Will I definitely need a I-601 waiver for my fiance's K1?

[Salvada77 0]

My Mexican fiance was in the US undetected (ewi) for 9 years. He was 19 when he got here. He went back of his own accord on 1/10/08. He had no trouble with the law or any problems all while in the US.

I submitted a 129F for a fiance visa and just got the approval yesterday. I was wondering if there is a possibility for them to approve the visa right away, or if they will definitely deny it. To me it seems like he would be automatically denied and subject to the 10-year bar, so I wanted to get a waiver ready just in case. However, before I submitted the 129F I talked to a couple of lawyers and an online "expert". I think one said "why would they deny it?" and the others pretty much said it depends on the interviewing officer and could go either way so don't waste my money until I find out for sure. I took their advice and didn't waste my time or money getting a waiver together, but now that things are moving along I'm getting really antsy. Is it true that they might approve my fiance's visa without a waiver in spite of his illegal presence, or should we be working on a waiver to overcome a certain denial?

Any help would be so greatly appreciated. We've been separated for a year and a half and we just want to get married and be together and start living already!!!

[YuAndDan 153]

If that was the only issue, they wont deny, however more than likely they will need a waiver filed for the 10 year bar.

The waiver can only be filed at the request of the visa interviewing officer.

[rebeccajo 14]

Depending on how he crossed over and back, the US government may not be aware he was ever here.

[emt103c 10]

She cannot lie about the fact that he was here. They almost certainly WILL know.

Salvada: Please go towww.immigrate2us.net and check out the Mexico I-601 section. Mexico has a special program that allows for same-day adjudication. . .the only country in the world that does so. I2US will have all of the information on this program that you need.

You will definitely have to file the 601, the CO does not have a choice on this matter, it is the law.

Good luck!

[rebeccajo 14]

She cannot lie about the fact that he was here. They almost certainly WILL know.

Salvada: Please go towww.immigrate2us.net and check out the Mexico I-601 section. Mexico has a special program that allows for same-day adjudication. . .the only country in the world that does so. I2US will have all of the information on this program that you need.

You will definitely have to file the 601, the CO does not have a choice on this matter, it is the law.

Good luck!

I wasn't suggesting anybody lie. I was merely stating that given shared borders, there may be no record of his stay here in the US.

I have no idea why two attorneys told her not to worry about it. I have a suspicion, but that's that.

[emt103c 10]

There are lots of crappy lawyers out there. She obviously found a few of them.

[Salvada77 0]

Thanks for the input! Now the question is can anyone recommend a lawyer with experience in I-601 waivers (the cheaper the better of course, but not to the point that they won't do a good job)? As noted, I do seem to have a knack for finding crappy ones seeing as I don't really know what I'm doing. I live in Baltimore, MD.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Try Laurel Scott at http://www.scottimmigration.net/ or Heather Poole at http://www.humanrightsattorney.com/. Expect to pay at least $5000 for a good lawyer. I believer Laurel is $7500. If you need a waiver thru Mexico, Laurel is the way to go.

[summersurf 10]

hello Salvada77, your fiance's case just exactly the same with my case. Please read on because now i'm back to the USA, happyly married to my American husband and is waiting for my Green Card to arrive in my mailbox because i already got my Working permit card!!! It was such a tough journey for us to get all the paperwork approved but hey, when you never give up and keep on praying along the way, then you will get there, i've been thru this, so i know exactly how it feels.

6 years ago i came to the States with Tourist visa, and yes as you can guess it, i OVERSTAYED my visa and stayed til almost 3 years. And of course for violating the law i have 10 years ban, but just like your fiance, when i was here 6 years ago, i never had problem with the law, i left the States because i wanted to, no deportation, no nothing, and that day when i left, i never even wanted to ever come back to the States again, because i think i had enough here and also when i left i hadnt known yet that i will have 10 years ban for my overstaying status til i found it out thru internet. Well it didnt bother me because as i said, i never wanted to come back anyway. But you never know what the future brings. I met this wonderful man who is my Husband now, we met in my country when he was travelling there, oh i'm an Indonesian. i was hoping he wasnt American hehe but he is. So to make the story short, he never gave up on me, he did whatever it takes to have all the paperwork done for me, we've been together for almost 4 years (he visit me every 6 months and call me every single day when we were away from each other) til eventually we have our wedding last January.

He filed for the K-1 petition on July 2007, it was approved on september 2007, he flew to my country on dec 2007 because he wanted to be there with me when i have my visa interview, so that was dec 2007 and sadly, it was DENIED! our heart was broken, i just never understand why they approved the petition when they know that it would eventually be denied when you went for the interview. We kinda knew that my visa will be denied but we just had this big hope when they approved the petition you know, specially when you filled out those forms with all the questions, they checked them all for sure, your background and everything, they finally approved it, so we thought there was hope without the Waiver, we thought they would give us the visa, but they DID NOT!.

So i filed the I-601 Waiver of ineligibilities, submitted them on February 2008, gathered all the informations and proofs that they might needed, statements from my husband's parents, his Extreme Hardship, and any other papers, just so much of them that i doubt if they will ever look at them one by one you know, but you just dont want to miss one paper, and PRAISE GOD, it was approved on august 2008, yes such a long wait, i was just so anxious waiting for it til the US embassy called and tell me the great news. So they issued my K-1 visa, and i arrived here in the States on February 2009 and we had our civil wedding in the same month here.

Look, it sounded so hard i know, the wait, the money you spend, the heartaching of being far away from the one you love, but if you guys were meant to be together..then you'll get there, it will come your way. Ask God to make it easier for you because HE WILL.

We did all the things WITHOUT the lawyer, my husband only went to the lawyer ONCE before he filed for my K-1 visa petition, just making sure and ask for some information, the Lawyer DID nothing, you'll just spending even more money if you still want to see a lawyer, you need to save them to pay for the Waiver fee, its not cheap at all, and you will even need more money to spend for adjusting the Status for your fiance once you can get him back here to the States. So yes, you will NEED the Waiver, but hey once again, miracle happens, who knows they will aprrove the visa on the interview day, very small chance though, i thought that will happen to us, but it didnt..

I'm sorry if my reply way too much, i'm kinda pouring out my heart here:) well i made a promise to myself that i will testify about this here once i got thru em all, about how God always there every step of the way, about how the US Embassy in my country helping me so much with this thing and about how grateful i am that eventually i can be together with the man who i love so much. oh talking about talking your heart out, when your fiance write a personal statement for his Waiver petition, tell him to tell everything, do not hide nothing, try not to leave out anything, everything that he did here in the states before, whether he worked or not, why he overstayed, be very specific. They WILL read it i'm sure as they did with mine. I wish i ever had a chance to thank a person who was in charge on approving my Waiver:)

Alrighty, i wish you guys the best lucks, God bless you..and i hope this also can help whoever has the same case.

Sincerely