Is I 601 waiver required for my CR 1 application?

[Wambui 0]

Hi,

I am currently based in Kenya, East Africa. I recently fell in love with and got engaged to an American citizen that I met online. We have never met but soon will, in order to get married. We video and voice chat a whole lot and that has been sufficient for us as a sober and mature couple. I now find it prudent to enquire about my USA immigration status before I proceed with the wedding. I do not want to get married and then discover that I am unable to relocate to the USA. That would be a heart rending nightmare!

These are the details of my USA immigration situation:

1. I was in the USA as an F1 student from May 2009- January 2014

2. I was not able to return to the university in fall 2013 due to a lack of tuition fees. My DSO refused to give my sponsor the time to get the tuition required. Therefore, I believe my SEVIS was terminated because my DSO refused to give me the semester off.  I had applied and received a hardship work permit that winter, with the hopes that I could legally work and earn the tuition fees for fall 2013. I still do not know when and if my SEVIS was terminated, due to my DSOs lack of communication. The DSO has since been fired for different reasons and the new one does not know my SEVIS status

3. In order not to become illegal or receive a 10 year ban, I left the USA in good faith on the 18th of January 2014. My calculation is that I was within 6 months or 180 days from the date of SEVIS termination. Calculated using the universities reporting date of fall 2013 and my departure date in January 2014. My hope was and still is, that I acquired the 3 year ban and not the 10 year ban and that I can use a I-601 waiver if need be. I was a 3.8 GPA student, a morally upright and aconviction free individual without any arrest records whatsoever

4. It has now been 4 years since I returned from the USA. Meaning that I have been outside the USA for over 4 years. Do I really need to apply for an I-601 waiver? Since I do not have a ban anymore, and do not have any other immigration complication, can I really be denied a CR-1 visa aka spousal green card by either the USCIS or the US embassy?
What do you advice I do? Proceed with the wedding in the knowledge that I can get a green card to join my husband to be or? I would hate to hurt or disappoint my fiance. He is such an amazing man! We plan on getting married sometime this summer, either in the USA if I get a visitors visa, or in Kenya if I don't get a visitors visa.

Thanks.

[ASMS 86]

On 1/30/2018 at 5:26 AM, Wambui said:

before I proceed with the wedding. I do not want to get married and then discover that I am unable to relocate to the USA. That would be a heart rending nightmare!

Why not being able to relocate in the US would be a nightmare for you?

I would marry over and over again with my now husband even if I can't inmigrate to the US.

 

I don't think you have any ban left.

Make sure to disclose what it happened with your previous visa in your next applications.

[pushbrk 13,836]

Sounds like your 3 year ban, if any, is concluded.  As long as you have evidence of when you left. I say, no worries.  It might come up, but you seem good at explaining it factually.

[Wambui 0]

3 hours ago, ASMS said:

Why not being able to relocate in the US would be a nightmare for you?

I would marry over and over again with my now husband even if I can't inmigrate to the US.

 

I don't think you have any ban left.

Make sure to disclose what it happened with your previous visa in your next applications.

Thanks. Because he would not be able to relocate to Kenya so that we would be together. He has full custody and his ex wife will not allow him to relocate with the children. That means it would not be possible for us to live apart. Thanks!

[Wambui 0]

1 hour ago, pushbrk said:

Sounds like your 3 year ban, if any, is concluded.  As long as you have evidence of when you left. I say, no worries.  It might come up, but you seem good at explaining it factually.

Thanks. What kind of proof? I don't have any proof, I only have the immigration passport stamp of leaving the USA and arriving in Kenya. Will that suffice?

[pushbrk 13,836]

I used the word evidence, and yes, your passport stamp is exactly the evidence you need.