Naive mistake: should I withdraw K1 application?

[TBoneTX 43,133]

One potentially or actually offensive word has been removed from an earlier post, and a post pointing out that word has been removed.

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OP, people are telling you "don't worry; you'll be fine, because nothing happened to me."  This can be among the most reckless advice ever offered on this site.

 

In your instance, you must hope that the I-129F petition gets past the USCIS adjudicator, and then past the consular officer who will conduct the K-1 interview.  Especially if your planned party smacks even remotely of a wedding celebration, or if one of your guests posts something on a social site to indicate same (rightly or wrongly), you'll be in a heap of trouble.  Do NOT -- ever! -- underestimate the consular phase of this process!

 

You have these options:

1) Continue with the current petition, but don't hold the party; or,

2) Take the chance that your statement will escape the eyes of all who will review it, hold your party, and hope that no one perceives it in a way that you don't want it to be perceived; or,

3) If your heart is set on holding the party, withdraw your I-129F petition, and either refile it without that statement or marry and file the I-130 for the CR-1 visa.

 

Given the dangers of waiting many months for petition approval only to be slapped with a misrep or fraud marker by the consulate, I know what I would do.

Edited February 26, 2018 by TBoneTX
added an option

[TBoneTX 43,133]

A noncontributory post has been removed.

[caliliving 606]

8 hours ago, missileman said:

I'm not sure it will cause any problems.....However, in my opinion, the CR-1 is superior to the K-1.  The wait time time is not much longer, there is no waiting (or need) for EAD or AP, and no expensive AOS required........the immigrant receives both a SSN and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entry into the US.  All in all, it is superior.

i agree! get married and do CR1! it is superior and you will have a much easier transition in the USA! 

[Zzyzx 106]

1 hour ago, caliliving said:

i agree! get married and do CR1! it is superior and you will have a much easier transition in the USA! 

Yes but starting all over again will add months to the process including the extra 3-4 months it takes to do the CR-1.  Plus ironing out the details of getting married in Estonia may not be easy. However Estonia is part of ESTA, so a Vegas wedding would fit the bill.  Keeping in mind leaving the country then filing for CR-1.  Let's not forget the extra expenses of filing everything all over again, not fun!  It isn't as romantic as everyone is painting it here.

 

Just my 2 cents if I were in the OP's shoes: I would cancel the party and roll the dice since the K-1 visa is already in process.  And if asked in the interview about the statement, explain that after learning more about the process, you canceled the party in effort to avoid any misinterpretations.  Perhaps I'm wrong, Estonia isn't one of those countries where a party or religious ceremony by itself, constitutes a "legal" marriage.  So this issue most likely isn't on the radar for the CO's there.    

Edited February 26, 2018 by Zzyzx

[caliliving 606]

1 minute ago, Zzyzx said:

Yes but starting all over again will add months to the process including the extra 3-4 months it takes to do the CR-1.  Plus ironing out the details of getting married in Estonia may not be easy. However Estonia is part of ESTA, so a Vegas wedding would fit the bill.  Keeping in mind leaving the country then filing for CR-1.  Plus the extra expense of filing everything all over again, not fun!

 

Just my 2 cents if I were in the OP's shoes: I would cancel the party and roll the dice since the K-1 visa is already in process.  And if asked in the interview about the statement, explain that after learning more about the process, you canceled the party in effort to avoid any misinterpretations.  Perhaps I'm wrong, but in addition Estonia isn't one of those countries where a party or religious ceremony by itself, constitutes a "legal" marriage.  So this issue most likely isn't on the radar for the CO's there.    

a religious ceremony is  a grey area.. yes, he will be asked and people are telling him it is an issue. he needs to apply for a CR1 and get married. 

[caliliving 606]

3 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

One potentially or actually offensive word has been removed from an earlier post, and a post pointing out that word has been removed.

---

OP, people are telling you "don't worry; you'll be fine, because nothing happened to me."  This can be among the most reckless advice ever offered on this site.

 

In your instance, you must hope that the I-129F petition gets past the USCIS adjudicator, and then past the consular officer who will conduct the K-1 interview.  Especially if your planned party smacks even remotely of a wedding celebration, or if one of your guests posts something on a social site to indicate same (rightly or wrongly), you'll be in a heap of trouble.  Do NOT -- ever! -- underestimate the consular phase of this process!

 

You have these options:

1) Continue with the current petition, but don't hold the party; or,

2) Take the chance that your statement will escape the eyes of all who will review it, hold your party, and hope that no one perceives it in a way that you don't want it to be perceived; or,

3) If your heart is set on holding the party, withdraw your I-129F petition, and either refile it without that statement or marry and file the I-130 for the CR-1 visa.

 

Given the dangers of waiting many months for petition approval only to be slapped with a misrep or fraud marker by the consulate, I know what I would do.

this 100%!!! so many dangers to continue and be hit with a misrep or fraud!!!! the VJ community is here to help and guide and you should really listen to this advice!

Edited February 26, 2018 by caliliving

[Zzyzx 106]

2 minutes ago, caliliving said:

a religious ceremony is  a grey area.. yes, he will be asked and people are telling him it is an issue. he needs to apply for a CR1 and get married. 

A lot more grey in certain countries than others.  But in this case we are talking about a "party."  I don't see this as a huge issue as the party hasn't even happened.    

[Jaquelly 1,647]

7 minutes ago, Zzyzx said:

A lot more grey in certain countries than others.  But in this case we are talking about a "party."  I don't see this as a huge issue as the party hasn't even happened.    

 

Why would you even risk going through the entire process of a K1 visa for a party? I don't get it. You can have a celebration afterwards. This process isn't about romance and making your family happy. If this person rolls the dice and has an engagement party, USCIS might deny them. Is it smart to even take that risk?

[Coco8 1,039]

They already submitted the K1 and I doubt they want to spend more time apart and have to submit another visa. 

 

I think that if you stay with the K1 and you mention that instead of "unofficial wedding ceremony", you just meant an engagement party so that both sets of parents could meet each other.  So don't have a party, as said above by several posters who have a lot of experience. You can have a small family gathering and take a couple of pictures.

 

If you are very risk averse, you can look into the spousal visa, as other people have recommended.

 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2018 by Coco8

[l-h 91]

Thanks everyone for your input. I really appreciate the honest feedback.

We're going to consult a lawyer this week to get their opinion as well. 

[geowrian 22,335]

7 hours ago, noraliz73 said:

I understand your wanting to celebrate your upcoming marriage.  You did nothing wrong.  A party in honor of your relationship in not a wedding.  I think that you would be fine for the K1 visa.  Keep the photos.  Make sure that when you go to the interview, you stress it was an engagement party or just how you explained it to us.  They really aren’t out to get you and to deny you unless you are lying.  I think many people overthink this because none of us wants to leave anything to chance.  I actually tried to get married in his country and was denied.  I told USCIS that we went on our honeymoon trip anyway because we’d paid for it.  I didn’t worry.  They don’t expect people sit in a corner with their hands folded.  You live life.  You should be fine for K1 or go for CR-1.  Nothing in life is guaranteed either way.  Good luck in your process.  I hope it is speedy and happy!

 

by the way, I was denied getting married in Egypt.  Not the K1 visa.  That is why we ended up applying for the K1.  My divorce papers were inadequate to their government.

Many people have been denied the I-129F or refused the K-1 for this reason. It's definitely possible they won't care. At the same time, it's potentially an 8-10+ month wait to find out...risk/reward makes this a tough sell to proceed as-is IMO.

 

7 hours ago, ThomasNC1988 said:

You have to take everything you read on Visa Journey with a grain of salt. When these cases come up where people are "too married" for K1 it's because they are from countries where they have traditional or tribal marriages that aren't officially recorded and the USC goes over and thinks they are just doing a thing and don't realize they could be legally married in this country. Having an engagement party in a country that has no such unofficial/offical marriages won't cause you a bit of trouble. Also wait time for k-1 is closer to 9 months than a year for most right now.

I can quote you a least one case from less than a year ago in which the bolded section was not true and resulted in a denial (beneficiary from and living in Australia).

 

[Sean and Neslie 2]

Just to clarify K1 visa without RFE are still under a year 7 to 9 months (APPX 268 days per visa journey stats) from filing to visa in hand where spousal visas are taking well over a year (APPX 410 day per visa journey stats) so it is a personal decision on the individual couple which is superior and which works better for you. Its true that the cost is less and that you are a permanent resident upon arrival under the spousal visa. Basically all the "adjustment of status" work that would need to be done with a K1 visa is already complete but that is the very reason why it takes so much longer to complete the spousal. The pros of the K1 are you can be with your significant other much sooner the con is you still have to do the adjustment of status and wait on your green card once your here. This is very much the couples personal decision which is better or not but i recommend you research and see what the actual time lines are before making your final decision utilize multiple sources for your time line for example dont just use what i a saying as fact  do some research and find your facts and what is the best decision for you. Good luck to you.

[vocaledge 3,340]

Surely its very simple....

If they send you an NOID, you simply reply stating that a) the party hasn't happened yet and will not be going ahead (you said it will be in the summer), and b) you misstated 'unofficial wedding' instead of 'engagement celebration'.

 

You haven't HELD the party, and therefore, right now, you haven't done anything wrong.  I've seen NOIDs reversed after responses, and this seems like the most logical, simplest and safest course of action.

DON'T HAVE THE PARTY!

[Naes 12,205]

2 hours ago, liish said:

Thanks everyone for your input. I really appreciate the honest feedback.

We're going to consult a lawyer this week to get their opinion as well. 

Just an advice prior to consulting a lawyer;

 

most lawyers doesnt seem seem to understand the problem with being too married in k1 cases. (Actually most lawyers don't understand k1) 

 

because legally one one should be able to pass the interview by being single officially. However it ends up in the eye of CO, they may just decide "you're married" based on a nickname seen on a not "wifey" or a picture of a friend's wedding, or even an engagement ceremony.

 

as a European country I wouldn't expect all these to happen as much as it happens in high fraud countries (which is unfortunate for them too) however when consulting a lawyer, please remember they may not know about this type of denial at all....

[Little_Vixen 1,869]

Oh my are you in a pickle. I'm so sorry. Sometimes these little things you don't think about can have such devastating consequences. I understand the CO need to be very particular about things to weed out the bad apples, but this is obviously an honest mistake.

 

I agree with @vocaledge for a part, cause nothing happened yet. I truly hope they will catch the mistake and call you out on it giving you a chance to get everything straightened out. But are you willing to take that risk? I ask that because I agree with @TBoneTX too. Mainly because the process is so long. It will be absolutely devastating when you get to the end of the 6 to 7 month wait only to find out you won't be approved because of this. If you need to start a CR1 after already having gone through most of the K1 it will be 7 months plus the 11 months.

 

And lastly, I completely agree with @Naes. Most lawyers don't do enough K1 cases to truly understand the process. I am almost positive that we here at visa journey have more experience than 90% of the lawyers. If you do go to a lawyer, make sure you find one that deals with K1 on a regular basis and deals with problematic cases regularly and not just filed a lot of uncomplicated forms.