Waiver For Multiple Fiance Filings

[eberhart1967 0]

Hello All,

Get this. I have been waiting a few days to get the letter in the mail from USCIS, request for evidence. I have been wondering what they could possibly want. I have had some practice with the fiance visa paperwork, since my first application was denied. I have refiled, for the same woman, a second time. The first visa was denied because we couldn't establish a bona fide relationship. So. I front loaded the second application with a whole ream of paper which included emails, 2 trips to Nigeria, photos, boarding passes, hotel receipts. You name it.... I sent everything.

I got the letter and was shocked! I need to apply for a waiver because I am reapplying for another visa when the first one was denied. I don't get it. The first aplication was approved only at approved to move from the US to Lagos, Nigeria. Lagos, Nigeria denied it. I later received a letter making it offical from USCIS. It even told me I could reapply, so I did.

Luckily, I called the 800 number and was told to make an appointment at the field offie which I just did. Monday I should have some answers to this dilema.

Eric

[Ian H. 207]

The K1 process doesn't always work out for everyone. In our case I wasn't able to attend the interview and were denied because they didn't think it was bona fide. We filed for CR1 instead and got approved with minimal effort. If it fails the 2nd time you could always get married and do the CR1 process.

Also it sounds like you sent about the same proofs we did when filed K1, and we didn't get RFE's. Did you include the letters of intent to marry? Hopefully it's something minor.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

There is a rule about a waiver for multiple filings. It is meant to help protect the unwary foreign fiancé from social idiots that travel, marry and dump. Because you are filing for the same person the law makes no sense and your wording for the waiver can point to that. That the waiver is so they can inform the fiancé that you have a history. But the woman doesn't need to be informed she is your history. http://www.ilw.com/articles/2007,0206-ellis.shtm a good read on the subject

Edited August 8, 2014 by NigeriaorBust

[dwheels76 5,468]

Hello All,

Get this. I have been waiting a few days to get the letter in the mail from USCIS, request for evidence. I have been wondering what they could possibly want. I have had some practice with the fiance visa paperwork, since my first application was denied. I have refiled, for the same woman, a second time. The first visa was denied because we couldn't establish a bona fide relationship. So. I front loaded the second application with a whole ream of paper which included emails, 2 trips to Nigeria, photos, boarding passes, hotel receipts. You name it.... I sent everything.

I got the letter and was shocked! I need to apply for a waiver because I am reapplying for another visa when the first one was denied. I don't get it. The first aplication was approved only at approved to move from the US to Lagos, Nigeria. Lagos, Nigeria denied it. I later received a letter making it offical from USCIS. It even told me I could reapply, so I did.

Luckily, I called the 800 number and was told to make an appointment at the field offie which I just did. Monday I should have some answers to this dilema.

Eric

Have you had any other K1 filings? You do get to file 2 I believe. So was there another?

[sara..... 371]

I think they are asking for a letter explaining about the first K-1 you filed

sara

[CowBoE 429]

Hello All,

Get this. I have been waiting a few days to get the letter in the mail from USCIS, request for evidence. I have been wondering what they could possibly want. I have had some practice with the fiance visa paperwork, since my first application was denied. I have refiled, for the same woman, a second time. The first visa was denied because we couldn't establish a bona fide relationship. So. I front loaded the second application with a whole ream of paper which included emails, 2 trips to Nigeria, photos, boarding passes, hotel receipts. You name it.... I sent everything.

I got the letter and was shocked! I need to apply for a waiver because I am reapplying for another visa when the first one was denied. I don't get it. The first aplication was approved only at approved to move from the US to Lagos, Nigeria. Lagos, Nigeria denied it. I later received a letter making it offical from USCIS. It even told me I could reapply, so I did.

Luckily, I called the 800 number and was told to make an appointment at the field offie which I just did. Monday I should have some answers to this dilema.

Eric

Nigeria has received much notoriety on many scams that originate from there,

so perhaps they are scrutinizing even more thoroughly.

Going through this once is bad enough, let alone doing it again and getting scrutinized again.

Sounds like you are legit, and prepared better the second time,

so hopefully face to face meeting with the field officer on Monday

can clear the way.

You should fill out the timeline in the meanwhile.

Best of luck.

[Zedayn 485]

Hello All,

Get this. I have been waiting a few days to get the letter in the mail from USCIS, request for evidence. I have been wondering what they could possibly want. I have had some practice with the fiance visa paperwork, since my first application was denied. I have refiled, for the same woman, a second time. The first visa was denied because we couldn't establish a bona fide relationship. So. I front loaded the second application with a whole ream of paper which included emails, 2 trips to Nigeria, photos, boarding passes, hotel receipts. You name it.... I sent everything.

I got the letter and was shocked! I need to apply for a waiver because I am reapplying for another visa when the first one was denied. I don't get it. The first aplication was approved only at approved to move from the US to Lagos, Nigeria. Lagos, Nigeria denied it. I later received a letter making it offical from USCIS. It even told me I could reapply, so I did.

Luckily, I called the 800 number and was told to make an appointment at the field offie which I just did. Monday I should have some answers to this dilema.

Eric

If you had an I-129F petition approved less than 2 years ago AND this is your 2nd I-129F petition; OR this is your 3rd (or more) I-129F petition, you are required to submit a request for a waiver of the multiple filing limitations.

Do not bother with going to the field office, they will tell you exactly what I'm going to tell you now. You need to write a letter requesting a waiver, and submit this letter request with your RFE. Here is an example of the letter:

RE: General Waiver for multiple filers

To Whom It May Concern:

In compliance with the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA), I respectfully request a waiver on the filing limitations in connection with my current petition. A waiver is appropriate in my circumstance because I have no criminal history with regard to the “specified crimes” under IMBRA.

I have one prior approved Form I-129F for [NAME], receipt number [RECEIPT #]. This petition was approved on [DATE], and resulted in...

Evidence to support this waiver includes:

[YOUR EVIDENCE]

Thank you for your kind consideration of my request.

Sincerely,

Explain what happened with your previous petition, and include evidence to support it. You say the first visa was denied, then include as evidence the denial notice which states the reason you were denied.

[dwheels76 5,468]

If you had an I-129F petition approved less than 2 years ago AND this is your 2nd I-129F petition; OR this is your 3rd (or more) I-129F petition, you are required to submit a request for a waiver of the multiple filing limitations.

Do not bother with going to the field office, they will tell you exactly what I'm going to tell you now. You need to write a letter requesting a waiver, and submit this letter request with your RFE. Here is an example of the letter:

RE: General Waiver for multiple filers

To Whom It May Concern:

In compliance with the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA), I respectfully request a waiver on the filing limitations in connection with my current petition. A waiver is appropriate in my circumstance because I have no criminal history with regard to the “specified crimes” under IMBRA.

I have one prior approved Form I-129F for [NAME], receipt number [RECEIPT #]. This petition was approved on [DATE], and resulted in...

Evidence to support this waiver includes:

[YOUR EVIDENCE]

Thank you for your kind consideration of my request.

Sincerely,

Explain what happened with your previous petition, and include evidence to support it. You say the first visa was denied, then include as evidence the denial notice which states the reason you were denied.

WOW this is awesome. Needs to be pinned somewhere. I am filing away myself. Thank you.

[eberhart1967 0]

Maybe I didn't do a very good job of explaining my situation. My first K1 visa was denied. USCIS should know this, they are the ones that denied it. So, I refiled another k1 application. Same woman, same relationship. USCIS told me I need a waiver because I have multiple filings within a 2 year period. I called them again and explained the situation to the phone agent. He agreed that a mistake was made on their part. I will take all my documentation into the field office on Monday and go from there. I appreciate all the responses.

[Zedayn 485]

Maybe I didn't do a very good job of explaining my situation. My first K1 visa was denied. USCIS should know this, they are the ones that denied it. So, I refiled another k1 application. Same woman, same relationship. USCIS told me I need a waiver because I have multiple filings within a 2 year period. I called them again and explained the situation to the phone agent. He agreed that a mistake was made on their part. I will take all my documentation into the field office on Monday and go from there. I appreciate all the responses.

USCIS isn't who denies the visa, its the embassy working under the Department of State (DOS) that denies it. From your first post (and also in this post), you say your first K-1 visa was denied. This implies that your I-129F was approved, went to the embassy and it was denied at the embassy for lack of a bonafide relationship. USCIS will not deny for lack of a bonafide relationship..they will deny if you do not meet the requirements for the petition.

So, to be clear, was your first I-129F petition denied, or was it approved and denied at the embassy?

[eberhart1967 0]

You seem to know a lot about this whole process. You are correct... The K1 Visa was approved by USCIS and then denied by the Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria. However, 4 months after Lagos denied the Visa, I received an official letter from USCIS which told me the Visa was denied. It seems in this case, the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing. I would think that they would have done a little bit of internal investigation to figure this out. I was reapplying with more evidence to try and prove that our relationship is bona fide.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

When we went down the path of K1 the second time we simply had a letter that stated that we were exempt from the requirement because if was the same couple and the law is about different couples.

[Zedayn 485]

You seem to know a lot about this whole process. You are correct... The K1 Visa was approved by USCIS and then denied by the Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria. However, 4 months after Lagos denied the Visa, I received an official letter from USCIS which told me the Visa was denied. It seems in this case, the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing. I would think that they would have done a little bit of internal investigation to figure this out. I was reapplying with more evidence to try and prove that our relationship is bona fide.

The visa was denied at the embassy, and your petition was returned back to USCIS. USCIS in turn told you that the visa was denied (in case you didn't already know it), but they themselves weren't the ones to deny it. There is nothing here to investigate, your visa was denied the first time.

The point here is, this is your 2nd petition within 2 years of your first. According to the IMBRA, you are required to have a waiver in order for your 2nd petition to be approved. To get this waiver, you need to simply ASK for it...write a waiver request letter like the example letter I showed you in a previous post. This is what your RFE is asking you for, and this is all that you need to provide.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

They want a waiver from you. From the I-129F instructions > http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/i-129finstr.pdf

2. What Filing Limitations Does IMBRA Place on K-1 Nonimmigrant Petitioners?

You must apply for a filing limitations waiver if any of the following apply:

a. You have previously filed K-1 petitions for two or more beneficiaries; or
b. You previously had a K-1 petition approved and less than 2 years have passed since the filing date of such previously
approved petition.

To request a waiver, submit a written request with this petition accompanied by documentation supporting your claim
to the waiver.

~ Moved from K-1 Process IMBRA Special Topics - topic about IMBRA waiver ~

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Subject to subparagraphs (B) and ©, a consular officer may not approve a petition under paragraph (1) unless the officer has verified that- ''(i) the petitioner has not, previous to the pending petition, petitioned under paragraph (1) with respect to two or more applying aliens; and
''(ii) if the petitioner has had such a petition previously approved, 2 years have elapsed since the filing of such previously approved petition.

That is the exact wording, So because there isn't 2 aliens involved they don't need a wavier because part II refers to having a previous petition and it involves 2 or more aliens. However consular officers never approve petitions they approve visas. So it seems this law has no teeth whatever.