The most common reason Fiancee or Spousal Visa petitions are rejected is that Immigration is not convinced the couple have a genuine “bona fide” relationship.

There are many ways to prove the relationship, photos, phone bills, emails, log files, on and on.  Some couples though don’t really think about saving this “paper trail” until they are just about ready to file their I-129F or I-130 petitions.  By then it is too late. And they may end up rejected due to lack of planning.

I put together a Youtube video that teaches how to prove you have a genuine relationship. It speaks directly to couples who are applying for Fiancee or Spousal visas. And tells them what documents and proof to attach to their K visa petitions.

I think that a new couple who has just found each other, should ALSO  view this youtube lesson, so that from the start of their relationship they will know what is needed later on, and so can  save from the beginning, what they should have later.

For example:  Proof that the couple has regularly communicated with each other  is essential. What about the couple that uses Instant messenger every day, but never turned on “logging”? What proof do they have?  NONE. !

If they turned on LOGGING, they could print out a page, or pages that show each and every time they communicated, when they logged in, when they logged out.  It is not necessary to show the words of each conversation,  but is extremely valuable to show the frequency and dates of the conversations.

The same applies for telephone bills or logs.  It used to be that everyone got a regular phone bill each month, that showed the numbers called and the duration of each call.  Now there are ways to save money by buying pre-paid phone cards or joining discount calling services. Some keep track of your calls, and you could print out statements to prove your calls.  But many clients use prepaid phone cards, which don’t provide you any record at all!  The time to choose  a service that provides you a record of you calls, is  at the Start of your relationship.

If you are  starting a relationship, or still looking, take a minute to watch this youtube video on “How to prove a genuine relationship for the Fiancee or Spousal visa”.  You will be much better prepared in case you find you life partner and hope to live together in the USA.

Of course if you have already found your partner and are applying for a K-1 or K-3 visa, use the suggestions shown on the youtube video to make your petition more believable and thus help to ensure  a happy ending to your visa application.

For more information on Fiancee or Spousal Visas visit FianceeVisaServices.com

Tags: bone fide relationship, consular interview, genuine relationship

I just did a review of a I-129F petition for Alien Fiancee. The sponsor in trying to describe the relationship between himself and his fiancee, went into great detail about each and every gift, and each payment he sent her to support rent, tuition, internet access, and so on. He felt he was demonstrating what a good provider he was, and how serious he was to support his future wife. The problem is, when she IS your wife and you are doing all that, well, it is expected. But while she is your girl friend / fiancée, then the visa officer has a tendency to wonder, ” is this is a genuine committed relationship, or  sugar-daddy meets gold digger.?”

When dealing with immigration, you can NOT afford to send the wrong signals. I counseled him to rewrite his essay, and stick to personal topics of compatibility, relationships, romance, man to woman, partner to partner, plans for the future and so on. To read the full text of the review I conducted go to I-129F Petition Review

A lot of men go it alone, doing their own petitions.  They save thousands of dollars avoiding high attorneys fees. But it is easy for them to “shoot themselves in the foot” by writing or saying the wrong thing in front of immigration officials.

The instructions that accompany most of the forms for your petition seem relatively simple. What they do not tell you, is what the visa officer is really looking for, and what his agenda is when he reviews your forms. That is where the trouble occurs. Everyone understands simple errors and omissions. Very few understand what will satisfy the visa officer when he determines in his mind whether your relationship is “genuine” or not.

Having a second set of expert eyeballs, check out your work, and head off potential landmines is PRICELESS insurance. When you are doing the petition yourself, obtaining an expert review is the cheapest and best way to avoid problems and delays, to avoid rejection and heartache. For more details visit Fiancee Visa Services.com and review samples of the recent I-129F Petition reviews we have conducted.

Tags: visa petition review, visa preparation

A group of Immigration attorneys who help prepare and submit Fiancee K-1 and Spousal K-3 visas are rallying together to complain and lobby against apparent procedural problems at the US visa section, Guangzhou China.  In reviewing their in-house data, and then combining this data across the different firms, they believe their statistics demonstrate that the Visa Section in Guangzhou is denying an abnormally high percentage of K-1 and K-3 petitions.

The attorneys assertion is that the visa officers in Guangzhou are over zealous in applying a higher standard than is official State Department policy. They believe this has resulted in Petitions which routinely would be approved at any other consulate, being unfairly denied in Guangzhou. Based on their own review of the denied cases, the attorneys have intuited the following list of extra-ordinary reasons they believe K petitions were denied in Guangzhou.

• No English, No Visa.
• One Visit, No Visa.
• Marriage on First Visit, no Visa.
• Very Large Age Different, No Visa.
• Three or More marriages by Petitioner, No Visa.

These are the apparent “Red Flags” when applying for the Fiancee or Spousal visa in China.  It seems that these could also negatively influence the consideration of your petition in other countries as well. To “err” on the safe side, I would suggest to any couple to strengthen the appearance of their genuine relationship, by addressing some of the issues listed above.

• Enroll the Fiancee in English School if her English is weak.
• Take a second trip.  Enjoy a second or third visit, spend face to face time  together.

In the case of the denied petitions, true love finally won out. Each denied Fiancee couple, got married, in China, then applied again, this time for an IR1or CR1 visa, and after long delays, these were granted.

For further information about Fiancee or Spousal Visas visit FianceeVisaServices.com

Tags: China Bride, fiancee visa, Guangzhou, K-1 Visa, K-3 Visa, spousal visa, uscis

FianceeVisaServices.com goes above and beyond the call of duty to help you prepare a “persuasive” fiancee visa petition. See the behind the scenes video that explains in great detail all the special details and extra effort FianceeVisaServices.com puts into each petition.

Tags: bone fide relationship, genuine relationship, visa petition review, visa preparation

I got a phone call today from a person asking for help. He said his I-129F K-1 Fiancee Visa Application was denied and he wanted to know what he could do.

Note: I had never talked to him before, he was not my client.  None of My Fiancee Visa Preparation clients have had their applications denied.

In his case after his fiancee attended her interview, they were notified that the Manila consulate wanted additional information.  They wanted copies of travel itineraries, emails, photos.

Some were provided. The Fiancee had a second interview. The I-129F Fiancee Visa petition was denied as the consular officer suspected the relationship was not Genuine.

Some applicants think petitioning for a Fiancee Visa is like getting a drivers license. You just fill in the blanks, pay the fee, get your photo taken and done.  This is not the case for petitioning for a Fiancee Visa, the process is closer to applying to get into college.  In addition to filling in the blanks, there is also the ESSAY question, where you must convince the reader you are worthy.

The essay question for a I-129F (which is not officially asked on the forms but had better be answered in full if you want the petition to smoothly navigate the system) is:  “Is this a genuine, bone fide relationship between two people who sincerely seek to spend their lives together in marriage?”

When I help prepare a Fiancee Visa K1 petition,  usually the final package contains about 100 to 150 pages. We devote at least half of the tabbed sections, and half of the pages to answering the “is this genuine?” question. The answer starts with a two page letter that describes the relationship, its history, present and future. I help my client write his letter. We try to cover the following points:

• Describe the history of your relationship.
  

• include, details of the courtship? Frequency of contact etc.
  

• How did you come into first contact with your fiancée?
  

• Describe the nature of relationship?
  

• Why did you choose your fiancée?
  

• What features, attributes do you find most attractive?
  

• What are your plans for the future with your fiancee?
  

• What are your plans for the wedding ceremony?
  

• What are plans for honeymoon?
  

• What are your plans for establishing a household?
  

• Where do you plan to live after marriage? – what kind of house, where, buy rent location and so on.
  

• What do you expect to happen within a year of marriage?
  

• What do you expect to happen after 5 years of marriage?
  

• After marriage, do you have plans about work for your spouse?
  

• Are you planning a family?
  

• Plans for vacations together?
  

• Plans for social, hobbies, educational interests?

Then in addition to this letter, I have my clients provide supporting documents, such as:

• Photos of the couple together

• Travel Itineraries

• Passport Visa Stamps

• Telephone Bills

• Copies of Emails/Letters/IM’s

• Hotel Receipts

• Engagement Announcements

• Engagement Ring Receipt

The objective is to fully dispel any doubt that the reviewer may have that the relationship is genuine. Once convinced that the relationship is real, the petition should move along smoothly.  Details on how to apply for the I-129 petition and how to demonstrate the genuineness of the relationship are also discussed in detail in the Fiancee Secrets eBook Chapters “Documenting the relationship” and “Letter to describe the relationship”

In the case of the caller, he was given the choice to appeal the decision or start over.  If it was my petition, and my relationship was genuine, then I would do the work I should have done in the first place. I would put together a clean, compelling package that included a detailed two page letter on the relationship, plus all the relevant supporting documents I could find. And I would file attach this package to the appeal request.

Tags: bone fide relationship, fiancee visa, genuine relationship, I 129F, K-1, K1, uscis