Visa Denied

[Gene & Susan 1]

Come on guys my ex-wife left me in May 2009, and we had been very cold for a couple of years up to May, I didn't think about looking until I got divorce papers from her, and I met my Fiancee online in August of 2009, and after my divorce was final on September 16, 2009, I booked a trip to Kenya for mid-October, got engaged, came back to the states on October 22, and filed for a Fiancee Visa (K-1) and although we haven't been together in person again yet, we communicate various ways ever single day and I have all that documented, including sending her some moneygram support money and romantic cards, etc. She had documentation up thru the date of the first interview. I don't think this is such a short time. True it's been less than a year, but we have known each other now almost 9 months..true we got engaged a while back, but the relationship just keeps growing. I had plenty of documentation, photos, receipts, etc., to get the application approved, and I have plenty of phone/text, email, moneygram receipts from October to now.

[TracyTN 237]

Come on guys my ex-wife left me in May 2009, and we had been very cold for a couple of years up to May, I didn't think about looking until I got divorce papers from her, and I met my Fiancee online in August of 2009, and after my divorce was final on September 16, 2009, I booked a trip to Kenya for mid-October, got engaged, came back to the states on October 22, and filed for a Fiancee Visa (K-1) and although we haven't been together in person again yet, we communicate various ways ever single day and I have all that documented, including sending her some moneygram support money and romantic cards, etc. She had documentation up thru the date of the first interview. I don't think this is such a short time. True it's been less than a year, but we have known each other now almost 9 months..true we got engaged a while back, but the relationship just keeps growing. I had plenty of documentation, photos, receipts, etc., to get the application approved, and I have plenty of phone/text, email, moneygram receipts from October to now.

Wait - you've never met in person? I'm VERY surprised your K1 petition (not visa) was ever approved by USCIS. Did you file some kind of waiver with the petition in order to waive that particular requirement? If so, what was the grounds?

Conoffs have the right to turn the visa application down for reasons they see fit - including when/if they don't agree with the USCIS' approval of the initial petition. I don't think you having not met in person helped you here. It doesn't sound like the actual reason they gave, but it certainly isn't helping your case any.

[Gene & Susan 1]

Wait - you've never met in person? I'm VERY surprised your K1 petition (not visa) was ever approved by USCIS. Did you file some kind of waiver with the petition in order to waive that particular requirement? If so, what was the grounds?

Conoffs have the right to turn the visa application down for reasons they see fit - including when/if they don't agree with the USCIS' approval of the initial petition. I don't think you having not met in person helped you here. It doesn't sound like the actual reason they gave, but it certainly isn't helping your case any.

Of course we met in person, read my previous post...I traveled to Kenya in middle October, and my fiancee and I spent almost 2 glorious weeks together, we did lots of fun things, took lots of photos together,,I asked her to marry me and gave her a ring, and of course photographed that. Oh I know I have to visit her in her country and I DID.

[TracyTN 237]

Sorry, I obviously misread it and pi$$ed you off.

I'll leave your thread now - best of luck.

[DanielParul 50]

You did everything right to be eligible to apply for a I-129f petition. However, its all about what happened during the interview, what red flags caused the CO to deny your fiancee a visa. Like everybody has said, there is no point speculating, get the details from her so that you both can pinpoint what went wrong and can prepare to address it. Try to keep the case at the consulate and get in touch with an immigration attorney.

[mox 298]

At at guess, I would say your quick courtship and engagement is possibly the issue. Add to that fact you have a previous immigrant marriage.

What part of the OP's post didn't you read?

The interviewer was saying her story and my story didn't match up.

Unless the OP is lying, he just explained the reason why they were denied. Quick courtships, engagements, and previous immigrant marriages are rarely a reason for denial in and of themselves. This is yet more misinformation, more FUD, more wrong.

[pushbrk 12,260]

I don't have a clue yet. She will be emailing me. There is no reason to think there would

be anything that wouldn't match up.

You'll need a complete and detailed report of the interview as well as a copy of the notice she was given. From those, you'll be able to determine what didn't match up. Once you know the what, you can probably figure out the why.

[Brunell&Rash 4]

My fiancee is from Kenya. We got approved for K-1 visa, Vermont Service Center. Filed late October, got approved in February, she went for her interview last week, was told to come back today with more evidence. I sent both FedEx and PDF documents for her to print out there in Kenya 190 pages of proof of continuing relationship since we got engaged. She just got out of second interview today 1 pm. VISA DENIED. The interviewer was saying her story and my story didn't match up. WHAT TO DO. I AM AT WITS END. We love each other.

Have your fiancee's schedule for a second interview and be at the interview..Period!

[maya62 7]

I can't claim familiarity with the US Consulate in Kenya, but I have read about previous immigrant marriages, and the prospective immigrant having family (especially close family members) that have already gone through marriage-based immigration, both listed as possible red flags. Add that to a mis-step in the interview and the overall picture may have looked suspicious to the CO. I am not in any way saying it is justified, just that that looks plausible given what I've read thus far on the thread.

What I am not seeing is an urgent sense being communicated to you that you must RUN, do not walk, do not pass go, do not collect $200, to do whatever you can to keep your case at the Consulate. If it were me, here is what I would do first thing tomorrow morning (I'm writing this at 7:30 pm EDT, so too late to do this today I think):

Get a hold of the immigration liaisons for both US Senators and US Rep and request in no uncertain terms that their help is desperately and immediately needed to get the case re-reviewed at the Consulate. Find out from them any other suggestions they may have to facilitate this. It is my understanding that a LOT of time, effort, and heartache can be avoided if the decision is reversed before the package is returned stateside, rather than having to either appeal or get married and re-apply.

Call, email, and/or fax the Consulate until you get an answer and ask: why was the visa denied? What can I send you that will help to clarify things for you? Will you schedule another interview (and if they will, invest in a trip to be with your fiancee if at all possible)?

I wish you best of luck...

Maya

[Gene & Susan 1]

I can't claim familiarity with the US Consulate in Kenya, but I have read about previous immigrant marriages, and the prospective immigrant having family (especially close family members) that have already gone through marriage-based immigration, both listed as possible red flags. Add that to a mis-step in the interview and the overall picture may have looked suspicious to the CO. I am not in any way saying it is justified, just that that looks plausible given what I've read thus far on the thread.

What I am not seeing is an urgent sense being communicated to you that you must RUN, do not walk, do not pass go, do not collect $200, to do whatever you can to keep your case at the Consulate. If it were me, here is what I would do first thing tomorrow morning (I'm writing this at 7:30 pm EDT, so too late to do this today I think):

Get a hold of the immigration liaisons for both US Senators and US Rep and request in no uncertain terms that their help is desperately and immediately needed to get the case re-reviewed at the Consulate. Find out from them any other suggestions they may have to facilitate this. It is my understanding that a LOT of time, effort, and heartache can be avoided if the decision is reversed before the package is returned stateside, rather than having to either appeal or get married and re-apply.

Call, email, and/or fax the Consulate until you get an answer and ask: why was the visa denied? What can I send you that will help to clarify things for you? Will you schedule another interview (and if they will, invest in a trip to be with your fiancee if at all possible)?

I wish you best of luck...

Maya

I have already called the immigration Liason for my Senator, and hopefully will go see the immigration liason for my Congressman tomorrow. I wrote my original VisaJourney post BEFORE I started getting in contact with the Elected Officials. I also spoke to an immigration attorney, and he recommended I contact the Senator and Congressman FIRST before I might consider involving an attorney.

This Consulate is very very difficult to contact but I will try. It is th firsst night of the day she was denied. This is her second interview, last week they requested more evidence, which I furiously collected then sent FedEx and when it didn't look like it would arrive by the 6th, I converted things to PDF documents and sent to her as email attachements. She printed out 190 pages of documentation from me and took. Along with photo album, cards, moneygram receipts.

[pirata 0]

Hello Gene,

I can not speak for the consulate and please do not take offense but this may be an opportunity for a little soul searching.

As an outsider looking in here is what i see;

1- three prior marriages. ( not sure of the lengths, intervals and circumstances)

2- how many of the prior marriages involved immigrant visas?

3- only legally divorced for a few months.

Considering this uphill battle brought to the process i would recommend multiple trips to visit your fiance and longer stays in her home country. if you establish a year or more of personal courtship (not electronic) and go to the interview with her I feel you would have no difficulties.

From the CO's point of view, you demonstrate the ability to enter and exit a relationship quickly as other may invest years into this process.

If she is the one for you, time will pass amazingly fast.

best of luck,

Chris

[Gene & Susan 1]

Hello Gene,

I can not speak for the consulate and please do not take offense but this may be an opportunity for a little soul searching.

As an outsider looking in here is what i see;

1- three prior marriages. ( not sure of the lengths, intervals and circumstances)

2- how many of the prior marriages involved immigrant visas?

3- only legally divorced for a few months.

Considering this uphill battle brought to the process i would recommend multiple trips to visit your fiance and longer stays in her home country. if you establish a year or more of personal courtship (not electronic) and go to the interview with her I feel you would have no difficulties.

From the CO's point of view, you demonstrate the ability to enter and exit a relationship quickly as other may invest years into this process.

If she is the one for you, time will pass amazingly fast.

best of luck,

Chris

I feel like I should provide info here on my past. I have had 3 marriages, the first 2, were for 12 years each, and each marriage bore a child, both children now grown. The ex-wives and I are on friendly terms, good friends actually, I was just not for them. They are native-born USA citizens. They would gladly provide testimony as to my character. The last marriage was for 7 years. She was from Zambia. There was no immigration fraud..everything by the book, and she became a citizen at some length before she decided to leave me for her "secret" boyfriend. She left on a trip and never came back and I just got notice from her via email that she was divorcing me. I had no control over it whatsoever. She refused to talk or anything. I was a victim, it seems. But NO IMMIGRATION FRAUD.

So that is my marriage background. She left in may, I got email from her in June telling me she was divorcing me, no reconciliation, no counseling, no nothing, she wanted divorce and that was that...so by August I started looking and that is when I met Susan. I already had divorce papers the court date was not set yet, but as soon as the divorce was final and recorded (september 16) I scheduled a trip to Kenya, arriving on about October 9.

I wouldn't say I enter and exit relationships "quickly". no. My last relationship had been "cold" for a couple of years, so I was starved for affection.

Edited April 7, 2010 by gene mccluney

[Old Dominion 26]

Had Susan been involved before in any US visa application? Was she of good standing in Nairobi? What part of the city did she live in? Did she give any indication whatever, even to one of her friends, that she was really interested in the green card, not you. This happens quite often in Kenya - joking about finding a guy through whom to get a visa - and the consulate does check around a bit.

I'd say submitting 190 pages of proofs was quite overdone and may indeed have appeared to be an effort to overwhelm with paper that no one in the consulate could possibly have had time to read.

[Old Dominion 26]

Had Susan been involved before in any US visa application? Was she of good standing in Nairobi? What part of the city did she live in? Did she give any indication whatever, even to one of her friends, that she was really interested in the green card, not you. This happens quite often in Kenya - joking about finding a guy through whom to get a visa - and the consulate does check around a bit.

I'd say submitting 190 pages of proofs was quite overdone and may indeed have appeared to be an effort to overwhelm with paper that no one in the consulate could possibly have had time to read.

[illnevergetthis 5]

I am sooo sorry for your situation.

Here is a link that you might find very useful. It is all about returned petitions and what to do.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/3896-returning-petitions-to-the-united-states-via-221g/

I suggest to start reading on page 11...before that is mostly about trying to get the topic pinned.

Best of luck to both of you.

Edited April 7, 2010 by illnevergetthis