Lighkas

Best to ignore such comments. 

Best to ignore such comments. 

Best to ignore such comments. 

I suppose in your case you had the luxury of picking the love of your life from an array of countries. Ever heard the expression, "you love who you love "? Well, this forum is for folks who are trying to join up with the USCs they're in love with (or already have) and I do believe you're one of those people, no?

With all due respect, I do not believe you've presented anything different/new. I'm all for weeding out people who try to game the system either by omission or commission but putting out blanket statements when there are a lot of other genuine cases is not cool. There's a reason the embassy/consulate (under the state dept) retains the right to issue visas, they can assess the beneficiary and go through the case fully before reaching a decision. So instead of scaring OP to bits with all this doom & gloom, @patluv @TWISTIE @ilikepotatoes also have great advice.

~~Two more posts removed for ignoring mod warning. The next time is suspension.~~

~~Multiple posts removed, some for quoting a removed post others for TOS Violation and derailing this thread. Stick to answering the OP's questions only~~

Thank you @PatLuvOcan you kindly share the link to any Facebook group that might be helpful? 
 
Thank you all. Picking up a lot of valuable information. 
 
Thank you once again @TWISTIE@Twistie you remind me of my brother. He always gets mad that after over a decade, we still aren't married. Calls it a waste of time. He married an American too and has been living in the states for about 5 years now. My sister too. Married to an Aussie and has her visa now. 
 
Quite frankly, marriage wasn't always on my mind. Wanted to go to America on F1. We just became so involved in each other's affairs and started thinking, we are already co-dependent on almost everything, so why not? I'm tempted to disclose more details about our relationship here to see if I'd get more reactions from VJ users, but I guess the long and short of it all really are:
 
1. Marrying on first visit is not the most ideal. 
 
2. Marry at first visit or not, a second or more visits before interview will help. 
 
3. Have a lot of proofs. 
 
4. Make sure USC understands how difficult a process it could be. (She does, ateast in theory. Made sure to tell her, and she knows Nigeria's reputation for fraud, but then I haven't lived in Nigeria for as long as I've known her, although that doesn't matter, I live in a country that is now quickly gaining a reputation in fraud.)
 
 

People have gotten approved marrying on the first visit, just make sure she comes again to see you before you have your interview. When you get married make sure members of your family are present. Take pictures in different settings not just on the wedding day. Have all your communication history from when you started corresponding and any other evidence to prove your relationship is real. No point in doing K1 considering the timeframe is as long as spousal and considering your age difference spousal is safer. If you need more advice I'd suggest you join Facebook groups geared towards the immigration process for Nigerians. 

If you think that OP would waste of time, money and energy by not spending  more time together, then it’s obvious that you’re being unrealistic and do not realize that OP would waste much more time, money, and energy after being denied and having to start all over again. And no, I’m not being pessimistic; rather, I’m just being realistic after having seen so many denials and delays when beneficiary is from Nigeria. Spend two minutes searching in VJ and I can guarantee you’ll find many cases like these.

Not to be mean, but it’s quite the contrary: the focus should be on spending time together. Pictures are secondary evidence when it comes to USCIS. I can meet someone for two days, change outfits several times and even take pictures with random people.

One would assume that was more down to the socio-economic strength of these countries than fraud, though. There is indeed an unhealthy bias towards African countries as fraud is more wide-spread than most would to like to accept. But it is what it is, and OP has to play by the rules. Time spent together physically is mandatory for either of the visa routes.

We went K 1 rote and even pre covid time we thought it's better to meet twice before making that decision to be together. One thing is to know each other online and another to live together. 
You should know that immigrating process is never easy or fast, especially with covid, just do it wisely, meet first then decide what's next. Best wishes!

I agree, but would like to clarify that this would not be in lieu of actual time spent together.

Very high fraud embassy.  As the beneficiary, the burden will be on you to demonstrate that you are not just after a green card (you can thank your fellow Nigerians before you for that).  Marrying on the first visit is one of those 'red flags' you hear about.  
 
IMHO, your key to success will be more time spent in person together before marrying/filing.

I’m sorry that with your own case you faced a lot of difficulty. However, I think it’s unfair to just make a blanket statement that implies that your particular situation will somehow be predictive of all other cases where the beneficiary is African.
 
My husband is not Ukrainian, he is actually African, from Zimbabwe. I was informed that usually countries with high marriage fraud rates also have high B2 visa refusal rates; I believe Zimbabwe’s visa refusal rate is at 26%, which doesn’t seem all that bad to me. Ukraine’s is even higher. My lawyer also reassured us that this should not be an issue at all.
 
Everyone’s case is different. While it’s important to know the pros and the cons of a situation, and to also face reality, a little hope goes a long way too. 

So true...You nail it down...
 
For OP- one more thing- I know most people on here try to help, but then most people rubber-stamp each other...obviously, a few do this. Anyway, each case is unique and different. So, just do your best. You already have a very long time of relationship...11 yrs...meeting or not...its a very long relationship. To some people, personal meeting is so important to decide if that person is right for them or not, while personal meeting is not that important for others to know if a person is right or not. Getting to know could be done by phone calls, chats and emails...without meeting in person...Its just different strokes for different people. People are doing zoom marriage without even meeting once...and then they go and meet and then file the case....11 yrs is a VERY long time to ME in a relationship or even for a friendship. If I were you (OP), I wouldn’t waste one minute and get married on my very first visit...OP has a very long history with the partner...enough to rule out any fraud...so long s/he has some kinds of documented proofs...even as friends for that long..

Our lawyer actually started our case without being paid. He also gave us a free consultation before we even started the process. He’s been in business for years, has hundreds of reviews, and a five star rating. Many of his previous clients have also commented on how he’s helped them out in their time of need, even with little to no pay. Sure, some lawyers suck. But saying “most lawyers” are like that is an exaggeration and exactly the kind of negativity I was talking about in the first place. 
 

We all know that Nigeria is considered a biggest fraud country...and I did mention that in my post. So, its my personal views that no matter how many trips one would take prior to marry, it wouldn’t make a difference because every case is automatically viewed there as a fraud. Even though India is not like Nigeria when it comes to fraud, yet still I went thru whole nine yards despite of having so many trips prior to marriage. Thus, its MY personal opinion that OP would go thru higher scrutiny regardless of how many trips s/he would make prior to marry. It would just a complete waste of time, money, energy and efforts to consider only this issue, rather OP should focus on everything about his/her relationship when it comes to collecting evidences/proofs....Its my personal opinion that making multiple trips prior to marriage won’t necessary guarantee a positive outcome. Thus, s/he should focus on the entirety of the relationship given every application for US visa is automatically considered a fraud in Nigeria. 

My husband and I got married on the first visit with one of the main reasons being the unpredictability of covid, and the fear of future lockdowns preventing us from meeting again for a very long time. We also had met online and had been in a relationship for about 3 years. 
 
This website has some very knowledgeable members, but you’re also going to find a lot of negativity and misleading information too. My husband and I decided to hire an immigration attorney; during our first Zoom meeting with him, we found out that all of the concerns that we had been warned about by VisaJourney’s voices of doom, weren’t actually issues at all.  He has told us that red flags are not the end of the world, and that he’s seen success with very complicated cases.
 
Yes, time spent together is important. My one month stay with my husband turned into four months and counting. So the longer you are able to stay, and gather evidence of time spent together, the better. 
 
I just wanted to comment and say that this isn’t the end of the world, and you just need to take some time and do some research before making a decision. Also, don’t let other people’s attitudes get you down; people only write based on their own experiences and by no means is that predictive of how your own case will turn out. Best of luck to you. 
 

no i do and when i go to Morocco and eat 5 times a day i loose weight as fruit and vegtables are so fresh
my immigrant husband does not like american food /  this is the one thing  I struggle with as i can't cook like his momma
the other issues i have seen posted by people on here over the 12 years i have been reading
with homesickness being a big one

Of course the embassy isn't interesting in seeing 1000s of pages as well. I'd assume the best is to take screenshots at several timeframes and print the screenshots.
 
I'd say focus on multiple visits and photos with your partner/spouse at several locations, timelines and with several other people likes frens/relatives/families.

I have been told, by a very well respected & expert  VJ member that there are 3 levels of fraud ratings for countries:
1.  Low level fraud
2.  High level fraud
3.  A well known consulate which I will redact.
The fact is that more visits is always a good thing...but essential in some countries.  

Been thru it 
and hope OP listens to us
to OP Been on this site now since 2009 and Nigeria is hard but they do approve visas when there is good solid proof of the relationship
you need time together 
NIgerian embassy CO's are experienced at the job and know what to look for /  u 2 gotta meet in person / u can't file anything till u do
at the petition stage it is up to the USC to start the process with the required documents 
it is up to the Nigerian to show that he (or a she) knows every little and big thing about the USC and her family 
Whatever u ever say "don't say age is just a number" as it isn't 
hard enough to combine different cultures in a marriage
but when u live together and have to accept the age difference when it comes to likes and dislikes like the following and the  issues that we have all read on here:
taste in music is different
ages of friends is different 
taste in movies is different 
one gets to retire and other has to keep working
differences in education
the expense of the immigrant wanting to talk all the time to friends back home
the immigrant gets homesick
the immigrant wants to send money home to support family and not the USC
immigrant does not like American food

Best advice is for your US citizen girlfriend to join Visa Journey, set up her own account, do lots of research and reading, and ask her own questions here.  The main reason for this advice is because it is the US citizen who files a petition on behalf of a foreign fiancé or spouse, not you.  So she needs to know everything, all the pros and cons of K-1 vs. CR-1, processing times, documentation, and the difficult journey ahead of she chooses to go down this path with you, a Nigerian, and the tradition of fraud in cases there and the increased scrutiny and high rate of denials at the Lagos embassy.  So please ask her to do this, to join VJ and put in the time and effort needed if you really want to be together.  Are you willing to live together in Nigeria for a period of months or even years, so that you can be together?  Often we see cases like yours where the foreigner is pushing the US citizen for a US immigrant or non-immigrant visa, without the full support or cooperation of the US citizen, and sometimes that leads to problems and relationships that don't work out.  I personally would never even discuss marriage or immigration with someone I met online, until we met in person and spent lots of time together.  Good luck to both of you!