I got denied after 11 months of waiting Now WHat

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You don't have to date and you don't have to get a hotel room. I really hate it when people try to cry cultural foul and exaggerate the requirements to suit their way. Hotel rooms are in no way a requirement.

You already shot yourself in the foot because you said you met before, just not in the last 2 years. So it was okay for you to meet then, it is okay for you to meet now. You must see eachother in person in the last 2 years before filing. That is to prevent people petitioning for childhood friends and mail order brides.

[RGinWA 816]

It's hard to feel bad when it's obvious that the "within 2 years meeting in person" (not dating, just meeting) requirement was not met. Its a simple rule and a primary rule.

Waiting an entire year when you knew you had not met the basic criteria isn't the governments fault, but hey go ahead and blame them; that will not solve your problem.

I'd suggest meeting in person, then filing within two years, like the rest of us had to.

Live and learn...

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

Additional documents to see if we met last two years....originally I met her three years ago .. There is no way I can proof this to them aside from phone record and few photos .. But in Muslim world we don't date and get rooms at hotels .. I even got letter from mosque stating its not our custom per-martial dating .. They had all this information for almost a year and say NO.. What kind a ###### system is this #######

Simply to them it's a mind game and controlling our life's

Harpa said it perfectly. You shot yourself in the foot already because you DID meet your fiancee before, just not within the last 2 years. And yet you want to claim it's against a religious custom when it's not. You met her before so you can meet her again under the same circumstances, just make sure you collect evidence of this new meeting. Laziness or lack of funds to travel is no excuse, which are the more likely reasons why you didn't meet the requirements.

You'd better hope they don't consider your 2 year meeting requirement waiver claim as fraudulent. When you make claims like a betrothed Muslim couple cannot meet each other prior to marriage, you are, in fact, LYING.

The system worked the way it is supposed to, in your case.

[Sami0101010001 8]

I am sorry

It’s not the system its you, if I was the one who handle your case I will reject your case because what you claim is a lie. I am a Muslim like you and we both know that what you are telling is completely not true. You can meet you fiancée and you don’t have to date her or take her to a hotel to spend a quality time with her in order to satisfy USCIS.

Good luck and I hope you learned a lesson, book a flight and go see your future wife.

[izzylove11 19]

As a Muslim American, I really resent the comment about needing to be taken to a hotel to prove the relationship is real. I feel that you are implying that everyone here does that except for you. FYI, there are many people here who don't go to hotels with their fiances. There are many here who actually wait until they are married. The rules are clear. You need to have met your fiance within the last two years or to be able to give a clear reason why you couldn't. You were able to visit three years ago, but suddenly, you are not able to visit for religious reasons? The USCIS could see right through that and that's why you were denied. I hope you are able to get your visa approved soon. Good luck.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

They put a requirement in for meeting in the last 2 years. They are rule driven and that is a rule they follow. There are a couple of exceptions but they also follow those rules strictly. There are many reason for this rule. There are whole groups of people that think they are madly in love with someone they have talked to for years but a series of accidents have kept them apart. Google romance scams. What if these people by the thousands clogged the K1 line with petitions for their "love" who is frequently a poor young man from a place other than where they think their love is from. Why 2 years ? It is kind of like why is voting age 18 , they picked a number that made sense to them. If there was no number you would also see petitions from people that met as children in school and have grown into very different people. At any time you could have complied with the rules and submitted a conforming , approvable petition but you chose to wait on the original one.

[MedRoni 161]

Are you a US Citizen? Did you meet her in person within two years of filing? You don't have to prove you were dating to meet the 2 year requirement. Having dinner at her family's home with some photos showing the two of you together would suffice. It is a Muslim custom to not "date" but is also required that you see your prosective spouse prior to marriage. A chaparoned meeting is most certainly permitted. Even a meeting with the Imam to discuss the prospective marriage would suffice, all you need is proof. Photos, plane tickets, etc.

The problem is not with the system, not to say it is perfect or fast, the problem is with not following the rules which are there for a reason. I don't agree with all the rules and laws but if you want the visa for your fiance you will do as the government says and shouldn't be surprised when you are denied because you didn't meet the basic requirements.

Agreed. No where does it state you must be alone when you meet. If you managed to meet 3 years ago and not break any Muslim customs I am sure you could have within the last 2 years before filing. Your meeting 3 years ago, provable or not is still outside the required window. As for the waiting 11 months to process, it was not done on purpose... it is not personal. It took that long to even look at your file to see you did not send what was required... and then how long for you to respond? Sorry, but this really boils down to you not following directions... not anything to do with the USCIS process.

All you can do is meet up again, then file again... fiance visa or cr1 if you marry.

Best of luck either way.

[sara..... 371]

I have been on this forum for a long time i have seen many reasons why people could not meet with in the two years they require and not one of them ever were approved........it is what it is have to have met in person with in two years of filing the petition

[Cali420 0]

My goal Is in the next 30 days to reverse their decision from denial to approval without filing new petition let see if this is possible !!

[belinda63 2,981]

Well have your friends or family who successfully petitioned their fiance they never met assist you with your paperwork. There is no requirement the meeting take place in a specific country, it can be anywhere. There is no requirement for the length of the meeting or how many people can be present. All you have to do is be physically present at he same location at the same time as her. You don't even have to speak to her or look at her, you and her just have to be at the same place at the same time.

Just because it may be common in your country for arranged marriages where the betrothed don't meet until the wedding doesn't mean it is forbifdden by you religion or forbidden by your culture.And that is what USCIS looks at, is it completely forbidden for you to meet your fiance prior to marriage? Can you honestly answer yes to this question?

You can forget about any meeting you had with her prior to two years from when you mailed the I-129F as it does not meet the requirements.

[belinda63 2,981]

You can appeal but it will be a waste of more time and money. You have not met her within two years of filing the petition. This is a requirement for the petition to be approved. All you are doing is wasting time and money. In case you didn't notice me (MS. Dummy) is married to a Muslim, has read the Koran, and doesn't care about your meeting her in 2009 as that was more than two years prior to you filing the petition.

[Cali420 0]

Belinda63 I agree with you 100% but circumstance doesn't allow me to meet her anywhere not even in Iran or Pakistan.. It's very complicated situation. Last three months I been thinking something's it's best to walk away from than fighting over it.

I am sure there is a lot people here would love to say oh just get up and meet but not for us. I met once it was out of chance and I think the rule is a great rule to weed out issues, problems and scammers.

[Ridcully41 1]

They put a requirement in for meeting in the last 2 years. They are rule driven and that is a rule they follow. There are a couple of exceptions but they also follow those rules strictly. There are many reason for this rule. There are whole groups of people that think they are madly in love with someone they have talked to for years but a series of accidents have kept them apart. Google romance scams. What if these people by the thousands clogged the K1 line with petitions for their "love" who is frequently a poor young man from a place other than where they think their love is from. Why 2 years ? It is kind of like why is voting age 18 , they picked a number that made sense to them. If there was no number you would also see petitions from people that met as children in school and have grown into very different people. At any time you could have complied with the rules and submitted a conforming , approvable petition but you chose to wait on the original one.

just out of interest what would those exceptions be?

[scholozy 8]

cali, i just went through the exact same thing, 10 months of trying times but we hadnt met that 2 year requirement, it doesn't matter to them what pressures or hardships you face due to location or otherwise, the letter in the mail literally tells you nothing more than you didn't meet the requirement so you were denied. unless you have specific proof that their decision was wrong, you have no reason to appeal is basically what it says.

Its really a stupid stupid thing but there is just nothing you can do about it bud.

p.s. ridcully41 your exceptions i really believe have to be something like a religion that a leader of will vouch saying that it in against their rules to have met before marriage day, stuff like that.

Edited May 16, 2013 by scholozy

[baron555 934]

Are you a US Citizen? Did you meet her in person within two years of filing? You don't have to prove you were dating to meet the 2 year requirement. Having dinner at her family's home with some photos showing the two of you together would suffice. It is a Muslim custom to not "date" but is also required that you see your prosective spouse prior to marriage. A chaparoned meeting is most certainly permitted. Even a meeting with the Imam to discuss the prospective marriage would suffice, all you need is proof. Photos, plane tickets, etc.

The problem is not with the system, not to say it is perfect or fast, the problem is with not following the rules which are there for a reason. I don't agree with all the rules and laws but if you want the visa for your fiance you will do as the government says and shouldn't be surprised when you are denied because you didn't meet the basic requirements.

I don't understand why this is so hard?

You've received many suggestions.

Cancel the filing, go meet in person and document that very well and then apply again.