Jarun

Unfortunately, we did not get the fiance visa in the end and did not attempt to file again.  This was over 4.years ago and after consulting and more review of our situation, were told our chances slim.  So we have continued our relationship with no marriage and i moved permanently to India, we are happily together still!

We will try to get the information again through NVC and/or USCIS; we asked for the Consular notes before and this was the reply:

"The USCIS FOIA mailbox relates to the Freedom of Information (FOIA) or Privacy Act (PA) requests for a copy of immigration records (alien files; or petition or application receipt files).

Your letter and email do not fall under the purview of the Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act (FOIA/PA)."

January 11, 2013 was Visa interview; fiance was given the 221G slip to provide all phone logs, chats, emails for Oct, Nov, Dec and Jan. Before we could even send that documentation, we received email dated Feb 8 (same date as on the memo that started this topic) that said after reviewing further docs etc. would send petition and application for Visa back to NVC. Consulate had already made up their mind to revoke as we did not send the requested docs till February 14 by the courier to the Embassy.

Anyway, we will continue onward and see what we can do; heading to India for another month - maybe will just stay there (I wish but have to get back to job in US). We are still together as a couple, just hit a few snags along the way. We knew it would be difficult back when we began as friends at work in 2010!

Thanks for all the information and interesting comments/suggestions from everyone.

The part I bolded makes no sense at all. You have a right to FOIA, no such thing as " not under that."

You said you did not submit any chats that said what they accused you of. Question : Where there questionable chats or emails

that you exchanged but did not submit ?

Everything can be accessed. Nothing is private that you put out there anymore. They can get their hands on whatever they want

whether you submit it or not.

No, I never said anything about rescinding the petition or telling him to straighten up - those words were not from either one of us.

Sorry to hear that, but there was some red flag in the email to indicate alls not well, like telling him to straighten up

regarding payments , mates have to be careful about too many monetary conversation and wire transfers

No, there was never any mention of rescinding the petition; the chats we sent were about being together, that we love each other, what we did over the weekend, things like that, just a few from the past year prior to filing the petition. Most of the documents were LocalPhone logs. Nothing graphic - no money. At the interview, the CO did say to him that one of us must be paying the other one for this, it was a highly-charged interview, lasting several hours, they accused us of making this all up, that no one could love one another as we profess, etc. We went thru the documents we sent together. We never thought it would come to a memo saying we paid one another for the petition and sexual favors. Gosh, never, ever dreamt that! We already asked for the information via FOIA and were denied; they told us what we were requesting was not under that.

I don't have a way to post the memo right now, but it has our names, then the beneficiary appeared for interview. Information elicited during this and subsequent post fraud prevention unit revealed Petitioner made cash payments and demanded sexual favors in exchange for filing an immigration petition for the beneficiary. As a result, post requests the petition be revoked.

The beneficiary applied for immigrant visa as fiancé of US citizen. There was an unusually large age difference between the older, female petitioner and the younger male beneficiary, petitioner was not of Indian origin and married before. These facts led Post's Fraud Prevention to prescreen the application for immigration fraud.

During the course of the FPU investigation the Petitioner and the Beneficiary made available many pages of highly graphic chat transcripts as proof of ongoing relationship. These transcripts, however, made frequent mention of cash payments from Beneficiary to the Petitioner, as well as the Petitioner threatening to "rescind (her) petition" if Beneficiary does not "straighten up".

As cash and sexual favors appear to have been promised in exchange for an immigration petition, the Beneficiary is not entitled to K1 visa classification. The preponderance of new evidence, not previously available to USCIS, demonstrates that the petitioner and beneficiary provide misleading material in order to gain an immigration benefit. Therefore, Post is returning the petition to USCIS via the National Visa Center, with a recommendation of revocation under INA 212 (a)(5)(a).

that's it - we did not exchange money with one another nor did we provide chats stating such.

OMG I am in total shock - our K-1 Visa was denied in February 2013 by Mumbai Consulate; today received letter from USCIS saying they are administratively closing the petition because validity dates have expired (we expected this) and the action is without prejudice to filing any future petitions or applications. OK fine - but attached is a memo to NVC from Chief, Immigrant Visa Unit Mumbai, which states;.. unusually large age difference , older female younger male, non-Indian etc. . . their fraud investigation revealed that Petitioner made cash payments to Beneficiary and demanded sexual favors in exchange for filing etc. It goes on to say then we provided highly graphic chats as evidence of relationship and made frequent mention of cash payments from Beneficiary to the Petitioner, as well as Petitioner threatening to "rescind" (her) petition" if Beneficiary does not "straighten up'.

None of this is true! The memo indicates both of us paid the other one for sexual favors to get the visa - what?!?!?!?!? I do not see how a government agency can state these things without proof. We obviously did not pay one another, nor did we provide "highly graphic chats" - we had phone logs and some skypes and emails, but nothing of that nature.

We don't know if we can get any other information or should bother, but it is sickening to think this is in the file now tucked away at USCIS, even thought we can file again. Just really upset to see something like this about us in writing from the government!

Just wanted to share that things can get really messed up - they obviously have us mixed up with someone else - just in disbelief!

Not that it helps, but we got the same letter for denial, petition was sent back to NVC, then they sent it back to USCIS for review, which apparently means it will expire. We did get another letter saying this doesn't preclude us from filing another K-1 petition, but it will be scrutinized very thoroughly, rest assured, that's what they said. And if we choose to marry same thing. We are pretty sure denial was due to age difference, older woman, younger man, and needed more time together. We have done that and will file again, never give up!

To first poster with India ties, you can call NVC to see if # assigned; till then try to be relaxed and patient. It takes time. When I did get thru to the NVC, they said, yes, this is the number BMB------- etc and it has already been sent to the consultate, so it was kind of after the fact. They gave me the dates received from USCIS and date sent to DOS. The US Consulate General sent both my fiance (the beneficiary) and myself an email, showing an interview date and time; and links in the letter to get information: 'Please ensure you visit the following link to prepare for your interview." this is direct from Consulate letter:

Failure to read and follow instructions provided may result in your visa being delayed at the initial interview.

The Packet 3 was not sent via mail in our case nor was Packet 4 as it is referred to; we just pulled the forms from the website; prepared them and sent one set via mail and kept another copy for the interview stage. There were emails sent back and forth, for what was needed, where to get medical, all of that was provided - plus you can set up a visa account. Just read everything when it is given to you, from Consulate/DOS. It will show or have links to the forms, pull the Instructions also, not just the forms, as that is where a lot of info is provided - good luck - happy journey!

_{Oh, great to see happy news! That is super - enjoy yourself and your new home in the USA.}

Wish that was more positive after the denial, but we received the same two emails April 26 - 30 minutes apart, as well as another VJ member. After being happy about reaffirmed, we were told to "disregard" the reaffrirmed email - the relevant one is it is under review at USCIS. Wish it was the opposite for all of us. We called NVC every week and they had not received the petition back so it is still "under review" at USCIS.. USCIS says to wait your turn, etc - they have up to 180 days from receipt to complete. We are filing another K-1 in the meantime. Either way it is six months at least. Also received an email from NVC after inquiring and they said the validity periods would expire which did not preclude us from filing another petition. So here we go!

We did the same thing, put Chennai (since that was closest) - no RFE - the approved petition was sent to Mumbai (BMB) - no issues.

Good deal - you received approval of the I-129F petition for Fiance - not the K-1 Visa but you are on your way! Was that a letter or email received from USCIS stating your petition was approved and sent to NVC on May 7? In our case it took 5 days to get the official letter from USCIS. National Visa Center is your contact in between USCIS and the Consulate now. Keep calling NVC for updates; they will assign a new case number for the petition that gets sent to the Consulate. It will have 3 letters like BMB for Mumbai and then other digits for tracking. If NVC doesn't have an update yet, it should be soon. When we called and finally got our new case # from NVC, it had already been sent forward to the Consulate. It was more than 3 weeks from notice of approval of petition to it being sent to Consulate. Of course, that varies from case to case but you should hear soon.

We know you are anxious as it has been 12 working days since notice of I-129F approval. Monday the 27th is holiday so that may push it back a few days, too.

We received the same two email notifications that you did - ours are dated April 26! First the reaffirmed one, then that it is with USCIS again. We have called both Department of State/National Visa Center and USCIS and get contradictory info from them also. I think someone hit the wrong buttons on the update messages. I still call every week to see where the petition/application is but nothing so far. We are filing another I-129F anyway in the meantime; the Visa was refused same as yours under the 212(A)(5)(a) - lack of credible bona fide) relationship - same thing. I just got back from India so here we go again. I did ask if we should do a 2nd petition, USCIS said don't you want to wait to find out about the 1st one and I said No, we have waited already. They also said an attorney would not speed the process nor guarantee the outcome. Preparing new one w/more photos, skypes, etc and affidavits from parents and friends - hope that helps somehow. Wish you the very best - totally understand how you feel - truly.

Thank you for your reply - I was hoping someone had same type experience. We are filing again!

Does anyone know if we have to wait for the official letter from USCIS before filing 2nd petition? The K-1 Visa was refused at consulate, for credible relationship. NVC received it back from Embassy and sent it to USCIS - Vermont. This is the note from USCIS:

"A review of the returned I-129F petition is required. This review occurs in chronological order according to the date it was received at the VSC. If USCIS did not err in the adjudication of the petition, the I-129F will be administratively closed because the validity dates will have expired. You will receive a letter with this information from USCIS; this action does not preclude you from filing a subsequent I-129F petition if you choose to do so."

We want to go ahead and start the process again now rather than waiting, since it has been over a year from 1st petition. USCIS has not answered our question on that yet so wondered if anyone here knows.

Thanks!

I-129F was approved 9-17-12, Visa interview 1-11-13 in Mumbai needed additional info; then Visa refused/sent back to NVC - today got update from USCIS at 12:15 P.m.:

"Your Case Status: Post Decision Activity

On April 26, 2013, we shipped this approved or re-affirmed case to the Department of State for visa processing. For more information, please contact them directly."

Then 30 minutes later 12:45 received another email and text:

"Post Decision Activity

On April 26, 2013, a USCIS office received this case from the State Department with a request that we review it. We will notify you when we complete our review, or if we need something from you. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283."

Now we were happy and now confused again - any ideas?

Usually when K-1's are sent back to USCIS the petition will expire before it is re-adjudicated. You will most likely have to file again or get married and file an I-130. Before re-filing you must find out the specific reasons for denial, and address those reasons, or filing a new petition will most likely be denied as well.

We have been quite diligent in pursuing the specific reasons for denial, still waiting for some valuable input. To date, nothing has been shared with us from either USCIS, NVC or the Consulate. All responses have been polite but no info, one indicated the consular notes are not included in freedom of information act. The Consulate said to contact NVC, NVC said to contact Consulate, etc. So hope to get something from someone, will still file 2nd I-129F petition upon return from this trip end of month

Here in lovely India with my love, so after K1 Visa refusal at Mumbai consulate, have been searching as to where the returned petition is - consulate said sent to NVC - NVC said sent to Consulate, etc. Today NVC now states they do have the petition as of 3-22-13 and it is under administrative processing and cannot give a time line on that, but we will be notified when appropriate. We don't know what that means or if it is a good thing, maybe NVC will review it and send back to the consulate to approve the Visa, that is wishful thinking. At least now we know where it is - honestly we have so many emails stating exact opposite from USCIS, the Consulate and National Visa Center and Vermont Service Center. I am not certain if they all understand the connection, that we were asking: where is the refused application and original I-129 petition, where are the consulate notes so we may review and correct what is needed for credible relationship, etc. We still don't know if we should wait this out while NVC is reviewing, or file another I-129. - I know we posted earlier under is there any point in filing another I-129F after 1st refusal. We still thought should do 2nd attempt for K-1; if it doesn't happen 2nd time, then on to marriage in India. ANy ideas? Thanks for listening

We had similar experience in Mumbai; fiance did get handed the 221G at the interview for more of the skypes, emails, etc. After providing more copies ended up with same outcome - denial, and the consular officer cited 212(a)(5)(a), lack of valid relationship. Doesn't help your circumstances, but we feel your pain and hope you can get your case reviewed before the petition expires. It is extremely disappointing, especially after your long wait. Best to you to get through this and have happy ending!

Of course they have. Just provide evidence to overcome the impression. Filing another petition would actually help. If it were not genuine you would not do that. If this were fraud your fiance would seek another person to petition him, not you.

I do NOT suggest getting married. If a spousal visa is denied you are STILL married.

We are working on gathering more evidence of relationship. You are right on about if it were not genuine, he would seek another person to petition. He even said don't they understand, if he just wanted the Visa, he certainly would have chosen someone closer in age where there would not be such scrutiny! We, of course, still want to be married, but thought the correct process would be to file the petition for fiance, marry in USA, spend time with family there, then return to India. Makes sense to us, but we are not the US government.

We appreciate the valuable input.

Would you mind sharing a few more details?

Are you an inter-racial couple? What is the age gap between the two of you?

Are you of different religious backgrounds?

There are several couples on VJ with spouses from India that have managed to overcome an age difference so don't give up!

Simply getting married and re-filing will not alleviate your troubles but Indian consulates in general do tend to be less harsh on married couples. The Indian consulates are particularly harsh on marital status for K-1 couples. They seem to always be looking for evidence of marriage even when the couple is only engaged. I recommend going the CR-1 route for various reasons. A lot of it has to do with local cultural concerns in India. Do you have full family support from both sides? Does your spouse's family still reside in India?

We are not giving up - just deciding what the next step should be. My fiance is Indian, I am not. Yes, we are of different religious backgrounds, although we share same ideology. I am converting to his religion and we will have religious ceremony in India. Age gap, old enough to be his mother. We have family suppport on both sides and my fiance's family resides in India, as does he. So far, it is 50-50 to file petition for K-1 again, or marry in India. We will keep researching before implementing either plan. Thank you for your comments.

I think it may be a regional issue as well. From what I have seen, India has an extremely high denial rate for K-1 visas. Apparently, the embassy ran an investigation and found that many of the couples who were granted K-1 visas were not able to be verified as together in the Untied States afterwards. Might I ask what kind of relationship proof you had for the interview? What questions were asked, what answers were given, etc.

It is my worst nightmare for this to happen to me, so you have my sympathy. I truly hope you find a way to resolve this soon.

Sure, it may be regional. Our relationship proof consisted of photos together in India, with his parents and friends, phone logs, where we speak at least once a day to one another, emails, Skype chats, screen shots on Skype, the usual stuff, I think.

The interview was conducted by several different people. They had info sent with the petition and asked for more photos. Gave engagement photos and greeting cards received. Asked our ages, if there were children by either of us, their age. Stated 2 doubts: How there will be real love if my fiancee was older and whether we were already married. They asked how we met, what sort of work, etc. then it all focused on how there can be true love between us due to the age difference. They said they could not accept it. Other things were said by COs but too personal to list here. Last officer said needed more phone logs, skypes emails and handed the 221-G. They already had all those, but we complied, sent last 4 months' of them and than received refusal to issue visa.

Most of the people on here get approved, so don't be discouraged by the ones who don't. I wish you all good fortune on your visa journey - it is definitely an interesting trip!

The guy from Yemen has no idea about India and US Embassy in India.

My response was on original OP text

"there was insufficient evidence of a credible relationship to proceed with issuance of a fiancé visa. The case has been sent back to USCIS for further processing. We no longer have this case here at post, and cannot make any changes to the case. If you decide to marry your fiance and file a new petition with USCIS"

Trust me... You are free to write the strong worded response.

Please check out other posts for Indian couples (specially for Delhi Embassy denied K1 and getting CR1) and see how many people did what I just mentioned.

Appreciate your honest response, we will check other Indian couples' posts. And yes, that is the exact text from the email received by fiance on his inquiry after submitting 221-G documents requested. We thought we had everything needed, long-time knowing one another, etc. We have discussed getting married in India, too, but will wait a bit, not immediately after the visa refusal. As far as getting the Consular notes as suggested by other member, we already received a response that it isn't part of the FOIA and they cannot provide that type of information. Contacted USCIS who has put in the service request to "try" to get the information - said should hear something by March 15.

Regarding the credible relationship, the one CO who was so opposed to the fiance visa, repeated over and over that it was not possible that we were in love. I won't give all the details, but she was not respectful. Said it was an admiration, not love. Sort of like good cop, bad cop, that we were wasting their time and how dare we even think to apply for a K-1 visa. They did call his parents, to confirm we were engaged. The CO called from a cell phone, no caller ID, and we have a recording of that also for our records. They were not willing to accept us as a couple.

We will keep moving forward and do whatever we need to be together somewhere! We appreciate and welcome good advice. Thank you.