K1 Visa Denied at Interview in Islamabad

[Lazybones18 261]

Marry and file cr1 

 

the CO made a bad judgement and denied you. Unfortunately the best thing for you to do at this time is start over with a cr1 

 

immigration is nasty these days 

[Boiler 43,381]

1 minute ago, Lazybones18 said:

Marry and file cr1 

 

the CO made a bad judgement and denied you. Unfortunately the best thing for you to do at this time is start over with a cr1 

 

immigration is nasty these days 

Has been this way as long as I can remember and that predates Obama.

[space-cadet 2]

5 hours ago, Boiler said:

What Pakistani Father would allow an unmarried daughter travel in such circumstances?

@BoilerI personally know one. I know this is far from the majority and i see your point though i think  you really mean "What Muslim Pakistani father." Many non-Muslims live in Pakistan and they very well may not have had an issue with their engaged daughters traveling with someone whom they themselves are also close to 

Edited November 15, 2018 by moejangda

[Lazybones18 261]

1 minute ago, Boiler said:

Has been this way as long as I can remember and that predates Obama.

Yes the post 9/11 era 

 

immigration was a joke in the 80’s and 90’s 

Edited November 15, 2018 by Lazybones18

[space-cadet 2]

9 hours ago, geowrian said:

What does the attorney say about the "too married" reason for denial?

@geowrian the attorney was dumbfounded and simply kept asking for a letter of denial (which we never received but from my understanding doesn't even have to be provided to us). Really felt like the attorney was unwilling to accept what we mentioned as the truth 

[Lazybones18 261]

3 minutes ago, moejangda said:

@Boiler I personally know one. I know this is far from the majority and i see your point though i think  you really mean "What Muslim Pakistani father." Many non-Muslims live in Pakistan and they very well may not have had an issue with their engaged daughters traveling with someone whom they themselves are also close to 

Boiler is right...  ur case is a exception 

 

in Pakistan it is very rare for a parent to allow their daughter to travel with a unmarried male ... it’s more a Pakistani thing than a religion 

 

regardless 98% of Pakistan population is Muslim 

 

[Boiler 43,381]

5 minutes ago, moejangda said:

@BoilerI personally know one. I know this is far from the majority and i see your point though i think  you really mean "What Muslim Pakistani father." Many non-Muslims live in Pakistan and they very well may not have had an issue with their engaged daughters traveling with someone whom they themselves are also close to 

I am familiar with the Asia Bibi situation, so did the Consulate know you are not Muslim?

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

22 minutes ago, moejangda said:

 @Derik-Lina Looking back i do feel pretty stupid that i didn't take this into consideration. you're totally right. We asked our attorney whether we should pursue a CR-1 or a K1 and took their advice without looking into anything ourselves. That's our fault. Thanks for the positive words!

It’s perfectly logical to expect an attorney to know what they’re doing, but stories like yours are unfortunately common. VJ has excellent guides (links at top of page) - those are a great reference for uour next steps. Good luck.

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

59 minutes ago, moejangda said:

Interesting. My fiancé did mention to me that the CO said our options were to file an appeal or apply for a CR-1. Nonetheless, she could've misheard. Thanks for your feedback

My K1 was in 2009 

still no paperwork to say what and how to appeal and i did ask for one so we could see any issues and correct at CR1 interview

[geowrian 22,335]

6 minutes ago, moejangda said:

@geowrian the attorney was dumbfounded and simply kept asking for a letter of denial (which we never received but from my understanding doesn't even have to be provided to us). Really felt like the attorney was unwilling to accept what we mentioned as the truth 

Sounds like the attorney wasn't quite well experienced enough in fiance-based family immigration if he wasn't familiar with the "too married" reason for refusal.

[space-cadet 2]

10 minutes ago, Lazybones18 said:

Boiler is right...  ur case is a exception 

 

in Pakistan it is very rare for a parent to allow their daughter to travel with a unmarried male ... it’s more a Pakistani thing than a religion 

 

regardless 98% of Pakistan population is Muslim 

Apologies if my response came off as combative. That was not my intention. I agree with @Boiler in that the vast majority of Pakistani fathers likely wouldn't be ok with their unmarried daughters traveling with another man. I was simply pointing out that i only know 1 that was ok with it and i felt that those who aren't ok with it are influenced by both religion and culture. 1.59% of the Pakistani population is apparently Christian according to wikipedia which is still 3,339,000. Anyhow, that's neither here nor there. i fully accept that this denial was definitely my fault and should have done a much better job with respect to taking all the things that have been mentioned into consideration

Edited November 15, 2018 by moejangda

[Amit&Julie 180]

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Hindsight is 20/20.  I’d recommend searching and following the CR-1and Pakistan forums closely going forward to inform the next part of your process. People here do their best to help and there is such a wealth of knowledge. Onward and upward!

[Az&Naz 3]

Am a little confused here.... I'm married to a USC and have applied for our CR1. We met a in Thailand whilst we were both on holiday (pure luck/fate). We knew their was a spark straight away and a few months later went met up in Thailand again and spent around 2 weeks together alone. Anyway fast forward a year and we are married. So according to this it seems the embassy will say that this is not a cultural norm for two unmarried desis to be meeting and holidaying together before being married?? Makes no sense to me. How are u supposed to get to know each other properly without spending time together alone? 

[HP+IC 292]

57 minutes ago, Az&Naz said:

Am a little confused here.... I'm married to a USC and have applied for our CR1. We met a in Thailand whilst we were both on holiday (pure luck/fate). We knew their was a spark straight away and a few months later went met up in Thailand again and spent around 2 weeks together alone. Anyway fast forward a year and we are married. So according to this it seems the embassy will say that this is not a cultural norm for two unmarried desis to be meeting and holidaying together before being married?? Makes no sense to me. How are u supposed to get to know each other properly without spending time together alone? 

Probably the OP was unlucky to have his case reviewed by a wrong person in a wrong time. Perhaps there was something else to the case which he doesn't disclose. Anyway, there was no doubt as to genuinity of their relationship, and getting married is a natural course of events. We all here, I mean the foreign fiance/ee's are coming out of our comfort zone and break cultural rules to that or another extent just because we are marrying outside of our country/culture/people etc. You are already married and your relationship will be scrutinized as to whether or not it is genuine bona fide marriage and not what did you two do before getting married.  

[geowrian 22,335]

I think the "outside cultural norms" is being a bit misunderstood here. Marrying a foreigner is not the norm in many societies, but that's not an issue for immigration obviously. The red flag is when there are differences in the circumstances that would be out of the ordinary compared to dating a local. For instance, a large gap in age can be a red flag if it is unusual to marry somebody locally that is also of the same age gap.

 

In some cultures, it's unusual for a single woman to travel alone with a man before marriage...they typically have a chaperone involved. That difference likely triggered extra scrutiny here. The CO may have been wrong in the end, but he wasn't actually wrong in the decision if he felt that couple may have been married. They are required to refuse a K-1 to a couple they aren't certain are single and will legally marry within 90 days of entry on the K-1 visa.