W199

My NOA2 was a week before you, and NVC has already received my case (about 14 days). I expect a case number i I could be wrong, but I estimate they will create a case number by 9/22 for me, and 9/29 for you. Lets see.

Hi, The reason why I said you will need the FBI record if you do a CR-1 was under the context of "your protection". Its because of exactly what you said, "that criminal records, except for AWA crimes are not needed". Therefore, he will not be required to get and give you a copy of all his court records. Therefore, for your protection, you should ask for his FBI report under the pretence that it will be helpful to know what is in it when applying. Based on what you said, about the charges being dropped, that is great news. However, for the K-1 interview you should be prepared with a copy of paperwork in case they ask you about it, that shows dispostion (charges are dropped). Being guilty is not a problem for the K-1, you just can't have it pending and the embassy wants to be sure you are well informed. You should probably take a few days rest to calm down before discussing all this with him, so you not so emotionally influenced by everyone's replies.

If the records came up in the criminal court as opposed to the family and probate court, then it sounds like it is more than "mental health records", .e.g. not just "medicaL" .. and it likely could be reflected on his FBI record. But you will know soon enough if/when you get a USCIS RFE. And regarding his drug arrest. They don't just arrest you, charge you, and hold you for several days and then simply let you go. If they just let him go, then the charges would have had to been dropped, and he would have been very clearly informed of that. Most likely he appeared before a Judge for the arraingment or for getting the charges dropped. And likely he would have a lawyer, or have been appointment a public defender that would have informed him that the charges are dropped, etc.. It sounds like either he and his family are either totally ignorant, or they are trying to hide something from you. You need to get a copy of certified court and police papers for the interview. If the embassy finds out, you won't get a K-1 without them, as well the "mental health" records, and his FBI record (especially if you choose a CR-1). But like I said before, marrying someone with past mental illness issues, and has active and unresolved criminal drug drug issues probably won't end well. But this is your decision that we all respect .. just go into well informed and get all the above records. Getting the CR-1 is going to protect you as they said before, but on the other hand, you will now be married to someone with drug issues, mental health issues, and may even be in jail by the time the CR-1 gets issued. And living away for 2 years married in this kind of relationship is hard.

You might be able to go online to the criminal court house that has jurisdiction for his case, and search his name to get some basic info.

This is the link to request his FBI record. https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/more-fbi-services-and-information/identity-history-summary-checks#FBI-Approved-Channeler Using the "FBI-approved channeler" option is the fastest option, and will only take 1 or maybe 2 days in my experience. Its probably too soon for the new charge to appear.

HI Then you will need the court papers that specify the charges were dropped or whatever the case disposition turns out to be. It just can't be pending. He can request his FBI record. If he does it online and through a 3rd party that sends his fingerprints online, then it only takes about 1 day to get it. Its very fast. The FBI has instructions and lists the places to get the fingerprints on their webpage. This will reveal all the standard arrests records, but it not may not reveal everything in the FBI record such as expunged records which the USCIS can still see. Given your case is taking longer than most to process, there might be other complexities in your case they are investigating. If they deny it, then you could just consider a CR-1 spousal visa. It shouldn't be much longer before you hear back. My NOA1 was at the end of August 2022, but they processed my case a month ago as well as 84% of all August 2022 cases as of today

You should wait for an RFE. If the mental health records were not part of an arrest record and/or getting finger printed, then you most likely will be fine. At the embassy level, they may ask to see the criminal records. If the drug case is still pending in court, e.g. there is no disposition, then you probably will have a problem getting approved at the embassy and USCIS level. Any idea how long it will be before the trial and sentencing? Since you asked for advice, marrying someone with mental health issues and has unresolved active criminal drug problems is a huge red flag for getting married.

My approval date matched my notice date of August 2023 and had a correct expiration date of 4 months later. However, the valid FROM date started from May, 3 months earlier than the approval date. lol. This shows they do make typos. To reduce the stress, you should just assume your NVC clock starts 8/28. And then be excited if the case happens to arrive early.

Sometimes how you met her and all the circumstances can have subtle affects on the decisions and what you'll need to get approved . If you do not mind sharing, strictly upto you since this is a very personal question, can you tell us a bit how you met her, age diferences, and how you got engaged without ever meeting her, and your prior experience in meeting Thai girls, and so forth? For example, did some buddy at work suggest using the Thai dating app, and then you fell in love after chatting, got enaged, and then went to Thailand for the very first time? Or are you an experienced traveler, and met her while on vacation or on business, etc etc... ?

Seems reasonable to me. The CR-1 visa requires the the couples to prove their marriage is real and can not be annuled. Having a marriage that can potentially in some places be annulled because you haven't or are unable to consumate it isn't strong proof. I think they are being quite generous, relaxed, and probably avoiding lawsuits by only requiring you to be in the same presence together, and to "assume" you really did consumate it. To play devils advocate, I think it is more of a fraud prevention rule. People constantly do all sorts of immigration scams.

In fact, there are delays at the Philippines embassies now due to so many people now doing Utah zoom marriages and getting them registered .. Its quite popular and no issues with immigration if you pay attention to what everyone keeps telling you here.

As I said, an approximate date is fine, but you could for the heck of it, put in a FOIA request at https://www.uscis.gov/records/request-records-through-the-freedom-of-information-act-or-privacy-act to try to get it if you were curious. It may not work, but it is free and easy to do. It only has been taking me 1-2 weeks to get replies including searching me in their databases. But to be successful, limit your request to only your info, or they will deny it if it would involve releasing 3rd party info. For example, "Please send me all my receipt numbers for any I-129F applications that I submitted" Try to provide the exact name and address that you had placed on the I-129F.". Uploading a certified or a letter signed under the penalties of perjury that you are who you are seeking" may help. They denied my request for my old I-129F record because they said it would include private 3rd party info. But when I complained, they said the real reason was that it was so old that it was merged with the beneficiary's immigration record, and I would need to make a new request for the beneficiary's record with their permission, etc..

And actually, not only did they find that I-129F with my approximate date but they found a 2nd approved i-129F from 30 years ago that I had completely forgotten about because it was a very short relationship 30 years that I broke it off before it got approved and before she had her visa appointment at the embassy.. But I neglected to withdraw it No big deal, yhe they sent me a RFIE with the 2 receipt numbers and asking me to apply for an IMBRA filing limitation waiver. After they received the waiver, they approved my case in less than a week.

Yes, an approximate date is fine. Thats what I did. Once you check that box saying you had a previous K1, they are just going to search there systems to validate that you didn't have more than 1 previous approved I-129F partitions.

Just be prepared to answer their questions about your trip, gifts, weapons, tear gas, (they asked me all those)... I have been driving back and forth across the border, to rendezvous with my fiancee there while waiting for the K-1. As a USC driving my own car, etc.. I was really shocked at how many probing questions they kept asking me in both directions. All the other cars seemed to be there for a while due to with many questions. Oh, after my 5th or so trip, they finally calmed down and just asked me a couple of normal questions and let me pass. My fiancee also said whe she arrived on her toursit visa, there was a huge line at secondary for first time visitors, about 4 hours wait, and most of the people got sent back (Nigeria, India, Pakistan, etc..) including one guy in a wheelchair and the 2 people he was with because they said they were his sons, and CBP replied that it was an obvious lie

Canada has a tool to find out what you need, here https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.asp I just ran it for a LPR with a passport from South Africa, and it said you just need passport and GC. Not sure about the N400 ..

Excellent point! But for this case, I wouldn't be surprised if she'll end up with a 10 year GC either way ... 😅

When I did it, it was quick and easy to get the Thai marriage certificate. And it was great to have a authentic Thai ceremony with everyone. But you do then need to do an extra step. You then just need to get a certified english translation. In the future, if you ever need a copy of the marriage that could be tricky. Likewise, to get divorce, it was trivial, we just wallked in to the the same registrar in the district office. She wrote up 1 page agreement, and then wrote down in her book that we are now divorced, and gave us a dirovce certificate. Trivial and easy.

Crazy cat was very clear. He even underlined it and use all CAPS of what you MUST do to make it valid.

It just doesn't work that way. I don't mean to be pessimistic, even though many people here will say you have a chance and have nothing to lose to try. But unfortunately, its really just pure fantasy and dreaming that she has a shot at it. They must assume by law she has a plan to immigrate and must prove by law she is innocent of that. Having no job, no travel history, and a USA bf that is going to live with during the visit will destroy any possibility of that. Her kids, your potential future plans to live there won't even come close to proving she has no immigrant intent. Yes, its cheap to try, but now she will have a visa denial on her record, and every word she says will be recorded and compared to any future visa interviews. And many people using a "service" end up getting banned for any future visas due to bogus info they put down.

It takes about 2-3 business days for the letter to go out, then about 5 days for the slow USPS to deliver it. I filed my case at end of August 2022, got my notice a few weeks ago, it was issued on Thursday, postmarked on the following Monday, then received the letter in the mail a week from Saturday. so 9 days for me. Also, I heard that will send the notice directly to your lawyer, not you. I wonder what else your lawyer did wrong to take 16.5 months? How many pages was your i-129F? In anycase, tell him other immigration lawyers, such as Hacking told you it is legal malpractice and you want 100% money back or you will sue him for punitive damages as well, report him to he Bar, and post what he did to you all over the internet and give him honest but bad reviews everywhere you can. The K-1's are speeding up now, about 50% of the people notified within 12 months of filing, and every month this slowly speeds up. You should check with the T/hai embassy by iniitiating a DS-160 .. and see how long it takes to get an interview for a K-1 vs CR-1. In Manila a K-1 interview date only takes about 3 weeks now. CR-1 are on hold You do not need to do a CR-1, you can re-file for a K-1. Since you only met her 1 time, a K-1 and a prenup might be prudent. But if you are 100% certain in this, a CR-1 does have many advantages, and a little easier to get approved at the embassy level. In the long run, a few months longer for either one is not going to be signficant and will soon be long forgotten once she is here. Just do the one that makes the most sense for you based on the pros and cons and using your head. A Thai wedding is nice, I did one a long time ago.

Also, someone called into the Hacking immigration youtube channel, and said their lawyer did the same thing, and they got denied. But their lawyer didn't even warn them. Let just say that Hacking immigration is not a company that does "free or volunteer work", but in this case that outraged Hacking and he told the caller that he will get his money back for him for free.

A lawyer has a legal code of ethics and responsibilities when they represent you. They are liable for legal malpractice if their grievous mistake causes harm to you. In this case though the lawyer did warn you that you needed to meet. It is theoretically possible that USCIS could waive the requirement if he applied for a waiver. Did he even apply for a waiver of the 2 year meeting requirement? However, he should have informed you that the chances of the waiver being approved is nearly 0%. No one is getting them approved. On one hand "Sometimes get approved" doesn't seem to imply that it happens often and you accepted the risk. On the other hand, "sometimes" is misleading as he should have said "rarely to never" do they ever approve such waivers, you should wait and meet first and have you sign a paper to state that you understand the risks and waive him of resposibility". He also should have applied for a waiver. If he didn't even apply for a waiver, and misled you and didn't advise your chances are unlikely, then it seems to be neglicance that caused harm and made you lose over a year of your life. I would ask him if he applied for a waiver, and tell him other lawyers told you they never approve them due to covid or similar reasons, and that it was legal malpractice, and you want a refund or else you will report him and file a legal malpractice case against him. Or alternatively, since he did warn you, and you paid him already, see if he will agree to fixing it for you by filing again and doing the CR-1. Was his fee a fixed fee or a deposit for the number of hours he needs to work? That 5K should include all the follow up work of doing a DS-160, I-134, interview practice ... which obviously won't happen at this point unless he fixes it. For myself, I used a paralegal Filipino agency that don't sign the form and don't take that legal liability, but they did a much better job than a specialist immigration lawyer that reviewed their work for me (via my legal plan at work). The lawyer advised a change which the paralegal said would likely result in losing 6 months of time. the agency was also much better in other subtle ways and advised differently on some matters. The agency does far more I-129F at $600 than the lawyer does for $5K ..

What do you plan to do? File again? If so, with such a basic fundamental mistake, I bet there are other more subtle issues with your petition that will result in an RFE. You may want to consider using an agency to help you this next time around. The one I used was only $600 and was invaluable and cuts through all the different opinions you will hear But there are a lot of agencies and incompetant lawyers that will also do it for you. Choose wisely.

The instructions clearly say you have to meet within 2 years to petition for a K-1 visa. COVID is not an excuse.