K1- visa- No photos with family- is it a dealbreaker?

[breadlover408 24]

Hey, you know, I submitted K1 without any family photos because of circumstances. 
 

When my US bf then visited me, we were meeting for the first time. We wanted to see if the relationship worked / progressed after we met. I didn’t take photos although he met my mum and we travelled and had dinner together because like I said, I wasn’t sure if it worked post-meeting. We weren't even thinking about K1 / we didn't know about K1.
 

After he went back, we realised we wanted to be with each other and pursue the relationship. But coronavirus hit and we couldn’t meet for a second time. If not, we’d have tons and tons of pictures with my family and friends. We didn't know we had to take photos with family for K1, again because at that time we weren't thinking of it.
 

My country is on lockdown and no one is allowed in, and no one is allowed out. I doubt I’m able to meet my fiancé again before I have pictures with family. But hey, that’s the situation and that’s what happened. 
 

Sure; if the virus didn’t happen, we would have done 3 trips more with even more photos. But it is what it is, and what I have to explain to the consulate when the time comes. 
 

What I could only submit with K1 were screenshots of him and myself with our friends on FaceTime, a few screenshots with his mum having my pic on her phone, and I have FaceTime with my mum and him. 
 

 

Edited October 8, 2020 by breadlover408

[Boiler 43,426]

We did not submit photos of Family, well I think we submitted 3 photos tops.

 

Not that this is anyway relevant to the Op's situation.

[JeanneAdil 6,191]

15 hours ago, JFH said:

While we are on the subject, do you have any other red flags that should be addressed before you file? As noted by previous respondents, Casablanca is one of the most difficult embassies with a very high denial rate. 
 

Do you have a large age difference?

Are you the same religion?

Do you speak the same language?

Have you been married before? 
Do you have children (either adults who have left home or minor children living with you)?

Has your fiancé previously attempted to come to the USA in any capacity? If so, what was the outcome of that attempt?

How soon after you established contact with one another did you travel to visit him?

To the OP

Important questions

and how did you meet?

and can you still have children?  important in Morocco for a man to have a child

Has he traveled and/or worked outside his country?

 

other countries is not as important for the photos with family but it is in Casa embassy

Read all that has been answered here by the people who have experience and gone thru this process and understand one thing

everyone here is willing to help and will give you the best advice they have to offer

so, please answer the above and let them guide you the best way possible

and NO lawyer is needed / they just make a copy of what you provide for evidence and mail it in / its not like Perry mason/ they don't do the work for this,  you do

the best to you both

don't give up on love 

[SydneyfMaghrib 69]

22 hours ago, sarabou17 said:

Sorry!  Fiancé is from Morocco.  I will complete the profile but I'm confused by it.  It asks country where I am immigrating from.  I'm a US citizen.  

I honestly think it is all relative and I think there is a lot of fear-mongering on this forum about K-1 visas out of Morocco. Some of the Moroccan Visa FB groups are much nicer and are full of plenty of people who have had successful K-1's out of Casablanca. Out of everyone I talked to- no one had religion brought up in the interview. At most, they ask about raising kids and that is only asked to see if you and your fiance have had that important conversation. Identifying with two different religions isn't a red flag.  

 

I would think pictures with family would be helpful, as well as plenty of visits (or living in Morocco). It is definitely true larger age gaps out of Morocco have a harder time.  

[Boiler 43,426]

It is the nature of such forums that people who sail through the process are much less likely to post.

[sarabou17 36]

On 10/7/2020 at 6:59 PM, JFH said:

While we are on the subject, do you have any other red flags that should be addressed before you file? As noted by previous respondents, Casablanca is one of the most difficult embassies with a very high denial rate. 
 

Do you have a large age difference?

Are you the same religion?

Do you speak the same language?

Have you been married before? 
Do you have children (either adults who have left home or minor children living with you)?

Has your fiancé previously attempted to come to the USA in any capacity? If so, what was the outcome of that attempt?

How soon after you established contact with one another did you travel to visit him?

Honestly I'm not really focused on potential issues or red flags.  I feel so grateful to have found my other half, and I just know that it will all work out in the end.  I just really appreciate everyone's input and I know where to go now when we have questions!  Thank you!

[Just Paul 4,591]

26 minutes ago, sarabou17 said:

Honestly I'm not really focused on potential issues or red flags.  I feel so grateful to have found my other half, and I just know that it will all work out in the end.  I just really appreciate everyone's input and I know where to go now when we have questions!  Thank you!

If you have "red flag" items the best way to address them is spending as much time together as possible.

[sarabou17 36]

On 10/7/2020 at 3:31 PM, RJandHamid said:

Casablanca is tough as others have mentioned. If you are willing and able to make another trip before filing the visa petition, I would definitely encourage you to do so so that you can include those photos. Casablanca generally will not look at evidence brought to the interview, so front loading is especially important. And like others have mentioned, you might want to consider getting married and doing the spousal visa. My husband is from Morocco and we successfully went through the K-1 process a few years ago. You can message me if you have any questions specific to the Casablanca consulate.

But you chose to do K-1 and not CR1.  May I ask why?

[sarabou17 36]

On 10/8/2020 at 10:53 AM, SydneyfMaghrib said:

I honestly think it is all relative and I think there is a lot of fear-mongering on this forum about K-1 visas out of Morocco. Some of the Moroccan Visa FB groups are much nicer and are full of plenty of people who have had successful K-1's out of Casablanca. Out of everyone I talked to- no one had religion brought up in the interview. At most, they ask about raising kids and that is only asked to see if you and your fiance have had that important conversation. Identifying with two different religions isn't a red flag.  

 

I would think pictures with family would be helpful, as well as plenty of visits (or living in Morocco). It is definitely true larger age gaps out of Morocco have a harder time.  

May I ask if you did CR1 or K1?  Thank you for your input.  My fiance has joined a FB group and is finding it very helpful.

[RJandHamid 1,128]

2 hours ago, sarabou17 said:

But you chose to do K-1 and not CR1.  May I ask why?

Because I didn't do enough research ahead of time. It probably would have saved us money in the long run. It ended up working out fine for me, but many others who went the K-1 route in Casablanca ended up being denied and having to pursue the CR1. With that said, there really are many successful K-1s though Morocco too, but if you have red flags (and let's be real here, the most common "red flag" is a large age difference. Things like differences in religion, education or income can be more easily overcome). If you are roughly the same age as your partner, and you can show that you visited him several times/spent a significant amount of time with him, then the K-1 might be worth a shot for you.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

57 minutes ago, RJandHamid said:

Because I didn't do enough research ahead of time. It probably would have saved us money in the long run. It ended up working out fine for me, but many others who went the K-1 route in Casablanca ended up being denied and having to pursue the CR1. With that said, there really are many successful K-1s though Morocco too, but if you have red flags (and let's be real here, the most common "red flag" is a large age difference. Things like differences in religion, education or income can be more easily overcome). If you are roughly the same age as your partner, and you can show that you visited him several times/spent a significant amount of time with him, then the K-1 might be worth a shot for you.

I've never heard of differences in income being important. Most immigrants from non western countries cannot ever come close to the income American people earn. 

[joe.b 33]

Since OP asked the question, I will piggy back off it...

 

My fiance and I are a same-sex couple. He is from India. Although he has come out as gay to his parents, they don't accept it and don't want to hear about it. For that reason, I haven't met his parents. Will an embassy consider cultural issues like this? Or will it not matter and will they hold it against us that I haven't met his parents? (For that matter he hasn't met my parents, but he's never been to the U.S., and more relevantly, I've been estranged from my parents for years.)

 

I have another question, not related to the original question but the topic was raised in some replies. How do embassies know the religions of the fiances? People say having different religions is an issue, but I haven't seen any forms related to the K1 visa that ask for the religion of the petitioner or the beneficiary. Will the embassies just assume what someone's religion is based on stereotypes? I have no religion, and though my fiance is from a Hindu family, he's not religious either. Therefore, we're effectively the same religion (i.e., no religion). Will the embassy assume otherwise?

[Boiler 43,426]

Morocco is 99% plus Muslim, so not much of an assumption.

[jim_julian 25]

Not having any pics is really strange.  It is difficult to understand a loving relationship with no pics.

 

Beef up other sections of your K1 package and then travel to Morocco before the K1 interview.  We had tons of pics, chats, etc and seven visits to China.  I met with the VO (lucky happenstance) the day before my wife and daughter were interviewed and he actually told them that during the interview.  Take some pics with your lady before the interview and have her present them then ... a pic riding a camel on the beach might be good (if you've been to Morocco you'll understand).  What really turned our interview was money.  The VO remarked that my income was several times larger than his and wished my now wife and daughter well.  

[sarabou17 36]

On 10/7/2020 at 6:59 PM, JFH said:

While we are on the subject, do you have any other red flags that should be addressed before you file? As noted by previous respondents, Casablanca is one of the most difficult embassies with a very high denial rate. 
 

Do you have a large age difference?

Are you the same religion?

Do you speak the same language?

Have you been married before? 
Do you have children (either adults who have left home or minor children living with you)?

Has your fiancé previously attempted to come to the USA in any capacity? If so, what was the outcome of that attempt?

How soon after you established contact with one another did you travel to visit him?

Do you have a large age difference?

            There is 18 years between us.  I am 49 and he is 31

 

Are you the same religion?

            We are not the same religion.

 

Do you speak the same language?

            We share two languages: French and English.  We met when I was a French teacher and I was looking for people to practice French with on a language sharing app.  French is a huge passion for me.

 

Have you been married before? 

When we met in 2017 I was married but unofficially separated from my husband, and then became officially separated.  My divorce become final in Sept 2020.

Do you have children (either adults who have left home or minor children living with you)?

         Two children: one in college and one entering college next year.

 

Has your fiancé previously attempted to come to the USA in any capacity? If so, what was the outcome of that attempt? 

         No attempt to come to the USA

 

How soon after you established contact with one another did you travel to visit him?

            We met in May 2017 and I went to visit him in October 2017.