IR-5 visa and personal questions about the petitioner

[HappyTim 0]

I was under the impression that during the IR-5 visa application process, especially in the visa interview, my personal information (petitioner) would be revealed to my parents intentionally or unintentionally, some of which my parents didn't approve of and therefore were kept in the dark. Recently, I learned from ChatGPT that:

 

In practice for IR-5, the parent interview tends to be much more procedural and shorter than marriage-based interviews. If the paperwork is clean, the questions are usually minimal.

• It’s possible a consular officer could ask something simple like “What does your son do in the U.S.? Is he married?” to see if the parent genuinely knows the child.

• But they would not dig into sensitive details like sexual orientation, political views, or intimate lifestyle choices — that’s not relevant to proving a biological parent-child relationship.

 

If parents don’t know marital/employment status:

• That usually does not derail the case, because the consulate already has the information from the I-130 petition and the Affidavit of Support.

• The officer might raise an eyebrow if the parent seems to know nothing about their child, but a lack of perfect knowledge is not grounds for denial.

Also, a consular officer would not “correct” the parent by volunteering the U.S. citizen child’s personal details.

 

The child's green card history is almost never asked, and parents aren’t penalized for not knowing.

 

However, for Non-immigrant visas: Officers may bring up the U.S. child’s status or life details to assess whether the parent is a likely overstay, which is why parents sometimes learn unexpected things in those interviews. As a result, the likelihood of surprise revelations is much higher than in immigrant visa cases, because the officer is evaluating whether the applicant has strong reasons to stay in the U.S. (via family) rather than return home.

 

Summary:

• Immigrant parent visas: Officers don’t pry into or reveal the U.S. child’s personal life; focus is on documents and admissibility.

• Non-immigrant visas: Officers may bring up the U.S. child’s status or life details to assess whether the parent is a likely overstay, which is why parents sometimes learn unexpected things in those interviews.

 

Also, the Travel.State website states: Every visa applicant, no matter their age, must bring certain documents to the interview, including photographs, and the original or certified copy version of all civil documents submitted to NVC. You do not need to bring your Affidavit of Support or financial evidence you submitted to NVC. Also, a hardcopy of I-130 is not required for the interview per GPT. I think the government has done a good job at compartmentalizing information based on "need-to-know" and protecting the privacy of everyone.

 

While I am happy to learn this from AI, I am not sure if the AI was just trying to please me by giving the answer I want to hear, because I thought IR-5 being an immigrant visa is more significant and would receive even more scrutiny than a non-immigrant visa interview. Also, there are various experts advising people to do 110% of the work to get approved, e.g., advising parents to also bring Affidavit of Support or financial evidence that were already submitted to NVC. I think we should follow the rule of the law, no more or less.

 

Also, do interviewing officers deviate from the above and request applicants to do 110%? Or would they out me by accident?

 

Can anyone please share their experience?

[OldUser 10,281]

1 hour ago, HappyTim said:

Recently, I learned from ChatGPT that

Let's pause here... Don't ever ask generative AI (ChatGPT, Grok, Microsoft Copilot etc) questions about immigration. It's too important question to ask AI...

 

Recently a couple from EU were denied boarding to Puerto Rico because ChatGPT told them they can travel visa free. What it forgot to tell them, they needed ESTA 

[OldUser 10,281]

Consular officials may ask all sorts of questions about your parents, you or your relationship. Surely officer can ask parents about how you got your GC if they feel like it.

[JeanneAdil 7,178]

1 hour ago, HappyTim said:

I was under the impression that during the IR-5 visa application process, especially in the visa interview, my personal information (petitioner) would be revealed to my parents intentionally or unintentionally, some of which my parents didn't approve of and therefore were kept in the dark. Recently, I learned from ChatGPT that:

 

In practice for IR-5, the parent interview tends to be much more procedural and shorter than marriage-based interviews. If the paperwork is clean, the questions are usually minimal.

• It’s possible a consular officer could ask something simple like “What does your son do in the U.S.? Is he married?” to see if the parent genuinely knows the child.

• But they would not dig into sensitive details like sexual orientation, political views, or intimate lifestyle choices — that’s not relevant to proving a biological parent-child relationship.

 

If parents don’t know marital/employment status:

• That usually does not derail the case, because the consulate already has the information from the I-130 petition and the Affidavit of Support.

• The officer might raise an eyebrow if the parent seems to know nothing about their child, but a lack of perfect knowledge is not grounds for denial.

Also, a consular officer would not “correct” the parent by volunteering the U.S. citizen child’s personal details.

 

The child's green card history is almost never asked, and parents aren’t penalized for not knowing.

 

However, for Non-immigrant visas: Officers may bring up the U.S. child’s status or life details to assess whether the parent is a likely overstay, which is why parents sometimes learn unexpected things in those interviews. As a result, the likelihood of surprise revelations is much higher than in immigrant visa cases, because the officer is evaluating whether the applicant has strong reasons to stay in the U.S. (via family) rather than return home.

 

Summary:

• Immigrant parent visas: Officers don’t pry into or reveal the U.S. child’s personal life; focus is on documents and admissibility.

• Non-immigrant visas: Officers may bring up the U.S. child’s status or life details to assess whether the parent is a likely overstay, which is why parents sometimes learn unexpected things in those interviews.

 

Also, the Travel.State website states: Every visa applicant, no matter their age, must bring certain documents to the interview, including photographs, and the original or certified copy version of all civil documents submitted to NVC. You do not need to bring your Affidavit of Support or financial evidence you submitted to NVC. Also, a hardcopy of I-130 is not required for the interview per GPT. I think the government has done a good job at compartmentalizing information based on "need-to-know" and protecting the privacy of everyone.

 

While I am happy to learn this from AI, I am not sure if the AI was just trying to please me by giving the answer I want to hear, because I thought IR-5 being an immigrant visa is more significant and would receive even more scrutiny than a non-immigrant visa interview. Also, there are various experts advising people to do 110% of the work to get approved, e.g., advising parents to also bring Affidavit of Support or financial evidence that were already submitted to NVC. I think we should follow the rule of the law, no more or less.

 

Also, do interviewing officers deviate from the above and request applicants to do 110%? Or would they out me by accident?

 

Can anyone please share their experience?

why would u not think the addavit of support an fiancial evidence is not needed when it clearly says ALL supporting documents uploaded to CEAC?

 

IRS tax transcripts will tell parents if you are married or not whether u submit them as filing joint or separate / they require name and SS of partner 

• Supporting Documents – original or certified copies of all civil documents you uploaded into CEAC. 

[HappyTim 0]

2 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

why would u not think the addavit of support an fiancial evidence is not needed when it clearly says ALL supporting documents uploaded to CEAC?

 

IRS tax transcripts will tell parents if you are married or not whether u submit them as filing joint or separate / they require name and SS of partner 

• Supporting Documents – original or certified copies of all civil documents you uploaded into CEAC. 

You misunderstood me. I quoted from Step 10 of the flowchart of the travel.state.gov: You do not need to bring your Affidavit of Support or financial evidence you submitted to NVC. But, as you said, you do need to upload the said materials to CEAC, which the petitioner, I, can do. My parents do not need to see them as they are not required to bring them to the interview. On the other hand, civic docs are required both electronically and my parents also need to bring hardcopies to the interview.

[JeanneAdil 7,178]

19 minutes ago, HappyTim said:

You misunderstood me. I quoted from Step 10 of the flowchart of the travel.state.gov: You do not need to bring your Affidavit of Support or financial evidence you submitted to NVC. But, as you said, you do need to upload the said materials to CEAC, which the petitioner, I, can do. My parents do not need to see them as they are not required to bring them to the interview. On the other hand, civic docs are required both electronically and my parents also need to bring hardcopies to the interview.

they are required to bring them to interview   

ALL DOCUMENTS submitted to CEAC (NVC site)  that support the petition

that is I 864 and IRS transcripts

along with criminal reports \, etc

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview/step-11-applicant-interview.html

[Moda25 72]

It’s not correct that you do not have to bring copies of the Affidavit of Support. Some embassies require the original one that the petitioner signed with an ink. 

[appleblossom 4,681]

3 hours ago, HappyTim said:

I was under the impression that during the IR-5 visa application process, especially in the visa interview, my personal information (petitioner) would be revealed to my parents intentionally or unintentionally, some of which my parents didn't approve of and therefore were kept in the dark

 

What exactly are you worried about them seeing/hearing? Is it a specific document or something else? And which consulate?

[HappyTim 0]

1 hour ago, JeanneAdil said:

they are required to bring them to interview   

ALL DOCUMENTS submitted to CEAC (NVC site)  that support the petition

that is I 864 and IRS transcripts

along with criminal reports \, etc

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview/step-11-applicant-interview.html

The link you provided, which, I quote here in the image, says all "civil" documents, not "all documents". 

For what civil documents are, see https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents/step-7-collect-civil-documents.html

 

Also, in https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview.html, it specifically says: You do not need to bring Affidavit of Support or financial evidence you submitted to NVC.

 

1 hour ago, Moda25 said:

It’s not correct that you do not have to bring copies of the Affidavit of Support. Some embassies require the original one that the petitioner signed with an ink. 

That is what I was worried about. Laws are arbitrarily enforced even with clear rule saying what is need AND what is not needed?

1 hour ago, appleblossom said:

 

What exactly are you worried about them seeing/hearing? Is it a specific document or something else? And which consulate?

Guangzhou consulate.

[appleblossom 4,681]

28 minutes ago, HappyTim said:

Guangzhou consulate

 

Then it seems you do need to take the I-864, it's on the consulate specific interview instructions - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/GUZ-Guangzhou.html#pre_interview_checklist

 

Is that the document you're worried about, or is it something else?

Edited Wednesday at 01:07 AM by appleblossom

[Boiler 47,719]

What am I missing

 

If as it seems you do not want them to know what you are up to why petition them?

[HappyTim 0]

1 hour ago, appleblossom said:

 

Then it seems you do need to take the I-864, it's on the consulate specific interview instructions - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/GUZ-Guangzhou.html#pre_interview_checklist

 

Is that the document you're worried about, or is it something else?

Thank you. That is exactly what I was worried about and that is very confusing. Basically, I am gay-married and my parents do not know and I do not want them to know. So any documents or conversations with the officer that reveal my situation are what I am worrying about. Ugh, it's a dead end?

 

7 minutes ago, Boiler said:

What am I missing

 

If as it seems you do not want them to know what you are up to why petition them?

 

Because I want to live close to them as their adult son, part of which implies that they should not be in the business of meddling with my personal life, which they cannot help doing. Just because they cannot behave themselves in this one aspect, I should dump them? I prefer not.

[TBoneTX 47,695]

19 minutes ago, HappyTim said:

1.  I want to live close to them as their adult son

2. they should not be in the business of meddling with my personal life [...] they cannot behave themselves in this one aspect

You have to make a quality decision as to which of these is more important to you, and live with it.

[appleblossom 4,681]

It seems they’ll find out anyway if they look at the I-864, so I think you’re going to have to have a tough conversation with them. But if you’re going to be living close to them then surely they’ll know - won’t they invited to events with you and your husband, come to your house etc?

 

Even if they don’t find out from the I-864 there will be many other ways they could once living near you. What if (God forbid) you were in an accident and they turned up to the hospital to find your husband there? What if they keep trying to set you up with girls and somebody else tells them? As Boiler said, if you didn’t want them to know then you shouldn’t have petitioned them really. I don’t think you’re being fair to them by lying to them and bringing them to another country when they don’t know about something so major - if they find out 6 months in, do you think they’d want to stay? Wouldn’t it be better to be truthful now and let them decide if they still want to come? 

 

If it’s causing you this much stress and they’re going to find out anyway I’d tell them now rather than risk them finding out from another source. Best of luck to you. 

 

[Boiler 47,719]

I am sure I am not alone in wondering what the issues are, I do appreciate it will be speculation but if I am right I just do not see how they will not find out.