Hey,

I did a post a few days ago about my fiance backing out right after I submitted the VISA petition. He tells me now the reason why he backed out is because in 1989 he shoplifted something small but he was not prosecuted for it and in 1991 he assaulted his ex-wife, who is an alcoholic and drove him to the brink of madness, and he was put on probation for one year. He thinks he will be denyed because of this. Do you think this would be cause for denial? I am aggravated because he has known this all the time and allowed me send out that VISA petition and lose my money. and he just tells me this. arghhhh

Hi biggrlsblouse,

How are you?
Are you resubmitting for a second K1? Or are you still awaiting a response from your first initial petition?

I think you will be okay, but your fiance will probably have to submit an IMBRA waiver if this is your second petition, and if he checked yes to the question on the I-129F that asks if he's ever been prosecuted for domestic violence. (I'm sorry, I can't remember the question # now.)

Check out the IMBRA forum on this website.

Good luck!
hz

IMBRA affects only the USC...

I think you should be more concerned about other stuff than just loosing your money. If he's hasn't told you his past of theft and assults, what else is he hiding?

Did you end up cancelling your check or anything? What I'm asking is did the petition go to USCIS without any interruption from you?

As far as the I-129F application is concerned, the petition only asks for the USC's criminal status. So, at this stage your fiance has not (fortunately) misrepresented any details to anyone but you.

He will have to be honest about these at the embassy interview as well as present a police certificate which will show these convictions anyway. If you are OK with what has happened then I think it will be ok. The embassy will be concerned that you know about the domestic violence incident and that you are happy to go ahead and marry him. I don't think any waiver is required but someone else may be able to guide you better on this;

Here is the relevant info about ineligibility on criminal grounds: (SOURCE>>> http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/ineligib...ities_1364.html )

(A) Conviction of certain crimes.-

(i) In general.-Except as provided in clause (ii), any alien convicted of, or who admits having committed, or who admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of-

(I) a crime involving moral turpitude (other than a purely political offense or an attempt or conspiracy to commit such a crime), or

(II) a violation of (or a conspiracy or attempt to violate) any law or regulation of a State, the United States, or a foreign country relating to a controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)), is inadmissible.

(ii) Exception.-Clause (i)(I) shall not apply to an alien who committed only one crime if-

(I) the crime was committed when the alien was under 18 years of age, and the crime was committed (and the alien released from any confinement to a prison or correctional institution imposed for the crime) more than 5 years before the date of application for a visa or other documentation and the date of application for admission to the United States, or

(II) the maximum penalty possible for the crime of which the alien was convicted (or which the alien admits having committed or of which the acts that the alien admits having committed constituted the essential elements) did not exceed imprisonment for one year and, if the alien was convicted of such crime, the alien was not sentenced to a term of imprisonment in excess of 6 months (regardless of the extent to which the sentence was ultimately executed).

Make sure you're happy with the fact that he did not disclose this to you until now. Good luck!

I don't see anything in the OP's post saying they used a marriage broker or even how they met. What would IMBRA have to do with their situation?

Also the i129f is filled out by the petitioner and doesn't ask about the beneficiary's criminal record. I believe they ask for that info later when they send you the packet from the embassy. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. (i read the form just now and don't see any questions about the beneficiary's criminal hx)

If he wasn't prosecuted for the shoplifting what exactly did they do? Would there be a record of it? Or was he young and they let him go with a verbal warning?
I don't think the domestic abuse situation sounds good at all. I also don't know that asking here on VJ is going to give you a definitive answer to that question as we all know the adjucators vary in their opinions on things as simple as dating photographs, using n/a or none, etc... Some are more anal than others it seems and they also interpret the USCIS guidelines slightly different.

If your love is strong and worth it to you I wouldn't think that the cost involved in continuing the process would matter. I'd fight for my relationship until all avenues were exhausted. Then we'd move to another country to be together.

Do you really know him well enough if you just found out these MAJOR situations in his past ? I'd wonder what else there is. I don't want to sound judgemental here, just suggesting you might want to think about that. Only you know the answer to that.
I wish you the best of luck figuring this out!

Edit: Babblesgirl you beat me to it and stated my thoughts exactly and much more clearly.

I agree the IMBRA law is not in play here as we are referring to the foreign fiance, however just to clarify, what is commonly referred to as IMBRA has more reaching provisions than simply the use of a marriage broker. For example, it also asks about certain criminal convictions & provisions regarding previous petition activity.....

Hey CBR, good to see you.
You're right about the petition stage. USCIS are only concerned with the petitioner's eligibility. Nothing anywhere about the beneficiary's criminal background.
However, this will come up at the consular stage and I think the CO will want to be satisfied that the petitioner is aware of the beneficiary's domestic violence conviction. So, it's a good job he did tell her now.
And you didn't sound judgemental at all

I should edit that to say the CO may want to be satisfied. No guarantees of anything being asked but best to be prepared.

Ooops!
I'm sorry... for some reason, i thought she was the beneficiary and she was asking about her petitioner having a record. Sorry about that.

Yes, IMBRA only concerns the petitioner.
If it is your second K1 petition for the same person within two years, you'd still have to do the IMBRA regardless of the marriage broker aspect.


Sorry for any confusion,
hz

S'ok! It's going to be a relevant point if she cancelled the previous petition. We're only assuming at the moment that she didn't cancel.

Yeah, i've been on this site all day because somehow i've become addicted...
so all the posts are getting jumbled in my head!!

i'm becoming a VJ junkie... don't listen to anything i write.

A second petition for the same person is actual a point of confusion... If you read the actual provisions of the law it indicates two or more petitions for different fiance(e)'s.... The question is in how the USCIS is adjudicating these as initially people were receiving RFE's but they may be adjudicating properly now.

I agree with this post.

Trust is all you have in this process for quite a while. Where is it?

I have known him for 3 1/2 years. We have waited this long to finally file for the petition, which I just did Saturday, February 2nd. He had lied to me about some things in the beginning, minor little stuff, and then he seemed to be OK for the most part ever since. He has visited me 10 times in three years. Then we get down to this point and I even said to him are you sure before I send this in and he says I am sure. Then two days later, he says he wants to back out without giving me a specific reason. Two days later, he tells me this. So, the post office said they did not even deliver it until this past Monday, February 11th, so I made a call to the immigration number on their website and she said I would have to just sent in a letter withdrawing the petition. I did not give any reasons why and she said since it was so early in the game and I don't even have a receipt number, which could take four weeks, that there shouldn't be any problem withdrawing it. Now he says to me he could go through with it. He just does not want to go to the interview and then be denied and not be able to come back to the U.S. I think he is more worried about having to go the Embassy for the interview and submitting a police report thinking they might deny him future entry into the States. I told him I don't think he knows what he wants to do. One day it is one thing and the next day it is something else.

Well, it's a difficult one - saving yourself $455 and canceling the petition now (will your fee even be returned?) or using the time between now and your NOA2 approval to work out what each of you want.

I can't advise you on that I'm genuinely sorry that this is happening to you. I hope you come to a resolution that suits both of you.

The money is gone. They told me that on the phone today.

I am so sorry. Having been through this process, I can only imagine this happening to me.

Maybe he is just really scared and projecting it this way. The scared part is understandable. Treating you this way is not.

Please sit him down and really find out what he wants to do. You have to tell him these kinds of games cannot continue. If you both want to be together, you figure out a way to do that. If not, then no games are necessary.

No need to cancel then. You bought yourself some time.

Yeah, but I am wondering about him now.

I understand. But, if you iron things out with him and come to some agreement on a way forward, the last thing you need is to be paying USCIS another $455. So, don't be hasty cancelling anything because it could take 3-6 months to approve anyway.

I totally sympathise with your situation. If you want my opjnion, and it is just an opinion, the onus is on him now to explain to you why he agreed that you would petition for him to come to the US to marry before he had been completely honest with you about his past. If he wants to marry you then he should be able to trust you - and you him.

Marriage is based on trust. How can you trust someone after 3 yrs, if in the last minute, they throw this in. I didn't mean to put you on the spot, or to justify your relationship to us here on VJ, cause of course you dont have to! But just for your own inner peace, to know that nothing else lurks in his past and will not be an issue in your relationship in the future.

I'd be flat out honest with him and say, what's more important, ME or your future entries into the US (to visit whomever they may be). You are his fiance, you should be his priority.

Good luck to you.

Has he been entering the US on the VWP each time he visits you? If any of his offences are CIMT's and he's not been declaring them each time he's entered this could be a serious problem for him.

Gillian

Moving this to the waiver forum as the issues at hand seem to be more relevant for that forum.

If your fiance has a record (and you will only know that if he orders a police report) and he has not answered the questions on his I94 properly on any of his 10 VWP entries, that will give you some difficulty with your waiver process.