Hiring a Lawyer for K1

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

28 minutes ago, brevig said:

WOW, a broken system has become even more broken.  INSANE.  We might as well white out the 14th amendment.

LOL! How does that violate your right? Why should USCIS have to hand hold when you forget to sign a form? If you can’t follow instructions -denied- feel free to apply again-that’s what I would do 😆 move the process along faster for those that can follow instructions. 

[brevig 28]

2 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

LOL! How does that violate your right? Why should USCIS have to hand hold when you forget to sign a form? I

I meant about this part "USCIS no longer HAS to send a RFE- they have the option of straight out denying ".  I mean they need to send RFE not just deny, as you paid money.  I do agree though, they don't need to hand hold you, but they have to send you an RFE or refund you.  I mean if the form is not signed, how can they accept the fee?

[Adventine 3,187]

1 hour ago, brevig said:

I meant about this part "USCIS no longer HAS to send a RFE- they have the option of straight out denying ".  I mean they need to send RFE not just deny, as you paid money.  I do agree though, they don't need to hand hold you, but they have to send you an RFE or refund you.  I mean if the form is not signed, how can they accept the fee?

 

The "Blank Space Criteria" was a USCIS policy under the previous administration but was rescinded in April 2021. Source: https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-confirms-elimination-of-blank-space-criteria

 

I also personally never read about the Blank Space Criteria applied to fiance and spousal petitions. Only to the forms listed in the link above.

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38 minutes ago, Adventine said:

The "Blank Space Criteria" was a USCIS policy under the previous administration but was rescinded in April 2021.

I don't think this applies to missing signatures, as none of the forms listed are K1 related.  Plus I still think a signature is a very basic requirement that they can't deny and keep the money paid (as you never signed it).

 

However, I do HIGHLY DOUBT that the petitioner will be able to fill out the forms properly, and with enough info to prove everything needed, without having a lawyer, if after 2 tries he couldn't get the signature right, hehehe.

 

Anyways, my advice to the petitioner's friend is to have the petitioner hire a lawyer to help with the forms if he is still within the 2 year requirement.

[Crazy Cat 39,267]

1 hour ago, brevig said:

I mean if the form is not signed, how can they accept the fee?

The fee is to pay for processing......not approval. It takes time & money to review forms for accuracy, signing, etc.  It isn't a free service.  

[Crazy Cat 39,267]

9 minutes ago, brevig said:

Plus I still think a signature is a very basic requirement that they can't deny and keep the money paid (as you never signed it).

Sure, they can.  USCIS has the discretion to deny cases which were sent prematurely......as placeholders.   If you send an incomplete package (in any way), you are risking a denial.  Clearing the system of placeholder cases, helps to reduce the backlog.

 

Placeholder:  Any incomplete package which was intentionally sent just to establish a place in line. 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Crazy Cat

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1 minute ago, Crazy Cat said:

Sure, they can.  USCIS has the discretion to deny cases which were sent prematurely......as placeholders.   If you send an incomplete package (in any way), you are risking a denial. 

I see, but don't they have to send you an RFE asking for you to correct it?  Or I guess in this case they sent it and he messed up a 2nd time and then I got side tracked (my initial intent on the whole due process thing is if they don't give you a chance to respond, which it seems he got and then messed up again).  I just think this way stronger because without the signature it's like he never filed in the first place.

[Crazy Cat 39,267]

Just now, brevig said:

I see, but don't they have to send you an RFE asking for you to correct it?  Or I guess in this case they sent it and he messed up a 2nd time and then I got side tracked (my initial intent on the whole due process thing is if they don't give you a chance to respond, which it seems he got and then messed up again).  I just think this way stronger because without the signature it's like he never filed in the first place.

The fact that he sent the form establishes the intent to have the form processed.  Unless it was changed, USCIS was given wider discretion to deny rather than send RFEs.   

[Chancy 6,233]

3 hours ago, Luckycuds said:

USCIS no longer HAS to send a RFE- they have the option of straight out denying.

 

That policy change was recently rescinded.  USCIS reverted back to their old policy for "agency officers to issue an RFE or NOID when additional evidence could potentially demonstrate eligibility for an immigration benefit." -- https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-updates-policies-to-improve-immigration-services

 

Note that this doesn't mean USCIS will now tolerate obvious placeholder submissions.  The policy is meant to give petitioners/applicants "an opportunity to correct innocent mistakes and unintentional omissions."

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Chancy
clarification

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7 minutes ago, Chancy said:

agency officers to issue an RFE or NOID

I see, I  think my issue was I was thinking nothing came back.  But if an NOID came back instead of RFE then you still have a chance to respond, so it's fair.  My issue is that if you pay, and they deny without any chance to respond (like what happened to me) then it is not fair, there IS NOT due process.

 

Anyways, in this situation he did respond and sent a copy instead of the original, so he got his chance and messed up, and has shown his inability to do the simplest thing so for sure a lawyer would help

[Dashinka 23,251]

3 hours ago, brevig said:

I meant about this part "USCIS no longer HAS to send a RFE- they have the option of straight out denying ".  I mean they need to send RFE not just deny, as you paid money.  I do agree though, they don't need to hand hold you, but they have to send you an RFE or refund you.  I mean if the form is not signed, how can they accept the fee?

It is not a denial, but rather a rejection of the submission.  I don't believe they cash the check/MO when an incomplete form is submitted (forms that lack the minimum required documents), they simply reject it, send it back and let the filer re-submit.  In the case of the friend of the OP, they filed right at the end of the 2 year in-person meeting requirement, but USCIS would not even look at that until they received a complete package which took several months for the filer to complete.  At this point, it is only a guess, but I think the actual denial of the I129F was most likely the 2 year rule timeframe expiring by the time the filer actually had a complete package submitted.  We will see.

Edited August 25, 2021 by Dashinka

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

1 hour ago, Chancy said:

 

That policy change was recently rescinded.  USCIS reverted back to their old policy for "agency officers to issue an RFE or NOID when additional evidence could potentially demonstrate eligibility for an immigration benefit." -- https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-updates-policies-to-improve-immigration-services

 

Note that this doesn't mean USCIS will now tolerate obvious placeholder submissions.  The policy is meant to give petitioners/applicants "an opportunity to correct innocent mistakes and unintentional omissions."

 

Thanks. They really should update their policy as this says otherwise and is “current” as of 8/12… https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-1-part-e-chapter-6

[Chancy 6,233]

36 minutes ago, Luckycuds said:

They really should update their policy as this says otherwise and is “current” as of 8/12… https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-1-part-e-chapter-6

 

That manual page seems updated.  USCIS still has discretion to issue outright denial in certain cases where "the officer determines that there is no possibility that additional information or explanation will establish a legal basis for approval."

 

Can't think of a good example applicable to K1 right now, but for CR1, say, a case where the couple's wedding date on the marriage certificate is after the date on the divorce decree for the petitioner's previous marriage.  No amount of RFE responses can fix that, so it merits outright denial.

 

[Dashinka 23,251]

2 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

That manual page seems updated.  USCIS still has discretion to issue outright denial in certain cases where "the officer determines that there is no possibility that additional information or explanation will establish a legal basis for approval."

 

Can't think of a good example applicable to K1 right now, but for CR1, say, a case where the couple's wedding date on the marriage certificate is after the date on the divorce decree for the petitioner's previous marriage.  No amount of RFE responses can fix that, so it merits outright denial.

 

The only example I can think of for a K1 is not meeting the 2 year in-person requirement.

[Boiler 43,450]

We have had a few K1’s who were married, sometimes to the beneficiary.