K1 Visa refused under section 212 (a)(5)(a) for invalid petition

[bubbleout 0]

Our case was refused and the following email was sent

ear Applicant,

As per the U.S Embassy please note that there is no definite time frame for administrating processing as it depends on the individual circumstances of each case. It is not unusual to ask applicants to provide additional documentary evidence of proof of their relationship and independently verify certain information presented by the applicant by Post to ascertain eligibility for a fiancé visa. It is a part of the process to make sure that we are issuing visas to people who actually meet the eligibility criteria.

Ms. _________ was interviewed for a fiancé visa on January 19, 2011. The visa interview and a consular investigation into the case confirmed that that the petitioner and beneficiary do not have a valid relationship to qualify for a K1 visa. This visa application was refused under Section 212(a)(5)(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) for an invalid petition. Ms. ______ petition was returned to National Visa Center (NVC) on March 8, 2011. Once NVC receives the petition, it returns it to the approving office of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) for review and possible revocation. Please direct all future inquiries regarding this case to the approving USCIS office.

I AM VERY UPSET AND DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO,, ANYONE HAD A SAME PROBLEM OR ANYONE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE 212 (a)(5)(a). Please reply back and tell me what can I Do......

[Darnell 8,478]

use advanced search tool -

terms

'not bonafide relationship embassy'

tick on 'show as posts'.

Good Luck !

*** moving to 'US Embassy and Consulate Discussion ' forum ***

Edited March 18, 2011 by Darnell

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

That is the catch all for them to return petitions. It is used for all sorts of issues. You need to find out why they said this and be prepared to refute their claims.

[pushbrk 12,979]

Our case was refused and the following email was sent

ear Applicant,

As per the U.S Embassy please note that there is no definite time frame for administrating processing as it depends on the individual circumstances of each case. It is not unusual to ask applicants to provide additional documentary evidence of proof of their relationship and independently verify certain information presented by the applicant by Post to ascertain eligibility for a fiancé visa. It is a part of the process to make sure that we are issuing visas to people who actually meet the eligibility criteria.

Ms. _________ was interviewed for a fiancé visa on January 19, 2011. The visa interview and a consular investigation into the case confirmed that that the petitioner and beneficiary do not have a valid relationship to qualify for a K1 visa. This visa application was refused under Section 212(a)(5)(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) for an invalid petition. Ms. ______ petition was returned to National Visa Center (NVC) on March 8, 2011. Once NVC receives the petition, it returns it to the approving office of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) for review and possible revocation. Please direct all future inquiries regarding this case to the approving USCIS office.

I AM VERY UPSET AND DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO,, ANYONE HAD A SAME PROBLEM OR ANYONE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE 212 (a)(5)(a). Please reply back and tell me what can I Do......

With regard to any official actions, you do nothing until you hear from USCIS in several months. In the meantime, get as close to a verbatim detailed report of the interview day from your fiancee. Examine that and everything else you know about your case and relationship so you are prepared to quickly respond to the USCIS communication,

Your other option is to marry, withdraw the fiancee petition and file an I-130 for your then spouse.

Why do YOU think they denied the visa?

[sachinky 465]

Red flags?

Was this the NWD Embassy?

[lovejourney 0]

How long were you guys in a relationship ?

How long guys dated, before getting engaged ?

What do you think could be the reason for the embassy to say that ?

What do you think could be potential red flags in your relationship ?

How did the interview go ?

What questions were asked to your fiance during the interview ?

Make a summary of all the above question's, and contact Mark Ellis or any other lawyer that deals in refused visa's.

Also if you could share the answers of all the above questions here. It would help a lot of people on here.

I really hope things work out for you.

[bubbleout 0]

Yes it was a NWD embassy,

[bubbleout 0]

How long were you guys in a relationship ?

How long guys dated, before getting engaged ?

What do you think could be the reason for the embassy to say that ?

What do you think could be potential red flags in your relationship ?

How did the interview go ?

What questions were asked to your fiance during the interview ?

Make a summary of all the above question's, and contact Mark Ellis or any other lawyer that deals in refused visa's.

Also if you could share the answers of all the above questions here. It would help a lot of people on here.

I really hope things work out for you.

1. We been in love relationship since August 2008

2. I filed the fiance petition in Feb 2010 but we did the ring ceremony two weeks before the visa interview

3. I think embassy believe that we are husband wife, not the fiancee. I have submitted about 800 pictures of our relationship and I also think

because my petition was expire and they did not extend it due to my 2nd marriage.

4. Red flags could be, like my this is my 2nd marriage, i filed petiton one day after divorce. but I have submitted all the documents and proofs.

I don't understnad why they would refuse it. THE REFUSAL REASON IS INA SECTION 212 (a)(5)(a) and that dose not even fall in the the fiancee visa

catagorey. This section is for labor certification or something to do with just I-129 not the I-129f

5. The interview was fine, Lady was american and she asked about 10-12 questions and asked to submitted the additional proofs,,and once we did that then my fiancee was called by Indian lady from Embassy and took another interview about for 20 mins and my fiacee answered all of their questions. Nothing was unusual. All the question was about me and her and our relationship. Most of the questions came from the statement I gave to the embassy about our relationship

I AM REALLY IN BIG TENSION, PLEASE CHECK THIS INA SECION ON THE NET AND SEE IF ANYONE CAN FIND SOMETHING RELATED TO FIANCEE VISA, WHICH I COULD BE MISSING.

[lovejourney 0]

How long were you guys in a relationship ?

How long guys dated, before getting engaged ?

What do you think could be the reason for the embassy to say that ?

What do you think could be potential red flags in your relationship ?

How did the interview go ?

What questions were asked to your fiance during the interview ?

Make a summary of all the above question's, and contact Mark Ellis or any other lawyer that deals in refused visa's.

Also if you could share the answers of all the above questions here. It would help a lot of people on here.

I really hope things work out for you.

1. We been in love relationship since August 2008

2. I filed the fiance petition in Feb 2010 but we did the ring ceremony two weeks before the visa interview

3. I think embassy believe that we are husband wife, not the fiancee. I have submitted about 800 pictures of our relationship and I also think

because my petition was expire and they did not extend it due to my 2nd marriage.

4. Red flags could be, like my this is my 2nd marriage, i filed petiton one day after divorce. but I have submitted all the documents and proofs.

I don't understnad why they would refuse it. THE REFUSAL REASON IS INA SECTION 212 (a)(5)(a) and that dose not even fall in the the fiancee visa

catagorey. This section is for labor certification or something to do with just I-129 not the I-129f

5. The interview was fine, Lady was american and she asked about 10-12 questions and asked to submitted the additional proofs,,and once we did that then my fiancee was called by Indian lady from Embassy and took another interview about for 20 mins and my fiacee answered all of their questions. Nothing was unusual. All the question was about me and her and our relationship. Most of the questions came from the statement I gave to the embassy about our relationship

I AM REALLY IN BIG TENSION, PLEASE CHECK THIS INA SECION ON THE NET AND SEE IF ANYONE CAN FIND SOMETHING RELATED TO FIANCEE VISA, WHICH I COULD BE MISSING.

This is my suggestion to you.

I have read it somewhere that you can make the embassy keep the petition with them instead of sending it back to the NVC and eventually to the USCIS (where it can be revoked). However, I can't recall if this can be done by you, being a petitioner or not. I would recommend you to get in touch with a lawyer as soon as possible. I recommended Mark Ellis, since I was impressed by his content on the internet.

There are a lot of ways to deal with the situation.

1. Like someone here said, withdraw this petition and get married, file for i-130. A much longer process and you'll spend more time that you've already spent waiting.

2. Contact someone who know's how to deal with this situation. (A lawyer, and it will cost you money)

3. What a lawyer can do is challenge this rejection.

Buddy, I am also in a very stressful situation right now. And I totally understand what you must be going through. Only peice of advise is to remain calm, and do what you can do now instead of worrying about what has already happened.

I would recommend # 3, challenging the rejection through the right channel.

Good luck brother.

[sachinky 465]

Other red flags? Different race/religion? Difference in ages, education/income levels? Are you both Indians? How did you meet? Online? Arranged? Parent's involvement?

Filing a day after the divorce is a huge red flag in NWD. Prior marriges usually are. But I have never heard of an outright denial. Usually, it's a long AP followed by an approval. Something else is in play here.

What questions were asked? Did she trip up somewhere?

[sachinky 465]

At this point, there's not much you can do apart from wait and get a lawyer. Also get in touch with your Congressman/Senator who might be able to find out the precise reason you were denied from the Embassy. This is very important, because going forward (even with a CR-1) you're going to have to overcome that reason. You will need to prepare a rebuttal to the NOID/NOIR that USCIS is likely to send you (if the petition doesn't expire).

You might look up Mark Ellis as recommended -- I remember reading something about this labor certification denial that you mentioned.

Paging Jim!

[sachinky 465]

Did you have an elaborate engagement ceremony? I have heard of a few Indian beneficiaries who have been denied because their engagement pictures looked more like wedding pictures.

Anything else that might have led the IO to believe that you were married as opposed to engaged? Did she slip up and refer to you as her husband at any point? Or something in the pictures/affidavits?

I'm just trying to brainstorm on your behalf.

Have you called DOS? They have notes from the interview entered into the system.

[4ever mine 9]

This is my suggestion to you.

I have read it somewhere that you can make the embassy keep the petition with them instead of sending it back to the NVC and eventually to the USCIS (where it can be revoked). However, I can't recall if this can be done by you, being a petitioner or not. I would recommend you to get in touch with a lawyer as soon as possible. I recommended Mark Ellis, since I was impressed by his content on the internet.

There are a lot of ways to deal with the situation.

1. Like someone here said, withdraw this petition and get married, file for i-130. A much longer process and you'll spend more time that you've already spent waiting.

2. Contact someone who know's how to deal with this situation. (A lawyer, and it will cost you money)

3. What a lawyer can do is challenge this rejection.

Buddy, I am also in a very stressful situation right now. And I totally understand what you must be going through. Only peice of advise is to remain calm, and do what you can do now instead of worrying about what has already happened.

I would recommend # 3, challenging the rejection through the right channel.

Good luck brother.

I think that there has been some good advice offered here. I am too facing a refusal 221g, but I can say from experience that this advice should been taken. Here are somethings that I have done.

1. Contact the US consulate to see if they can give you the diplomatic pouch number

2. Contact your congressman

3. Contact your senator. My Senator got more details about our denial than my congressman. Although this option can be tricky, you can get help faster at this level. No guarantees with this option..

4. Write a detail account of what happenned the day of the interview. I mean everything from the moment the beneficiary arrived until they left. The way that the beneficiary was treated, the exact order of the events as they occurred that day, every question asked and exact replies, all of the body language of the beneficiary.

5. contact an immigration attorney that SPECIALIZES in returned petitions

6. Gather new evidence while you wait for the returned petition to be adjudicated. It will takes several weeks/months for it to returned to the US

7. Discuss the possibility of marrying if that is posible for the both of you.

I will pray for you. You will need to have an abundance of patience and strength, more than you know.

Good Luck

Edited March 19, 2011 by 4ever mine

[bubbleout 0]

I think the Consular office thought we are married.

Engegment pictures do look like marriage. What is DOS????

We have submitted the pcitures of ceremony and pictures taken

before and after the ceremony. Me and my fiancee made two trips to

thailand for vacation we also sent those pictures too. We know each

other for the 3 years, even before I was divorce. We submitted all

the evidence of relationship. I personally think they believe

we are married and taking a short cut to bring her here on K1 visa.

But I just cant figure out the clear defenation of 212(a)(5)(a).

If anyone know it please post. Online it is refered to labor law,

but i am sure labor law dose not apply into my case. My fiance was

interviewed twice, first at the embassy and then on the phone,

far as i know it was done well. One time conular office did refer me

as a her husband and then she said oh it is your fiancee. So maybe she is

being tricky. who knows,, please help if anyone can?????

[sachinky 465]

So it definitely sounds like they thought you were married, especially if they tried to trip her up by referring to her as your husband. VERY common tactic.

Yes, Bollywood style engagements have been known to be a problem at NWD, mostly because the CO infers that it was a wedding ceremony as opposed to an engagement, especially if rings are involved.

You're both Indian, yes? In that case, pictures from trips to Thailand could be potentially problematic. Based on cultural norms, it is assumed that unmarried Indian women would never go on vacations alone with another man. Please don't think I'm judging you or anything -- in fact my husband and I lived together before marriage for several months but that was different because he's an American and somehow, the same cultural rules don't seem to apply.

You can search for the labor certification denial here on VJ--I know it's come up a few times. From my understanding, sometimes they tend to deny it under this category because nothing else really fits it. I could be wrong--I will try and look it up for you.

Try to bolster your evidence that you are NOT married. Maybe get sworn statement from unrelated guests who can attest that they witnessed an engagement and NOT a wedding.

Good luck to you both!

P.S: DOS is Department of State.