Age difference will matter for K1 Visa

[Jasman0717 8]

Claudeth is 32 years my junior and we blew right through the entire process from K-1 to removing conditions.

The important thing is to prove an ongoing, loving relationship.

[JeremyR 8]

Going back to the original question...

My wife (US citizen) is 21 years older than me and I am quite young. We were very concerned going into K-1 interview that I would be questioned strongly about our age gap and given a rough ride. Truth is, I wasn't. The Consular Officer asked, sure, but didn't make that much of a deal about it. Nowadays, we're approaching the AOS interview within the next 2-6 months and are again worried. We're not expecting such an easy ride this time.

I think the thing to remember is that the world has changed in the last decade and nowhere is this more apparent than in the world's immigration systems. 10 years ago, the 'normal' way was that you met and fell in love with someone based on a physical meeting or introduction, a bar, party, work, etc. You saw someone, formed an instant opinion about them based on their age, appearance and personality and the relationship started (or not) from there.

These days, we have the internet and it's a very common way to meet new people. It takes away the physical aspect of that pre-judgement stage because all you have to go on are their words and personality. If you fall in love based on personality alone, age doesn't matter one iota .

Yes, there can be other problems. Certain members of both of our families, namely one of my grandmothers and her father (who are both pretty much the same age) found it particularly difficult to understand. But they are children of a different age when things were done differently and if a relationship is strong enough, then nobody, not even a parent, can get in the way. In the end, her father came around and we now get on well, 2.5 years down the line. My grandmother has learned that she's the only person on my side of the family who cares.

The Consulates and USCIS realise that this attitude shift has happened and that people don't always get together with someone their own age nowadays. They obviously have to be careful of sham marriages but realise that they will be on the look out for - and see - all the signs that demonstrate a real relationship as well. If you have a real relationship, there should be nothing to worry about.

I think the bottom line is this - if you can picture the two of you X years down the line, as a little old lady and a somewhat younger little old man (or vice-versa), still together and just as happy then you won't have any real problems. Everybody else will be able to see that, too

[katiushka 1]

Hi Lachifa, I applied for a K1 also from Peru and the age difference is not an issue. my current husband is 15 years older than me and nobody questioned it.

What i am going to say here is my advice.

• first of all, unless you both are going to choose a lawyer, READ!!!!!! read as much as you can, document yourself, learn the procceses, be aware of the timelines. if you want to get married i think there are 3 procedures: K1, K3 and Direct consular filling and something like that. Study the steps and timelines and acording to this, take your desision. I choose K1 because I had a pending work contract in Peru and the date to go and travel to the states to get married was close to the end of my contract.
• I didint see you saying anything about were your boyfriend lives. was he visiting Peru only or he works there and will be there for a while? that is also important to consider to choose what path to take. BTW my husband also said that he would be very happy to come to Peru to live with me but..... considering the economy (..... and to the americans dont get offended but, in peru we DO know what a real crisis is.......), it didint have any sense for him abandoning his job, pension, Social security... so at the end i am here on the states.
• i was reading to the answers and somebody said it is not bonafide if you file after knowing each other for 2 weeks. please I also read all the answers and agree with most of them. I just want to add that filling for a K1 wont take less than 2 weeks maybe...... and then the interview in the embassy takes between 3 and 5 months..... so for the date of the interview you both will have at least 6 months dating ( more chatting and all that) and that is enough time to proove a relationship. so if in the next 6 months you are still together and love each other, i bet you wont have any problems.
• find out if your boyfriend has any police records on the states.... that may be an issue.... this and other conditions, like income, you will find them when you read... so againg READ!!!!!!!
• my las advice is that if you decide to file by yourself, read, and read, and read...... the procedures are not imposible to do, a lot of people went through them, it is a little bit detail oriented and maybe a couple of tricky questions but it is not imposible.

that's all i remember now i can tell you. good luck.

regards to all the Peru portal members!!!!!!!! BTW i got my AOS interview in feb 18th!!!!!! yeeeeee!!!!!!

[K and R 0]

My girlfriend is 12 years older than me and i'm 22, we are going to have the interview very soon. I'll keep you update.

[amine22 0]

hi my name is amine

i want to ask you samething.

i met woman in internet from us . she did't tell her age in first time every time i ask her she change the topic. with time we got close i liked her personality how she thinking . her skills everything things can person see just in typing .

really i full in love with her even i don't know her age . even i was think why she don't want to tell me her age .

i show her my relagion and belive in it . this make love her more.

this love make don't thinking about nothing just to be with her .

she vised me last mouth than i knew her age my love to her come strong . i have 22 years and she have 51 years

i belive now age just number and really i want t be here.

i don't know if they will give us the visa or not....

i don't what i have to do to make him bilieve me ?

or what i have to do?

if same1 have same dvacetome please send it

than you soo much

amine*

[lachifa 0]

hi my name is amine

i want to ask you samething.

i met woman in internet from us . she did't tell her age in first time every time i ask her she change the topic. with time we got close i liked her personality how she thinking . her skills everything things can person see just in typing .

really i full in love with her even i don't know her age . even i was think why she don't want to tell me her age .

i show her my relagion and belive in it . this make love her more.

this love make don't thinking about nothing just to be with her .

she vised me last mouth than i knew her age my love to her come strong . i have 22 years and she have 51 years

i belive now age just number and really i want t be here.

i don't know if they will give us the visa or not....

i don't what i have to do to make him bilieve me ?

or what i have to do?

if same1 have same dvacetome please send it

than you soo much

amine*

Well Amine, if you really love each other and have the prove to meet her in person, I don't think there's a problem.

[JeremyR 8]

The basic requirements for a K-1 visa are:

1. That you have met in person in the past two years.

2. That you can demonstrate a genuine relationship.

3. That the beneficiary isn't inadmissible for other reasons (criminal past, medical risk, habitual drug user, etc).

There is no law prohibiting age-gap couples at any stage of the immigration process (such a law would undoubtedly be unconstitutional). If you tick those three boxes, you will be fine. Just make sure that you leave the consular officer at your visa interview with no doubt about the strength of your relationship.

To update my story posted further up this thread, the expected AOS interview never happened - green card received with no interview so once again, we were worrying that our age gap would prejudice our case for no reason.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi!

I'm new here.....but i think that this site will help me a lot with the documents my boyfriend and I need for the K-1 Visa.

He is a U.S. citizen and I'm from Peru. We have a difference in our ages...about 19 years. We just want to be together, that's all that really matter to us..but I'd read in some web pages, that a lot of times, Embassy denies the K-1 visa, because of the age difference..and I'm crazy about that because that really shouldn't matter.

We are trying to know whta is better to us.... if the K-1 visa or the K-3...

We want to make this work, but we need some good advice from you guys.

I hope you can help us.

P.S: ooohhh I forget to tell, that we met for the first time on December 31.. and it's says that we should see us at least for 2 years..so that means that we can not apply for that kind of visa??

You can read anything on the web. This is the best family based immigration site.

Generally age difference does not matter. In some countries and in some cultures it can cause a "red flag" and suspicion of fraud. It is not the age difference per se, it is the deviance from cultures that raises questions. For example it is extremely unusual in some cultures for a man to marry a woman that is older than he is. Such a thing can just cause suspicion and make it more difficult for the couple to prove their relationship is genuine. I would not say it happens often, but I have read of several denials here where the woman was older than the man.

I have never seen one where the man was older that was denied (not to say it never happened, I just never heard of it) In some cultures it is not unusual for the man to be considerably older and that does not draw any suspicion as it is in keeping with the culture of that country. When something is out of the "ordinary" it just raises questions.

Incidentlally, I have never seen, and probably never will see, a case where "age difference" is the stated reason for denial. They will find another reason if age difference causes them suspicion of visa fraud

[ThaitoUSA 15]

It is acceptable for the man to be much older than the woman to the point that he could be her grandfather.

However if the woman is at all older than the man you are much more apt to have issues. All is not fair.

I hope not! My fiancée (Thai) is 5 months older than me. What can I say? I like older women.

Edited April 13, 2009 by ThaitoUSA

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

hi my name is amine

i want to ask you samething.

i met woman in internet from us . she did't tell her age in first time every time i ask her she change the topic. with time we got close i liked her personality how she thinking . her skills everything things can person see just in typing .

really i full in love with her even i don't know her age . even i was think why she don't want to tell me her age .

i show her my relagion and belive in it . this make love her more.

this love make don't thinking about nothing just to be with her .

she vised me last mouth than i knew her age my love to her come strong . i have 22 years and she have 51 years

i belive now age just number and really i want t be here.

i don't know if they will give us the visa or not....

i don't what i have to do to make him bilieve me ?

or what i have to do?

if same1 have same dvacetome please send it

than you soo much

amine*

Morroco is one of the countries I have seen visas denied for "not clearly eligible" when the woman was as little as 3 years older. There was a recent thread about just this thing here in the last two weeks.

PS You want to come to the United States? First cultural lesson...NEVER ask a woman how old she is!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yikes. And unless you KNOW she is pregnant, never ask her that either!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi!

I'm new here.....but i think that this site will help me a lot with the documents my boyfriend and I need for the K-1 Visa.

He is a U.S. citizen and I'm from Peru. We have a difference in our ages...about 19 years. We just want to be together, that's all that really matter to us..but I'd read in some web pages, that a lot of times, Embassy denies the K-1 visa, because of the age difference..and I'm crazy about that because that really shouldn't matter.

We are trying to know whta is better to us.... if the K-1 visa or the K-3...

We want to make this work, but we need some good advice from you guys.

I hope you can help us.

P.S: ooohhh I forget to tell, that we met for the first time on December 31.. and it's says that we should see us at least for 2 years..so that means that we can not apply for that kind of visa??

Do you mean that you meet fot thr first time Dec 31 2008?

If so, that is going to be a bigger problem than any age difference.

You really should consider not filing for a few months so that there is time to build evidence of a bonafide relationship.

WHAT???? File for a K-1 right away if you want, there is no need to show a bona fide realtionship for the petition, that comes later at the interview. You can meet someone tonight and file the petition tomorrow morning, there IS NO minimum amout of time you need to know someone. Only that you have met in person at least ONE time in the previous TWO years.

It will not be a problem at all. If it had anything to do with the petition it would be asked on the I-129f, it is not.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

They had a K-1 petition ready to send, two weeks after they discovered each other's existence? They must have started filling out the paperwork on their second or third date! Did they get a visa?

Yes, they were '08 april VSC filers with us. He met her in the Ukraine in March 08 and filed in April. He's also had previous K-1's. They were approved in August and had the interview in November. They are now married. They are not the only ones to have a short courtship...far from it.

To suggest they wait to file the I-129f because they just met in person a couple of weeks ago makes no sense as it's not up to the USCIS to decide whether you are in love 'enough' or not. The law states that you must have met in person within the last two years and that you must both be free to marry and that the usc must be allowed to petition for an alien fiance. That is it.

The Embassy is a different story but by the time the couple gets there (6-12+ months later) it's quite likely they will have enough evidence to substantiate a bona-fide relationship...and because they are not dealing with a 'difficult' post, it's likely their short courtship is not to be questioned at all. Again...based on all the people we've seen go through Peru here...not just blowing smoke.

It's true that no matter what advice you get here (or anywhere for that matter) it is still ultimately up to you to educate yourself but it's also true that some of us have actually been here for quite some time and do know what we're talking about.

I met my Ukrainian wife, for the first time in our lives, quite by accident in Czech Republic and filed for the K-1 four months later. Never a question was asked. I am also 13 years older than her, which is quite customary in Ukraine. I did visit her 6 times with the interview being the last and that may have made a difference if they ever looked at our travel evidence, they didn't. As far as the consulate knew, I met her in Prague and came to the interview, they never even asked to look at the other evidence we had.

[venusfire503 54]

The basic requirements for a K-1 visa are:

1. That you have met in person in the past two years.

2. That you can demonstrate a genuine relationship.

3. That the beneficiary isn't inadmissible for other reasons (criminal past, medical risk, habitual drug user, etc).

There is no law prohibiting age-gap couples at any stage of the immigration process (such a law would undoubtedly be unconstitutional). If you tick those three boxes, you will be fine. Just make sure that you leave the consular officer at your visa interview with no doubt about the strength of your relationship.

To update my story posted further up this thread, the expected AOS interview never happened - green card received with no interview so once again, we were worrying that our age gap would prejudice our case for no reason.

Don't forget the other parts, too - 4 - they both must be free to marry, and 5 - that the USC has to prove enough income to sponsor the immigrant (or get a co-sponsor).

I really think if these 5 things are true, things will be fine, even if it takes a little longer for some.

If you have met in person within the last 2 years, have a clear history (no legal problems), are single, and have enough income, that's a good start. Without those 4 things, not much chance (fix what you can before applying). The only thing that you have to wonder about then is "can we prove a genuine relationship?" - that's the only thing that is really up to interpretation. That's why it's important to have as much proof as possible. The more you have, the less likely someone else is able to question your relationship and make it difficult or impossible to get the visa. If you have anything in your relationship that causes you (or others) concern (age gaps - esp the woman older, short relationship, very recent divorce, difference in religion/background, etc - and we had all of those), it's even more important to get solid evidence of a real relationship.

Best of luck!

venusfire

[venusfire503 54]

Oh, and if you're really concerned, it can't hurt to go to visit during the visa interview if that's possible (I know not everyone can - and others have gotten the visa without the USC going there). In my case, I stood outside for HOURS alone in the cold while they grilled the poor guy, but I think they knew I was there. I have no proof it helped, but if I hadn't gone, and he was denied, I think I would've been kicking myself.... Again, I know many have gotten the visa without, so don't get too worried if you can't go.

venusfire

[Imua 0]

My husband is 16 years younger than me and it is not 'normal' in Nepali culture for a man to marry an older woman, yet it was not mentioned in the interview.... Also we had a very short courtship(which is traditional in Nepal, but of course not where the bride is an older 'gori' woman) Neither issue came up at all. I know of another Nepal couple with the same age gap, older woman, that was approved just recently with no problems. I was not able to be there for the interview but we had a lot of evidence - the CO was impressed that everything was well organized and spent most time looking at our photos... I was able to visit one more time after our wedding and we had lots of photos with his family and friends and photos in different places when we were traveling, as well as hotel receipts, travel documents, chat logs, Pingo(phone) records, etc. Make sure your fiance is confident(but not 'scripted') if he is asked how he and his family feel about your age difference and the possibility of not having children - hopefully neither question will come up but best to be prepared.