Fiancee visiting on tourist visa

[conquistador 3]

I am USC, fiancee lives abroad.  I filed for her K1 visa in November.  She is planning to visit for 3 weeks on a tourist visa.  She has visited several times previously on tourist visas and never overstayed her visa, but all those times were before we filed for the K1.  We did a religious wedding in her country in November, but are still not legally married.  She lost her full-time job last year, and has been living with her mother since then, with only occasional self-employment work.  Now we are worried that it will be difficult for her to prove strong ties to her country when she visits.  I did a little research on here, and I saw some people suggest bringing the NoA and show that she came on a round-trip ticket would help.  She also has ownership of an apartment in her name, but she doesn't actually live there (the way she explained it to me, a family member paid for the apartment, but put it in her name because she is single, and it saves taxes somehow) 

 

1.  I know there are no guarantees, but do you think it's likely that she will be allowed into the US this time?

2.  Any other suggestions on how she could prove strong ties?

3.  Would changing the length of her visit make any difference?  If we made it shorter, would she be more likely to be allowed in?  If we made it longer once she gets here, would that cause any problems in the visa process, as long as she returns before the visa expires? 

4. Would bringing evidence of ownership of the apartment be helpful to prove strong ties?  

5. Regarding the apartment, I put the apartment that is in her name as her current address on the 129, before she explained the full story on it.  Do you think that could cause any problems for us later on?  When we do our interview, are they likely to ask us what her current address is?  

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Feel free to move to another forum if it's more appropriate.  I wasn't sure where to put this.  

 

[Roel 7,191]

You did a religious wedding. 

 

I didnt even read more. Do yourself a favor and cancel k1 visa and start cr1 process. 

[K & R 343]

26 minutes ago, conquistador said:

I am USC, fiancee lives abroad.  I filed for her K1 visa in November.  She is planning to visit for 3 weeks on a tourist visa.  She has visited several times previously on tourist visas and never overstayed her visa, but all those times were before we filed for the K1.  We did a religious wedding in her country in November, but are still not legally married.  She lost her full-time job last year, and has been living with her mother since then, with only occasional self-employment work.  Now we are worried that it will be difficult for her to prove strong ties to her country when she visits.  I did a little research on here, and I saw some people suggest bringing the NoA and show that she came on a round-trip ticket would help.  She also has ownership of an apartment in her name, but she doesn't actually live there (the way she explained it to me, a family member paid for the apartment, but put it in her name because she is single, and it saves taxes somehow) 

 

1.  I know there are no guarantees, but do you think it's likely that she will be allowed into the US this time?

2.  Any other suggestions on how she could prove strong ties?

3.  Would changing the length of her visit make any difference?  If we made it shorter, would she be more likely to be allowed in?  If we made it longer once she gets here, would that cause any problems in the visa process, as long as she returns before the visa expires? 

4. Would bringing evidence of ownership of the apartment be helpful to prove strong ties?  

5. Regarding the apartment, I put the apartment that is in her name as her current address on the 129, before she explained the full story on it.  Do you think that could cause any problems for us later on?  When we do our interview, are they likely to ask us what her current address is?  

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Feel free to move to another forum if it's more appropriate.  I wasn't sure where to put this.  

 

Hopefully you didn’t send any pictures of said religious wedding. Either way cancel the k-1 get legally married and file the CR1. Save yourself some time and the hassle of a denial.

 

as for visiting you on a b2 no one can say what her odds are of entering because each time is up to the CBP at POE but if she doesn’t have strong ties to her home country like you’ve said it’s gonna be tough. I would scratch her US visit, and you should go back to her country and get legally married and file the CR1.

[JFH 12,189]

Which country is she from? The religious wedding could be a huge problem, bigger than the tourist visa issue. 

[Just Paul 4,591]

Congrats you are married for Immigration purposes.   File the I-130.

 

As for a tourist visa - what country is she from?

[britishandusa 446]

I’m sorry but you filed the wrong visa. Even though you guys are not “legally” married, you guys are “married” because a religious wedding is still a WEDDING. That is too married to USCIS and tons of people get denied because of this. You need to cancel the K1 Visa and file the CR1 before you waste anymore time waiting on this visa. 

[conquistador 3]

She is from Peru.  I spoke to an immigration lawyer about it a long time ago, and the lawyer told me if Peru doesn't consider us married, (which they don't, because to be legally married in Peru you need to do a civil wedding) USCIS wouldn't consider us married, so I could do the fiancee visa.  Do you think I misunderstood the lawyer, or perhaps you are generalizing your experiences from countries that have different laws?  

Edited January 1, 2019 by conquistador

[Roel 7,191]

If you did religious wedding then absolutely UsCIS will consider you married. People from many countries were denied because of those ceremonies. 

 

Please fire your attorney. 

[britishandusa 446]

7 minutes ago, conquistador said:

She is from Peru.  I spoke to an immigration lawyer about it a long time ago, and the lawyer told me if Peru doesn't consider us married, (which they don't, because to be legally married in Peru you need to do a civil wedding) USCIS wouldn't consider us married, so I could do the fiancee visa.  Do you think I misunderstood the lawyer, or perhaps you are generalizing your experiences from countries that have different laws?  

Fire your immigration lawyer. They should know better. NEVER have any sort of ceremony that looks like a wedding or any sort of wedding whilst applying for a fiancee visa. Here are examples for you to look at:

 

 

[payxibka 10,044]

43 minutes ago, conquistador said:

She is from Peru.  I spoke to an immigration lawyer about it a long time ago, and the lawyer told me if Peru doesn't consider us married, (which they don't, because to be legally married in Peru you need to do a civil wedding) USCIS wouldn't consider us married, so I could do the fiancee visa.  Do you think I misunderstood the lawyer, or perhaps you are generalizing your experiences from countries that have different laws?  

It's not only the USCIS but the embassy as well

[conquistador 3]

8 hours ago, JFH said:

Which country is she from? The religious wedding could be a huge problem, bigger than the tourist visa issue. 

I appreciate everyone trying to help.  I spoke to another lawyer today, via the link on this website, who also told me that as long as Peru doesn't consider us married, we should be fine.  Every country has different laws for marriage, and every situation is different, so I don't want to jump to the conclusion that just because some other people who had different situations had their visa rejected, I should assume that mine will be also.  I think I'm going to take the legal advice of two immigration lawyers over the good intentions of non-lawyers on the internet.  The other factor is, if we wanted to start over with the CR1 visa, I probably wouldn't be able to travel to Peru for a civil wedding for at least a couple months anyway, so waiting to see how the fiancee visa plays out seems like the better option for us.  I'll try to remember to keep you posted on how it turns out.  I suspect that many people do what we are doing and have their visas approved, but the smaller number who get theirs denied are more likely to complain about it on the internet.  

[Boiler 43,423]

30 minutes ago, conquistador said:

I appreciate everyone trying to help.  I spoke to another lawyer today, via the link on this website, who also told me that as long as Peru doesn't consider us married, we should be fine.  Every country has different laws for marriage, and every situation is different, so I don't want to jump to the conclusion that just because some other people who had different situations had their visa rejected, I should assume that mine will be also.  I think I'm going to take the legal advice of two immigration lawyers over the good intentions of non-lawyers on the internet.  The other factor is, if we wanted to start over with the CR1 visa, I probably wouldn't be able to travel to Peru for a civil wedding for at least a couple months anyway, so waiting to see how the fiancee visa plays out seems like the better option for us.  I'll try to remember to keep you posted on how it turns out.  I suspect that many people do what we are doing and have their visas approved, but the smaller number who get theirs denied are more likely to complain about it on the internet.  

Well you know the risk, please update us on how this goes.

[geowrian 22,335]

43 minutes ago, conquistador said:

I appreciate everyone trying to help.  I spoke to another lawyer today, via the link on this website, who also told me that as long as Peru doesn't consider us married, we should be fine.  Every country has different laws for marriage, and every situation is different, so I don't want to jump to the conclusion that just because some other people who had different situations had their visa rejected, I should assume that mine will be also.  I think I'm going to take the legal advice of two immigration lawyers over the good intentions of non-lawyers on the internet.  The other factor is, if we wanted to start over with the CR1 visa, I probably wouldn't be able to travel to Peru for a civil wedding for at least a couple months anyway, so waiting to see how the fiancee visa plays out seems like the better option for us.  I'll try to remember to keep you posted on how it turns out.  I suspect that many people do what we are doing and have their visas approved, but the smaller number who get theirs denied are more likely to complain about it on the internet.  

As long as you know what you're getting into. You may be fine. You may be wasting months + fees. Your call.

[K & R 343]

1 hour ago, conquistador said:

I appreciate everyone trying to help.  I spoke to another lawyer today, via the link on this website, who also told me that as long as Peru doesn't consider us married, we should be fine.  Every country has different laws for marriage, and every situation is different, so I don't want to jump to the conclusion that just because some other people who had different situations had their visa rejected, I should assume that mine will be also.  I think I'm going to take the legal advice of two immigration lawyers over the good intentions of non-lawyers on the internet.  The other factor is, if we wanted to start over with the CR1 visa, I probably wouldn't be able to travel to Peru for a civil wedding for at least a couple months anyway, so waiting to see how the fiancee visa plays out seems like the better option for us.  I'll try to remember to keep you posted on how it turns out.  I suspect that many people do what we are doing and have their visas approved, but the smaller number who get theirs denied are more likely to complain about it on the internet.  

If you submitted pictures or anything about this religious ceremony in your I-129F you’re almost 100% likely to be denied for being too married for the k-1. If you didn’t then don’t for the future and don’t mention it (unless asked which is unlikely but if asked always be honest).

 

Also just because they are a lawyer doesn’t mean you should take everything they say as truth. I can think of a number of things lawyers told me prior to filing out k-1 that after my own research I found out to be completely wrong. Hence why I never hired a lawyer for the k-1 (😂). It’s always important to look into things yourself and take everything into consideration. Let us know how this turns out....

[mushroomspore 3,043]

If you do a search on this website for "k1 denial due to ceremony" or any variation of that, many search results will come up from many different countries. It happens ALL the time and we see it often on this site. Do yourself and your fiancée/wife a favor. Cancel the K1, get fully and legally married somewhere and start the CR1. CR1 has a lot of advantages over K1 anyways.