K-1 Proof of Military Service

[Premi 2]

Hi everyone!

 

I'm going through the K-1 process with my fiancee and I've encountered a rather unique issue that I was hoping someone here might be able to advise me on.

 

Our lawyer said that the consulate would request some form of certificate or proof of military service since I checked that I had it when filing the initial batch of documents.

 

My issue lies in the fact that my military service was 5 months in the French Foreign Legion boot camp, after finishing boot camp I decided to return home rather than sign on for 5 years.

 

I have written an email to the French embassy, who told me that they are unable to help and that I must write an email to the Foreign Legion head office, which I did and got no response. I wrote to their recruitment office email and got the following reply:

 

Forgive the wonky automated translation, but they said that it is not the responsibility of the recruitment office, but also that the legion does not provide such documents.

 

As a penultimate resort I have sent a physical letter to their HR department, but I'm not sure what to do if they don't reply.

 

Do I have to get on a plane and petition them in person, how can I prove that I've done everything in my power to obtain these documents when they don't really care to answer my email in a meaningful way, their response doesn't really scream official does it?

 

The lawyer said that if I can prove such an effort I can request a waiver for that specific requirement, but I would not resort to such a thing if I can help it.

 

It just seems like a very specific situation and I'm not sure how to proceed.

 

I greatly appreciate any replies!

[appleblossom 5,226]

21 minutes ago, Premi said:

French Foreign Legion boot camp

Training and then not signing up doesn’t sound like foreign service to me? You were never on active service from what you’ve said. 
 

So I’m not sure a boot camp would meet that definition anyway but what does your lawyer say? 

Edited 11 hours ago by appleblossom

[Premi 2]

15 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

Training and then not signing up doesn’t sound like foreign service to me?

I believe it does, since you have to sign the full contract right away and have until the end of the first year to request for it to be terminated. Although interestingly most of my documents weren't even under my legal name, but rather a fake name that they give you temporarily, which I imagine only complicates things further.

 

 

21 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

what does your lawyer say?

Just that I need to demonstrate that I have done everything in my power to attempt to present these documents if I wish to request a waiver for the requirement.

 

Thank you for responding!

[JeanneAdil 7,312]

Even if u can produce the document, it is not serving in Serbia military which is needed/  

news back in 9/2024 said Serbia was reintroducing compulsory service in the country's military (4 months duty) to improve the country's defense readiness 

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/serbia-moves-reintroduce-compulsory-military-service-2024-09-20/

 

even those living outside serbia need to fulfill the obligation if they are of age

https://serbiantimes.info/en/diaspora-will-also-have-to-serve-in-the-military-calls-to-serbians-abroad-its-known-who-can-avoid-military-service/

 

 

“Every citizen of the Republic of Serbia of those specific years becomes a conscript, which means that this legal obligation applies to all our citizens, regardless of where they currently live. If we consider how it was before, or how our citizens whose residence was abroad were called up, I assume that our citizens will now also receive invitations through diplomatic and consular missions and according to the law they must respond to the call for military service like any other citizen of Serbia,” Zoran Dragišić, a professor at the Faculty of Security, explains for “Blic”

[EatBulaga 486]

4 hours ago, Premi said:

I believe it does, since you have to sign the full contract right away and have until the end of the first year to request for it to be terminated. Although interestingly most of my documents weren't even under my legal name, but rather a fake name that they give you temporarily, which I imagine only complicates things further.

 

 

Just that I need to demonstrate that I have done everything in my power to attempt to present these documents if I wish to request a waiver for the requirement.

 

Thank you for responding!

 

Do you have any record of payment from the French foreign legion?

 

Did you list your fake name in other names in the I-129F?

 

If not, I would withdraw the current application because you will go down a rabbit hole of RFE quagmire of re-explaining everything on the form that you left out.

 

After withdrawal, I would re-apply with a new I-129F with all your information consistent (other names, etc.) explaining in more details (Part 8. Additional Information) about your service with the French foreign legion and your name aliases and any foreign legion documentation about accepting anyone with alias names, etc. Don't assume USCIS know about the foreign legion and its history. And collect as much supporting documents as you can find like contract, payment record, passport entry/exit dates, pics, etc. to support every detail of your I-129F.

Edited 7 hours ago by EatBulaga

[Premi 2]

8 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

Even if u can produce the document, it is not serving in Serbia military which is needed/  

I'm not worried about such a thing, this is a common news cycle topic in Serbia whenever you need to draw attention away from something.

 

6 hours ago, EatBulaga said:

Do you have any record of payment from the French foreign legion?

I'm afraid I don't really have any surviving documents as this was a few months almost a decade ago, something that ended up being more or less irrelevant in the general course of my life, so I haven't considered to keep any documents.

 

Upon further recollection I believe that the contract was in my actual name, the fake name stuff was overstated in my prior comment as it's been so long since I thought about this, it was used only for a few internal things and is to my knowledge legally irrelevant to the French government and to the actual Legion who if they have kept any record of me have certainly done it under my actual name, unfortunately there is a good chance that they just refuse to release any documentation in which case I think worrying about it might be a moot point and preparing my own proof is what I should focus on just in case.

 

What I do have is some souvenirs, like an official dated photo book of my regiment, that places me there at the specific time, additionally I am going to try to get passport information that corroborates the duration of my stay outside the country, affidavit of my time there, another signed one by my sister as she knew my intentions at the time and can confirm my timeline, along with all of the unanswered emails and short refusals from the official Legion communication channels seems like the best way to go about this. I am also thinking about looking into whether I can get a 'in good legal standing' confirmation from the French government as a foreigner, I have to present one from my local police as well anyway.