elya

It's a catch 22. If they haven't been together since the USC left Bahrain, it may be very difficult to convince a consular officer the relationship is bona fide. If they HAVE been together in person again, the Consular Officer may very well determine they are married NOW and therefore the foreign SPOUSE is not eligible for a fiancee visa.

Yes, I was replying to you. Nobody applied for any visa. A petition was filed and denied. Don't confuse filing a petition with applying for a visa.

I responded to your "funny note" in post #7 of this thread. I suggest you read that again. The couple applied for no visa. Your comment is not relevant. Yes, the OP referred to an approved visa but in the same sentence provided enough information for anybody who understands the process, to know what was approved was a petition, not a visa.
For all. Please don't ever mix the terms petition and application or petition and visa. It confuses people.

The words "applied for" are not applicable to this case. Nobody applied for anything yet. If you're talking about a visa, it is "applied for", then "issued", (or "denied"). It is also "used". US Citizens "file a petition" which is either approved or denied. Since this couple only filed petitions initially, and neither of those petitions were "approved", there was never any opportunity for anybody to "apply for" ANYTHING, visa or otherwise.
This is a distinction with a very BIG difference. Please understand the difference and refrain from referring to filing a petition with words like "apply" etc. OK?
Examples to be perfectly clear.
For people with denied or yet to be filed or approved petitions, the words "apply for" should not be used. As in, "apply for the I-130". An I-130 is filed, not applied for.
"My visa was approved." cannot ever be an accurate statement before an interview has taken place.

The USC initially filed an I-130 and an I-129F for spouse. Both petitions were denied, so there was never an opportunity to apply for either a CR1 or K3 visa. So, read what you initially wrote and you'll see that "applied for" was never an option.
Subsequently, the petitioner filed an I-129F for fiancee, which has now been approved. No K1 anything has been approved. A petition has been approved. The foreigner will now have an opportunity to apply for K1 visa, but has not yet applied for anything, much less any visa.
Please understand I'm asking you to get the terminology right. Getting it wrong confuses the reader.
First, a petition gets filed. When approved, a foreigner can "apply for" a visa. Until invited to do so based on an approved petition, nobody "applies for" ANYTHING.

ok i hate to bring this up but whats to stop the person that does the interview from coming up with your already married so you are not able to get a k-1? look at how many times couples have been refused k-1 because they had a Islamic engagement party and the interviewer took it as being married and in their case they really are married.....unless i read the post wrong their case never made it to the embassy level but only to the first stage of the petition for married visa
sara

For US immigration purposes, they are not married. This is because they have not been together in person since the marriage certificate was issued. A rub could be that if they now HAVE been together since that date, they could be considered married and denied a fiancee visa. It's an issue of "consummated" after proxy marriage, not one of sexual relations.

You were not present on the day your marriage was recorded as official in the country where you married. This is an issue with the government of Bahrain. The US Government doesn't care if or when you have sexual intercourse. Their definition of "consummated" is simply that you were in the same place on the day or after the day your marriage is legally and officially recorded. In many countries, the marriage date is the same as the date of the ceremony. In Bahrain it is not.
Your advice, "Do not leave the country of your spouse, until you have sex after your marriage certificate is *filed* with the court clerk office there." is absolutely correct but it has nothing at all with any US Government interest in your sex life.
Further, you were not denied a visa. USCIS denied the approval of a petition for a spouse. You now have no approved visa either, only an approved petition for a fiancee. You would be very wise to avoid considering the remainder of the process as a formality. USCIS doesn't issue visas. US Consular services issue visas.

Jim is correct, Jim replied to cgayle post, not the orginal poster post.

Duvet covers aren't hard... just turn it inside out, line up the corners, grab the farthest corners from the inside, turn the whole thing inside out, and shake it out. Much easier than bothering with a separate comforter and top sheet. I always get everything tangled when I sleep.

I don't know, I'm just a girl. As Barbie said, "Math is hard."

Positive?

+1 to your +1 for the -1. What's that in new math?

+1

There needs to be some way of indicating that a post is giving bad information. It happens every day and unless there is some discouragement, bad advice and/or misinformation will be propogated.

Good good good! Finally, the Army of the Night is rising on VJ! Come friends, let us end the tyranny of the only option being "+1"!

Yes yes yes!!!!!

*signs petition*

I think you are my VJ hero today, Johnny.
For the love of god, yes. The level of unabashed f^cktardedness seems to be rising on a nearly daily basis. Even if giving a "-1" gave pleasure only to the one who doled it out, it would be deeply satisfying.
Campaign to Bring Back the "-1" rating starts NOW.
Edit to add: And while we're at it, bring back rebeccajo, who I believe was a completely self-contained "-1" system unto herself.
Edit to add redux: Fixx0red atrocious grammar in the addendum; I got the case all wrong. Oh, the shame.

EOM

50% of all marriages end in Divorce.. the other 50% end in Death..
guess you can't win no matter what you do..

This might be hard to believe, but it sounds like the CO might have been helping you out. On a 221(g) notice they will usually only write a brief statement describing what they require according to the law, or the DoS policy, or the consulate policy. However, she went into much more detail with you verbally, basically telling you what would be accepted by the consulate to meet the requirements of the evidence they asked for on the 221(g). Most people don't get that sort of extra information from the CO. They're left guessing what will be sufficient to satisfy the 221(g) request. Unfortunately, the consulate isn't required to spell it out for you, especially when it's a matter of the CO's discretion. The "public charge" requirement is entirely the CO's discretion. The Foreign Affairs Manual lists a variety of things which the CO is required to consider. For the majority of immigrants, those things don't apply, so the only real consideration is the affidavit of support. Your husband apparently has a medical condition that will require ongoing care in the US. The health of the intending immigrant is one of those factors that the CO is required to consider, both according to law and according to DoS policy. The CO has apparently concluded that there's a risk your husband might become a public charge for that medical care, and she wants rock solid assurance from you and your joint sponsor that isn't going to happen.
There is no statutory requirement that a joint sponsor be a family member, but the CO is allowed to consider the risk that a sponsor may not fulfill their obligations under the affidavit of support contract. The US government doesn't want to be in a position where they have to enforce the affidavit of support, and they definitely don't want to be in a position where they have to go to court to obtain an enforcement order. A family member is considered less likely to leave the primary sponsor hanging out to dry if they get into a financial crunch over medical bills.
The CO is simply telling you in advance how they're likely to exercise their discretion, depending on what evidence you provide in response to the 221(g) notice. If I were you I'd try like heck to get what the CO asked for at the interview.

I think people are just advising you based on the reality of the situation. USCIS determined you were eligible to submit a petition, and they approved it. The consulate vetted the relationship at the visa interview, and they also approved it. To go back now and ask the government to conclude it was a sham from the beginning requires proof. Unless you give them that proof then they won't do anything.
Lots of people marry foreigners and those marriages fall apart. In a divorce situation it is extremely common for an angry spouse to want to exact revenge on their estranged spouse using any means they have available. When these relationships involve a foreign spouse who acquired a green card through their marriage to a US citizen it is very common for the US citizen spouse to accuse the foreign spouse of entering the marriage solely to get a green card. USCIS will not give a US citizen the authority to initiate deportation on a foreign spouse at will. This would give the US citizen spouse far too much power over their foreign spouse, and you can be absolutely certain that there are a lot of US citizens who would abuse this power by holding their foreign spouses immigration status over their head as a threat to get what they want. This sort of threat is considered in immigration law as a form of abuse, and can actually be used as grounds by the foreign spouse to get a green card or remove conditions from a conditional green card.
You can report your suspicions to USCIS and/or ICE. If they think it's warranted then they'll note your suspicions in your husband's case file. If you have irrefutable proof that your husband engaged in fraud then they'll consider initiating proceedings against your husband. However, it's critical, from the US government's point of view, that any action they take be based on evidence and the law, and that it not appear like they're carrying out a vendetta for the US citizen.
The time to fix these problems is before they happen. It's often very difficult to do anything about it afterward. In most cases, there are signs before the foreign spouse comes to the US that something is not quite right about the relationship. Unfortunately, too many people don't pay attention to those signs, or they disregard them as a difference in culture. The best advice for other people is to take your time and make sure it's right. If you have any suspicions then investigate them until you're satisfied. If you're still not sure then ask someone who has no emotional investment in the situation.
I like the idea of a support group on VJ. This would provide an opportunity for people who are just beginning the process to see how fraudulent relationships develop, and what sort of signs they should be looking for.
I'd be careful going to the media unless you have solid evidence. You're legally responsible for any derogatory public statement you make, and a defamation lawsuit could cost you a lot of money.

What about Native Americans? They should be treated more than American and get their foreign Spouse's Visa approved within a day of receiving.
AND! then since Native Americans are considered to have migrated across the Bering Strait into North America from Siberia Asia.
This would then mean Asians are more American than others.... so Asians should be "treated" "more American!" and thus should get their Foreign spouse's Visa approved over the phone.