MonkeyDan

You are completely wrong! Read through the history of VJ threads and you will see many people thinking the same as you and ultimately got denied. I have not heard of a single person who made a valid argument to waive the 2 year meeting requirement (even if you were technically together for 10+ years or whatever). Covid was in 2020, it is now 2023..there is nothing preventing either party from meeting. Even if the beneficiaries country is "closed" there are many other neighboring countries where they could have met. I'm sorry but you are simply wrong and giving false hope to the OP.

Covid and lockdowns are not a reason to waive the 2 year meeting requirement prior to filing. USCIS will say that you could have met in a different country. Regardless, we are in 2023 now and almost all countries are open and you could have met in a different country. I've read about many people getting denied for this reason (not meeting with 2 years) and many of them tried to argue they couldn't visit due to covid but that was not satisfactory for USCIS.

Istanbul does not handle K1 visas. It would be Ankara.

YES!! Finally someone who gets it!! Thank you!!

Ok, I think you'll be fine. Your timeline says you filed in February 2022 so if you met in March 2022, then you did meet after you filed.

What month and year was your last meeting? It's one thing to meet and then file a week later for K1 versus Meeting 1.5 years prior to filing the K1. The officer will most likely ask your fiance why the two of you haven't met since filing the K1. Also, how often do you talk to each other on the phone or FaceTime?

THIS!! I am glad someone finally said something. I keep seeing everyone push Spousal visa because it is "quicker" or "easier" or you get to work right away, etc. I don't think people should get married just because it is more convenient. I have seen this push over and over again and honestly I do not understand it. It may be more convenient now but I am certain the divorce rate is higher with these couples (since many of them have hardly spent any time together or lived together prior to the marriage) and although you might save money and time now, a divorce will nullify any benefit you got from speeding up the process. I say this from personal experience, about 5 years ago I met an immigrant and everyone was pushing the spousal visa because it was easier and quicker. Even our attorney pushed it for us. We decided to go that route and got married very quickly and that ended in a disaster, divorce, and legal fees. I am not going to make that mistake again. I personally think a fiance is the better route, as it gives you plenty of time to decide if you want a future with that person.

My fiance is in Turkey and I also filed an expedited request a week after the earthquake and we were also denied. I don't think trying again will change the result unfortunately.

I am not at that stage, so I am not sure but if you got the approval last July then the case should have been transmitted to the NVC where you would get a case number and show that the case has been sent to your embassy.

Your timeline shows that you filed in May 2021, almost 2 years ago and still don't have NOA2? Have you submitted a case inquiry with USCIS? Most people from what I can tell who filed in May 2021, already has their NOA2.

You are correct that conversations are not a requirement and that's why many people on here say don't even send them. However, the original poster did send the conversations and the conversations show that they refer to each other using the same surname (just like a married couple). This is the concern because now the CO will believe that they actually are married or are carrying themselves in public as if they are a married couple (i.e. common marriage) and for these reasons, they can be denied.

It may simplify things if your fiance just types his father's letter in English and have his father sign it. That would avoid the issue of having to get something translated. It would be as if the father wrote the letter in English and signed it.

You may not be legally married but your "religious marriage" is enough to equal common law marriage which a handful of States still allow. Therefore you would be considered married and your k1 would be denied.

Be careful of sending photos of your ring. I recall hearing a few times of people getting denied because they assumed it was a wedding ring and not an engagement ring. I actually did the opposite and only included photos without rings or I cropped the rings out. Didn't want to risk them assuming I was already married.

I think the RFEs can be a result of people doing these petitions haphazardly on their own. I have read on several different forums that people are getting RFEs for failure to submit intent to marry declaration or showing proof of meeting within 2 years. I think if more people are careful in completing their paperwork the RFEs would decrease and the process will move much quicker. Keep in mind, their are thousands of people who just download the forms and complete it on their own, they don't seek advice from an attorney or they are not on any forums, and they end up missing something.