Denied for K-1 After Waiting in AP for Two Years

[Lemonslice 4,587]

A lot of translators now work remotely, living in different time zones even being an advantage on some projects. Have you thought about spending a few months with your fiancé? Nothing live face time and living together to show you're in a (marital) relationship and not only penpals, or looking for immigration benefits.

Edited July 6, 2018 by Lemonslice

[Ontarkie 13,960]

Honestly 1 visit when you got married,  1 when he had his interview,  and 2 more in 2017. If you get married on your next visit and start the CR1 I can see it being denied again.

 

You have way too many red flags. You need many more visits and for a substantial amount of time to get through this. Only 4 visits in 2 years is not good when the cards are stacked against you. How long where each of these visits?

[MyLifeForYou 12]

29 minutes ago, Lemonslice said:

A lot of translators now work remotely, living in different time zones even being an advantage on some projects. Have you thought about spending a few months with your fiancé? Nothing live face time and living together to show you're in a (marital) relationship and not only penpals, or looking for immigration benefits.

That is true, it is a great profession for working remotely. I personally would love to live in Beirut. I adore the city. My daughter is the only reason I haven't just picked up and moved out of the country. Trying to secure a passport for her having her father in another country and getting a court order allowing me to take her out of the country is a huge hurdle. Otherwise, yes, absolutely, I would have been in Beirut a long time ago. 

[MyLifeForYou 12]

28 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

Honestly 1 visit when you got married,  1 when he had his interview,  and 2 more in 2017. If you get married on your next visit and start the CR1 I can see it being denied again.

 

You have way too many red flags. You need many more visits and for a substantial amount of time to get through this. Only 4 visits in 2 years is not good when the cards are stacked against you. How long where each of these visits?

I agree with you. I don't think a visit or two a year is going to cut it. Each visit was 10-12 days; nothing long-term or really substantial. We are going to have to come up with a much more involved plan in order for this to work. 

[MyLifeForYou 12]

37 minutes ago, EmmNM said:

Do FOIA requests really work? I can't find a post where someone got an answer. I can only find posts asking how they do it. PLEASE keep us posted on your journey.

I am not counting on finding out a lot, just using the FOIA option as a last resort to possibly find even the most remote piece of information that can shed light on our denial. The CEAC Website still says we are in AP. The only reason I even knew our petition was denied is because tomorrow is the two-year anniversary of the embassy interview and I emailed them to ask if there was any update, since it had been two years now with no news. It could be one thing - it could be ten things. Anything I can find out at this stage will be helpful. And yes, I will definitely post something when I hear back on the FOIA request. 

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

20 hours ago, Ash.1101 said:

 your fiances pretty spot on responses (I get "getting to know your other, but if he actually responded with the house was from the 1920's and it fell through, that just seems like an unnatural response. A more natural response would have been something like "Yeah she had wanted to flip an investment property and it didn't work out, she lost a lot from it".)

There's just some kind of weird formality here that almost seems to perfect on both your fiances end at the interview, and just how you approach everything in this thread and others, but something doesn't feel right.

 

I disagree with this-  In fact, I think his response sounds fine and yours would sound weird, especially from someone who has English as a second language or is educated.  Personally, I speak more like him than you and I'm a native American.

 

------

 

It is likely the age thing and the past K1.  As a parent myself of a child 21 years younger than me, I'd have trouble believing the relationship.  

 

Even if you marry, I think there are still going to be issues with believing that your SO is genuine in his interest or will remain so in the future.  The chances of him moving to America and finding a 20 year old Muslim girl are high.  The COs are not naive nor are they stupid.

[Boiler 43,748]

Obviously this does happen, Macron anyone. But that is a case where eyeborows may be raised but there are no cultural issues.

 

Seems to happen a lot on here mainly in circumstances where there are.

[MyLifeForYou 12]

26 minutes ago, N-o-l-a said:

 

I disagree with this-  In fact, I think his response sounds fine and yours would sound weird, especially from someone who has English as a second language or is educated.  Personally, I speak more like him than you and I'm a native American.

 

------

 

It is likely the age thing and the past K1.  As a parent myself of a child 21 years younger than me, I'd have trouble believing the relationship.  

 

Even if you marry, I think there are still going to be issues with believing that your SO is genuine in his interest or will remain so in the future.  The chances of him moving to America and finding a 20 year old Muslim girl are high.  The COs are not naive nor are they stupid.

Thank you for your point on the language issue. My fiancé does not sound like a typical American when he speaks English. He is multilingual and bases his English off his stronger French skills, so many times I can tell he is using French syntax as a guide to form his English sentences and they sound quaint or old fashioned at times. Being translators, we laugh about this and poke fun at each other all the time.

 

As for the the issue of finding a younger girl later on in the future - if you only knew how many times I have brought this up to him, especially at the beginning of our relationship. We have hashed that out more times that I care to remember. After about a year of that subject, we finally stopped talking about it and just moved on with our lives. I have talked to his mother and sister about it while I was in Beirut; they both just shake their heads and smile. But he loves you, they say. His family seems genuinely happy to see their son/brother in a good place in his life and don't question it past there. 

[MyLifeForYou 12]

25 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Obviously this does happen, Macron anyone. But that is a case where eyeborows may be raised but there are no cultural issues.

 

Seems to happen a lot on here mainly in circumstances where there are.

Yes, Macron! My fiancé was so excited when their love story came to light in the press. He felt we were somehow vindicated by that. I laughed and told him, I sure hope I look as good as she does when I am her age! 

[Rocko20 159]

On 7/5/2018 at 1:36 PM, Cathi said:

I am 21 years older than my husband, I'm Catholic, he's Muslim. We didn't have any issues.It was back in 2012 before Trump and his Muslim ban. 

 

That was also before 2015, where two San Bernardino people committed a mass shooting, one of which was an immigrant who came in on a K1 fiancee visa...

 

That event changed everything, not the current administration.

 

Edited July 7, 2018 by Rocko20

[Ash.1101 1,755]

17 hours ago, N-o-l-a said:

 

I disagree with this-  In fact, I think his response sounds fine and yours would sound weird, especially from someone who has English as a second language or is educated.  Personally, I speak more like him than you and I'm a native American.

 

------

 

It is likely the age thing and the past K1.  As a parent myself of a child 21 years younger than me, I'd have trouble believing the relationship.  

 

Even if you marry, I think there are still going to be issues with believing that your SO is genuine in his interest or will remain so in the future.  The chances of him moving to America and finding a 20 year old Muslim girl are high.  The COs are not naive nor are they stupid.

For me, I guess I would give less information. Unless someone seeks out the details, I do not see the purpose of providing any extra detail than what is necessary. Again though, that is how I would respond, but I'm not everyone. I could see my husband respond in a way that focused in on every detail. Not because that's how he naturally speaks, but because he gets nervous in these situations, as most do.

I understand your point though.

Edited July 7, 2018 by Ash.1101