cedwards001

I think some folks here are over thinking on the topic. If one has a SO that is also an LDL, then sending a bit of money now and then is as natural as what happens when the two finally get together in person.

By sending NO money, never, now THAT looks suspicious, inauspicious and uncaring.

I think you are misunderstanding what the OP was trying to do.

The OP did not just want to send money to his fiance. The OP wanted to use money the fiance sent him and pass it off to the CO as HIS own money that he is sending to the foreign fiance. THAT is the problem here, not just sending money out of nowhere. But then again who would ever find out right? Hey, the OP is risking visa denial/jail time not me so I just hope that whatever he does do, he does it legally

I understand your logic but here is another angle. If it is a high visa fraud country, then it is most likely a third world country. It is not uncommon to not expect a person from a third world country (when they are not already rich) to be able to pay for the medicals, the international passport, the police reports, flight cost, and all the rest of the expenses. Money transfers to a fiance(e) in a third world country is understandable. So, how can a CO pull up a pile of evidence, go through them and see a money-transfer receipt, and pull it out to say "for this, I sense a fraud"?

That is a good question. The answer is simple: That is how fraud happens in most 3rd world countries (Vietnam, Nigeria, etc.) Let me use Vietnam as an example. There have been thousands of cases where Vietnamese girls get into arranged marriages with American men to use them to send money to their family back in Vietnam. This happens in Vietnam ALL the time. There is a reason that Vietnam, Nigeria, China, etc are tough to get visas from because most of the fraud revolves around.....you guessed it: money

But until we know what country the OP is dealing with, we won't know how HE will deal with this

It may not be required, it may not be looked at, even some of your photos, chats, and emails are not looked at, but showing money-transfer receipts CANNOT hurt. I have a hard time seeing what the OP has done as a fraud. This whole immigration process has to do with providing ENOUGH evidence to CONVINCE an IO or a CO. It is your duty to present your case beyond doubt, and gathering evidence to PROVE is what is expected. They can recycle whoever's money back and forth, it is not fraud. It shows something between them as you would not recycle money with a stranger.

That is correct but it is also wrong. Money transfer receipts can be helpful if the persons involved decided to go for the CR1 visa. For the CR1, an ongoing marital union is expected to be proven at the petition stage and this should qualify as such. If, however, the persons went for the K1 visa, the story changes. Unfortunately, the OP has not made it clear which petition he submitted or which Embassy/Consulate the interview will take place at. If it will occur at a high visa fraud country such as Nigeria or Vietnam, I can promise you all bets are off.

I'm not sure how to pose this question, so i hope VJ users understand what i'm trying to ask.

Has anybody heard about that if the petitioner sending money via western union or something like that to your fiance in the foreign country, for the purpose of the consulate can see that petitioner and fiance has an ongoing relationship would help somewhat and validate the relationship.

Now before everybody jump the gun, its fiance money to begin with. I'm just sending it back for that purpose only.

I think it would be wise to pay close attention to Jim's comments. Using money transfers for the purpose of fabricating evidence is considered fraud and consequently grounds for denial. Just because you love somebody and you know that your relationship is "real" does not give a person the right to falsify proof. It's not always so black and white though.

To be fair to Tero, I think most people that deal with high visa fraud countries do these types of things. Let me explain further: I had to deal with the US Consulate in Vietnam which is one of the toughest to get a visa from. Prior to filing my petition, I was worried my fiance would get denied at the interview for not having a strong enough case to prove the bonafides of our relationship. My fiance and I decided to submit extra pictures, receipts, etc with our petition so as to not just satisfy the bare minimums for the I-129F. We did the typical picture posing with family and friends and by tourist attractions not because we wanted to fake any evidence, but it was because we were so worried of being denied that we went the extra step and submitted more proof to help convince the CO that we are legit. The same applied to receipts since we did so many theme park visits and more.

I think the fine line between fraud and proving a relationship is one that many chose to walk on because they fear denial at the Consulate/Embassy stage. Having said that, I personally would NOT do this to prove your relationship. It's a lot easier for the CO to misunderstand the purpose of your money transfers then it is to misunderstand the purpose of your emails, chats, pictures as proof of a relationship. In my opinion, you should prove your relationship the old school way with emails/chats/phone bills/pictures, etc. It's your choice. Good luck!

If the CO's want to "lie" about the number of trips the petitioner made to visit the beneficiary, they would probably use whatever was submitted in the petition as justification for their decision. For example, imagine that a petitioner makes 1 trip to VN and submits evidence of only that trip with the petition. The petitioner submits evidence of only that trip with the petition. Before the interview, the petitioner makes a few more trips to build proof of an ongoing relationship. The CO could "lie" and claim the petitioner only made 1 trip to meet the beneficiary from the petition package and use that as grounds for a blue slip or denial.

The CO's cannot lie about trips the petitioner made before the petition was filed.....provided that evidence of these trips were included with the eventually approved petition. To be fair to "confusedasheck", I think the CO's can lie about trips made after the petition was filed. This has happened on multiple occasions to fellow VJ's from Vietnam. When it comes to the HCMC Consulate, anything is possible so hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

So, if I don't feel like going through the trouble and expense of getting another copy of my birth certificate all I need to do is copy ALL passport pages, regardless if they're blank, and notate on the cover letter that my passport is being used as both proof of citizenship and having visited my fiancée?

That is correct. Submit a copy of ALL pages from your US Passport even if they are blank pages. Copy EVERY page.

My wife only had a high school diploma and we got the K1 approved. If your fiance would like to continue her education, like my wife wanted, I would recommend she hold off her plans until she gets to the US. A US college diploma is worth far more then a VN college diploma

Good luck!

Nobody here knows why delays happen. We can speculate, but nobody here works for USCIS adjudicating petitions, so we have no idea. And it HAS been this way for years. Is it right? No. But let's not start blaming the adjudicators and Obama. That's silly.

What's also silly is going into this process knowing the timeline estimates and still complaining about it.

I respectfully disagree. Everybody knows why THIS delay is happening at VSC: Napolitano ordered the TPS for Haitian nationals. Don't believe me? Google it and see for yourself. The upper end people I spoke with from USCIS last year when I complained over and over and over, even those guys admitted it to me. Consequently, ALL other petitions got put on hold until TPS was completed.

Massive outcry from the public how the banks caused the recession by their "bad decisions" for sub-prime mortages. Using that same logic we can hold USCIS accountable for their "bad decisions" to give priority to TPS and causing the resulting backlog.

I also forgot to add one thing to my list from my previous post. I quoted your post above in bold. Here is my updated list:

Everybody is going through the same thing

They are overloaded with other petitions

The TPS for Haitian nationals is a good thing because of a terrible disaster

Nobody forced you to get engaged to a foreign national

The system has been this way for years

Everybody knows the timeline estimates and still complains

Please add more if necessary

It's funny how when a corporation does something that the public doesn't like, they are called greedy, evil, selfish and the government needs to intervene to get them to behave: oil companies, AIG, the big banks/lending institutions, Wallstreet investors, and the list goes on. Massive outcry from the public at how evil those corporations are.....but when the government ala the USCIS does something that the public does not like (such as making them wait 6+ months to approve a petition that presumable takes less then 20 minutes to adjudicate at a cost of $455 or $340) then we get the hear the following excuses:

Everybody is going through the same thing

They are overloaded with other petitions

The TPS for Haitian nationals is a good thing because of a terrible disaster

Nobody forced you to get engaged to a foreign national

The system has been this way for years

and on

and on

and on

Interesting.....

I never registered any of my trips to VN with the US Consulate and my wife still got a pink slip. Focus more on building proof of a bonafide relationship and also preparing your fiance/wife for the interview. If you have not yet filed the petition, put as much proof of your trips to VN and also address any red flags with evidence. In my opinion that is more important then registering with the Consulate. I think that is only useful for emergencies such as if a Typhoon is about to hit VN or something.

I agree with AI422. Some people are comfortable with the wait times and good for them.

Now for something else: If you are comfortable waiting, I think it would be a good idea to leave the other people (who are NOT comfortable with the waiting) alone and let them join together and they fight their own battles. VJ is all about people coming together and overcoming an obstacle. Just because they don't come together to fight an obstacle that ANOTHER group faces, doesn't mean that they can't come together and fight their own common obstacles. Every group has different ways of dealing with this visa Journey so just let them be.

I already have my NOA2 and my wife living with me, but I have somebody very close to my heart who is still struggling with 7 + months of waiting

These people have not hit their 5 month mark yet, so explain how they should apply pressure? By bitching in a forum that is doing absolutely nothing? Until you guys hit 150 days, stop complaining about speeds and everything else. Learn to have some patience. We are ALL in the same boat. If you guys keep filling it with #######, we're all going to sink.

That is a good point but here is how people should really apply pressure. Do what I did: Call/write your governor, senators, reps and the USCIS over and over until they hear you. Once you get their attention just demand your petition be looked at. I agree that complaining on a forum won't do anything.

Color copies will be good enough. I actually used that huge multifunction office printer and the color copies I made for my I-129F came out with fantastic quality, mostly because I am a quality freak

Scott is right. It takes right around 3-4 months. Spend as much of that time preparing practice interview questions. Good luck

I fully agree. He could have just admitted he was scammed by his first K1 beneficiary and lost a bank load of $$$$$, and worried this K1 "Bride" might get tired of the wait and leave him too! What an ugly way to mask your fear OP, thru your anger and blaming the VSC and the TSP's. And all the while intentionally offending the VJ community! Great. Nice of you. I accepted your apology already but when I read your last post of 'what you went thru', it offended me all over again! So once more, it seems your song title hasn't changed, "It's all about ME!"

Are you kidding me? You guys are getting "offended" by something that a complete and total stranger types on his keyboard and posts on a forum??? Seriously, if some of you have a problem with AI's posts simply Ignore or close the internet browser.

These are very very tense times for a lot of people, some of which are very close to me. Everybody just take a deep breath and step away from VJ if necessary.

I am a US CITIZEN born and raised. I paid the same cold hard cash that you paid to file my petition, and probably more since some of you filed after the decrease in rates. This is not a charity or relief effort we are talking about here.

Were you or your fiance having a heart attack, were you unable to support your family, were you in any situation that required your fiance qualify for and to receive expedition i would have absolutely no problem waiting a few extra days.. because that's what this boils down to.. five months and twenty-five days or six months and ten days.. to help someone that could potentially die because they are in a horrific situation.

Oh boy. I am sympathetic to the situation in Haiti. I really am. This WAS a relief effort on USCIS's part. Others have already pointed out that their fiance's live in horrible 3rd world conditions that could cause them to die as well but they werent given expedite. But hey you already got your NOA2 so you have nothing to worry about now. Can't say the same for my childhood friend who is still waiting almost 7 months now to get his NOA2. His fiance does not live in conditions I would consider sanitary but oh well their suffering isn't enough I guess.

Can the timeline and 10 year residence be done together on 1 notarized stamp? Does it need to be in 2 separate notarized stamp

I think that each item listed on the blue slip for which they ask you to notarize it, would mean you would notarize each separately. 1 stamp for each required item on the blue slip.

The only thing you can do now is to gather the documents they are requesting and submit it on the date(s) marked on the blue slip. Nobody can really be sure why they want the things they want. Most likely they are a little skeptical and need those documents to make a better decision. It appears your interview was short and pleasant which could be a good sign. Give them what they want and find out in a month or so if you will get the pink.....which I think you will

Well, it is a good thing that everyone doesn't complain and slam the service centers or else there would probably be more of a backlog and much more disorganization. What really gets me is how people like you who get yourself bumped ahead of others who are patient and follow the rules. What makes you more special than everyone else? Especially when it comes to people like me, those who came before me, and those who will come after me, who serve actively in the US Military ensuring you have the right to be a jerk and jump ahead of everyone else. We do not get any special treatment and follow the same rules and timelines as the general public.

It is taking EVERYONE (minus those few who think they are higher than everyone else) 5+ months, but IT DOES HAPPEN! Patience pays off. What is a few months or even a year process compared with a lifetime being with the person you love and will have a family with? To me, the wait for this visa is an insignificant amount of time.

Again, who are you and what makes you so special to jump the line of thousands of others?? Remember that these service centers handle more than just the K1/K3 visas and with the state of the world today our citizens who review these packages have to be thorough to ensure people who immigrate to the US are generally good people. I'm sure it's not a relaxing job, and people like you make it even worse. BTW, most people don't like complainers. I hope all goes smooth with your case, but then again deep down inside I hope you get screwed! Just my personal thought!

-Shawn

Let me share MY personal thought with you. You accuse me of jumping thousands in front of me in line. How about the Haitian petitions that jump everybody else in line? What is the justice in that? I don't want to hear about how they are suffering because my fiance suffered too. She lived in fear all her life in Vietnam. Poverty, crime, rape you name it. But somehow everybody else gets thrown to the back while the Haitian petitions get expedited. You tell me how fair it is for those that unwillingly give up their spot in line.

Please don't judge me because you are a stranger on the internet and you don't know me and I don't know you.

BTW, I can't get screwed because since you didn't bother to read my post, my wife already passed her interview and lives with me in the US

You have been told this because you are under four months into your process.

Though I must say, I'm glad you seem to be doing something a little more productive than coming up with new "witty" jabs in your signature.

Unfortunately, I believe that your complaints are going to fall upon deaf ears.

Good luck.

I respectfully disagree 100% with you on the bold part of your statement. I yelled and screamed and tugged and pulled sooooo hard, that they approved my petition shortly after I started complaining. I was persistent and I slammed them very hard. I said before that a few friends of my fiance petitioned right around the same time as I did and they waited over 6 months each to get their NOA2. As of today, they are still waiting for an interview to be scheduled while my wife had her interview last month. Complaining does work.....if you do it right.

You can try comfi.com. They have a huge online database of re loadable phone cards. The best thing is about these are that you don't have to keep buying new cards when they run out. These are linked to your bank account for example and you reload money when your balance is low. I personally use the Continental Card which has a phone log for call history but I am sure there are dozens more just like it. Try and shop around

I don't understand. People are upset about giving TPS priority and they are also upset that USCIS doesn't always do that for natural disasters or hardship?

Maybe they don't always give TPS priority because they were too busy processing fiance visas?

I can understand doing it now though... wasn't it something like 316,000 casualties for the earthquake and now over 100,000 from the epidemic of cholera? I certainly wouldn't want to send someone back to a place where they might likely catch a raging disease and die. But that's just me. Its one thing to have a natural disaster hit and have widespread property damage and whatnot.. and another to have a contractable deadly disease running rampant. One you cannot protect people from and the other you can. No way can anyone prevent earthquake or tsunami deaths because you don't know they are coming. But if you know they can very likely die from a disease in the area, you can prevent that by not sending them back there just for the sake of 'gotta process these first'.

Again, just my opinion. I dont speak for anyone but me, nor am I saying people should feel this way.

Kiwi, you can't just throw numbers around like that. 316,000 casualties > 100 casualties so it has to be worse. Worrying about catching a disease if you are sending people back to Haiti is not exclusive to the earthquake. This applies to MOST natural disasters. It's this easy number throwing that gets a lot of people upset.

I said before that my fiance lived in dirty poverty conditions. It is totally unhealthy the way she lived. Totally 100% unhealthy. But it's not reported on the news. Nobody cares. So my fiance's suffering is worthless compared to Haitians according to USCIS.

I filed my petition in May 2010. A few other friends of my fiance also did the same. I heard rumors about this expedite happening for Haitian petitions and I would not have any of it. I bitched so often and so loud that the USCIS almost begged me to stop. I send several hundred letters, email and phone calls to USCIS, my state governor, Senator and Reps. This happened around the 3 1/2 month mark. Shortly before reaching the 4 month mark, I got my petition approved. Do you know what happened to my other friends who applied in May 2010 just like me? Every one of them waited over 6 months. Right around Thanksgiving they got approved. As of this date, they are still waiting to schedule an interview while my wife is already living with me.

I say that this picking who suffers more by the USCIS is unjust. You either fight them like I did or get pushed around and get served last. That is my 2 cents worth.

There is no comparison:

casualties from Typhoon Megi: 19

casualties from earthquake in Haiti: 316,000

Please don't write that letter.

I just want you to know that my post is intended to point out the B.S from USCIS, not you ok?

In the Philippines, 19 died and over 200,000 lost their property as a result of flash flooding from Megi. Don't just focus on 1 disaster. They get hit over and over again. The 300,000 + that died in Hiati are not immigrating anywhere. They are going to Heaven. Have you ever traveled to Asia? Do you know that most Asian countries, like the Philippines, gets hit multiple times by typhoons. Don't believe me? Ask VJ'rs from the Philippines regional forum or check out this link:

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/

Just go to the West Pacific section and select any year from that list. Check out 2009 and see how often the Phil's got hit.

The point was, who is the USCIS to decide who suffers more then somebody else? Let's use an analogy: Look at a few posts from up above by JiaYou and Coconuts about it being easy to travel to visit their fiance because some live in Canada versus Asia. It was perceived as being offensive because how can somebody else determine what is difficult travel for another person? They have no idea what the job situation or financial situation is of the other person. So traveling to Canada may be JUST as difficult for one person, as it is to travel to Asia for another person.

That is my main point. How can any one person or group of people quantify human suffering or death and just sit there and say "oh this is worse then the other". To the families of the 19 dead in the Philippines from Typhoon Megi, that WAS the worst disaster they ever faced. But I guess suffering, like what happens in Asia as a result of typhoons is just not enough suffering in the eyes of the USCIS.

I think a few people here somehow believe that choosing Haitian TPS visas over Fiance visas means they must hate us or love them. I am of the belief that choosing to process one visa first does not reflect on how the 'USCIS' feels about either group. I don't feel the USCIS warrants labels such as 'evil' or 'uncaring' just because they made a choice as to which paper to work on first.

If your house was burning down and your two kids were inside.. one kid is in a room unaffected by fire right now, but the other kid is in a room half filled with fire... Are you uncaring or evil for choosing to help the one in a more desperate and immediate lfe threatening situation first? Does it even reflect on your feelings for either child or mean you are playing favorites for just picking one first, especially since you will be helping them both eventually? (Just that one get dragged out of the house first before you go back to help the other.)

Now a burning house analogy may be a little different in that Haitians are not in burning rooms... but they might be risking their lives by returning to Haiti.

Actually, I think you used a very good analogy and I am glad you brought that point up

Here is the problem I have with it though:

I said before that my fiance lived in a very corrupt communist country her entire life.....Vietnam. Not just Vietnam, but Northern Vietnam which maintained it's communist ideologies far more then the south. She lived in extreme poverty and crime (in terms of theft and fraud). Things got so hectic for her that she now fears that going back to her home town will cause her to get kidnapped or murdered. To make matters worse, Vietnam gets hit by Typhoons (known as Hurricanes by us) from time to time. Lots of people have been known to die or loose their homes due to the violent winds and floods. Heck, the Philippines gets hit by Typhoons almost every single year and thousands suffer as a result of it. Not once have I ever seen the USCIS expedite petitions from Vietnam or even the Philippines because of these disasters. I could be wrong about it, but I never saw it myself. Let me give an example: The northern Philippines were hit by Super Typhoon Megi in October 2010. This thing hit land with winds over 150 mph. Just think about that for a second. 150mph winds. Anybody that has gone through a big hurricane, like myself, knows how devastating these monsters of nature can be.

My questions become:

Where was the petition expedite for the Philippines after Super Typhoon Megi devastated the area in 2010?

Where was the petition expedite for Vietnam when Tropical Storm Mindulle and Typhoon Conson flooded northern Vietnam for days and days in 2010? Didn't these people suffer natural disasters as well? Why is Haiti more important then other countries? Remember, these are poor countries that are not equipped to handle natural disasters very well.

This has nothing to do with who is suffering in the world and has everything to do with the USCIS thumping their big Super Man chest in front of the world. If the USCIS really cared about suffering, they would expedite cases from ALOT of 3rd world countries from all around the world.

Just my opinion, but I don't think you, or me, or anyone else here NEEDS that visa as bad as a Haitian who will be returned to Haiti.

If your (general 'you' here, not any one person) fiance is fed, warm at night, and doesn't have to worry about being shot at, then it's of MY opinion that they do not NEED that visa as much as the starving, homeless, and those in extremely dangerous living conditions that threaten their life.

Again, my opinion.

Kiwi, I really, truly and totally feel where you are coming from but honestly who are YOU to make that decision for somebody else, in this case AI422? You don't have the moral authority to decide what is more important for somebody else. Trust me Kiwi, in my heart I know 100% where you are coming from.

My fiance comes from a rotten 3rd world country.....Vietnam. She has lived in poverty and crime her entire life but our case was NEVER expedited. I guess her suffering was not enough suffering to get expedited the way the Haitian petitions are. I just decided that I was not having any of that and yelled/screamed until every Senator, Governor, Representative and everybody at USCIS heard me and they ended up approving my case just before reaching 4 months.