K1 VISA DENIED AT US CONSUL IN DOMINICAN REPUBLICK NEED HELP!!

[flo1983 2]

Hello Visa journey,

I just need some advice on what to do if anyone has had experience with a similar problem like mine, any advice would be appreciated. I went to the US consulate in the dominican republic with my fiancee and the visa was denied because the consular officer believed we were in a sham relationship. Officer did not ask to see any further proof of relationship. He pretty much said we messed up in the questions which I don't believe its true. I went over the questions with my fiancee and we missed maybe about 2-3 out of about 40 questions. I have contacted attorneys regarding this issue and all I was told was to reapply again or get married and apply for a marriage visa. I am hesistant to do this because from what i've found out there is nothing keeping the consular officers from denying us again if they believe our marriage is a sham as well. Not only does that put a financial strain on us but we also have to waste another year in waiting which i'm not very fond of. I have also contacted USCIS and I was told that once they receive the denied petition they will review it and if they rule on my favor they will send it back to the consulate but they have the final say whether to approve it or not and they can deny for the same reason if they feel like it and I will have to go through the whole process again. I need some advice from anyone who has gone through this experience in this forum. What would be the best course of action for me? Do I wait for USCIS to make the decision? Do I apply again for a K1 Visa? or should i get married and apply for a K3? I would also be interested in knowing if anyone has had an application denied by the US consulate if USCIS has ruled in your favor what was the outcome? Did the US consul approve the visa then? Please let me know any advice and i will gladly appreciate it. Also if anyone knows of a good immigration attorney that has experience dealing with denied petitions please let me know. All attorneys I have contacted only tell me to apply again or get married and apply for a K3 and I really don't feel like going through this whole process again. I also contacted my US senator and they wrote the consulate on my behalf and they responded that they already sent denied petition to USCIS and they are waiting for USCIS to respond for them to take any further action.

[Casprd 167]

First off, it isn't the number of questions but rather the type and substance of questions. If they asked you about 40 questions in the interview then the VO had suspicions before you even arrived. It is very unlikely that they even knew the answer to all of those questions so they are reading your behavior throughout the interview. Being hesitent, talking quickly, taking a lot of time to answer, being fidgity or any number of behaviors are deemed as signs of hiding something by the VO's. So when you look at how the interview went, you can't just focus on what you did or didn't answer "correctly".

Secondly, did they give you a blue slip or a white slip? I'm guessing a white slip as it doesn't seem they asked for any more evidence or additional information. If so, then one thing you can try to do is engage the petitioners senator to intervene and see if the consulate will re-evaluate the petition. I would say generally for a white slip it would be unlikely but it doesn't hurt to try. You can also consult an immigration attorney to see if they have any other options. One who is well versed in that consulate is the best bet.

As for refiling a new petition, going with another K-1 isn't a good option as those have the most fraud and the VO has already determined that it wasn't legitimate. In my opinion, your best bet is to get married and start a new CR-1 (not K-3) petition. Normally it would take about 8 to 10 months, but with a denied K-1 already, you can expect some significant delays for the petition to be processed.

[flo1983 2]

I already did contact my senator and the response i got back is on my original post. We received a yellow slip not white or blue. Unfortunately my whole issue with applying again is that its going to take the same amount of time as if i just let USCIS review it. Economically right now, I can't take another trip and do a wedding right away so its going to be a few months anyways before I'm able to do that. If anyone has had my same experience and had a positive outcome after USCIS reviewed the case please let me know.

[Aztec&Taino 144]

I already did contact my senator and the response i got back is on my original post. We received a yellow slip not white or blue. Unfortunately my whole issue with applying again is that its going to take the same amount of time as if i just let USCIS review it. Economically right now, I can't take another trip and do a wedding right away so its going to be a few months anyways before I'm able to do that. If anyone has had my same experience and had a positive outcome after USCIS reviewed the case please let me know.

I am sorry that your fiancee's visa was denied. Unfortunately, the Embassy in Santo Domingo is notoriously infamous for denying petitions. As you may already know, it is considered a high fraud consulate and, as such, for many is difficult to be successful in obtaining a visa if they interview in Santo Domingo. This seems to be particularly true of the fiance(e) visas (more so than the CR1 visas). Does your case have "red flags"? Are you of similar age? Similar backgrounds? Are either of you 100% fluent in both English and Spanish? How long have you known each other? How many times have you been to the DR? Have either one of you had a recent divorce? Young children? Have you filed a K1 visa petition in the past or has a K1 visa petition been filed for your fiancee in the past? These are all questions to consider when evaluation your particular case.

I am afraid that the lawyers who have advised you are generally right. It would make more sense for you to get married and apply for the CR1 visa. It is terrible to think of the additional expense and time apart, but you would be very likely to wait for months in limbo before USCIS reviews your petition and make a decision on your case. The reality is that if you wait for your petition to be reviewed there is really no telling when this will happen. In addition to this, it is quite likely that they would rule on the side of the consul who denied your fiancee the visa. If you really cannot make it back to the DR to marry soon due to financial reasons, you might be better off just saving the money on lawyers fees and getting a second job in order to save money to make it back and marry. Or, you can reconsider and you might decide to call it off, put it on hold, or move to the DR. I do not mean to be heartless, but real. I know it was a very serious consideration for me to think about the possibility of not being able to continue in this journey due to depletion of my funds if my fiance's visa had been denied. Thank God my fiance's visa was approved, but I can tell you from my own experience that the expenses keep going anf going. If money is a concern for your right now, it will continue to be a concern later! Whatever you decide I wish you the best.

[Love Eth 14]

Getting denied the K-1 visa is not the end of the life. Sit back and relax. There are a lot of things you can do. It is a matter of time. You might need to forget about the denied petition and get start thinking what to do next. 95% of the time the denied visa will be dead before you got any chance to reviewing from the USCIS, so that you will end up filing another petition. I advise you to find the exact reason of the denying and by the time of filing the second K-1 or spousal, you will fix the mistake. I understand your feeling because this time of last year I was at the same situation. After a year, I am still waiting for the administrative review of my fiancee's interview from the Embassy.

I wish you the best and Good luck

Edited September 8, 2011 by Love Eth

[TBoneTX 43,476]

Officer did not ask to see any further proof of relationship. He pretty much said we messed up in the questions which I don't believe its true. I went over the questions with my fiancee and we missed maybe about 2-3 out of about 40 questions.

This sounds like a Stokes interview. Did they split you up, ask each of you questions, and compare your answers? Was this your first interview? Were you aware that this was going to happen? Did you (as the petitioner) attend the interview voluntarily, or were you ordered to be there?

This brings back bitter memories of Ecuador, si man...

[flo1983 2]

This sounds like a Stokes interview. Did they split you up, ask each of you questions, and compare your answers? Was this your first interview? Were you aware that this was going to happen? Did you (as the petitioner) attend the interview voluntarily, or were you ordered to be there?

This brings back bitter memories of Ecuador, si man...

Yes they did split us up. I was aware they were going to ask us questions but at that particular point they already knew they were going to deny it because after the officer was done asking me questions he told me they already decided to deny it. I think the questioning was the reason they needed to officially deny it. Yes it was also our first interview and i attended voluntarily. They did not require that I go but it was recommended or so the instructions said when we got it.

[Samantha78 117]

I already did contact my senator and the response i got back is on my original post. We received a yellow slip not white or blue. Unfortunately my whole issue with applying again is that its going to take the same amount of time as if i just let USCIS review it. Economically right now, I can't take another trip and do a wedding right away so its going to be a few months anyways before I'm able to do that. If anyone has had my same experience and had a positive outcome after USCIS reviewed the case please let me know.

Just for the record....I applied for the K3. They were going to process it as a CR1 but the K3 was going faster so they went that route. All together this will have taken me about 5 months in total. The only difference between K3 and CR1 is - with K3 you need to married 2 years and then the spouse can apply for an adjustment of status, which will cost $1000, and then they are a permanent resident.

With the CR1, you wait longer and you pay $500 in the beginning instead of 2 years after.

Either way you'd have to be married so I'd say just get married and decide which visa is better for your situation.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

Just for the record....I applied for the K3. They were going to process it as a CR1 but the K3 was going faster so they went that route. All together this will have taken me about 5 months in total. The only difference between K3 and CR1 is - with K3 you need to married 2 years and then the spouse can apply for an adjustment of status, which will cost $1000, and then they are a permanent resident.

With the CR1, you wait longer and you pay $500 in the beginning instead of 2 years after.

Either way you'd have to be married so I'd say just get married and decide which visa is better for your situation.

The above information is so wrong.

[muñequita y osito 2]

Just for the record....I applied for the K3. They were going to process it as a CR1 but the K3 was going faster so they went that route. All together this will have taken me about 5 months in total. The only difference between K3 and CR1 is - with K3 you need to married 2 years and then the spouse can apply for an adjustment of status, which will cost $1000, and then they are a permanent resident.

With the CR1, you wait longer and you pay $500 in the beginning instead of 2 years after.

Either way you'd have to be married so I'd say just get married and decide which visa is better for your situation.

That is not true at all. First of all K-3 Visas approval and CR-1 are taking about the same time to approve and recently couples that have gone the K-3 have had more delays at USCIS and the NVC. The other thing is that you don't have to be married 2 years to go the K-3 route. You have to be married more than 2 years to obtain IR-1 status once your visa is approved and you enter the US.

Not to be rude, but please read the information provided on the WIKI. You can cause alot of confusion if you are not sure about something.

[muñequita y osito 2]

Hello Visa journey,

I just need some advice on what to do if anyone has had experience with a similar problem like mine, any advice would be appreciated. I went to the US consulate in the dominican republic with my fiancee and the visa was denied because the consular officer believed we were in a sham relationship. Officer did not ask to see any further proof of relationship. He pretty much said we messed up in the questions which I don't believe its true. I went over the questions with my fiancee and we missed maybe about 2-3 out of about 40 questions. I have contacted attorneys regarding this issue and all I was told was to reapply again or get married and apply for a marriage visa. I am hesistant to do this because from what i've found out there is nothing keeping the consular officers from denying us again if they believe our marriage is a sham as well. Not only does that put a financial strain on us but we also have to waste another year in waiting which i'm not very fond of. I have also contacted USCIS and I was told that once they receive the denied petition they will review it and if they rule on my favor they will send it back to the consulate but they have the final say whether to approve it or not and they can deny for the same reason if they feel like it and I will have to go through the whole process again. I need some advice from anyone who has gone through this experience in this forum. What would be the best course of action for me? Do I wait for USCIS to make the decision? Do I apply again for a K1 Visa? or should i get married and apply for a K3? I would also be interested in knowing if anyone has had an application denied by the US consulate if USCIS has ruled in your favor what was the outcome? Did the US consul approve the visa then? Please let me know any advice and i will gladly appreciate it. Also if anyone knows of a good immigration attorney that has experience dealing with denied petitions please let me know. All attorneys I have contacted only tell me to apply again or get married and apply for a K3 and I really don't feel like going through this whole process again. I also contacted my US senator and they wrote the consulate on my behalf and they responded that they already sent denied petition to USCIS and they are waiting for USCIS to respond for them to take any further action.

My K-1 visa was also denied last year and I know exactly how you feel. They didnt even look at my evidence. I was so torn but I didnt give up. We saved up as much as we could and had a small wedding 4 months later. As soon as I got back I filed for his CR-1 which was approved in 102 days. If you love your fiance and were planning to marry him here anyway, look for ways to have your wedding frugally in the DR. You were going to have to spend money on adjusting status, you can use it to send your CR-1 petition. I know its hard, but when you are in love nothing is impossible. Stay positive.

If you are going to proceed to marry him, dont wait until you receive notice from the USCIS. Send them a notarized letter stating you want to withdraw your petition and they will terminate your K-1 approval. If not, this can cause issues once you apply for the CR-1 if they decide to review your K-1 Visa case.

Good Luck.

Edited September 8, 2011 by muñequita y osito

[Sammyp01 0]

I have an interview with my fiancee for his K-1 visa in Santo Dominigo next month...after reading your post I could almost cry I'm so scared!!!!! I'm terribly sorry that your visa was denied...I cannot imagine the frustrations that you are experiencing right now. As hard as it is, could you give a little more background on your case and any pointers that you may have for my upcoming interview? Sounds like they were ruthless. I'm so sorry again....keep your chin up chica!

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

We had our first K1 denied and got approved on the second pass. Write down ever bit of what happened at the interview. What was said by everyone, what was looked at , did the CO talk to anyone else ? Go over every bit of what you sent with the package. Find every flaw and get prepared to defend it. It isn't important if you do a K1 or a Cr1 or a K3 next time. What is important is that you show you really do have a bonefide relationship. You must refute whatever the embassy used as the reason to deny you. Many times you don't exactly know you define it from the records you have. If you get it right you next petition will go through and you don't get a NOID/NOIR if not you get the NOID/NOIR and you get to defend yourself again ( hopefully with more imformation )

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Here is the bottom line, and you can follow this advice or not, it is up to you.

There is NO WAY which is faster, better, cheaper than withdrawing this petition and filing a new one and preparing better next time. Period.

Any form of appeal will take longer and cost more

I suggest you do NOT get married, but file for another K-1. They did not say they didn't think you were married and a marriage certificate will do NOTHING to eliminate the idea they have that the relationship is a sham to avoid immigration laws.

You need to focus on the reason you were denied, not being married was NOT one of them. Get better evidence and documentation

The comment that if they asked 40 questions they were already suspect is absolutely correct. We had -0- questions and more than a 2-3 is unusual in most consulates for successful interviews. Of the 40 questions, there were maybe 5 that had ANY bearing on the result and you failed most or all of them. This is not a mistake, they do this do confuse you or disorient you. It is a "rope-a-dope" technique, but the questions you failed are the ones any legitimate relationship should know or should respond easily to. You may not even know which questions you really "failed" because the failure can be in how you answer, not what you say.

NO Senator or congressman is going to even attempt to overrule the consulate, USCIS will not attempt to overrule their decision. An appeal will take more than a year, maybe more than 2 years. The BEST way to "appeal" it is simply to do it again.

Edited September 9, 2011 by Gary and Alla

[Samantha78 117]

The above information is so wrong.

I'm living it at this moment. How is this wrong?