Need to know what to do.

[Difrntway 28]

Hello everyone, 

   So I really need some advice on how to proceed with a k1 visa for my boyfriend.  I guess number one is we are a same sex couple. My boyfriend lives in Honduras. We have two red flags,  one is our age difference,  he is only 18 and i am 43. Our second red flag is we don't have a common language yet and use a translator alot.  Most of our communications are in messaging format with very little phone calling.  We have met and all that jazz and have been together for around 8 months.  So i have been exploring various options and have researched this visa for at least 80 hours.  However I am very unsure if I should use a lawyer or not.  The lawyer is extremely expensive and would likely leave me a financial mess by the time my boyfriend got here.  But i definitely want him here and don't want to mess this up.  Any and all advice would be appreciated.  Thank you in advance. 

[aaron2020 11,651]

Seems like a personal choice.

 

Are you capable and willing to spend time to study and do the work necessary?  If yes, then you don't need a lawyer to file like many of us.  After all, this is DIY.  If no, then hire the lawyer.

[Difrntway 28]

I feel like I have done all the studying.  Really I just want to make sure the fiance visa works and if I can do it on my own and still be safe then I'm very good with that. 

[aaron2020 11,651]

5 minutes ago, Difrntway said:

I feel like I have done all the studying.  Really I just want to make sure the fiance visa works and if I can do it on my own and still be safe then I'm very good with that. 

The fiance visa works.  Lots of same-sex couple have been successful.

 

Whether you can do it on your own and do it correctly to be be safe is a determination that only you can make about yourself.  No one knows you.  No one knows what you are capable of.  Not everyone is capable of doing this themselves.  Some people need more help than others.

Edited April 16, 2019 by aaron2020

[Boiler 43,668]

Spending 8 months together is more than many manage, was this in Honduras?

[Difrntway 28]

So i think i can definitely do the whole process. The only thing I really need are examples of a cover sheet, the love letter and affidavit of support.  I'm thinking of also employing a service like rapid visa and that's for two reasons.  One they allow me to put even the cost of the paperwork on a, payment plan.  Two, they also might help a little with the paperwork and getting it organized.  I'm terribly unorganized.  I am very intelligent and have researched this heavily,  im only lacking in experience and knowing my chance for success.  I'm used to the legal system where a lawyer is basically required.  It seems like immigration is not really like that. 

12 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

The fiance visa works.  Lots of same-sex couple have been successful.

 

Whether you can do it on your own and do it correctly to be be safe is a determination that only you can make about yourself.  No one knows you.  No one knows what you are capable of.  Not everyone is capable of doing this themselves.  Some people need more help than others.

 

[aaron2020 11,651]

Do not use Rapid Visa.  Do your research on them.  

[Boiler 43,668]

You will find many horror stories of people  who used RapidVisa on this site,

[Mezyan 149]

2 minutes ago, Difrntway said:

So i think i can definitely do the whole process. The only thing I really need are examples of a cover sheet, the love letter and affidavit of support.  I'm thinking of also employing a service like rapid visa and that's for two reasons.  One they allow me to put even the cost of the paperwork on a, payment plan.  Two, they also might help a little with the paperwork and getting it organized.  I'm terribly unorganized.  I am very intelligent and have researched this heavily,  im only lacking in experience and knowing my chance for success.  I'm used to the legal system where a lawyer is basically required.  It seems like immigration is not really like that. 

 

If you are very intelligent but unorganized, you can still do it yourself. But like the posters above said, it's a personal choice thing.

 

Have you read about red flags for the Honduras consulate? Age might not be a red flag there. The language barrier is most likely one though.

 

[Ben&Zian 4,397]

37 minutes ago, Difrntway said:

Hello everyone, 

   So I really need some advice on how to proceed with a k1 visa for my boyfriend.  I guess number one is we are a same sex couple. My boyfriend lives in Honduras. We have two red flags,  one is our age difference,  he is only 18 and i am 43. Our second red flag is we don't have a common language yet and use a translator alot.  Most of our communications are in messaging format with very little phone calling.  We have met and all that jazz and have been together for around 8 months.  So i have been exploring various options and have researched this visa for at least 80 hours.  However I am very unsure if I should use a lawyer or not.  The lawyer is extremely expensive and would likely leave me a financial mess by the time my boyfriend got here.  But i definitely want him here and don't want to mess this up.  Any and all advice would be appreciated.  Thank you in advance. 

 

You can do it all by yourself, but as others kind of mentioned, lack of common language is not good. Showing the embassy you only talk through a translator app isn't a good thing, they want to see one of you can communicate in the actual language. 

The age gap, well, in Honduras not sure how they would view that there... it is quite a large gap plus he is only 18, in my experience with having to even bother dealing with kids that age most don't even know what they want even and change their minds every few months. As in same sex, no issues with that stuff. So main issue is the language barrier (and a translator app again doesn't bypass it), then the age gap as it probably isn't too common to have a 25 year age gap but not sure for Honduras again, but to overcome the doubt, a lot of in person time spent together helps.

Edited April 16, 2019 by Ben&Zian

[Difrntway 28]

1 hour ago, Ben&Zian said:

 

You can do it all by yourself, but as others kind of mentioned, lack of common language is not good. Showing the embassy you only talk through a translator app isn't a good thing, they want to see one of you can communicate in the actual language. 

The age gap, well, in Honduras not sure how they would view that there... it is quite a large gap plus he is only 18, in my experience with having to even bother dealing with kids that age most don't even know what they want even and change their minds every few months. As in same sex, no issues with that stuff. So main issue is the language barrier (and a translator app again doesn't bypass it), then the age gap as it probably isn't too common to have a 25 year age gap but not sure for Honduras again, but to overcome the doubt, a lot of in person time spent together helps.

So he is taking English classes right now and his English is already pretty good.  By the time his interview occurs I bet his English will be very good.  However when I initially do my paperwork we will have alot of chat records but not many call records.  But by the time of his interview there will be call records. 

[SalishSea 16,846]

Rapidvisa will neither expedite the process, nor increase the chance for a good outcome.

 

IMHO the big hurdle you have facing you is not only the age difference, but the fact that he is 18.

[Joyoussinger 1,414]

18 hours ago, aaron2020 said:

Do not use Rapid Visa.  Do your research on them.  

I so agree! We used Rapid Visa because, not knowing the amount of help the wonderful people at Visa Journey would be able to provide, we were overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge we were going to need to apply for our K1 visa.  Rapid Visa was fine in some ways, but not enough to warrant paying that fee. They do make mistakes and give incorrect advice. More than once, I was on the phone arguing with them. Fortunately, we are proactive and did our own research and knew when RV was incorrect. We had to make some corrections on forms ourselves, against RV's advice. The corrections we made proved to be the right way to do it. Stay with Visa Journey  and read everything you can here. It's really the best way.

[YP950 28]

You can definitely do it on your own..and this community (VJ) can really help.

 

Regarding screenshots of conversations to submit with your I-129f...well I didn't submit any screenshots of conversations and we just got our application approved, so that's not a big deal. I included lots of pictures of my visits to him, and entry cards from Israel (it's equivalent to passport stamps). 

[Difrntway 28]

55 minutes ago, YP950 said:

You can definitely do it on your own..and this community (VJ) can really help.

 

Regarding screenshots of conversations to submit with your I-129f...well I didn't submit any screenshots of conversations and we just got our application approved, so that's not a big deal. I included lots of pictures of my visits to him, and entry cards from Israel (it's equivalent to passport stamps). 

Thanks for that information.  I will probably include at least some screen shots of communication at least to show we communicate very regularly (we actually communicate everyday but i'm thinking maybe showing on a few times per month and i hope to get conversations talking about our wedding plans in there).  I have only visited him once so i only have pictures from that visit but i do have a ton of pictures.  I even have them posted to facebook and have thought about printing them from there as it will have time stamps and location stamps on the photos.  One thing i would like to also have is just an good example of a love letter and an affidavit of support as i have had trouble finding those.