MichaelAndKha

No there is no rebuttal since they are married now, which means they can not file for another K1 visa that is what a rebuttal would do would be to try and file for that again. As Jim and Scott said, this just means your first one is done and over with, and that you are free to file a new visa application, they made response to your K1, but since you are married you can not file for the CR1 as you have planned. Jerome

Did you intend to say "you can now file for the CR1" as opposed to "not"

Here link is a topic that Marc posted discussing the K-1 issue and the NOID's.. It will be interesting as Jim noted to see if a CR-1 will avoid the NOID...

IMO a NOID is actually a good thing as they spell out what the CO used as cause for denial in the first filing.. which many times is not clear... if it is spelled out in the NOID, then it can be addressed in the response and when approved by USCIS, the CO, according to policy, can't use that same reason again...

the notice of expiration is just that ... they are letting you now that the previous petition has expired... now you can file your CR-1 and best of luck to you this go... with luck she will be here by Christmas...

Thanks for the link to Marc's post. I just read through it, it seems like a lot to digest. I need to go through it again to full understand everything.

I'll try to contact Marc and see what he has to say about our case.

Hey guys,

I just received a letter from the USCIS, which is a "Notice Of Decision". It reads as follows:

This notice is in reference to the Form I-129F, Petition for an Alien Fiance(e). filed for Kha xxx xxx,

pursuant to Section 101 (a)(15)(K) of the Immigration and nationality Act, as amended. The petition was

approved on 03/18/09, and was forwarded abroad to a United States Embassy/Consulate with a validity

period of four months. Subsequently, the petition has been returned to the United States Citizenship and

Immigration Services (USCIS) with a finding that the beneficiary was not issued the requested K-1 visa.

Since the period of validity has now expired the petition will not be re-validated. Therefore, in accordance

with 8 C.F.R. 214.2(k)(5), all USCIS action on this petition is concluded as of the date of this notice.

The petitioner may choose to file a new Form I-129F, Petition for an Alien Fiance(e), for the beneficiary

with fee. However, if the petitioner files a new Form I-129F for the beneficiary, the petitioner will need to

meet all the requirements including, evidence to establish meeting the beneficiary in person within the two

years before the date of filing the new petition as set forth in 8 C.F.R 214.2(k).

Christina Poulos

Director

Ok, here is our situation.

Me and Kha just got married when I went to Vietnam a couple of weeks ago. I just got my copy of the marriage

certificate which was translated in English. We are planning to file a new CR-1 visa request.

My question is this; Do I need to respond to this letter by writing an appeal or do I just let it go and move

forward with the CR-1 visa process?

Maybe I should contact a lawyer like Marc Ellis or somebody.

Any help would be appreciated

-Michael

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to follow up on this thread and let you guys know that I'm back in Vietnam! Yesterday me and Kha went to the justice department and signed the book for our marriage certificate. We are now officially married!!

Now the real fun begins when we start the CR-1 visa. Hopefully things will go smoother than the last time with the K-1 process.

Take care,

Michael

I went this route n provided a number of items in addition to the marriage cert... I also included receipts of money I sent over there, proof that we were together including hotel receipts flights documentation to show us travelling pictures of us at different events n affidavits from my parents n family and a friend who lives with me that went to my wedding over there...the important thing I think that u have to remember when asking people to write an affidavit for u is personal knowledge of ur relationship n marriage and ongoing relationship... Goodluck w ur petition...

Oh...and no specific form just a letter which I requested they got notarized...

Hey, thanks for your input. That really helps a lot. Seems like it should be simple enough.

I was just looking over the step by step guide on I-130 and came across this part below:

Note: Evidence of a Bonifide Marriage

The USCIS now requires that when filing an I-130 for a spouse that you include evidence of a bonifide marriage. They list examples of acceptable evidence as:

1. Documentation showing joint ownership or property; or

2. A lease showing joint tenancy of a common residence; or

3. Documentation showing co-mingling of financial resources; or

4. Birth certificate(s) of child(ren) born to you, the petitioner, and your spouse together; or

5. Affidavits sworn to or affirmed by third parties having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital relationship (Each affidavit must contain the full name and address, date and place of birth of the person making the affidavit, his or her relationship to the petitioner of beneficiary, if any, and complete information and details explaining how the person acquired his or her knowledge of your marriage); or

6. Any other relevant documentation to establish that there is an ongoing marital union.

Though were not yet married, but we will be on my next trip to Vietnam. I'm getting myself prepared with the I-130 form so that Kha will be able to come here on a CR-1 visa.

I'm looking to see what is the best option to show evidence of marriage other than a marriage certificate. The only thing we can probably use is number 5, getting affidavits form third parties. Anybody here use this option? If so what kind of form did you use? Who did you use as having knowledge of the marriage?

What other evidence did you use that was accepted by USCIS?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

-Michael

Wowee!! Four years is a long wait for her to finally get her visa!

Congratulations and best wishes on a new life in America!

-michael

You can start all you paperwork now if you want to. Fill out as many of the forms as you can and have your SO sign the required ones while you are in VN, Bio info, choice of agent, ect. Get the required documents from her that you will need for your petition to the USCIS and NVC, copy of passport, ID, ect.

Once you get back to the US, send it all in.

Congratulations and good luck!

Hey, thanks for the advice on this! This will save us a lot of time and hassle.

-michael

I'm happy your wife got the pink. Will she be getting her visa right away?

I'll be going back to Vietnam in two weeks to sign the books and make our marriage official, which would be on Mar 19. Then we plan to have a wedding ceremony in July with about two hundred people!! I may have at least one or two family members there and some close friends. Everybody else will be from Kha's family and their friends. It's a lot of people but that's how they do it.

How soon do you think I should start the CR-1 petition? Would it be best if my wife gets her first interview after the wedding ceremony?

All the best,

Michael

I just came back from Vietnam and will be going back in the middle of March to sign the book and make our marriage official!

The mental test was unbelievably easy. Me and Kha went to a mental hospital just outside of downtown Saigon. It took less then 5 minutes. I just answered some basic question like what's my full name, my parents names, their age, are they still alive, etc...

The next day we went to the Justice Dept and had the interview. At first we we're interviewed separately. Kha went first and answered about 7-8 questions such as, how we first met, how many trips I made here, family members names, age of our parents, our occupation, why we want to get married, how do we communicate, did we have engagement ceremony, our wedding plans. I went afterward and had an interpreter with me and answered the same basic questions. They just wanted to make sure we know each other well enough and have answers that match each others documents. Then we were interviewed together, just to be sure she spoke good enough English. We gave some evidence like my hotel and airline receipts, photos of us together in Vietnam plus our Engagement Ceremony pics.

The interview took about half an hour so it wasn't too bad.

Thanks everyone for your positive support. I am feeling better about this now, though I still feel a bit stressed by the whole process.

I'm flying out tomorrow and will arrive this Friday evening. I'll be checking in here from time to time and let everyone know how things are going.

byronm4, thanks for the informational post and great advice. Since you found success, I want to follow in your footsteps. I'll be in touch.

Best regards,

Michael

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I've been here. Last time I posted it was about my fiance's K-1 visa denial. The US consulate officially closed it and sent everything back to USCIS. They claimed it was a sham relationship, which is not true. We gave the required evidence, but it wasn't enough in their eyes.

Rather than wait to make an appeal we've decided to get married in Vietnam and file for a CR-1 visa. I'm already scheduled for a mental test on Feb 22 and then the interview is on the 23rd. I hope everything works out this time.

Is there anybody here have experience with this or give advice to be better prepared?

Thanks,

Michael

I guess some of you know that we got denied. I already made a post about it on the US Consulate forum.

Hopefully I can make a rebuttal and give evidence of our engagement ceremony and more details about our planned wedding and honeymoon. And maybe get an approval.

Congrats to John!!

I wish you and your sweetheart all the best!

-Michael

Sorry to hear about your case.

Please don't take offense to this, but based on the response you got back, the CO seems justified regarding to their decision. Photos proving only 2 days of being together and no engagement ceremony...especially from a consulate that sees high fraud cases!

It appears as if you guys rushed into the whole engagement thing and processed the paperwork too soon. At this point, DON'T STRESS OUT about it because you can still submit a rebuttal. In your rebuttal, make sure that you mention your additional visit(s), your "traditional" engagement ceremony, methods of communication beyond your visit, and most importantly why and how you feel the way you do with your fiancee. It's VERY important that you give this much thought and consideration as this will determine whether they will re-review your case or send it back to square one. If it gets sent back, you'll have a flag on your case if you decide to file any other type of visas (as I read on your old post regarding getting married over there -- which isn't hard at all...just tedious...)

If the case does get denied, you can get married and file CR-1 or K-3. There's another member on here that did that...they've got their interview coming up soon, but it's been a 2+ year journey for them. The only other thing I can think of is to advise you to be patient. It will come in due time. If you really love him/her it'll be worth it in the end, despite all the trouble it took to get to that point.

Thanks for your perspective on this. I'm trying not to get too stressed out about this. I think my fiance is more stressed than I am. I'm just glad I have a place to share my experience and get some useful feedback.

Me and my fiance did discuss the idea of getting married over in Vietnam and filing a K-3 if this K-1 still gets denied.

Meanwhile, I'll just be patient and hope for the best.

My fiance just got a letter from the US Consulate in Vietnam. It's a blue document and they denied her a visa.

Several reasons they stated:

- Photographs submitted as evidence of the relationship indicates that we only spent one or two days together.

This is not true, we actually spent 5 days together out of the 7 days I was in Vietnam during my first trip.

- Beneficiary and petitioner submitted no evidence of any engagement celebration. This contradicts social and cultural norms in which many family members and friends, including those in the US, are invited to engagement celebrations numbering in the hundreds of guest for families of even modest means. Together with other factors, this has been established as one of the key elements of a sham relationship to evade US immigration laws.

We did in fact have the Dam Hoi (engagement ceremony) last month, but it was too late to submit this as evidence since the case was already under review. I even went to the US Consular office in Vietnam and spoke to the officer several days before our Dam Hoi was to take place. I told him about our upcoming celebration and he made a note of it. I asked him if there is anything else I can provide as evidence. He said "No, there is nothing else we need from you. We will notify you and your fiance when the case has been processed." That was basically it.

- Beneficiary is unable to provide basic facts (such as ceremony, manner of celebration, venue, guests or approximate costs) regarding the claimed planned marriage in the US. It appears that the relationship is a sham or that Beneficiary has no actual intent to marry within 90 days of admission to the US. Furthermore, Beneficiary stated that she and petitioner have no planned Honeymoon.

I did already give some facts about our wedding ceremony that would take place even though it wasn't specific. I didn't know they were so picky about this, jeez.

This whole thing makes me upset and frustrated. I'm going to make a rebuttal claim with USCIS as soon as a I hear from them.

Has anybody here gone through the same thing or similar?

My fiance gave me this link to an article which can give more insight about visa denials.

I'm still in a state of confusion

Michael

Thank you for your response to this. I know it's a good idea to wait and see about the disposition. Either way I'm still going to Vietnam for the engagement ceremony. I may end up coming back to the US without my fiance and have to wait longer for her to get a visa.

I was doing some research on getting married in Vietnam and it doesn't look that simple.

You had a huge red flag by not having engagement ceremony yet... they likely have you in the fraud detection queue with several others... just means that after 2 blues they are not comfortable and want the additional time to be sure... not much you can do.... you can call or write your congressman or senator... it doesnt mean denial.. just not approved yet.... get the Dam Hoi ASAP... that way they can't hold that against you...

That's interesting. I didn't think having the Dam Hoi was necessary for her to get the visa. And, I can sort of understand it from their perspective. They probably get a lot of visa frauds, and they just want to make sure our relationship is for real. We are still getting it done because I want to honor her father's wish and out of respect for the rest of her family. Plus it should be lots of fun!!

On Monday, I wrote the Consulate office to find out more details about our case. They responded in just two days which was nice. All they could give me was that they have lots of cases to review and make final decisions before getting to our case. And they wouldn't give me a time frame as to when they'll reach a final decision. All we can do is sit tight and hope for the best.

Hello Everyone,

I've been following this forum for some time and now just wanted to join the conversation because i am going through the same thing here.

My fiance had her first interview last month and was given a blue sheet requesting a signed and notarized timeline of our relationship. So I provided it to them.

Now, she just had her second interview and was given another blue sheet. This is what it says:

The Consulate General is unable to issue a visa to you because you been found ineligible for her visa under the following section9s) of the US Immigration and nationality Act, as amended.

*Your case requires additional processing in our office. You do not need to submit furter documents. We will contact you when we have finished processing your case. Case inquiries may be made by e-mail <hcmcinfo@state.gov> or by mail.

This came as a surprise because, I thought for sure she would get her visa this time around. I even made plans to visit her in Vietnam next month for an engagement ceremony. I even bought my plane tickets because it so cheap now and I have a two week vacation time.

I'm thinking of contacting the Consulate office and try to set up an interview while I'm there in Vietnam. Maybe that will prove our relationship is the real deal. Is this a good idea?

My fiance is worried that our case will expire soon. She seems to think that the K-1 visa application process is good for only 9 month. I never heard of this. Is this true?

We also discussed an alternative to this: Getting married while I'm in Vietnam, is this possible? We might try this if we don't get her a visa by the time I get to Vietnam.

Good luck to everybody else that's in the same boat.

Michael

The consulate in HCM has open call from 4-5 PM on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You can just show up and talk to a CO. I don't think you can get an appt.

Please be careful about just jumping into a marriage while you are there. You have a pending K-1, which would become invalid if you are married. You need to wait for the disposition of this case before selecting a different course of action. Read the history on the East Asia forum and you will find many others who have been in your situation, along with advice on what to do and what not to do.

The CO can continue to extend the validity of the petition if they believe that there is still a valid case. Good luck.

Thank you for your response to this. I know it's a good idea to wait and see about the disposition. Either way I'm still going to Vietnam for the engagement ceremony. I may end up coming back to the US without my fiance and have to wait longer for her to get a visa.

I was doing some research on getting married in Vietnam and it doesn't look that simple.

I hope you are doing well over there in Vietnam. I am planning to be there next month and looking forward to being with my fiance again.

All the best,

michael

Hello Everyone,

I've been following this forum for some time and now just wanted to join the conversation because i am going through the same thing here.

My fiance had her first interview last month and was given a blue sheet requesting a signed and notarized timeline of our relationship. So I provided it to them.

Now, she just had her second interview and was given another blue sheet. This is what it says:

The Consulate General is unable to issue a visa to you because you been found ineligible for her visa under the following section9s) of the US Immigration and nationality Act, as amended.

*Your case requires additional processing in our office. You do not need to submit furter documents. We will contact you when we have finished processing your case. Case inquiries may be made by e-mail <hcmcinfo@state.gov> or by mail.

This came as a surprise because, I thought for sure she would get her visa this time around. I even made plans to visit her in Vietnam next month for an engagement ceremony. I even bought my plane tickets because it so cheap now and I have a two week vacation time.

I'm thinking of contacting the Consulate office and try to set up an interview while I'm there in Vietnam. Maybe that will prove our relationship is the real deal. Is this a good idea?

My fiance is worried that our case will expire soon. She seems to think that the K-1 visa application process is good for only 9 month. I never heard of this. Is this true?

We also discussed an alternative to this: Getting married while I'm in Vietnam, is this possible? We might try this if we don't get her a visa by the time I get to Vietnam.

Good luck to everybody else that's in the same boat.

Michael