… In addition, recorded in a very helpful case, the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) in Washington D.C. ruled that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was wrong in revoking a fiancée visa petition based on a consular officer's conclusion, at the visa interview, that the relationship was not "bona fide".   This includes age difference, not knowing the petitioner enough, or not performing well in the interview.  (The beneficiay and petitioner  had provided evidence of two trips together, submitted copies of text messages, skype between himself and the beneficiary, as well as photos of the couple being together.  So the Embassy sent the case back to USCIS.
 
The AAO ruled that the USCIS' revocation of the petition was improper, because the law states that the USCIS "shall" approve the Form I-129F [fiancée petition] when a petitioner submits evidence to establish that he/she and the beneficiary have met within the two-year period preceding the filing the Form I-129F, have a bona fide intention to marry and are legally able and willing to marry within 90 days of the beneficiary's arrival in the U.S.". That's all!
 
The AAO noted that the "approval of a Form I-129F does not depend on the level of closeness between the two parties", such that the consular officer's questions and concerns regarding the "level of intimacy" between the petitioner and the beneficiary at the time of the beneficiary's interview should not be a factor in connection with a fiancée petition or the issuance of a fiancée visa. The law simply requires a "bona fide intention to marry", "which is not synonymous with a requirement that the petitioner establish the closeness of their relationship." In other words, the law does not require that the beneficiary be intimately knowledgeable regarding the petitioner or his life-history, or that USCIS evaluate the closeness of the relationship before approving the fiancée petition. Instead, the law allows for approval of a fiancée petition when the petitioner and beneficiary have met within the 2-year period before filing of the K-1 fiancée petition.
 
Of course once a person enters the U.S. on a K-1 (fiancé) visa, he or she must marry the American who petitioned them within 90 days, and then must prove that their relationship is bona fide and not fixed. This procedure also makes sense: if the only requirement for a fiancée visa is that the couple have met at least once within the past two years (as well as that they intend to marry), one meeting is certainly is not enough time to enable people to know the intimate details and backgrounds of each other's lives. (In fact, there was a game show on television, called "The Newlywed Game", where married couples were separated and asked questions about each other, and many times they got the answers wrong. These were people were already married and yet didn't know intimate details of the other's life and habits. Imagine if a couple may have met only once or twice, and developed that relationship only via text and email. Certainly, they could not be expected to know as much about each other as newlyweds.
 
If the consulate has obtained any evidence to the contrary, I will consider this, however he has a clear PCC, we are in love, made 2 trips together, talk and text many hours DAILY, and we are humbly asking that the evidence be reviewed again as we want to be together so very very much!!  Thank you so very much, and from the bottom of my heart.