K1 Visa Denied at Interview in Islamabad

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My fiancé's visa was denied in Islamabad because the CO believed we were "too married." Has anyone ever heard of this before? we've traveled together to three different countries after we filed the initial petition and he seemed to be quite bothered by that. We also lived together back in the states for awhile when she was a student. It really feels like he made an assumption based on Pakistani cultural norms in the sense that most engaged couples haven't lived together or vacation together until after marriage. He said to file for a CR-1 or to file an appeal but how does one even argue against someone saying we seem "too married"? If we were married we wouldn't have gone through this year long process in the first place because we'd already be together in the states.... What's our response supposed to be here? "Sorry we try to do as much together as we can until we're legally allowed to be married and live together. We'll try to love each other less."

Edited November 14, 2018 by moejangda

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Certainly way outside cultural norms.

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Was there an engagement party? Did you refer to each other as hubby or wifey?

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@NuestraUnion Yep there was an engagement party and we never referred to each other as husband and wife

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Sorry to hear about your denial.

 

The engagement party is probably what did it. Especially if you have pictures, they just assume it looks too much like a wedding. 

Edited November 14, 2018 by gsdc23

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2 minutes ago, moejangda said:

@NuestraUnion Yep there was an engagement party and we never referred to each other as husband and wife

Well there it is...The engagement party is what got you denied..As the CO stated, get married and file the CR1.

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@gsdc23 Thanks for your response. You think so? there were at most 20 people there, it was at my uncle's house and it was far from what you'd expect for a Pakistani wedding

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5 minutes ago, moejangda said:

@gsdc23 Thanks for your response. You think so? there were at most 20 people there, it was at my uncle's house and it was far from what you'd expect for a Pakistani wedding

Unfortunately yes, they have threads about this everywhere on VJ telling people who do K1’s to never have any engagement parties or celebrations of any sort. They just automatically tell you “you’re too married” when in reality you’re not, but they don’t care. It’s stressed to a lot of people not to do this and especially not to send pictures of it either. You can do a search on VJ and see many denials because of this.

Edited November 14, 2018 by gsdc23

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4 minutes ago, OlayemiLoray said:

Well there it is...The engagement party is what got you denied..As the CO stated, get married and file the CR1.

@OlayemiLoray, We ran this engagement party by our attorney well before we pursued it. Both my dad and hers who are both alive didn't even attend and like i mentioned earlier, It's far from what you'd expect for a Pakistani wedding especially if we're relying on cultural norms here

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3 minutes ago, gsdc23 said:

Unfortunately yes, they have threads about this everywhere on VJ telling people who do K1’s to never have any engagement parties or celebrations of any sort. They just automatically tell you “you’re too married” when in reality you’re not, but they don’t care. It’s stressed to a lot of people not to do this and especially not to send pictures of it either. You can do a search on VJ and see many denials because of this.

😔I guess we we were misled by our attorney. We should've done our own research. Thanks for the information

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16 minutes ago, moejangda said:

@NuestraUnion Yep there was an engagement party and we never referred to each other as husband and wife

That was the reason for the denial.

 

11 minutes ago, moejangda said:

@gsdc23 Thanks for your response. You think so? there were at most 20 people there, it was at my uncle's house and it was far from what you'd expect for a Pakistani wedding

Yes, we know so. You'd be surprised how often denials for engagement parties happen. If you do a search you will find people in the same predicament. You will now have to marry and file a spousal visa.

 

It doesn't matter if it wasn't an official wedding. The problem is that if it looks like a wedding, how do you prove it isn't. Immigration officers have to err on the side of caution.

 

3 minutes ago, moejangda said:

😔I guess we we were misled by our attorney. We should've done our own research. Thanks for the information

Wish you would have found this site before filing. We would have advised you not to do the engagement party.

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6 minutes ago, moejangda said:

😔I guess we we were misled by our attorney. We should've done our own research. Thanks for the information

Yeah unfortunately we see this a bell of a lot here on VJ usually with couples from Subsaharan Africa or the Indian Subcontinent. Which is sad because most people think that this will make their case stronger but it actually hurts their case.

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We also attended my cousin's wedding in Pakistan together 3 days before our interview. Our moms put up a lot of photos of us dressed up for all of his events. There's really no way for the CO to know that these pictures aren't from our own wedding. It'd be so hard to tell because we're all so dressed up 😞😞

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15 minutes ago, moejangda said:

@OlayemiLoray, We ran this engagement party by our attorney well before we pursued it. Both my dad and hers who are both alive didn't even attend and like i mentioned earlier, It's far from what you'd expect for a Pakistani wedding especially if we're relying on cultural norms here

Yes, the attorney given you not so good advice..I'm sorry this happened to you so now the only thing to do is to marry and file the CR1 petition..Wishing you well on your continued journey..

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1 minute ago, OlayemiLoray said:

Yes, the attorney given you not so good advice..I'm sorry this happened to you so now the only thing to do is to marry and file the CR1 petition..Wishing you well on your continued journey..

Thank you!