Spousal Visa Rejections Due To Missing Bona Fides of Relationship

[Michael2017 368]

Hi, 

 

I have looked around and could not find any rejected CR1, F2A etc. spousal visa reports, that were a) due to missing bona fide relationship and b) the applicant is from a visa waiver country c) It was adjudicated in a foreign embassy not adjustment of status in the USA. Do such reports exist on VJ? If not, does this mean, rejections due to missing bona fide relationship are exclusively for non ESTA countries?

[Thegirl 224]

That's because lots of people don't come back and report. Anyone from any country can be denied for all the same reasons. 

[Michael2017 368]

3 minutes ago, Keas said:

That's because lots of people don't come back and report. Anyone from any country can be denied for all the same reasons. 

Well, there are millions of threads on VJ, and I could not find any. There are plenty from outside ESTA. Thus, if the reason is "they dont come back" it would apply same to outside and inside ESTA. Thus, this answer seems not to be the issue.

[geowrian 22,336]

I doubt you're going to find any reports on VJ as there is no field to enter a reason for denial. There is a "second interview" field in the timelines, but that could be for reasons other than a returned petition (i.e. medical results) as well, and is not currently searchable. Any kind of reporting would involve lots of searches and manual counting.

 

We can't get a number for how often the "not a bona fide relationship" reason occurs from an official source, let alone a breakdown by country. Any returned petition has the visa refusal listed under 221g (since without a valid petition, they cannot comply with the INA requirements to establish eligibility for the visa). Heck, we can't even get a count of how many immigrant visas are refused by country / area of chargeability.

 

1 hour ago, Michael2017 said:

If not, does this mean, rejections due to missing bona fide relationship are exclusively for non ESTA countries?

Nope. While ESTA countries are generally considered low fraud, the bona fide relationship requirement exists everywhere and I'm certain people from ESTA countries have been denied due to it. I don't have a specific case to provide as an example off the top of my head (being low fraud and all...), but I'm certain it has occurred.

Edited January 21, 2018 by geowrian

[Michael2017 368]

Yes, all what you say makes sense. And of course, the requirements and laws are the same everywhere. That was never a doubt. While you can not see on profiles on VJ what was the reason, I used to search by topic. E.g. London visa denied etc. But could not find a single thread where the result indicated it was lack of bona fide relationships. As you can`t tell one too, I think it is possible to conclude, that visa officers pre-assume that a relationship between a USC and a Visa Waiver Country citizen is bona fide unless there is really strong evidence against it. Otherwise denials would be much more frequent also in Paris, London etc. and more frequently reported here. 

[ASMS 86]

I guess is related with people from Visa Waiver Countries not desperate at all to go the US.

Their situation In those countries most of the time are way better of what they can expect by moving to the US, and embassies are aware about it. Its the opposite from high fraud countries, or any other from the 3world.

[Andronat 2]

15 hours ago, Michael2017 said:

Hi, 

 

I have looked around and could not find any rejected CR1, F2A etc. spousal visa reports, that were a) due to missing bona fide relationship and b) the applicant is from a visa waiver country c) It was adjudicated in a foreign embassy not adjustment of status in the USA. Do such reports exist on VJ? If not, does this mean, rejections due to missing bona fide relationship are exclusively for non ESTA countries?

Hi, I am wondering the same thing. I have interview next month in a VWP country and out of red flags my wife is 24 yrs older and we have our own business together. However, we have been living together for several years and have plenty of evidence and my wife will come to the interview together with me. In case they deny it I will let you know

[Michael2017 368]

1 minute ago, Andronat said:

Hi, I am wondering the same thing. I have interview next month in a VWP country and out of red flags my wife is 24 yrs older and we have our own business together. However, we have been living together for several years and have plenty of evidence and my wife will come to the interview together with me. In case they deny it I will let you know

Why do you think it is a red flag to have a business together with your wife?

[Andronat 2]

1 minute ago, Michael2017 said:

Why do you think it is a red flag to have a business together with your wife?

Well, the USCIS fraud referral sheet contains "Same employer of petitioner/beneficiary". I guess there might be cases when spousal visa is used to avoid a work visa or something like that.

[Michael2017 368]

1 minute ago, Andronat said:

Well, the USCIS fraud referral sheet contains "Same employer of petitioner/beneficiary". I guess there might be cases when spousal visa is used to avoid a work visa or something like that.

Thanks, do you have a link to that sheet? I think it is quite common in the States and in Europe, that wife and husband would work together on a business they establish. For me, it would be a red flag if they would not...

[Andronat 2]

1 minute ago, Michael2017 said:

Thanks, do you have a link to that sheet? I think it is quite common in the States and in Europe, that wife and husband would work together on a business they establish. For me, it would be a red flag if they would not...

Yes, many couples I know work together or have business together. But who knows how they might look at it...

Here is the link http://prernalal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/USCIS_Fraud_Referral_Sheet.pdf

[Michael2017 368]

14 minutes ago, Andronat said:

Yes, many couples I know work together or have business together. But who knows how they might look at it...

Here is the link http://prernalal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/USCIS_Fraud_Referral_Sheet.pdf

I think employer and business are a different thing here, but thanks for that sheet. In fact, it is a bit shocking.

If you submit too little evidence, you did not proof your case, if too much, they state over submission lol

[Crazy Cat 39,772]

1 hour ago, Andronat said:

Yes, many couples I know work together or have business together. But who knows how they might look at it...

Here is the link http://prernalal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/USCIS_Fraud_Referral_Sheet.pdf

Thanks for sharing the link.  It looks like red flags are much more common than I thought.....

[NYCruiser 423]

2 hours ago, Andronat said:

Well, the USCIS fraud referral sheet contains "Same employer of petitioner/beneficiary". I guess there might be cases when spousal visa is used to avoid a work visa or something like that.

You have other related evidence. The application is basically a story of your life which you are 'opening' to the Government to access. (I put opening in inverted commas for obvious reasons..is much private anymore?) There should not be a problem with that item being you have other very strong evidence

[Ahoy01 31]

As mentioned before. I think the CO assumes that the people from VWP countries and Canada don't have a reason to move to the US desperately. The odds are if they wanted to they could have used their visa privileges to go to the US and get married or overstay they visa.

 

So I think they don't enter the interview that skepticism, however if there was reason to believe that fraud was being committed they would be denied.