Simple forms don’t mean Simple Process

Visit USCIS.gov.  The forms there make applying for a Fiancee or Spousal visa look as simple as applying for a drivers licence. Anyone can fill in his name, address, Mother’s birthdate, pay a fee and a few months later his bride arrives. Easy-Peasy.

Where most petitioners get into trouble is they do not notice that somewhere in the middle of all of these ‘fill in the blank’ questions, is one terribly important ‘essay question’.  This must be answered completely and well.  If not done right the entire petition may fail.

Provide EVIDENCE you have a genuine relationship

I got a call from a man who had just returned from Vietnam. He had spent a half year with his girl friend, was there for the delivery of their baby. But he did not provide enough evidence with his original petition, and apparently they did not believe they needed to bring much with the fiancee to the consulate interview. His petitition was summarily denied. I am now working with him to submit a proper petition. (he had done his denied petition himself). I hope within a year, his fiancee and child will be reunited with him.

I also got a call from a gal, a naturalized American originally from India, her fiancee had just been given a blue slip in Mumbai. The blue slip asked the same critical question ‘provide evidence you have a genuine relationship’. They were lucky, as they were  given a second chance to provide it.

Most couples in similar circumstances just get denied.

I helped her assemble a proper package of  evidence, and convinced her to travel back to India with the ‘mini petition’ I had prepared to demonstrate by her presence, her sincerity in support of the petition.   It was approved and she and her fiance traveled together back to Los Angeles.

Petitioners who submit only the basic USCIS forms, plus the ‘usual’ suspects of identity documents, but who neglect to provide ample supporting evidence of the relationship, are putting their petition in jeopardy. Providing the bare minimum of documentation, then wishfully thinking, ‘my fiancée will be able to explain everything during her interview’,  gets couples into trouble.

A good petition ‘Prepares the beach’ with ample, well selected, compelling proof, so that the consular officer after he reviews the file prior to the meeting, starts the session with ‘a good feeling’ about the couple.

For specific details on what evidences to provide that ‘Demonstrate a Genuine relationship‘ watch this video http://fianceevisaservices.com/youtubegenuinerelationship.html

If enough good evidence is presented properly the girl should have a pleasant ‘soft ball’ interview.  If not, she could leave the consulate in tears.

No matter what, whether your fiancee can ‘think on her feet’, whether you assume it is ‘obvious to anyone’ your relationship is genuine, even if you plan to attend the interview yourself, make sure you provide  abundant and quality evidence in your petition to demonstrate the bona fides of your relationship.

Tags: fiancee visa

Below is my Youtube video that explains what happens when your Fiancee attends her Interview at a US consulate or embassy for a final decision on your Fiancee Visa petition for immigration to the USA.

Each applicant must schedule an appointment at the consulate, and convince the consular officer that theirs is a “bone fide” genuine relationship, and that the purpose of the Fiancee Visa application is solely for sincere marriage.

This video is for couples who are applying for a fiancee visa for immigration to the United States and who wish to prepare for the interview at the U S Consulate in the fiance’s country.

This information is general, not specific to any particular embassy and will provide an accurate idea of what to expect.

Should you be interviewing in Manila, I have recorded another video that describes the Manila interview process in exact detail.

My name is Fred Wahl I am the matchmaker from HeartofAsiaOnline.com

Over the past thirty five years I have helped thousands of couples find each other.

I’m not an attorney. I cannot give legal advice. I do hope however that you will find this video entertaining and informative.

Let’s talk about the chain of events so far. Aabout four to six months ago you submitted your I-129f petition to USCIS homeland security.

Eventually, USCIS approved the petition and sent you a notice telling you the good news. Also at the same time, they passed your petition on to the US Department of State, to their offices in Vermont called the NVC or National Visa Center.

About a week or two later, NVC sent you a letter, telling you that they had received your file and are forwarding it to the US Embassy that is situated closest to your fiance.

The letter tells you that you should standby and wait for the embassy to contact her directly with further instructions.

The consulate attempts to contact your Fiance directly and provide her with instructions and government forms.

They usually send these via postal mail. Sometimes now, Embassies are also using email and refering the Fiancee to go to the Embassie’s website to download the documents from the internet.

Sometimes they try to reach her by telephone. In some countries the postal mail is terrible. Items regularly get lost or stolen. In some of these countries the only dependable solution is for your Fiance to physically go to the embassy and pick up the package of instructions in person.

If your fiance has not received an email from the consulate after a few weeks, you should contact the consulate directly to chase the status.

The packet (or packets there may be more than one) that she receives, picks up, or downloads should contain general instructions and checklist from the Embassy, government forms, details on where and how she should pay the visa application fee, details on where to get the medical at the clinic that’s been selected, approved, by the consulate and finally details on how to contact the Embassy and schedule her interview.

The required forms that she should fill and then bring with her to her appointment at the Embassy,
or sometimes mail to the embassy (if that is what they request): are the DS-157, DS-156, DS-156K.

There is some variety among the different Embassies and some Embassies also require the DS-230.

The instruction packet will tell her exactly what to do and will have copies of the blank forms within it.

Each Embassy requires that your fiance bring with her, her passport, and birth certificate. Also she must contact per local police authority and obtain a police clearance certificate. This basically should show that she has no criminal record. And if after she was sixteen years old she ever lived in any other countries she will also have to obtain a police certificate from each country that she resided in.

To be eligible for a Fiancee visa, the Fiancee and the american Fiance must both be free to marry.

If the Fiancee has been previously married she must bring with her an original or certified copy of evidence to prove that her previous marriage was terminated: such as a divorce or annulment decree or death certificate.

In some countries it is the practice of the local government to issue a Certificate of No Marriage. This document shows that the fiance has always been single. If your fiancee’s country issues such a document the consulate will want to see it.

And finally, in some cases the American Fiance is also asked to provide original proof that he is free to marry too.

The american sponsor must prove that his annual income meets the minimum income requirements to be eligible for a Fiancee Visa.

To do so he must give his Fiancee his signed affidavit attesting to his income along with proof of the income such as his recent tax returns, a letter from his employer confirming what his job is and what the salary is, and three to six recent pay stubs. She will bring all these along with her to the consulate.

There are still more items for her to bring to the interview. She received an appointment letter and that confirms the date and time for interview she needs this to get into the embassy on her interview day, plus a few visa photos and the receipt showing that she paid the visa fee.

It is also a good idea to prepare a letter signed by the Fiance as well as one signed by the American sponsor confirming that the couple is still engaged and still plan to marry once she arrives into the USA.

Finally, she should bring with her the various proofs she has gathered that show that the couple is a genuine, bone fide couple.

There are various proofes of a bona fide relationship. The Fiancee should bring in whatever she has: such as photographs, samples of correspondences, travel itinerary showing that her American sponsor came to visit her or the two of them traveled together, telephone bills, histories of emails or chat sessions.

If there was an engagement: proof of the engagement such as the receipt from buying an engagement ring, photos of the party, or invitations that may have been sent to relatives and friends.

If the proof is a bit thin, then perhaps affidavits from people that the couple know, ideally those in a position of trust such as ministers, politicians, employers that know both of the couple and can attest that they are sincere couple but really don’t have any reason for misrepresentation.

And finally, if the American sponsor has been sending monies to his fiance on a regular basis, proof of those transfers is a good item to bring to the interview .

Once the fiance has everything ready or can reasonably estimate when the final documents will arrive, she should contact the embassy, in the way that the embassy requested (that could be by mail or fax or telephone or in person) to tell them she is ready to have her interview.

Then they will schedule an interview and send her a document, a letter confirming exactly when and where.

For some embassys they have a system where the American sponsor can pay eighteen dollars using his credit card, that gives him the privilege of telephoning the embassy directly to talk to someone at their American Fiance hotline.

He can talk to the embassy three times if he wants, to answer and ask all his questions. The most important feature is he can sit down and talk with the scheduling clerk to put his Fiancee onto the the embassies appointment calendar.

This may be the best eighteen dollars any american Fiance has spent.

Once her interview is scheduled she should attend a medical at the clinic designated by the consulate.

This should be accomplished at least a week prior to the interview. When she goes to the clinic she should bring with her proof that she is a Fiancee Visa candidate. That’s usually the letter that the embassy sent her. Plus her passport, any vaccination records she may have, some visa photos, and she’ll probably need cash to pay the clinics fees.

When the big day arrives she should arrive at the embassy early, bringing with her all the documents and evidences that she needs.

There will be security checkpoints long lines and she should mentally prepare herself to stay calm and poised, for the potentially long and frustrating day.

Some consulates recommend that the American sponsor attends the interview if that is the case you should do so, but today many of the consulates, most even, perhaps due to terrorists, will not even allow the American in the door.

He’ll have to wait outside the embassy for his Fiance to return with the final results.

Eventually your fiance’s number will be called and she’ll be asked to speak directly with the consular officer.

Perhaps they will be together in a cubby or perhaps facing each other through thick glass panels.

The consular officer will ask about the time-line of your relationship and ask detailed questions about the courtship, proposal and about each other.

It is very important that you and your Fiancee discuss and practice at the questions and answers in advance, so that your Fiancee will be relaxed and knowledgeable.

And in case you are both separately asked the same questions, your answers will be identical.

I have put together about one hundred and twenty typical questions and if you want to get a free copy please visit Fianceevisaservices.com and subscribe to the free Fiancee Visa Secrets newsletter. The questions will be automatically sent to you.

Assuming the interview went well your Fiancee will be given a pink slip and advised that her visa will be ready a few days later. Sometimes she is instructed to return to the consulate a few business days later to pick up her passport or the passport is sent to her via a delivery service. She needs to fill out the delivery service forms before she leaves the embassy.

Once she receives her passport and visa she can start her trip to the USA anytime within the next six months.

Getting through immigration is one of the toughest obstacles most couples will face.

As a matchmaker my mission is to bring couples together as quickly and reliably as possible, by providing nurturing supportive responsive expert help.

If you’d like to speak about your situation please call me I would be very happy to speak with you directly.

In order to successfully petition for your spouse or fiancee to come to the USA, or obtain a Green Card after marriage, the US sponsor must demonstrate to Immigration that he has enough income coming in, that he could support his wife, and household.

The threshold financial requirement is that the sponsor must have income equal to and preferably more than 125% of the poverty
income level where he lives.

Each year the Department of Health and Human Services
publishes their Poverty Guidelines. In 2009 and 2010 the guideline numbers did not change. So the eligibility thresholds (after adding 25%) were $18,300 per couple plus $4,700 per additional household member.

The new Poverty Guidelines published at

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/11poverty.shtml

have risen about $100 per person. So todays eligibility thresholds (after adding 25%) are now $18,400 per couple plus $4,800 per additional household member.

The way the financial eligibility calculation works:

The sponsor must have sufficient income or assets to indicate that he is financially able to support the fiancée in order to prevent the fiancée from becoming a ward of the state. The sponsor’s annual income based on the number of dependents his combined household will have, should be at least $125% of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guideline for his state. As of January 2011, for residents in the continental US the Financial Eligibility Thresholds for K1, CR-1 or Green Card are as follows.

Required Annual Income
$18,388, if 2 Persons in Family or Household
$23,163, if 3 Persons in Family or Household
$27,938, if 4 Persons in Family or Household
$32,713, if 5 Persons in Family or Household
$37,488, if 6 Persons in Family or Household

For each Additional person add $4,775

The Financial eligibilty thresholds are lower for
active military, and higher for residents of Alaska or Hawaii.

How to prove your Income.

The way to demonstrate his income, the US sponsor
normally provides his most recent Federal Tax Return,
3 to 6 pay stubs showing ‘Year to date’ earnings,
plus a letter from his employer confirming his
job, and what the annual pay is.

Cash Assets count as an alternate to income.

In some cases a sponsors income may be low, but he has
‘money in the bank’. Cash assets, can be used as
a substitute for annual income. ‘Cash’ assets
are assets which can be easily converted (sold)
to cash. For example: stocks, bonds, certificates of
deposit, cash in a checking account can be used.
Other assets that can NOT be easily turned to cash
such as equity in real estate, are not useable.

Cash Asset Equivalents

For a Fiancee visa. $3 cash assets = $1 annual income
For a Spousal Visa or Adjustment of status (green card)
$6 cash assets = $1 annual income

For example, a retired Fiancee Visa sponsor living in California,
with no income, and no dependents would need to have $55,164
in cash assets to quality.

3 x $18,388 = $55,164

Alternatively a combination of income and assets will work. For example, if sponsors income is $10,000 per year, then he should have
$25,164 cash or convertible assets to qualify.

$18,388 – $10,000 = $8,388 x 3 = $ 25,164 cash assets needed.

Using a Financial Co-sponsor

If the sponsors income or assets are not enough to achieve the
eligibility threshold, the sponsor can ask a relative or friend
to act as a co-sponsor. Just like buying a car, a second person
could ‘co-sign’ your loan. In this case he is co-sponsoring
your petition.

When a co-sponsor is used the size of the household increases.
The combined household (for the financial calculations) would include
the household size of the sponsor combined with the household size
of the co-sponsor.

For example, a college student petitioning for his fiancee, asks his father
to co-sponsor. Both the college student and the father would each complete an affidavit of support. The students household is just 2 persons, himself and his fiancee. The fathers household would be father, mother, and the two siblings still living at home. Thus the combined household would be 6 persons, and the combined income of both sponsor and co-sponsor would have to be $37,488 or more.

A co-sponsor can be used for any Spousal Visa or Adjustment of Status petition, and can be used for most Fiancee Visa petitions. Not all consulates allow the use of a co-sponsor for a Fiancee Visa.
Philippines, Vietnam, Nigeria do not.

If you are applying for a Fiancee visa and know you will need a co-sponsor, before filing the petition, best is to contact the consulate to confirm whether the consulate’s policies permit the use of a financial co-sponsor.

Tags: eligibility, financial eligibility

A decade ago, the normal immigrant visa process, to get a your Spouse to the USA (CR1 Visa) was horribly slow. The Fiancee (K1 visa) process was much faster. The Spousal (K3 visa) was invented to be faster than the Spousal (CR1), and in practice was faster than the Spousal (CR1) but slower than the Fiancee (K1).

Fast forward to 2010. Currently USCIS and Department of State have greatly improved their processing times. Today the time to enter the USA for all three visa types is roughly the same, 7 – 8 months.  The main difference between the visa types, is that the ‘K’ visas require a second petition to ‘Adjust Status’ after the fiancee or spouse enters the USA, to get her ‘Green Card’. The CR1 visa includes a Green Card.

By avoiding the Adjustment of Status petition, $1,010 of USCIS fees may be saved. Thus the CR1 visa is about $1,000 cheaper than the alternatives.

I have put together a new youtube presentation discussing which is the better visa to apply for

Watch it at: http://fianceevisaservices.com/youtubefianceeorspousevisa.html

Or call me directly at 1-800-806-3210 x702 to discuss your options.

Tags: which visa is best choice

Your USA Fiance(e) is the one who will file US government to obtain a K1 visa for you.

While USCIS and later NVC are processing this request, your status is not affected.

This means that until you actually have your interview at the US consulate, and they grant you the K1 visa, whatever current visas you may have ARE NOT affected.

So, you can come to the usa. However if you do, you must adhere to the terms of the visa you are traveling under.

The most important term, is “you can NOT intend to stay”. You should intend to return to home country, and there is where you will have the K1 visa interview.

At the border, the immigration agent has the authority to send you back in case he suspects you may be planning to violate the terms of the visa you now have. A confirmed return air ticket, a solid job back at home, will help to demonstrate your intentions to return to home country.

Tags: fiancee visa, K-1 Visa, K1, Terms of Visa