Dan and Akari

Based on feedback from our initial post over in the K-1 forum here: We are withdrawing our I-129F petition and filing an I-130. I am now reading through the CR-1 filing guides as well as combing through the posts from folks in a similar situation. It is my understanding that we simply file the I-130 and accompanying I-130A to initiate the process. However, I have read somewhat conflicting posts regarding the withdrawal of the I-129F. Some say that the filing of the I-130 automatically voids the I-129F so don't bother sending a letter because USCIS won't acknowledge the letter anyway, while others say sending a letter requesting withdrawal to the processing center handling our case is the appropriate course. I figure sending a letter won't cause any harm. Just one more thing to do in terms of time and treasure (mailing even a few pages to the US from Thailand is fairly costly). Nonetheless, we will initiate the CR-1 process this week barring any advice to the contrary. I mentioned in the other post that I am "early retired" but I don't want to keep living on retirement savings so I figured I should jump back into the market. I am actively seeking employment in Thailand so I can establish legal residence, bank account, etc. in Thailand while we wait. If nothing materializes in the corporate world (Thailand can legally discriminate based on any factor they want...like age) I know that I can get a job as an English teacher since I have my TEFL certification. My wife could then live in Thailand with me on an "O" visa which holds more weight in terms of residency than her current education visa. No need to return to Myanmar except to visit family occasionally. Now we are just settling in for the long (hopefully not too long) journey ahead.

Thank you for the reply. It is my understanding that she interviews in the country where she lives regardless of her country of citizenship. WOW!!! This is the exact scenario we want to avoid. SO sorry to hear this, and hopefully you will get approval soon. Yes, I am so glad I posted a totally unrelated question which led to the discovery of this monumental mistake on the part of our immigration attorney, who has been ditched (had the nerve to try to sell me on paying for his services AGAIN to file CR-1). However, filing the wrong petition is not totally on the lawyer. We take full responsibility, and we will endure the consequences of the misstep. We are thankful that the price we pay will only be a couple of months, which is a small price to pay. We are mailing the K1 cancellation notice to CA service center, and I will subsequently be filing the I-130 online ASAP. I will post our progress and any related CR-1 processing questions in the CR-1 forum. A million thanks to everyone for your help.

Sorry for my delayed answer. Apparently I hit my limit of posts yesterday so I was unable to reply. We did not include any photos of the ceremony. Only travel photos and photos with her family over the months. We never used the word “union” in our declaration letters. specifically we wrote: ”Akari and I had a formal engagement ceremony in Myanmar…to celebrate our bond and commitment with her family and friends…our desire is to be formally married and registered as husband and wife in the United States.” We also know a former immigration officer who conducted visa interviews. We asked his opinion, and he said pretty much verbatim with the USCIS website said: it will depend on whether that ceremony is considered a legally binding marriage under the laws of Myanmar. We have an appointment to speak with a lawyer in Myanmar next week. At this point we’re heavily leaning towards just filing the CR1 and resolve ourselves to the fact that we burned a couple months of waiting by submitting the K-1 and then submitting a new CR1.

Of the many friends she has in Myanmar some are Myanmar attorneys who assure us that it is not illegal. You simply have to go through a different process. I have also been to Myanmar several times, twice this year alone, and my experience is different. Maybe it is because the furthest north I have been is Bagan. I’m not sure. Most of the fighting is in the north with the ethnic militias now unified as PDF. Yes there are military checkpoints and makeshift bunkers throughout Yangon, but I never at any time felt unsafe. She has been back 3 times this year and also never felt like she was ever in danger but then again Myanmar is her home and she is most comfortable there.

And what is the benefit of Utah versus just going to a court in Myanmar and signing papers certifying our marriage there?

Mike, Thank you for your quick replies. Since you have more than one rodeo under your belt, what is your suggestion? Our heads were swimming enough with everything we are trying to coordinate. Now we need to switch to CR1? Clock starts over? We thought we were doing a good thing by simply having a ceremony where we could celebrate with her family and friends. 😞

Thanks for the reply. Not saying anything is right or wrong. Again, we are trying to do everything the right way from the start to minimize any delay in an already arduous process. We were up front with USCIS in our letters accompanying the 129f that we had an engagement celebration. I personally know someone who did the same thing with their Thai fiance, got approved for K1 by the US embassy in Bangkok and subsequently married in the US. Excerpt from USCIS web site: Validity of Marriages in the United States or Abroad Validity of Marriage for Immigration Purposes The applicant must establish validity of his or her marriage. In general, the legal validity of a marriage is determined by the law of the place where the marriage was celebrated (“place-of-celebration rule”). Under this rule, a marriage is valid for immigration purposes in cases where the marriage is valid under the law of the jurisdiction in which it is performed. Consequently, if Myanmar does not recognize this as a marriage, I don't see how the US Embassy un Myanmar can arbitrarily say a binding marriage exists. We are confirming again with a Myanmar attorney because we are still not quite 2 months into NOA1 so switching to CR1 at this point would not prove too costly. Also from USCIS web site: In all cases, the burden is on the applicant to establish that he or she has a valid marriage with his or her U.S. citizen spouse for the required period of time.[2] In most cases, a marriage certificate is prima facie evidence that the marriage was properly and legally performed.... ...If an official civil record cannot be produced, secondary evidence may be accepted on a case-by-case basis. An officer has the right to request an original record if there is doubt as to the authenticity of the record. So by the logic that we are considered married, and we switch from K1 to CR1, what are the odds the Us Embassy will accept wedding photos as proof of marriage? No legal documents, just wedding photos. Again, we could be wrong, and if we are, then we will switch to CR1.

They are all safe. kayzuu bar "You are married and not eligible for K-1." We are actually not married. We only had a ceremony to celebrate our union with her family and friends It was our understanding that we still need to sign a marriage certificate and register for us to be considered "married". We were strongly advised against the Utah County Marriage ceremony route by our US immigration attorney. While there might be a mountain of anecdotal evidence that this path works, we made a conscious decision that we don't want any shadow of doubt on anything we do. Hence the reason we did not register as husband and wife...our intention was to apply for K1. We are honestly rethinking the K1 vs CR1 route given the current ridiculously long GC wait times once we are married in the US. It's just tough to change knowing the process to get her to the US will take even longer. She will only be able to interview where she has authorized presence." Not sure I understand this. Are you saying she won't be able to interview in Thailand?

Hello everyone, Quick background: I am a USC, my partner is Burmese. We met in Thailand in 2022. She moved to Thailand looking for employment, and I was there taking a TEFL course to potentially teach English abroad (I sold my business in 2016 and took a sabbatical in November 2020 so I am technically "retired early"). I proposed in January and we had a ceremony in Myanmar February 28, 2023, but we never signed any documents to make the marriage official because we intended to file for the K1 and we want to do everything by the book. The ceremony was mainly for her friends and family to celebrate our union. We have a condo in Thailand in her name because she is here on an 11 month ED visa. I have lived in Thailand with her since January, but I am here on a tourist visa. My permanent residence is still in the US. We hired an immigration attorney in March to help us file the 129F, gathered all our supporting docs and he filed in late April. We received receipt confirmation a couple weeks later (May 12, 2023), and now we are digging in for the long journey ahead. Living with my partner has been a blessing that I know most couples in the K1 queue don't have the privilege of enjoying; however we share the same desire as everyone here and that is to be together in the US ASAP so we can start building some permanency into our lives. It seems the more we review our options, the more questions we have. We realize that every case is different and there are many variables to consider with every question. - Her ED visa expires in October. Should we pack up and move to Myanmar so she can spend time with her family the next few months while we wait? Will moving to a new country delay the process? Would getting an appointment at US embassy in Yangon potentially be faster than getting an appointment in Bangkok which has a larger case load? We are simply looking for anyone with experience at either of these two embassies or any tidbits of advice anyone is willing to toss our direction. Every decision we make is driven by the question everyone has: "will this speed up or slow down the process?". We realize that the answer to the question of move or not move is a personal decision, but we are trying to gather as much information as we can to make as educated a decision as possible.