Sticky K1 situation

[MrCIA 0]

8 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

Is there some kind of marriage document related to this party?  If not it sets you back more than weeks.  You have to make that right first.

That's the big question. This country isn't big on documentation. As far as if it's a binding marriage.. Well, I would have said no way until I read some of these horror stories. E.g. photo in certain type of dress or a random photo was enough to get people denied.

In the eyes of the foreign church - Probably.

In the eyes of the foreign government - Probably not.

In the eyes of US church - Maybe?

In the eyes of US government - well, that's why I'm here.

 

Obviously we have to get that sorted out ASAP before charting our course forward. Only then can we really weigh the risk/benefit.

Edited December 8, 2017 by MrCIA

[Meg&Andrew 297]

10 minutes ago, MrCIA said:

Sorry to hear. If you don't mind me asking, how did they become aware of said photo?

 

I'm teeter-tottering on if I should continue to pursue the K1 knowing that we have to be honest and that may lead to a denial. We are only weeks away from out NOA2 so worst case it sets us back a month or two on the CR1.

 

Good point. There is one piece of evidence that could cause suspicion. To what extent to they vet social media? I.e. should I expect a FB friend request for the embassy? Can the compel us to share our social media accounts?

 

Its not a hard decision to make. If you're married you file the CR1, if not then continue the k1. How difficult is that? Your lack of will to provide any info on the type of ceremony makes it almost impossible to help you. 

[MrCIA 0]

2 minutes ago, Meg&Andrew said:

Its not a hard decision to make. If you're married you file the CR1, if not then continue the k1. How difficult is that? Your lack of will to provide any info on the type of ceremony makes it almost impossible to help you. 

Maybe you can help me understand why the CR-1 preference over a K3? We are a well established couple and time is of the essence.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

2 minutes ago, MrCIA said:

Why CR-1 over K3? I understand the "straight to a green card" benefit but, is it really worth that wait given we expected to be together by spring?

 

I-130	Petition for Alien Relative	Permanent resident filling for a spouse or child under 21	August 23, 2016

 

I-129F	Petition for Alien Fiance(e)	K-3/K-4 - Already married - spouse and/or dependent child	May 1, 2017

The processing time is exactly the same however if you wanted to file for K3 you filed in the wrong order.  The I130 petition has to be filed before or concurrently with the I129F petition (or at least that's what we did - 10 years ago LOL).  That was because I130 petitions took longer and the I129F moved through to the embassy while USCIS was sitting on the I130.

 

It has nothing to do with the benefit.  The fastest path to K3 is to file the petitions together.  They are processed together, and they are approved together.  So since the I130 arrives at the state department at the same time they move forward with processing the immigrant visa and discard the nonimmigrant one.

You unfortunately filed in the wrong order and failed to attach the marriage certificate to the I129F that would qualify it as K1.

 

SO:  IF you are actually married, it's back to square one on petition filing.  It's a lesson learned.

 

 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

1 minute ago, MrCIA said:

Maybe you can help me understand why the CR-1 preference over a K3? We are a well established couple and time is of the essence.

Asked and answered.  Filing an I129F for a K3 (1) requires a marriage certificate attached to the I129F and (2) requires that an I130 be filed before or with the I129F.  You can file for K3 however if you wish.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

13 minutes ago, MrCIA said:

Why CR-1 over K3? I understand the "straight to a green card" benefit but, is it really worth that wait given we expected to be together by spring?

 

I-130	Petition for Alien Relative	Permanent resident filling for a spouse or child under 21	August 23, 2016

 

I-129F	Petition for Alien Fiance(e)	K-3/K-4 - Already married - spouse and/or dependent child	May 1, 2017

 

I129F and I130 for USC's are processed in exactly the same time and I see above you are comparing I129F processing to processing times for PR's bringing their immediate relatives over.

[Meg&Andrew 297]

3 minutes ago, MrCIA said:

Maybe you can help me understand why the CR-1 preference over a K3? We are a well established couple and time is of the essence.

No need to answer as @Nitas_man answered correctly.  

 

However if you do decide to continue to pursue the k1 I would advise you not to offer any information unless you are asked. Including photos. That goes for anyone during an interview. Only answer the questions being asked and do not add additional information. 

[geowrian 22,335]

16 minutes ago, MrCIA said:

Why CR-1 over K3? I understand the "straight to a green card" benefit but, is it really worth that wait given we expected to be together by spring?

 

I-130	Petition for Alien Relative	Permanent resident filling for a spouse or child under 21	August 23, 2016

 

I-129F	Petition for Alien Fiance(e)	K-3/K-4 - Already married - spouse and/or dependent child	May 1, 2017

K-3 is obsolete. Almost all are converted into a CR-1 anyway. The K-3 is a relic from back when a CR-1/IR-1 was taking a few years to process.

 

24 minutes ago, MrCIA said:

Good point. There is one piece of evidence that could cause suspicion. To what extent to they vet social media? I.e. should I expect a FB friend request for the embassy? Can the compel us to share our social media accounts?

Nobody can say for sure. The DS-5535 requests your social media history so presumptive they check that somehow.

[Nitas_man 3,100]

17 minutes ago, MrCIA said:

That's the big question. This country isn't big on documentation. As far as if it's a binding marriage.. Well, I would have said no way until I read some of these horror stories. E.g. photo in certain type of dress or a random photo was enough to get people denied.

In the eyes of the foreign church - Probably.

In the eyes of the foreign government - Probably not.

In the eyes of US church - Maybe?

In the eyes of US government - well, that's why I'm here.

 

Obviously we have to get that sorted out ASAP before charting our course forward. Only then can we really weigh the risk/benefit.

Seriously dude?

We all got married in all kinds of scattered countries.  "Not big on documentation" isn't really going to fly here UNLESS:

 

You are a Christian man who married a muslim girl in a country governed by muslim law which means there is none, no way, that marriage is legally recognized in the country where it took place and you will, under that circumstance, likely qualify for a K1 visa no matter how big your party was.

 

Edited December 8, 2017 by Nitas_man

[MrCIA 0]

9 minutes ago, Meg&Andrew said:

No need to answer as @Nitas_man answered correctly.  

 

However if you do decide to continue to pursue the k1 I would advise you not to offer any information unless you are asked. Including photos. That goes for anyone during an interview. Only answer the questions being asked and do not add additional information. 

That's solid logical advice, thank you.

 

Wonder what level of concern we should have when it comes to AoS? Once again, IF we continue on the K1 path, we absolutely will be getting married in the states.

[MrCIA 0]

40 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

Asked and answered.  Filing an I129F for a K3 (1) requires a marriage certificate attached to the I129F and (2) requires that an I130 be filed before or with the I129F.  You can file for K3 however if you wish.

That makes a little more sense. The K3 and CR-1 are submitted together. The K3 processing time is effectively the processing time of the CR-1 as well (I had mistakenly referenced wrong I-130 processing time). Both are approved where the CR-1 overrides/ replaces the K3 and a green card is issued. Am I holding that right? I have some research to do for sure but, that is a great foundation!

 

Thanks

 

[geowrian 22,335]

6 minutes ago, MrCIA said:

That makes a little more sense. The K3 and CR-1 are submitted together. The K3 processing time is effectively the processing time of the CR-1 as well (I had mistakenly referenced wrong I-130 processing time). Both are approved where the CR-1 overrides/ replaces the K3 and a green card is issued. Am I holding that right? I have some research to do for sure but, that is a great foundation!

For a K-3, you would file an I-130 for your spouse first. Then once you get the NOA1 back, you send a copy of it along with the I-129F to start the K-3 process.

 

Current USCIS policy is that if an I-129F for a K-3 is submitted, then it is sent to be adjudicated alongside the matching I-130.

Current NVC policy is that if an approved I-130 arrives before or at the same time as an approved I-129F, then the I-129F is administratively closed.

Putting the 2 rules above together creates a scenario that almost always ensures the I-129F is closed and the I-130 proceeds (for a CR-1 visa).

Edited December 8, 2017 by geowrian

[O&GForever 387]

1 hour ago, MrCIA said:

Sorry to hear. If you don't mind me asking, how did they become aware of said photo?

 

I'm teeter-tottering on if I should continue to pursue the K1 knowing that we have to be honest and that may lead to a denial. We are only weeks away from out NOA2 so worst case it sets us back a month or two on the CR1.

 

Good point. There is one piece of evidence that could cause suspicion. To what extent to they vet social media? I.e. should I expect a FB friend request for the embassy? Can the compel us to share our social media accounts?

 

We are fine now. We got married, reapplied and my husband arrived in March. 

 

If you’re questioning if you should pursue the K1 further or stop and refuel with a CR1, I think that is a good indication that you should change directions. When it comes to visas, especially in this political climate, you should do everything correctly. Don’t make things harder for yourself and cause super long delays. 

 

You won’t get a friend request from the embassy. However there are some embassies that now ask for all social media handles. And truthfully a quick Google search can reveal a lot about a person...or say a friend tags you in a photo and it shows on their page. Whether any of us want to admit it or not, the government knows more about us then we think. They find out everything. 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

5 minutes ago, MrCIA said:

That makes a little more sense. The K3 and CR-1 are submitted together. The K3 processing time is effectively the processing time of the CR-1 as well (I had mistakenly referenced wrong I-130 processing time). Both are approved where the CR-1 overrides/ replaces the K3 and a green card is issued. Am I holding that right? I have some research to do for sure but, that is a great foundation!

 

Thanks

 

Yes, that is correct.  It is the two petitions that are submitted together and when approved together they are forwarded to the DOS (NVC) to assign a case number before they forward it to the embassy.  They have two choices, immigrant or non-immigrant visa and they discard the non-immigrant (K3) and assign an immigrant (CR1) case number.

 

We did K3 ourselves, back when it was quicker.  If we were doing it all today we wouldn't even bother. 

 

At the time you prepared both packages, mailed in the I130, waited for the filing receipt, and then mailed in the I129F (with exactly the same information including the marriage certificate) to a different address.  The I129F would usually be processed and sent to the state department before the I130 and ours was.. 

Doing it again today?  Not a chance LOL. 

 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

52 minutes ago, MrCIA said:

That's solid logical advice, thank you.

 

Wonder what level of concern we should have when it comes to AoS? Once again, IF we continue on the K1 path, we absolutely will be getting married in the states.

Something of this magnitude, if ever discovered, will retroactively void all immigration benefits including citizenship.  Not worth it. 

 

Omission of or non-disclosure of non-material information will not void immigration benefits.  Omission or non-disclosure of material information, which this clearly falls under, can and does void them. 

 

Which is why from my side I would strongly, strongly advise clearly discussing with the CO or making this right from now.

 

Read this for yourself and make your decision on what to do with your eyes open and with a clear understanding of how big the potential consequences can be.  Stating "unmarried" to a consular officer at an interview if you are married sets up the row of dominos for life and that row of dominos gets longer and longer through each step of the immigration process.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume8-PartJ-Chapter2.html

Edited December 8, 2017 by Nitas_man