Foreign military fiancé

[ACN777 7]

Hi everyone,

I need some advice.

 

Soo my fiancé is in the Armenian military , he’s an officer (lieutenant) and I’ve pretty much put together our i129f.

 

I asked my mom in Los Angeles to contact an immigration attorney just to review my application and he told her him being in the military is a big red flag and the paperworkneeds to be answered very carefully , but that he can do it all for $4,500 dollars.

 

Is he a con artist or should I consider this ? Are active foreign military members barred from immigrating to the United States? He would obviously withdraw prior to immigrating but not prior to visa approval. It’s not like the Armenian military is a terrorist organization or anything. 

[Boiler 45,657]

Depends, on which Military.

 

I do know that there are a lot of Armenian Asylum Seekers so suggests to me that this could be more complicated.

[JeanneAdil 6,539]

 the US fully supports the government since the dissolution with the Soviet Union

there could be addtional security checks on the organizations a military man belongs to 

 

why don't u speak honestly to him and ask and then look things up to know what his background is

his hobbies

his memberships to organizations and clubs

ask about his parents and their activities 

find out what he believes in

sometimes u find out a lot by just googling a person's name 

 

https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-armenia/

 

In September 2021 the Armenia embassy approved 23 K1 interviews

you can check the stats for approvals from the embassy on the following site by post and visa class   (NIV for K1 )

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics.html

[ACN777 7]

17 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

 the US fully supports the government since the dissolution with the Soviet Union

there could be addtional security checks on the organizations a military man belongs to 

 

why don't u speak honestly to him and ask and then look things up to know what his background is

his hobbies

his memberships to organizations and clubs

ask about his parents and their activities 

find out what he believes in

sometimes u find out a lot by just googling a person's name 

 

https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-armenia/

 

In September 2021 the Armenia embassy approved 23 K1 interviews

you can check the stats for approvals from the embassy on the following site by post and visa class   (NIV for K1 )

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics.html

 Thanks for the response, I do know all about his background, his hobbies, his parents, and I know that he’s not a member of any organization. I’m currently in Armenia as well and we’re together all the time. 

[ACN777 7]

24 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Depends, on which Military.

 

I do know that there are a lot of Armenian Asylum Seekers so suggests to me that this could be more complicated.

The Armenian military.

I do know that lot of same sex couples seek asylum and members/supporters of the previous government seek asylum but that doesn’t apply to us

[Boiler 45,657]

It was mentioned in the recent coverage regarding the Channel Crossings, admittedly they did not say on what basis. If he was not in the military during the previous Government perhaps that would help.

[millefleur 5,047]

41 minutes ago, ACN777 said:

 Thanks for the response, I do know all about his background, his hobbies, his parents, and I know that he’s not a member of any organization. I’m currently in Armenia as well and we’re together all the time. 

Is he basically a career military guy who actively chose this as his job or is he just in the military right now due to a draft/conscription situation?

[ACN777 7]

18 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Is he basically a career military guy who actively chose this as his job or is he just in the military right now due to a draft/conscription situation?

Yes career military

[millefleur 5,047]

10 minutes ago, ACN777 said:

Yes career military

I'm weary of the lawyer's large price quote, but on the other hand, you don't want to put the wrong answer and make a possible misrepresentation, which could result in a permanent ban. Perhaps get some quotes from other lawyers. You can use a lawyer anywhere in the US, most lawyers take cases remotely, and probably someone outside the LA area would be cheaper.

 

I foresee an extended Administrative Processing and background checks due to the military background. That doesn't necessarily mean a denial but you could end up waiting a long time for them to get through that. Lawyers can do nothing to shorten the length of AP either, so just keep that in mind.

 

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by millefleur

[ACN777 7]

5 minutes ago, millefleur said:

I'm weary of the lawyer's large price quote, but on the other hand, you don't want to put the wrong answer and make a possible misrepresentation, which could result in a permanent ban. Perhaps get some quotes from other lawyers. You can use a lawyer anywhere in the US, most lawyers take cases remotely, and probably someone outside the LA area would be cheaper.

 

I foresee an extended Administrative Processing and background checks due to the military background. That doesn't necessarily mean a denial but you could end up waiting a long time for them to get through that. Lawyers can do nothing to shorten the length of AP either, so just keep that in mind.

 

 

Thanks for the advice  I agree that I wouldn’t want to put the wrong answer but i129f doesn’t even ask about military service which strikes me as odd 

[millefleur 5,047]

1 minute ago, ACN777 said:

Thanks for the advice  I agree that I wouldn’t want to put the wrong answer but i129f doesn’t even ask about military service which strikes me as odd 

Yeah, the military questions actually come up way later in the DS-160. You're way off from that point. If it were me, I'd just fill out the I-29F on my own and submit it. We have awesome guides here on VJ as well as helpful members to answer all your questions. Let that petition get approved and then when you get to the next step where the military questions come up, perhaps consider consulting some lawyers about it.

 

I saw in your other thread Armenia is considered a high fraud country, is it true? Just my first time hearing about Armenia being high fraud, we don't see a lot of Armenians here on VJ.

[ACN777 7]

2 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Yeah, the military questions actually come up way later in the DS-160. You're way off from that point. If it were me, I'd just fill out the I-29F on my own and submit it. We have awesome guides here on VJ as well as helpful members to answer all your questions. Let that petition get approved and then when you get to the next step where the military questions come up, perhaps consider consulting some lawyers about it.

 

I saw in your other thread Armenia is considered a high fraud country, is it true? Just my first time hearing about Armenia being high fraud, we don't see a lot of Armenians here on VJ.

Yes both him and I are Armenian and unfortunately a lot of people either overstay their tourist visas (never come back) or pay upwards of $20,000 to arrange a fake marriage/engagement and divorce as soon as possible once they arrive in the US. Everyone wants to get out of here, because the political climate is unstable and there is very little opportunity for a better life. 
 

We filled out a ds160 before for a tourist visa  a few months back but the embassy here is not processing those anytime soon, so we never paid the fee or scheduled an interview for that submission. I don’t even remember the questions or answers ugh. 
 

anyway, your answers have been extremely helpful and I really appreciate the time you’ve taken to write such detailed responses. I guess I’m in for a long ride with this lol 😕

[millefleur 5,047]

1 minute ago, ACN777 said:

We filled out a ds160 before for a tourist visa  a few months back but the embassy here is not processing those anytime soon, so we never paid the fee or scheduled an interview for that submission. I don’t even remember the questions or answers ugh. 

Ohhhhh that's frustrating. Shame you didn't save the DS-160 when you filled it out because they will most likely cross reference the old one with the new. Just be 100% truthful, I know it is hard in this case because of his military training and some of the questions are probably confusing. It's really important to not misrepresent because they will go over his military background with a fine toothed comb.

 

Since it's a high fraud country and because of his military background, you might end up with a denial where you'll have to go back and reply with a CR-1 spousal visa. That happens a lot with high fraud K-1 applicants sadly. Always good to be aware of what you're up against. I wouldn't be surprized if a lawyer advised you to just can the K-1 and go directly with the spousal visa but I saw in your other thread that you said getting married there was complicated. Since you both live together in Armenia hopefully you can overcome the suspicions and get the K-1 approved.

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

The I-129f does not ask specifically about military service but requires employment history, so given that it is your fiance's career, you should certainly include the information in the petition.

 

In my honest opinion, you don't really need a lawyer.

 

Check this link, it might help you: https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-8-part-f-chapter-3

[Boiler 45,657]

Thinking about it do not know what a Lawyer can add, his history is what it is.

 

In my experience Lawyers do not usually handle just one issue, after all it is a simple process so the issue will be the main work load.

 

K1 seems an odd choice.