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Hello! first of all, I am sorry if my question is stupid but I have looked around and haven’t found much details. My fiancé is in the US and I plan to get married to him after we apply for a K-1. We have yet to do anything but I have a question! since you need the women’s guardian to approve of a marriage in Saudi Arabia, does that also apply for applying for a K-1 (in Riyadh)? Would I need a guardian’s approval of the marriage? Thank you

Hello everyone, My bf (US citizen) and I (Saudi Arabian) are about to send in our I-129f petition and have some questions first that we’d appreciate getting pointers on. Bear with me a little because I’d like to explain the whole situation to better inform your answers. We are in a gay relationship, we met our second year of college in 2017 (I was on an F-1 visa) and have been together since. I returned to Saudi during the pandemic in 2020 after graduating and started working there. A few months later I decided to apply for a tourist visa to be able to visit my boyfriend. It got accepted but I never used it since I got accepted into some master’s programs in california and thought it might be best to pursue that path. We never talked about marriage or where our relationship was going (we both assumed it was going to end when I had to return to Saudi but we still talked to each other everyday). So it seemed like a good idea for me to come back for my master’s and we can pick up where we left off, hitting two birds with one stone. The trouble though is when I did my interview for the F-1 visa, the consul officer didn’t think I had strong ties to Saudi, and in hindsight she was right. She asked me who my bf is (I listed him as my US contact point under “friend”) and I told her he’s just a friend. That visa got denied, and we were crushed to think we weren’t gonna see each other soon. A month later we met in Mexico and decided to apply for a K-1 as we realized we really want to be together and are ready to get married. And we have lots of evidence proving a bona fide relationship from our time in college. Now I reazlied that in my tourist visa application I also listed him as a friend. So I’m worried it’s gonna look like I lied about my relationship with him for immigration benefits. The reason I never disclosed my relationship with him was 1) i never really understood the significance from an immigration point of view and 2) both my interviews were in Saudi and I didnt want them to know my sexuality for fear of safety, and it is second nature to me to tell all strangers that he’s just my friend and hide my sexuality. TLDR: i listed my boyfriend as a “friend” in two different non-immigrant visa applications and worried that will affect K-1 visa chances. So I would like your advice on the following: 1) Will the 214(b) F-1 denial arouse suspicions of misrepresentation if we file the I-129F shortly after? Does it matter if we wait longer? 2) Will the officers be understanding of why I lied about the relationship due to fear of safety or use that against us in the K-1 application? 3) Any information on the US embassy in Saudi would also be appreciated. How tough are they and how likely is denial/acceptance? Thank you.

Hello There. I would like to share my IR1 journey so far. I will keep it short and simple. We tried our best to find a joint sponsor to support our case, unfortunately we weren't successful. After much consideration and consultation we finally decided to try our fate with whatever we have in hand. We got married in 2018 and we have 2 kids (my wife + 2 kids all US nationals) 2017- 2018 (my wife was living abroad with me - Saudi Arabia). in 2018 September she went back to the USA so we can start our immigration process, later we got the news that she is pregnant with our 2nd child (birth year 2019) and that same year(2019) we got approval from USCIS and our case was transferred to NVC for further processes. 2019 September she visited me again with the new born baby and we got stuck due to COVID situations all over the world until Mid of 2020. Finally after settling in with the new born & getting back to USA 2020 September she started working and she is earning 2k over the said poverty guideline up to this date. Since she started working in Sep 2020, her 2020-W2 only shows income and deductions for the period of 4 months. (Sep2020 to Dec2020). We have included a self-explanatory letter (stating why we didn't file taxes for the year 18/19) along with 2020 W2(4 months), 1044(4 months). All proofs have been attached such as resident permits for staying outside, birth certificate of our child born in 2019 etc. We have included employment letter & paystubs covering period of (September 2020 to July 2021) Our NVC submission date is 02nd July I would like to know anyone out here in the VJ forum facing a similar situation as me, it will help prepare for what's coming ahead for us. Also I will keep this thread updated for the sake it can help someone in the same boat as me. Thank you for taking time to read this post. Wishing everyone a wonderful day ahead.