless a consular officer finds substantial evidence of ineligibility. More importantly, this evidence must have been unknown and unavailable to DHS at the time it approved the petition."

"If DHS approves the petition anyway, a consulate is not supposed to deny a petition for that same reason."

so i say better to send the pictures or inform them of the event at time of filing the petition.

Okay, so send this to HCMC. They can read it while you wait in AR, and for months you can sit calmly knowing that you are legally right and one day your case will prevail. Which consulate do you think the author of that article got most of his experience from?

Edited April 2, 2006 by dalegg

[Mike n Huong 1]

You know, I have the same situation. Her parents wanted us to have a ceremony only, before she came to the US. We did not file any papers, because we are going to marry in the US. I did not include any of these photos in our original petition, because we weren't sure if we should. USCIS only wants to see a few photos's of both of us together also, not a whole album. We also don't have any engagement ceremony pics, because we hired the photographer for the actual wedding. He has pictures of me arriving to her home, and sitting there and talking with her parents and family. So I am in a bind now. What should we do? Should my fiance get certified single status paper, and she can show the photo's and explain that we just had a ceremony for her family and friends? We had a huge reception with like 200 people. I have photo's of both the reception and the ceremony. Someone give me some good advice on this please.

[dalegg 143]

You know, I have the same situation. Her parents wanted us to have a ceremony only, before she came to the US. We did not file any papers, because we are going to marry in the US. I did not include any of these photos in our original petition, because we weren't sure if we should. USCIS only wants to see a few photos's of both of us together also, not a whole album. We also don't have any engagement ceremony pics, because we hired the photographer for the actual wedding. He has pictures of me arriving to her home, and sitting there and talking with her parents and family. So I am in a bind now. What should we do? Should my fiance get certified single status paper, and she can show the photo's and explain that we just had a ceremony for her family and friends? We had a huge reception with like 200 people. I have photo's of both the reception and the ceremony. Someone give me some good advice on this please.

Well, as I said we did exactly the same thing. (I've only recently learned that in fact I had an actual marriage ceremony). I did not send in the pictures of the ceremony with the original petition, but my then fiance' showed all of the photos from our ceremony and reception at the interview. They didn't say anything about it. She thinks they weren't really looking all that close though.

[Mike n Huong 1]

Well, as I said we did exactly the same thing. (I've only recently learned that in fact I had an actual marriage ceremony). I did not send in the pictures of the ceremony with the original petition, but my then fiance' showed all of the photos from our ceremony and reception at the interview. They didn't say anything about it. She thinks they weren't really looking all that close though.

Dalegg,

Can you tell me more about the photo's she showed? Was she wering a wedding dress or the Vietnamese special dress? Our pictures of the reception show us on stage, she was wearing a wedding dress, and me a suite, with her parents as we exchanged gifts in front of everyone. I gave her a ring, a necklace, and my parents who did not attend gave her earrings. She gave me a ring and her parents also gave me a ring. What is your opinion Dalegg? Should would show any of these pics with a single status paper? or should we just show some of the pics from the party without her in them? As I said we don't have any pics of the engagement ceremony. So can these be used for that purpose?

Thanks so much for your help

[dalegg 143]

Dalegg,

Can you tell me more about the photo's she showed? Was she wering a wedding dress or the Vietnamese special dress? Our pictures of the reception show us on stage, she was wearing a wedding dress, and me a suite, with her parents as we exchanged gifts in front of everyone. I gave her a ring, a necklace, and my parents who did not attend gave her earrings. She gave me a ring and her parents also gave me a ring. What is your opinion Dalegg? Should would show any of these pics with a single status paper? or should we just show some of the pics from the party without her in them? As I said we don't have any pics of the engagement ceremony. So can these be used for that purpose?

Thanks so much for your help

Attached are some examples of the pictures she showed at the interview:

[Bruce and Han 0]

Dalegg,

Can you tell me more about the photo's she showed? Was she wering a wedding dress or the Vietnamese special dress? Our pictures of the reception show us on stage, she was wearing a wedding dress, and me a suite, with her parents as we exchanged gifts in front of everyone. I gave her a ring, a necklace, and my parents who did not attend gave her earrings. She gave me a ring and her parents also gave me a ring. What is your opinion Dalegg? Should would show any of these pics with a single status paper? or should we just show some of the pics from the party without her in them? As I said we don't have any pics of the engagement ceremony. So can these be used for that purpose?

Thanks so much for your help

Attached are some examples of the pictures she showed at the interview:

Dalegg,

Is that really you in those photos? Did you get a hair cut or something, Im not used to seeing you this way!

[dalegg 143]

Dalegg,

Is that really you in those photos? Did you get a hair cut or something, Im not used to seeing you this way!

Yes. Just so we're clear, I am NOT the one on the left in the third picture!