Question about evidence for Cambodia interview [edited title]

[Teemo 252]

20 minutes ago, magicant said:

They do not know that my boss is married to her cousin.  Only that she has 2 relatives that work with me who also accompanied me to Cambodia, but I didn't spend time with these 2 relatives in Cambodia, they visited other relatives while their.  

What do you mean they don't know? How are you going to avoid the following?

 

Q: How did you meet?

A: My boss is married to her cousin. 

[magicant 11]

She is not going to mention that her cousin (a different relative, not one who came with me) is married to my boss.  My boss's wife does not work at the company.  There is no evidence submitted regarding my boss or his wife, and nothing will be mentioned of them.

 

We met through one of her relatives (a woman) that works with me.  That relative (not married to my boss) introduced us on facebook.  The she, and one other relative (another woman, cousin), came with me to Cambodia at my request, as they have other family there so they took the opportunity to visit them.

 

Thank you.

[AmandaandChayne 734]

9 hours ago, magicant said:

She is not going to mention that her cousin (a different relative, not one who came with me) is married to my boss.  My boss's wife does not work at the company.  There is no evidence submitted regarding my boss or his wife, and nothing will be mentioned of them.

 

We met through one of her relatives (a woman) that works with me.  That relative (not married to my boss) introduced us on facebook.  The she, and one other relative (another woman, cousin), came with me to Cambodia at my request, as they have other family there so they took the opportunity to visit them.

 

Thank you.

And if they find out and you've not been upfront about it surely that's going to look even more like fraud and lead to a denial.  Your boss/company will come up when it comes to submitting your financial info.

 

One thing experience of others has taught us time and time again on here is honesty is the best policy.

 

Better to be upfront and explain and provide a tonne of evidence, definitely go see her at least once more preferably more.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

OP, you said you sent her money for emergencies, what were those emergencies? 

[magicant 11]

Regarding my boss's wife (who is a distant cousin of hers, not extremely close), I actually thought her having relatives here would help.

She had a friend who failed the interview.  When they asked if her friend had any relatives in the US, she said no.  The interviewer then said how can her parents let her move away to a foreign country with no relatives or contacts.  So it seemed to go against her.

 

I work for a big company and my boss's name is not on any financials.  I did see that the DS-160 seems to ask her to list all relatives in the US, is that correct?  So I suppose if they do a background check on the last name of her cousin, find out who her husband is and where he works, then they can see he works for the same company as me.  Not sure if all this would happen.

 

But are you saying she should specifically mention it?  So if they ask if she has relatives in the US and where, she shouldn't just say 2 in this state, 1 in this state....  She should say 1 in this state and she is married to my fiance's boss?  Just trying to see the best way to handle this.

 

 

Regarding money, I said I sent money for engagement costs, not emergencies.  If I typed that then it was a mistake.

 

Thank you very much.

[tamcloud 92]

11 hours ago, magicant said:

I saw other people show that they paid for things, like receipts for engagement rings, etc. so I thought western union receipts would help.  Now I feel worse about it.  In Cambodia it seems the foreigner always pays for the ceremony, etc.

 

Yes there was a ceremony and everything.  Some of her relatives and friends had similar situations to me (with meeting once, engagement ceremony, etc) and passed. 

 

Now I'm feeling like I don't have a chance.  I don't know what to do.

2

Sorry to give you more to be concerned about, but I haven't seen it mentioned, yet. They may interpret the receipts and photos for the "ceremony" as a those of a wedding, rather than an engagement. If that happens, there may be a challenge to the application, because they view you as possibly already married and not eligible for a K-1. I hope I'm wrong about this, but I've seen it mentioned many times before on VJ.

[JoelThai 313]

@George & Roth may be able to chime in here and offer advice.   He is the local Cambodia expert!

[George & Roth 1,485]

Hi @magicant I’ll try to chime in more later, but I will say that attending will increase your odds of approval. I lived in Cambodia 🇰🇭 5 years and that’s where we met.

 

When I brought my fiancé over, I went to the interview and she had her visa 1 week later. I changed my return flight once I knew she would have the visa so we could fly together.

 

2 reasons I think you should consider going:

1) I believe it shows more proof of relationship 

2) They will ask you questions in addition to your fiancé. This will relieve some pressure off of her.

 

I am on vacation, I will post more later on after I finish some more beers. 

[magicant 11]

Thanks for all the replies. 

 

Nothing I can do now about what I've already submitted.  I know some of her relatives had big engagement parties and also passed.  It's part of her culture and family beliefs for the engagement to be pretty big.

I do have a picture of us in front of the engagement decoration wall which has our names and, in her language, says it's our engagement.

Also there were no invitations or announcements, as in a wedding, and it was held at her relative's house (catered) not in a wedding type hall.

 

Anyway I just have to wait and see.

 

I will see to visit her after the summer.  I don't know about the interview.  Not sure I can go again, but I will have to see.

I have heard mixed things, as I said, where sometimes the answers don't match and they get denied.

And some of her cousins passed, going alone.  I just don't know.

 

But thank you for all the replies.

 

Enjoy your vacation, George & Roth

[midwinterrose 263]

@magicant Everyone is being very alarming, so I just wanted to chime in with a note of positivity.  You personally know people who have been approved under similar circumstances.  I imagine if you paid for the engagement arrangements you are probably the more affluent party, and I think that's totally normal for the one who can more easily afford such costs to cover them.  Also, I imagine it is more traditional for the man and/or his family to pay for such things, so I wouldn't sweat that part.  Maybe meeting through her relatives can be seen as suspicious, but it may also look better than having randomly met online.

 

You've submitted what you've submitted, for better or for worse, so just relax and let the process take its course.  I'm sure another visit would help your case, plus you'd get to see your sweetheart again.  Revisit thinking about whether you will accompany her to the interview/to the U.S. when the time draws closer...the process takes a while and circumstances may change between now and then, so don't fret over that yet.  Keep your chin up! 

[magicant 11]

Thank you for the encouragement.  I appreciate it.

True that worrying about things I can't change is just going to give me stress.  And it's not good.

I will see to plan another visit after the summer.  I hate the long travel (I hardly fly), and especially alone, but I would love to see her again.

And I will consider about being at the interview when it gets closer.

 

Thank you.

[Pseudo_ 16]

You said you had receipts that covered all the expenses regarding the engagement (the ring, catering?) If you can provide more of that, that may be viewed as positive. But then again, more visits should still be made. You're still at the early stage of K1 and there will still be a lot of months of waiting, find more ways to earn extra funds for a couple or more visits if financial is one of your concerns.

[TBoneTX 43,160]

OP, taking the consular phase lightly is the biggest mistake that anyone could make.

Be on the premises for the interview if you're on your deathbed.  If you're already dead, dig yourself up and be there.

Read the Embassy Info and the relevant Reviews for Cambodia (link atop any VJ page).

 

*** Thread is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the Asia/East & Pacific regional forum, for country-specific advice.  Thread title edited to specify Cambodia. ***

Edited July 22, 2018 by TBoneTX

[magicant 11]

It's not just about money.  I'm new at my job so I can't just keep taking so much time off, and time without pay isn't great either.

Also I hate flying.  I don't fly much at all.  I especially hate such a long flight, and going alone.

So for all these reasons, mostly taking time off from work, I can't just keep traveling back and forth so easily.

 

But I will definitely go to see her one more time and think about going to the interview.

 

Thanks for the comments.  I will research the reviews on this site.

 

Thank you.

[JE57 239]

Perhaps consider instead of going to see her flying her to the Americas and having a vacation on your side of the world.   Not easy to accomplish as you'd have to figure out how to get her to a country that she has visa free access to without transiting in the USA but it *is* possible.  Downside is it would take some research and be expensive but on the plus side it would show up in her passport at the interview and show that it's about you and her and not 'all the relatives'.  It would might also mean a much shorter flight for you depending on where you are in the USA and where she could fly to.  Which means less time away from work for you and an easier flight.   It would also help show her commitment to the relationship that she would be willing to fly to the other side of the world for you.   For example she can enter Bermuda visa free with her Cambodian passport but to get there she would have to fly Cambodia to London (she could connect along the way as required for example in Hong Kong) and connect to a British Airways flight that flies direct to Bermuda and that connection would have to be in the same airport in the UK so that she could transit Airside.  BUT... once she got to Bermuda she could stay for 21 days so if you were on the East coast of the USA it's a short fight that you could perhaps even do two 'long weekends' with her or plan around a US Holiday..  She could perhaps have one of her US relatives visit her during the 'in-between' week that you were working.  Of course if you are on the west coast of in the mid-west not so good