Please help RFE problem...doesn't have the 2 year meeting requirement for a K! visa

[Brian&Naty 0]

Hi there all...hope someone can help me

here's my case….

My girlfriend and I started dating since 1986 and started living together in 1994. We can't get married that time as she can't get an annulment on her first marriage because she can't locate her ex-husband - they were already separated for 3 years when we started dating. She gave birth to our son last 1996.

Year 2002, my US Immigrant visa application was approved and since we're not married, I can only take my son with me and she was left all alone. Two years ago, she finally located her ex-husband and she filed for an annulment which was granted early this year. I immediately applied for a K-1 visa and saw that one of the requirements was to have met one’s fiancee at least two years from the date of the K-1 visa application. I know that we didn't meet the requirement as the last time my son and I went to see her was 2006, which was out of the 2 year window requirement but the documents I've submitted were I think more than enough to prove that we really have an honest and a genuine relationship.

We were about to visit her last 2007, but her annulment was in the process that time and she needed the money which was about $8,000. So, I don't have a choice but to give her the money and postpone our visit. We planned again to visit her last year but unfortunately her mom passed away before we can even schedule our visit. I have lots of debt of gratitude to her mom (mostly financial), so again instead of visiting her, I decided to give her the money to help her for all the funeral expenses.

Going back to the evidence I've submitted, many of the pictures in the package have dates inside the photos - like a banner on the background saying “Welcome, Christmas Party 1986”, a poster of a stage play we watched and was luckily included in the background that clearly states the time, the month, the day and the year or like the 1994 election banner that was also included in the background and a lot more that will prove that we really have a relationship for the past 20 years now. I've also included the birth certificate of our son clearly stating the she was the mother. I've also included some of my bank account statement showing I'm sending her money every month.

But still they were asking for a proof that we have met personally 2 years prior to the petition . She was my girlfriend for more than 20 years now and we have been living before for 10 years prior to my immigration here in the U.S. plus the fact that she was the mother of my son and I have been sending her money every month up to now (I can back it all up with my bank account statements). The pictures I have sent to them dates back when we first started dating since 1986 up to the time we left last 2003 and the last time we visited her last 2006, I even included a video of the visit.

The only thing that I can afford right now is her plane ticket and a small amount to spend for our wedding once she gets her. Other than that, I am totally out of money – reason why I’m asking for help and suggestions because I don’t have money to pay for an immigration lawyer.

If you guys were in the same situation before, as I am now and you did pull it through without a lawyer’s help, then please reply immediately as I only have few days left to respond to the immigration. And if you think there’s no way I can pull this through without the help of a lawyer, can you suggest one that is good but won’t totally drain my savings? (preferably in the Northern California area)

BTW, I only have until August 25th to reply or they will deny my petition. I still haven’t told my fiancee about the bad news as I know she will die from misery.

Sorry for the long letter guys, I really have to vent my frustration.

Thank you all in advance…

I suggest that you, yourself, return to the Philippines and spend a week or so there. I know she wants to see her son, but if financial hardship is the reasoning, then I would just find a way yo get your butt over there and leave your son here. Got anything you can sell? Do whatever it takes or file for an extension on your application if you run out of time. If this is truly what you want, then it will happen.

Good Luck to you and your family.

[Twisted K 2]

Hi, Voltz, sorry for your situation, and please tell me I am wrong, but did you say you have become a USC? I read in your original post and it says that your US Immigrant visa was approved. So have you become a citizen since 2002? Otherwise, that is another can of worms, so to speak, as only USCs can apply for fiance visas. If you are an LPR, then you can get married and bring her otherwise. Please tell me I am wrong, and you just haven't mentioned .

[Voltz 0]

Your I-129F is a petition in order that your fiancee be allowed to apply for a visa. USCIS accepts/denies the petition and dictates yes or no on if your fiancee can do the actual visa application process. That is where she gives the interview at the embassy. The interviewer there has all your paperwork in front of him. He sees the exact same evidences, but is a different person and what the USCIS agent OKed, does not mean the Embassy agent has to OK it too. Too many people here have already posted a multitude of topics in which they or their fiance(e) got denied in the interview for reasons; both seemingly legitimate and others that seemed to me extremely petty. Embassies issue USA visas to those of the countries they are located in. This is including in 'diplomacy'.

calm down bro..I'm with you, I really am...

[pushbrk 12,149]

Your I-129F is a petition in order that your fiancee be allowed to apply for a visa. USCIS accepts/denies the petition and dictates yes or no on if your fiancee can do the actual visa application process. That is where she gives the interview at the embassy. The interviewer there has all your paperwork in front of him. He sees the exact same evidences, but is a different person and what the USCIS agent OKed, does not mean the Embassy agent has to OK it too. Too many people here have already posted a multitude of topics in which they or their fiance(e) got denied in the interview for reasons; both seemingly legitimate and others that seemed to me extremely petty. Embassies issue USA visas to those of the countries they are located in. This is including in 'diplomacy'.

Just to clarify, the unit within the Embassy in Manila that deals with fiance visas is the Consulate Immigrant Visa Unit. In some cases these Consular officers work inside an Embassy compound. In other cases they work at a Consulate. Consulates, like Embassy's are part of the State Department, while USCIS is part of Homeland Security. USCIS decides whether your fiancee can apply for a visa. Consular officers decide whether to grant the visa. In this process, an "Embassy" is just a building in which a Consular Officer conducts a visa interview.

Edited August 8, 2009 by pushbrk