BigBong

You don't have to pay the penalty fee for the year 2016 because they have a Short gap exemption rule that if the person is without insurance for no more than 2 consecutive months then they don't have to pay the fee.

+1
My feelings exactly! To believe they had no intention of getting married before she entered th US is a complete joke.
Why they allow this loophole to exist makes no sense.
Might as well have the law state ESTA eligible countries are exempt from K1 requirements.

+1
My feelings exactly! To believe they had no intention of getting married before she entered th US is a complete joke.
Why they allow this loophole to exist makes no sense.
Might as well have the law state ESTA eligible countries are exempt from K1 requirements.

This is why the embassy puts the packet 3 checklist on their website to download, they never mail "packet 3" to the applicant in Cambodia.
I think my wife did get some approval notice that stated the embassy had her application from the post office (they called her and met her somewhere to give it to her), but that was like a month after we had already scheduled the interview.
For K 1 applicants.
As far as the address for the 325a form, we just listed the nearest intersection of major roads/streets.
I wouldn't worry about what you write, just make sure it's consistent with all the forms you fill out.

My Khmer wife has a different last name than both her mother and father (they gave her the same last name as one of her grandmother) and we had no issues. Are both your mother and father's names listed on your birth certificate?
You last name being different than your father's is not problem, as long as your birth certificate/passport/ID card are all the same name and all the paperwork you've submitted have the same info and spellings.

I think a lot of the denials in Phnom Penh come down to how much time is spent together, physically present in Cambodia or wherever. If you're only in Cambodia one or two times for a week or two at a time, then proving a real relationship is difficult here. Unfortunately these engagements are judged from a Western/American perspective and not a Khmer perspective.

New procedure for paying the $240 fee for K1 visa at the Phnom Penh embassy begining April 1st.
You will no longer pay in cash on the day of interview.
After April 1 you must make the payment prior to the interview at any ACLEDA bank.
http://cambodia.usembassy.gov/fiancees_visas.html

For a bunch of people married/engaged to foreigners there seems to be a huge ignorance of cultural differences here.
Anyone the least bit familiar with Cambodian customs would know a picture such as the one being ridiculed would be EXPECTED of any engaged couple.
If anything not having pictures like that in Cambodia would make me question if it was a genuine couple.
I highly doubt it was any factor in his denial.
Also, since when does the word rehearse indicate any sort of misrepresentation/lying?
I'm willing to bet pretty much everyone of you all went over some questions that may be asked of you before the interview.
As to why he doesn't want to get married in Cambodia, getting married in the US would literally save him thousands of dollars and as previously mentioned is not an easy task in Cambodia.
Since we are all just speculating/judging here and don't have enough info to know what happened, my theory is they were denied because of spending too little time together in person before filing-then when she stumbled at the interview the CO made up his mind for denial.

For a bunch of people married/engaged to foreigners there seems to be a huge ignorance of cultural differences here.
Anyone the least bit familiar with Cambodian customs would know a picture such as the one being ridiculed would be EXPECTED of any engaged couple.
If anything not having pictures like that in Cambodia would make me question if it was a genuine couple.
I highly doubt it was any factor in his denial.
Also, since when does the word rehearse indicate any sort of misrepresentation/lying?
I'm willing to bet pretty much everyone of you all went over some questions that may be asked of you before the interview.
As to why he doesn't want to get married in Cambodia, getting married in the US would literally save him thousands of dollars and as previously mentioned is not an easy task in Cambodia.
Since we are all just speculating/judging here and don't have enough info to know what happened, my theory is they were denied because of spending too little time together in person before filing-then when she stumbled at the interview the CO made up his mind for denial.

For a bunch of people married/engaged to foreigners there seems to be a huge ignorance of cultural differences here.
Anyone the least bit familiar with Cambodian customs would know a picture such as the one being ridiculed would be EXPECTED of any engaged couple.
If anything not having pictures like that in Cambodia would make me question if it was a genuine couple.
I highly doubt it was any factor in his denial.
Also, since when does the word rehearse indicate any sort of misrepresentation/lying?
I'm willing to bet pretty much everyone of you all went over some questions that may be asked of you before the interview.
As to why he doesn't want to get married in Cambodia, getting married in the US would literally save him thousands of dollars and as previously mentioned is not an easy task in Cambodia.
Since we are all just speculating/judging here and don't have enough info to know what happened, my theory is they were denied because of spending too little time together in person before filing-then when she stumbled at the interview the CO made up his mind for denial.