Please, help me understand all these specifics better

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,078]

53 minutes ago, Lynxyonok said:

Yes, there's always a chance of rejection. Marriage visas see a lot of fraud, and USCIS and like officers are very keen.

In fact fiancé(e) and spouse visas see very little provable fraud in most countries (including Russian and Ukraine, which have a reputation for fraud that's not based on reality, or at least reality before Putin's adventures in Ukraine).

 

At least on the K-1 side as of a few years ago when we were in-process, the overwhelming majority of petitions were approved, and while a significant fraction of approved petitions don't lead to issued visas, that's very rarely due to suspected fraud.

The most common reason -- by far -- for a fiancé(e) visa petition to not lead to an issued K-1 is that the couple broke up and so either the petition was withdrawn or the beneficiary declined to apply for a visa.

AOS applications from K-1 visa holders are almost never denied for anything other than paperwork errors, and the same goes for removal of conditions later on.

 

[Lynxyonok 316]

1 minute ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

In fact fiancé(e) and spouse visas see very little provable fraud in most countries (including Russian and Ukraine, which have a reputation for fraud that's not based on reality, or at least reality before Putin's adventures in Ukraine).

 

At least on the K-1 side as of a few years ago when we were in-process, the overwhelming majority of petitions were approved, and while a significant fraction of approved petitions don't lead to issued visas, that's very rarely due to suspected fraud.

The most common reason -- by far -- for a fiancé(e) visa petition to not lead to an issued K-1 is that the couple broke up and so either the petition was withdrawn or the beneficiary declined to apply for a visa.

AOS applications from K-1 visa holders are almost never denied for anything other than paperwork errors, and the same goes for removal of conditions later on.

 

I respect your point of view.

 

I stand by mine.

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,078]

14 hours ago, Lynxyonok said:

I respect your point of view.

 

I stand by mine.

I didn't say anything that was opinion. You can look at the numbers yourself; they're publicly available.

 

If there's significant levels of fraud in marriage-based visas outside of a handful of countries (of which Russia and Ukraine are not on the list), there's not sufficient to prevent any significant number of visas from being issued, to deny AOS, or to deny removal of conditions on a conditional green card.

 

It's possible there's a lot of fraud that USCIS and/or the state department are not able to prove, but the existence or lack of that is basically by definition not provable (I have a lot of doubts about people who remove conditions on a divorce waiver after a very short marriage with no kids, but they were able to prove their sincerity sufficiently for USCIS, and fraud which both parties are in on is extremely difficult to prove if they can keep their stories straight), and any speculations about such are basically guesswork. And it's certainly possible that a reason why couples broke up before a visa was issued was that the US citizen suspected they were being used for a green card. But again, that's speculation based on zero data; there are a lot of stressors on international relationships and many couples file after their first in-person meeting so it's hardly surprising that a non-trivial number of couples break up after filing a petition.

[Supernatural 19]

On 11/6/2022 at 9:02 AM, slavaskii said:

Paging @Supernatural who I think went through nearly an identical situation, albeit with far less time knowing his significant other in Ukraine. I believe the conclusion was that you could file the I-485 (Adjustment of Status) after coming on U4U and marrying. I'm not sure, but I think he was pursuing a K-1 at the time the war started. The following is the thread:

 

 

Best of luck to you, stay safe wherever you are. 

Yeah pretty similar process I’m going through. Since I’m in college and don’t make a ton of money I had my mom sponsor my now wife from Ukraine. After the U4U was approved I went and met her in Poland and brought her back with me. We got married 3 months after she got here. I haven’t sent the i485 yet because I’m waiting for the i693 medical exam still. Should be in about 4 weeks and then I can submit all the paperwork.