Perspective/opinions wanted: how bad does this look on a K1 application?

[SalishSea 17,833]

4 hours ago, Cranberry_anon said:

Out of curiosity, is there a waiting period after being rejected for the K1 before we could try it through the CR-1 route? I know K-1 has a waiting period to try another attempts at the K-1 if the first was failed

There is no “waiting period” for refilling a second K-1 after a denial.   Not sure where you’re getting some of theee ideas.

[SL2024 65]

When my fiancee submitted our petition we included a few photos of us together along with a few other bits of evidence. If you look online there should be a few sites that will tell you what sort of things you should provide for your petition.

[Cranberry_anon 6]

8 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

 Not sure where you’re getting some of theee ideas.

I already know what some people are going to say because I posted a similar thread a short while ago, but we're working with an immigration agency that has been guiding us through the process. We did quite a bit of research before we went along with the agency and we're a bit lost as the internet/people say one thing but then the attorney/""experts"" advising us will tell us another. We're still quite new to this so we're still finding our footing discerning what is absolutely true and what is a weird piece of misinfo we got from the agency (and on thay note if anyone is thinking of investing in an agency- don't choose Boundless)

 

 

[appleblossom 2,537]

2 minutes ago, Cranberry_anon said:

I already know what some people are going to say because I posted a similar thread a short while ago, but we're working with an immigration agency that has been guiding us through the process. We did quite a bit of research before we went along with the agency and we're a bit lost as the internet/people say one thing but then the attorney/""experts"" advising us will tell us another. We're still quite new to this so we're still finding our footing discerning what is absolutely true and what is a weird piece of misinfo we got from the agency (and on thay note if anyone is thinking of investing in an agency- don't choose Boundless)

 

 

 

They seem to be trying to make it all much more scary than it needs to be, in the hope that you'll use them for the whole K-1/AOS/ROC process (each of which are lengthy and expensive - but not complicated!).

 

There is a rule about not reapplying for another K-1 within 2 years if the first one was approved and the marriage doesn't happen. But if it's denied then there's no such rule and you'd be free to reapply again immediately. 

[Nous Eb 128]

My husband and I were together for years when we filed for K1 but never take pictures of anything. We do not believe it to be important. We sent in 1 together and 1 from a family dinner with my parents and brothers and that was it. I mainly provided other evidence, in our case proof he had been registered and living at my place in The Netherlands for all those years and our joint tax filings. So if you have enough evidence that the two of you have been together and have a real relationship, there is no reason to worry. 

[M plus D 57]

7 hours ago, Cranberry_anon said:

I am 24/f/Ireland and my fiancé is 25/m/Oklahoma. I'm worried about our proof of relationship (I'm generally a very anxious person) and I'd like some outsider perspective. 

 

We've been together for just over 18 months and decided to get married this past August. The reason I'm worried is because yes I acknowledge for most people thats very soon to get married, but one other thing: we don't have a lot of documented evidence that I've been around his friends and family or that he's been around mine. How bad is this going to look for my application? Do you think it's grounds for being rejected?

 

Niether of us are close to our families. One of the things we bonded over is a shared understanding of what it was like growing up through similar problems. He doesn't hang around with his family pretty much ever and the side of my family that I engage with lives in a different part of Ireland. The short version is that we don't have pictures of me and him together with members of our families (it doesn't help that it's usually my fiancé offering to take the picture so he's behind the camera). 

 

We have *some* with his friends because... I took the pictures and I'm holding the camera myself so I'm not actually featured in many of the pictures.

 

 

I see a lot of references in this thread regarding K-1, but let's for clarity split this into two things:

• i-129f
• Visa Interview at Consulate/Embassy

Like many others have already said, for i-129f the absolute requirement is proof of having met in the two year prior to filing. You do not need to proof that you met each other's families or such.

 

For the Visa Interview, things can differ largely between countries. For example, for my country it was officially required to bring evidence of a bona fide relationship. And for this, I did actually use pictures of us with each other's families and friends. It helped legitimize the relationship, because that our families and friends knew about it.

 

Do you necessarily need to have those? Of course not. Otherwise people without families or not in contact with their families would be denied by default. Bring whatever you can, there is nothing wrong with selfies! I've seen people add affidavits of friends, stating that they know of the relationship and that it is genuine. You can add tickets for things with both your names, showing you went together. And if you meet up again during the wait for i-129f, you can always make it a goal to get more photo's with friends or such.

[TBoneTX 45,303]

1 hour ago, M plus D said:

I see a lot of references in this thread regarding K-1, but let's for clarity split this into two things:

• i-129f
• Visa Interview at Consulate/Embassy

Like many others have already said, for i-129f the absolute requirement is proof of having met in the two year prior to filing. You do not need to proof that you met each other's families or such.

 

For the Visa Interview, things can differ largely between countries. For example, for my country it was officially required to bring evidence of a bona fide relationship. And for this, I did actually use pictures of us with each other's families and friends. It helped legitimize the relationship, because that our families and friends knew about it.

 

Do you necessarily need to have those? Of course not. Otherwise people without families or not in contact with their families would be denied by default. Bring whatever you can, there is nothing wrong with selfies! I've seen people add affidavits of friends, stating that they know of the relationship and that it is genuine. You can add tickets for things with both your names, showing you went together. And if you meet up again during the wait for i-129f, you can always make it a goal to get more photo's with friends or such.

The above says what I was going to say.  You're not in a high-fraud country, and your consulate will be far less concerned about things that other consulates view as important or crucial.  Go here and read everything you can, including reviews and feedback:

https://www.visajourney.com/consulates/index.php?ctry=Ireland&cty=Dublin

[Sam Burns 155]

10 hours ago, Cranberry_anon said:

I'm generally a very anxious person

This process is not going to be fun then, taking the K1 route, since you won’t be able to work for months when you come over here, and you have to apply for three more things when you get here.

[Cranberry_anon 6]

6 hours ago, Nous Eb said:

I mainly provided other evidence, in our case proof he had been registered and living at my place in The Netherlands for all those years and our joint tax filings. So if you have enough evidence that the two of you have been together and have a real relationship, there is no reason to worry. 

Yikes, do you think maybe it could reflect badly that we haven't lived together either? A lot of my concern stems from the fact we have a relatively short relationship compared to what would be considered normal in Ireland. Most couples are together for 5+ years before marriage, yada yada, and we haven't lived together yet/had any joint accounts

[Cranberry_anon 6]

2 hours ago, Sam Burns said:

This process is not going to be fun then, taking the K1 route, since you won’t be able to work for months when you come over here, and you have to apply for three more things when you get here.

We're not as worried about those, our main concern is how we're going to legitimise our relationship when (at least by Irish standards) it's considered highly unusual to get married earlier than 5 or so years together and not be well integrated into eachothers families.

[Boiler 45,522]

5 hours ago, Cranberry_anon said:

Yikes, do you think maybe it could reflect badly that we haven't lived together either? A lot of my concern stems from the fact we have a relatively short relationship compared to what would be considered normal in Ireland. Most couples are together for 5+ years before marriage, yada yada, and we haven't lived together yet/had any joint accounts

No

[Cranberry_anon 6]

Maybe a lot of my worries are because where I'm from (Dublin, Ireland) my relationship would be perceived as highly unusual. My immediate assumption is that it would be viewed by the people looking at our application would think the same. It's difficult to break out of that line of thinking as I was raised with that idea, it's very reassuring to have people tell me otherwise because god knows a lot of people around me would tell me right off the bat that 18 months is barely enough time to call it a longterm relationship, and that's if you're ignore the lack of family integration since it's so normal here to have your partner be in near constant contact with your family. I'd be very interested in heating some thoughts from people who are from similar backgrounds too

[Sam Burns 155]

12 minutes ago, Cranberry_anon said:

I'd be very interested in heating some thoughts from people who are from similar backgrounds too

I’m from NI, I had a similar experience and you will be fine.

[smilingstone 175]

You detail a lot of unfounded concerns about the legitimacy of your relationship. It's normal to feel anxious going through this process, but you are so focused on this in particular that it reads as rather strange. 

 

If your relationship is legitimate, then evidence what you can and take the leap. Plenty of incredibly valid advice here to follow from people who have gone and are going through this process. 

 

Boundless' only concern is profit. The difficulty of your situation now is that VJ will tell you ABC is fine, but Boundless will say it isn't and won't proceed your case until they tick all their boxes. I'm guessing you are in too deep to cancel their "services" so your hands are tied. 

[Cranberry_anon 6]

4 minutes ago, smilingstone said:

You detail a lot of unfounded concerns about the legitimacy of your relationship. It's normal to feel anxious going through this process, but you are so focused on this in particular that it reads as rather strange. 

I'm so focused on it because when I announced the engagement a lot of people told me that a long distance relationship of 18 months is not a real relationship. As I said in an earlier post, these things are not well supported where I am, and for that reason I don't think it's really that strange for me to worry that someone reviewing our evidence would think exactly the same thing. It may come off as unusual and I acknowledge that but I put so much weight on this specific factor because it crushes me to think we could be denied approval based on our relationship being considered abnormal (relative to the relationship standard where I am from). I hope that makes more sense