AdrianSolorzano

You're welcome. Today my fiancee got notified that her passport is ready for pick up.

On the 31st we are planning for her to travel to the US to finally be together.

Regarding the interview at the embassy, the interviewer asked simple questions. Didn't mention anything regarding the engagement ceremony.

On 12/24/2020 at 9:53 PM, Chancy said:

 

They're referring to the petition stage.  All I-129F petitions for K1 are processed stateside.

 

I understand now.

It's shorter than Morocco which is going into a year +.

Thank you, I will look into it.

Good afternoon team,

I'm back after four months because I have been approved (NAO2). From the experience of others, what comes next in the process? In the letter it says to wait at least 30 for the NVC to process and then wait until the consular has the paper work from my understanding. Will they send my fiancee a letter or more paper work to fill out? What are the next steps I have to take? 

Thanks in advance!

On 1/3/2020 at 9:11 PM, SorrowL said:

Sounds like you sent a good selection of relationship evidence. 
 

did you tag your album with dates and what’s happening in the photographs? Cause if you did that it shouldn’t be a problem regarding your engagement party. Photos are mostly secondary evidence compared to actual itineraries and other official stuff.

 

As long as you followed the I-129f correctly you don’t need to worry really. If they want to know anything more or have concerns, they’ll send you a request for evidence. This part is only half the battle to a K1. 
 

depending on when you filed, you could be waiting a long time. I suggest you fill out your immigration timeline on your profile for estimated approval dates
 

good luck on your journey, and welcome to the site!

I created the timeline just minutes ago. 

Thank you!

On 1/3/2020 at 10:04 PM, Nitas_man said:

You may have a problem.  A two day ceremony that included exchanging rings, cutting cakes, henna party, and traditional wedding milk and dates - you have to know how that looks right?  Know how many “not really married but too married for K1 eligibility” cases have come through here?  

Can you please link me to more cases of denials from Morocco? I have searched on here but found a few. Then again I am new here so I still need assistance. Yeah... if we decide to keep going and ended up at the interview there would be a lot of clarification from our part if the officer has doubts which by this forum is most likely to happen.

10 hours ago, carmel34 said:

Looks like a classic case of "too married for a K-1, not married legally so you can't do CR-1."  We see many of these cases here on VJ.  You can wait for the K-1 to play out, see what happens at her interview, then go from there.  That process will take at least 6-8 months, sometimes longer in high-fraud countries like Morocco where they often do extended background checks.  If denied after an 8+ month wait, and then you get married (additional time even if you go to a third country where it is fast and religion doesn't matter) and file for a CR-1 that will take another year at least if all goes well, so a possible total of a year and a half or two years.  If you cancel the K-1 now and get married and file for a CR-1 it will only be about a year.  You're weighing the risk of K-1 denial here and that seems likely based on the location and the "engagement/wedding" party photos.  I would suggest cancelling K-1, get married as soon as you can, then file CR-1.  If the K-1 is denied there is no appeal process, it typically dies.  And a K-1 also involves the hassles of adjustment of status after marriage in the US and your fiancee/wife will not be able to work, get a driver's license, or leave the country for 6-8 months, a period many refer to as the "K-1 hell."  With a CR-1 she would be able to work immediately upon entry to the US, or leave the country in the case of an emergency back home, a huge advantage IMO.  Good luck!

I understand the benefits of the CR-1. Thank you so much for you input. I am still deciding what me and my fiance want to do. It's not easy. 

23 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

Are you sure you did not sign any contract?

and promise a dowery?

I did not do any of the above. I am 💯 positive.

10 hours ago, RJandHamid said:

My opinion (having gone through the Casablanca consulate with a successful K-1 petition) is that your engagement ceremony does sound rather typical, with the exception of her wearing multiple dresses. I myself did not have an engagement party or ceremony, but it was brought up at our interview, we were asked why we did not have one. And I know plenty of other successful K-1s in Morocco who had the ceremony with milk and dates, henna and all and were still approved. It's a very common cultural practice. Of course every case is different so no one can say for sure what the CO will decide in your case. I also don't think the religion difference is as big a deal as people are making it seem. As long as you are able to explain it at the interview, it's not really something that is likely to cause any immediate denial. Otherwise same sex couples and non Muslim male/Muslim female couples would never get visas through Muslim countries, and I'm sure they do, it's just a somewhat rare scenario.

 

I don't think you should be overly worried about the K-1 visa, I think you have a decent chance. Though it wouldn't hurt to at least research the marriage process in Morocco in case the K-1 is denied for whatever reason.

Thank you for the reassuring comment. I have read over several places on different forums that an engagement ceremony or party is normal there. But I understand the point of view of the officer if skeptical. On our photos we have placed on the comments as fiance and screenshots of whatsapp messages as fiance to each others profile name. It's a small detail but I hope every little helps. In the ceremony there was only women. During the ending we had photoshoots with the family and that's when only a few men showed up just for the pictures(husbands). Me and my fiance share the same agnostic belief but on her profile just out of respect for her family she has to be traditional. She is not a Muslim religiously but does follow some customs when around her family. Her parents are very liberal when it comes to Moroccan parents which I am grateful for. 

I have also read that many get asked if it was a wedding when providing proof of the ceremony. If there are no small red flags like husband or wife or wedding in comments or on social media approved then what I have read they were also approved sometimes after a few days when in processing. I understand every case is different too. 

It's a lot to go over in these comments. They all mean well and I will take them into consideration. 

Thank you again.

1 minute ago, Jorgedig said:

So he would have to convert to Islam to be able to do that?

From my understanding, yes.

Just now, Boiler said:

Why did you not marry and go CR1?

For two reasons; we thought it would be shorter and I did not have enough vacation days to convert and do all the paperwork. Out of curiosity we researched and it seemed it would not have benefited us because of the timeframe. There wasn't enough time for me to complete the process or so I thought.

1 minute ago, Jorgedig said:

When did you apply?  Maybe it is worth switching gears and pursuing a CR-1?

I got the receipt of confirmation tonight. They took the money out of my account today also. To late?

1 minute ago, JeanneAdil said:

especially if they did the henna

 

OP  if denied you will need to marry properly and that means the man must be Muslim if the woman is

so, that is your decision

marriage celebrations in Morocco can be one day or several days

and the woman will wear several different beautiful dresses / Did she?

Yes, she wore different dresses.

I understand, if denied I have no choice bur to go the spouse visa.

1 minute ago, Erin86 said:

Did you write on the photos that this was specifically an engagement party? I know it as a henna party from my background and I've had Arab friends from different cultures who have had very elaborate engagement parties with rings and everything.. so I'm sure officers have seen it before and worst case scenario it can be explained if they request more evidence or ask questions in the interview 🤔

We did write on the photos explaining the engagement ceremony. For each picture we explained.

1 minute ago, Nitas_man said:

It sounds exactly like a traditional wedding.  Wow.

Yeah, that is what I am really concerned about.

Just now, Jorgedig said:

Since the parameters for I-129F petitions are so basic, the vast majority are approved.  For a country like Morocco, the consulate   is a whole different ball game.

Yeah... I need a lot of advice and direction. I feel helpless just waiting.

Just now, SorrowL said:

That sounds super marriagey. Did you send evidence that you two went to the same US educational institution? That could help make it not look like a first time visit engagement.

Yes, proof of yearbook pages, my highschool diploma, her letter from her host family, a teacher's recommendation signed and her visa that the US sponsored.

1 minute ago, SorrowL said:

It definitely won’t be easy. But I do wish you the best of luck. If you convince USCIS, you still have to convince the Consulate/Embassy. Collect your evidence, be diligent and don’t skimp on important documents that you can use. Make personal copies for yourself before you send stuff out, that goes for your beneficiary as well. You should definitely stick around these forums especially with the difficulty level of the Embassy. 

Thank you. I will surely stay for further concerns I have and needed advice.

3 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

@JeanneAdil has much experience with Casablanca.  OP, one good thing about your case is that there is no age difference.

Yeah it's more like 1 year and 8 months apart to be exact. She is now 26 and I am 28. I will follow JeanneAdil's advice. Thank you.

4 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

I’m curious about that ceremony. Indulge us.  Your whole case might depend on exactly what was done and how that was held.

It was a two day ceremony. We had some of her friends and family over. It took place in her parents house. We exchanged milk and dates. We exchanged the engagement rings. We danced. We cut a cake together. I asked her if she could do Hanna for me so we had a hanna party on the last day with music, dancing and food. During this time we wore traditional Amazigh clothes. We wanted to have the celebration like this since we wanted to marry in the US her parents wont be there. I sent few pictures of the ceremony then mostly us together traveling in Morocco.

9 minutes ago, SorrowL said:

The interview is part of section 2 of the visa journey, which is a consular interview regarding the visa. Depending on country and location, interview protocols are vastly different. While they do want to see original documents, the interview also is about asking questions about the whole case, about the person. The interview makes or breaks the visa, from what I’ve seen. As the other person stated: it’s a tough Embassy, so be ready to drill out a lot of evidence and energy, but also be ready for the bad outcomes.

I read that it's also one of the toghest embassys. It's why we tried to provide more evidence than needed.

1 minute ago, Nitas_man said:

What kind of gathering was this thing you did.  Was it required by her family so you could spend time with her?  Was it an engagement party?  Y’all sign a contract?

No contract and no signing. It was an engagement ceremony and party with dancing and exchanging rings and dates and milk. We had traditional Amazigh outfits. It was for her family also seeing us officially engaged and we wanted to have a small get together with friends and family.

6 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

OP’s bonafide worried.

 

 

 I am

3 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Okay.  I'm sure you can see how ridiculous this sounds.  

Not a thing for K-1

It does sound ridiculous. Sorry, it's just the nick name I heard of it.

4 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

I would say that for Morocco, that is correct.  It is a high fraud/high denial consulate.

Thank you. This is overwhelming to me.