san diego

Lawyer will not help in this case. Stop thinking about saving this petition. There is no chance current petition can be saved. How old is her daughter?
Regarding the house: if this is a true love house is not an issue.

US POE is a disgrace. I never experienced it as I always entered US through USC line where they are extra-nice. I had my wife's (then fiancee) K1 visa issued without a single RFE. IN fact, her interview in Moscow was less than 1min. Crystal-clear case. Cannot be clearer from all points of view. We traveled together through POE LAX. This was the first time I experienced how rude, unprofessional US Officers at the POE can be. They were interrogating her for >20 mins for NO REASON. Just to show there power, I guess. I felt absolutely helpless. The first thing the officer (female) said to her was "You know, if I want to I can refuse your entry!". What guests of our country will think about US? How can US project good international image if foreigners are treated like that at POE??

Same here.

Pretty clear... They tried to get him here to use the loophole of AOS. Let's all be honest with each other and call everything what it is. COs are not stupid. You tried to get him here on student visa, get married, and apply for AOS exploring loophole in the law. They caught it and now you have a problem. You need to be upfront for anyone to give you advice. From your timeline it is clear that you applied for visa knowing that you will get married, right? Why student visa then? This is pretty obvious.

Ummmm, let me think about this.....become financially responsible for the next 5 to infinity years for someone I have never met, know nothing about, probably will never meet, and certainly have no ties.......ummmmmmm NO.
You need to find a friend or relative who is a US citizen or a legal resident of the US to sponsor you not solicit some random strangers.

NOthing personal, but.. I do not think anyone can be protected from this. Even if you do not bring people here but marry someone here. Still the same thing. You just have to hope for the best. Just my two cents: this is definitely wrong attitude to think about it once entering relationship. If you are bringing person here you need to think how to make their adjustment smooth. If you think about possible fraud now.. I don't know.. Bringing foreign fiancee here is already a huge commitment. Marriage is a huge commitment by itself. You have to be sure that there is a true love there before making a decision to file for K1. If you have doubts don't do this. Pre-K1 commitment includes not only meeting once or twice but also connecting, feeling each other, suffering together if you will.. You have to have a strong feeling that you cannot survive without this person a single minute. The fact that you are thinking this way now makes me think that you have doubts.. If you do, I wouldn't do it for your own sake and for the sake of people that wait in line to be together with their loved ones. I am sorry but these are my 2 cents.

I speak some French from having worked with a French company for many years, and I took lessons too. I noticed that at that time, though I was quite uncomfortable speaking French to people I knew well (such as French friends or colleagues) because I didn't want to seem stupid, I was much more comfortable and surprisingly more fluent speaking French to STRANGERS-- such as taxi drivers or hotel personnel. Obviously this was because their opinion about me mattered less.
Maybe you could encourage your wife to interact more with shopkeepers, the mailman, cashiers, etc. The conversations will be shorter and more standard, something she could practice saying every time she sees them. Eventually she will develop confidence to speak with other people whose opinion she values more.

Just to clarify some points that have been tossed around...
You cannot withdraw the petition. She entered the US with the K1 visa, so the benefit requested with the petition has already been granted and used. The K1 petition was closed when she entered the US.
VAWA has provisions for an unmarried victim of domestic violence to receive assistance from the US government. However, the immigration benefits of VAWA are only available to the SPOUSE of a US citizen or LPR. She didn't marry the petitioner, so she can't get a green card through VAWA, regardless of whether or not she has any evidence.
So far, she hasn't violated any laws. Just as you aren't compelled to marry her, she is likewise not compelled to marry you. However, USCIS will certainly want to know what happened so that it can be noted in her case file. If nothing else, this would be considered should anyone else ever petition for her. Tell USCIS that she pulled a runner and has hooked up with someone else, and that you no longer intend to marry her.
If she ends up talking to anyone who knows anything about immigration law then she'll discover she's cut off her only pathway to remain legally in the US. Don't be surprised if she comes back begging. Be very very careful.

Since you're not married, your responsibilities on the I-134 end when her I-94 expires (usually 90 days from POE date)
Since yer not married, you haven't filed for any Adjustment of Status, either; so yer not on the hook for the I-864, affadavit of support.
Suggest you contact ICE (# below, in really small letters) and make the report,
then
write up a letter, include her K-1 visa #, her China Passport #, and (if you know it) her China ID #, writing about what happened, to
1. local USCIS office in your area
2. local ICE office in your area
3. Guangzhou IV / attn Fraud Investigation
4. National USCIS office
Good Luck !

Speak to her in English and encourage her to do the same, do not talk to her in Russian. She has to start somewhere and I think that in home environment she should feel safe speaking it. Maybe pay for her to take English lessons where she will be able to improve her speaking as well as improve her English in general, learn new words etc.

i think you need to speak to her in English at your home she need to get comfortable speaking it all the time and it will be easier if you correct her and she needs the practice if you do this in 6 months you will see the difference you have to practice something to be good at it and make sure you tell her that shes getting better every week .

Why aren't YOU swimming across to Mexico? Why don't I jump the border tonight and go live under a bridge in Quebec? Maybe pick apples?
Because there is NO ECONOMIC incentive to do so. It is also why I do not try to sneak into Bangledesh, Benin, or Honduras. If there is no economic incentive then there is no other reason to come here and border enforcement gets a whole lot easier and you can concentrate on really BAD people and not have to weed out lettuce pickers from terrorists and drug dealers.
Allowing US employers to continue to exploit humans by circumventing laws to protect workers is actually a matter of national security. These employers create such a flood of illegals that it becomes extremely difficult for law enforcement to protect the USA from people that REALLY want to harm us.

Go back to the social security offic e and they can give her the number and check where the card is.
Social security cards are not what determines if you can work or anything else. Other businesses use them as a means to identify people but whether you "need" one or not is not a federal government function. We did not need a social security card for Sergey to get his driver's license in Vermont and neither would anyone else, it is only necessary to show you can legally be here for more than 6 months.
Why does it matter if she is legal to attend community college in a class that is free or classes she pays for herself? Who cares?
Too many people focus on the incidentals of illegal immigration and NONE focus on the cause. Republicans want you to think they are doing something about it by building walls or making laws about benefits and such. No, they do not care. They want illegals to provide cheap labor and avoid federal mandates and taxes.
Democrats need them to be future voters after they give them amnesty and citizenship. No politician really wants to get rid of them or make living and working conditions tolerable for them. Why?
Making them legal will also make them unemployed. They were not hired because they are the best roofers in the world. They were hired because they ARE illegal and therefore can be exploited, overworked, underpaid, and the employers do not have to be bothered with such things as payroll tax, etc. Make them legal and they are just as expensive as legal workers who are better trained AND have air powered nail guns. They become unemployed and get replaced by MORE illegals who will work cheap.
As long as there is a habitat for illegal workers, there will be illegal workers. Making illegal workers legal does not dismantle the reason for illegal workers. It just makes a whole bunch of job openings. It is nothing but a conscription of new slaves, to be honest. Fences will not keep them out. The habitat for illegals needs to be dismantled, destroyed, eliminated. All the rest is incidental.

I don't think there is a specific guideline. I can only put myself in their shoes and say: if he is 27 and female from US is over 50 and they seen each other only 3 times over 3 year period, I would need some REAALLY evidence of ongoing relationship. If I saw him being 27 and her being 50, meeting every 2 months or so, living for some time together, evidence of his family being aware and approving relationship, probably I would approve it. This is more common sense for high-fraud countries rather than actual knowledge. On the other hand I would look at it differently if beneficiary was from the 1st world countries, like UK, Japan or France or Germany.

In addition, I do not want to be negative but you need to evaluate your relationship. My experience with COs (though very limited) is that they are extremely good at spotting unusual patterns. They are very good psychologists. They do not just look at actual case but also at body language of interviewee, etc. In high fraud countries they are even more rigorous. I agree with previous posts you also need to carefully evaluate step-by-step word-by-word every second of the interview and spot what went wrong and address during I130 application.

I agree with previous posts. I am not a specialist, by no means. However, I did have a lawyer that is very experienced in K1. I am 35 (male) and my fiancee is 31 (female). Our lawyer did state that this is GOOD that we have small age difference. She also stated that usually large age difference is probably number 1 red flag in the K1 visa. It does not matter as much male or female (although in cultures where males are usually older then females they look a little more flexible at age difference when males are much older). This is why in order to get better guidance you need to tell your age difference. Depending on the age difference the advice can be:
1) Go there, marry, apply for visa
2) Go there, marry, stay there while visa is processed.
Another red flag that I see in your case is that you see each other once a year. This IS rare. Knowing each other for 3 years and meeting only three times IS a red flag.

Thank you. I was wrong.

They never looked at any pictures at the interview. I prepared tons and used none. I would argue that some people don't like to take pictures. For example, I never take pictures because it spoils all the fun from the trip. The only reason why we took pictures because my russian fiancee likes taking pictures together, which we used in the application. Not everyone likes taking pictures and I am not sure why is it so suspicious.

I cannot give an advice, and I am not qualified to give such advice. I can only say what I would do in this case. If these are small discoloration over the picture I would take a chance and do it and try to explain what happened if asked. As far as I understand there is not much damage. I think Embassy says that it invalidates visa because they do not know how bad the damage is. As far as they are concerned it may be as big as numbers missing etc. so they are trying to play safe and cover all the cases. What I found out Embassies are extremely flexible, much more flexible then what their rules state. At the same time my experience at POE was not very pleasant. These people are trying to show how important they are and try to make your life miserable if you are not USC or permanent resident. I accompanied my fiancee back from her country and they were pretty nasty at the POE... So this is your call.

His sentence started with "Since I got GC"! What else can he mean?? Obviously, this is all he cares about. He is not asking for relationship advice. He is asking on how to stay in the country and not live with his wife. If he was acting in good faith he would not be asking advice here. He would go for marriage counseling. People like him is the reason why we all have to wait for such a long time for our loved ones to come here. I try not to judge people and give them benefit of a doubt. However, this is crystal clear. GC is first... Not only that he took advantage of another person and likely made this person (USC) miserable. Not only that he also made her family miserable. Not only that he took advantage of the system. People like him make us all miserable by waiting. USCIS is not o blame for the wait. They do what they can to prevent such things from happening. He is the reason, and people like him. People like him made Morocco consulate so tough that people that truly love each other cannot be together. I do not know how many desperate posts I have read about Morocco consulate just because of people like him. Now this poor woman will have an obligation for 10 years!

I recommend saying the truth. Putting aside all the ethical prospective, if you lie it is SO easy to get lost and confused and once you get caught there is no way back. I don't see a problem with getting introduced by a friend.
In addition, keep in mind that your friends may not do it in your best interests. For example, my fiancee lost all her friends when we were applying for visa. I suspect this is the case....

This is unusual topic. My fiancee came to US about 1.5 weeks ago (in fact I accompanied her on the way here). We got married. She is in great spirit however I feel how shocking this transition is for her. She has no friends, scared to speak English to other people, everything is a shock. She came from Russia and everything is new: streets, people, the way everyone drives. I had to go back to work and thus cannot spend much time with her during the week. I tried to make it easy on her as much as I can: I got her a car (thank god California allows foreigners to use their DL!), my relatives try to take her out during the week when they can, we take weekend trips, she went for ESL lessons. I still feel that this is not enough.. People that had good experience with adjustment of their foreign fiancee, please, share: what worked well for you? Activities? Classes? Courses? I just feel how miserable she is but cannot do anything. She is like on an island. Sharing good experiences only would be appreciated.

His sentence started with "Since I got GC"! What else can he mean?? Obviously, this is all he cares about. He is not asking for relationship advice. He is asking on how to stay in the country and not live with his wife. If he was acting in good faith he would not be asking advice here. He would go for marriage counseling. People like him is the reason why we all have to wait for such a long time for our loved ones to come here. I try not to judge people and give them benefit of a doubt. However, this is crystal clear. GC is first... Not only that he took advantage of another person and likely made this person (USC) miserable. Not only that he also made her family miserable. Not only that he took advantage of the system. People like him make us all miserable by waiting. USCIS is not o blame for the wait. They do what they can to prevent such things from happening. He is the reason, and people like him. People like him made Morocco consulate so tough that people that truly love each other cannot be together. I do not know how many desperate posts I have read about Morocco consulate just because of people like him. Now this poor woman will have an obligation for 10 years!

I believe there is a period of adjustment for all new immigrants and that the worst time is from about 2 months after they arrive until the first year or so. Alla spoke English well and started Masters courses within a week, but she did not drive for about 2 months and that was difficult. She needs you a lot and you have to make her a priority. It is far mre difficult that any waiting you went through to get the visa (you probably already forgot about that) You need supreme patience, you need to be supremely supportive. You need to spend ALL your available time for her. It gets better and it is all worth it.
Besides ESL classes, she may want to check out some sort of volunteer work.

His sentence started with "Since I got GC"! What else can he mean?? Obviously, this is all he cares about. He is not asking for relationship advice. He is asking on how to stay in the country and not live with his wife. If he was acting in good faith he would not be asking advice here. He would go for marriage counseling. People like him is the reason why we all have to wait for such a long time for our loved ones to come here. I try not to judge people and give them benefit of a doubt. However, this is crystal clear. GC is first... Not only that he took advantage of another person and likely made this person (USC) miserable. Not only that he also made her family miserable. Not only that he took advantage of the system. People like him make us all miserable by waiting. USCIS is not o blame for the wait. They do what they can to prevent such things from happening. He is the reason, and people like him. People like him made Morocco consulate so tough that people that truly love each other cannot be together. I do not know how many desperate posts I have read about Morocco consulate just because of people like him. Now this poor woman will have an obligation for 10 years!