K1 two year meeting requirement waiver?

[yetanotherfaery 2]

I know that this waiver is hard to get and we're nothing special, but I am in a social hardship predicament (I'm the US citizen) that makes meeting him physically very difficult. 

Long story short: I have sole physical custody of my two young small children. Their biological dad is not in the picture at all. It would create extreme hardship on them to get them on a plane going across the world to meet him. I have known him online for a decade and we fell in love. We want to be together and create a future. We are assuming the tourist visa would be denied outright as we have romantic intentions beyond visiting as friend/family. We are friends first of course, but the wait time for an interview is almost 2 years in his country (Turkey) to even be considered as a yes/no for the tourist visa. 

Would my situation being the sole physical custody parent of my 2 young children be considered extreme hardship for our meeting? 

Edited October 14 by yetanotherfaery

[MalloryCat 211]

from my understanding getting the extreme hardship waiver for the I-129f is extremely difficult, almost impossible unless you meet very specific requirements. almost always related to physical health (disability that prevents travel, extreme phobias of flying, tight spaces, home bound, etc.)

 

I believe the chances of you getting a waiver for this reason are extremely unlikely . Cause you technically could hire someone to watch your kids while you travel, or have other family watch them, or you have the ability to take them with you. I understand this would be hard on you and your kids to travel for that long, but it is not impossible. Key word being impossible.

 

your other option would be to go the spousal visa route.

this does still require an in person meeting, but only after getting married, which can be done online through Utah Online Marriage. the spousal visa has far more advantages than the K-1 visa. the foreign spouse will be a LPR upon arrival to the US and can work immediately. which isn't the case with the K-1 visa where they have apply for adjustment of status and work authorization. which is more costly and can take 6-12 months to receive. 

Edited October 14 by MalloryCat

[yetanotherfaery 2]

16 minutes ago, MalloryCat said:

your other option would be to go the spousal visa route.

this does still require an in person meeting, but only after getting married, which can be done online through Utah Online Marriage. the spousal visa has far more advantages than the K-1 visa. the foreign spouse will be a LPR upon arrival to the US and can work immediately. which isn't the case with the K-1 visa where they have apply for adjustment of status and work authorization. which is more costly and can take 6-12 months to receive. 

I didn't know getting married online was an option. Is the in-person meeting a requirement for applying for the CR1 spousal visa? Is there a potential waiver for that requirement that might be considered? 

 

[MalloryCat 211]

5 minutes ago, yetanotherfaery said:

I didn't know getting married online was an option. Is the in-person meeting a requirement for applying for the CR1 spousal visa ? Is there a potential waiver for that requirement that might be considered? 

 

 

yes the in person meeting is a requirement for the spousal visa. USCIS needs to see the marriage has been "consummated", literally just meaning being together in person either during the wedding ceremony or by visiting after getting married.

 

from my understanding a waiver for the spousal visa is even more rare and hard to obtain. and you're reasoning still would be unlikely to be approved

 

 

Edited October 14 by MalloryCat

[appleblossom 2,801]

1 hour ago, yetanotherfaery said:

It would create extreme hardship on them to get them on a plane going across the world to meet him. I have known him online for a decade and we fell in love.

 

Why would getting on a plane cause 'extreme hardship' to the children? Most kids would love that! I can't see that being a valid reason I'm afraid.

 

If him coming to the US would take too long due to the wait for an interview, how about meeting in a third country maybe?

[jan22 3,056]

Getting married before ever meeting in person, then applying for the spousal visa immediately after that first and only meeting, is a blueprint for how to get a spousal visa denied.  During the visa interview, the consular officer must be convinced that the marriage is a valid marriage and not one just for immigration purposes.  With just one meeting — that occurred after the marriage — that will be very difficult. 

Waivers for the two-year meeting requirement for a fiancée visa are extremely rare for a reason.  People can be far different in person than they appear online.  Having two young children that make travel planning more complicated is not a reason for a waiver.  

Waivers for the “consummation” meeting after the wedding are non-existent.  There is no provision for this meeting to be waived.  Even if there were, it would not be approved in a case where it means the couple would have never met at all before the immigrant visa was issued.

 

You will need to figure out how to meet — perhaps in a third country so you don’t have to travel as far and he doesn’t need a US visa.  Even without it being a requirement, I would urge anyone (especially with young children involved) to meet before marrying anyone and bringing them into a household 

 

[powerpuff 6,744]

1 hour ago, yetanotherfaery said:

Would my situation being the sole physical custody parent of my 2 young children be considered extreme hardship for our meeting? 

No, not at all. You’d be wasting time and money trying to claim extreme hardship in this situation.

[apnzz 268]

Why can't he come and visit you instead? Unless you have tried a tourist visa and been denied, that is a viable option. Ties to home country are the most important thing with tourist visa applications. So unless he had no ties, there's no way to know he'd be denied.

 

Also not sure how having kids would stop you from visiting a different country on a vacation to meet the foreigner.

 

 

These are questions USCIS will consider in deciding the waiver outcome and these reasons alone won't suffice for a waiver for the k1.

 

Edited October 14 by apnzz

[Boiler 45,729]

Lots of Turkish people visit the US.

 

I think I was 12 the first time I visited Turkey, a school trip so no Parent.

 

Marrying someone you have never met always makes me wonder, even more so when there are young children involved. How young are the children? There is no requirement for them to meet him, it would be a good idea however.

[belinda63 3,039]

There is a big difference between inconvenient and extreme hardship. My mother immigrated from Germany and would travel with me and my brother back to Germany to see her family. First trip I was 2 and my brother 4. She managed to make the trip there and back by plane with us and no one to help her. Yes it was not as easy as flying by herself but she managed just fine. Military spouses do it all the time, I went from Fort Benning in Georgia to Frankfort Germany with a two year old, and three cats. You have many options and that is how USCIS will look at it. You can travel with the children, you can find someone to care for the children and travel alone, he can come to the US to visit, you can meet in a different country with or without the children. But saying you cannot travel because you have young children is not an extreme hardship. 

Edited October 14 by belinda63

[Pinkrlion 2,724]

You can also meet in another country closer to the US. People meet in Mexico or in the Caribbean. Those are easier for travel. If you do not have family that can watch your children, this will a good option. 

[Gary Rich 284]

30 minutes ago, belinda63 said:

There is a big difference between inconvenient and extreme hardship. My mother immigrated from Germany and would travel with me and my brother back to Germany to see her family. First trip I was 2 and my brother 4. She managed to make the trip there and back by plane with us and no one to help her. Yes it was not as easy as flying by herself but she managed just fine. Military spouses do it all the time, I went from Fort Benning in Georgia to Frankfort Germany with a two year old, and three cats. You have many options and that is how USCIS will look at it. You can travel with the children, you can find someone to care for the children and travel alone, he can come to the US to visit, you can meet in a different country with or without the children. But saying you cannot travel because you have young children is not an extreme hardship. 

There has to be a family member they can go to ( I would think ) and set up a travel date during spring break when the kids are out of school.. but!! it's easy for us to have opinions 

 without knowing how a person a managing with kids and taking care of them

[Bunninuts 31]

I would recommend looking into meeting in Canada. My partner was denied a visitor visa early on because the US is hard to visit when you're from a poor brown country. However, he doesn't need a visa to go to Canada and neither would I. We have chosen for me to travel to Panama instead because of the price difference. We split the cost of my travel and I stay at his place without cost so we have made it work while our application is processing.

I can't echo enough how much of a red flag it is to marry someone without meeting them. It is a huge risk. I would also recommend to explore the cultural differences for Turkey vs US. When I say meet this person, I mean spending numerous weeks with them. I would like to say I am the same in-person as I am in messages but I know my partner doesn't see my face expressions which are a big indicator for my communication 😂😁

 

Best wishes for however you decide to navigate next steps 💜

[SteveInBostonI130 3,470]

6 hours ago, yetanotherfaery said:

I know that this waiver is hard to get and we're nothing special, but I am in a social hardship predicament (I'm the US citizen) that makes meeting him physically very difficult. 

Long story short: I have sole physical custody of my two young small children. Their biological dad is not in the picture at all. It would create extreme hardship on them to get them on a plane going across the world to meet him. I have known him online for a decade and we fell in love. We want to be together and create a future. We are assuming the tourist visa would be denied outright as we have romantic intentions beyond visiting as friend/family. We are friends first of course, but the wait time for an interview is almost 2 years in his country (Turkey) to even be considered as a yes/no for the tourist visa. 

Would my situation being the sole physical custody parent of my 2 young children be considered extreme hardship for our meeting? 

 

 

6 hours ago, MalloryCat said:

from my understanding getting the extreme hardship waiver for the I-129f is extremely difficult, almost impossible unless you meet very specific requirements. almost always related to physical health (disability that prevents travel, extreme phobias of flying, tight spaces, home bound, etc.)

 

 

 

 

There was a poster who had an extreme phobia of flying that attempted the waiver.  He was denied.  In the end he flew his SO to a Caribbean island and he drove long distance to a port in Miami or Ft Lauderdale and took a cruise to that island.

 

@yetanotherfaery, your case will not qualify.  As others have mentioned, there are other ways to meet in person if he cannot travel to the US.   USCIS is very, very strict with the "meeting in person within 2 years" requirement.  

[top_secret 2,456]

I cannot remember any specific cases here on VJ where anyone was ever successful getting the meeting requirement waived.  Even some cases with very difficult medical situations and a lot of cases affected by rona-virus travel bans were unsuccessful getting meeting requirements waived.  USCIS would not even consider difficulty arranging child care as being an extreme hardship.