Theodore Huang, Immigration & SSD Lawyer

If your Canadian fiancé will be attending his fiancée visa interview in Montreal, he should consider bringing the following documents with him to the interview.

1. Birth certificate
2. Adoptions decree (s)
3. Marriage certificate (s)
4. Death and/or divorce certificate(s)
5. Police certificates from each country in which the applicant has resided
6. Court records
7. Military records
8. Evidence of domicile in the United States
9. Affidavit of support with all supporting documents
10. Evidence of relationship
11. Two photographs
12. A letter of intent to marry signed by the petitioner within 30 days of interview date

If you are interested in applying for a fiancée visa for your foreign fiancé, contact our office. We’d be happy to discuss your situation and talk about how we can use our experience and expertise to bring your fiancée here to the USA as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Theodore Huang, Esq. has been practicing business immigration, EB-5 investor, and family immigration law since 1997. Highly recommended on LinkedIn, Attorney Huang has written numerous articles on visa matters affecting foreign new hires, start-ups, and intracompany transfers. His articles have appeared on www.EB5Planet.com, www.VisaSoup.com, www.MyVisa.com, and www.GoFianceeVisa.com  For more information and a free consultation, please contact him immediately.

Just a note to let our readers know that we have been successful in obtaining K-1 fiancee visa approvals for fiance(e)s living and working in Dubai. Many foreign fiancees spend a few years living and working in Dubai, especially those fiancees originally from the Philippines.

We have been successful in getting K-1 petition approvals as well as having our clients go through the K-1 fiancee interview with a positive outcome. If your fiancee is in Dubai, and would like to avoid having to travelling back to her home country to interview, please contact me at 626-771-1078 for a free consultation.

An applicant’s eligibility for a visa will be determined at the time of the interview with a consular officer.

Applicants may bring supporting documents to validate the bona fide nature of their relationship. Examples of supporting documents are emails, letters, phone call records, cards, etc. However, applicants must be aware that presentation of supporting documents does not guarantee visa issuance. Supporting documents may or may not be requested from visa applicants, and consular officers often do not look at them.

Consular officers may choose to look at supporting documents only when there are items in the application form or in the interview that require clarification. If an officer would like to view your documents, he/she will ask for them during the interview. There is no need to present documents if the officer does not ask for them.

For a consultation regarding your situation, please call me 626-771-1078 or email me.

Theodore Huang, Esq. has been practicing business immigration, EB-5 investor, and family immigration law since 1997. He has written numerous articles on visa matters affecting foreign new hires, start-ups, and intracompany transfers. His articles have appeared on www.EB5Planet.com, www.VisaSoup.com, www.MyVisa.com, and www.GoFianceeVisa.com  He has 17 recommendations on LinkedIn. For more information and a free consultation, please contact him immediately.

Below are just a sample of the types of questions a foreign fiancée may be asked during the K1 fiance visa interview.

If a couple has been getting to know one another over the course of their courtship, answering these types of questions shouldn’t be a problem. However, if the foreign fiancé speaks limited English, being able to answer these questions in English can be challenging. Contact us to learn what degree of English fluency is needed for the interview.

• When is your fiancé’s birthday?
• What does your fiancé do?
• Where did she go to school?
• When was your fiancée last married? When did she divorce?
• Does your fiancé have any brothers or sister?
• Does your fiancé have any children?
• When are you planning on having the wedding?
• Where are you planning on having the wedding?

We offer a wide range of fiancé(e) visa services from very low fees where the applicant does the preparation and we review,  to our office providing full service through the entire process. Call us at 626-771-1078 for more information.

U.S. Embassies and Consulate General offices are pretty clear about what documents to bring to the K-1 fiancee visa interview. If you are waiting for the approval of your K-1 fiancee visa petition but want to begin preparing the documents needed for the interview, consider the following:

1. Form DS-156
2. Form DS-156k
3. A valid passport with an expiration date that is at least 6 months into the future
4. Birth certificate
5. Proof of termination of any previous marriages
6. Police certificates from any place of residence for 6 months since attaining age 16
7. Medical exam which is provided by a panel physician.

Be aware that police certificates can expire so it may not be helpful to obtain police certificates too early as they may expire before the actual interview is scheduled.

Also, the US Embassy or Consulate General will provide information which panel physicians are available to provide medical exams. If your fiancé(e) has had past health issues such as TB, the medical exam may reveal a health issue that could delay or cause a denial of the issuance of the visa.

Applying for a fiancé or spousal visa is a stressful process. Contact our law office for information on how we can help. We offer a wide range of services from very low fees where the applicant does the preparation and we review,  to our office providing full service through the entire process. Call us at 626-771-1078 for more information.

An American Immigration Lawyers Association meeting with consular officers from the Vancouver U.S. consulate yielded the following helpful tips about K-1 fiancee visa processing at the Vancouver office.

• American citizen fiancées are not required to attend. Consular officers would want them present if there were interpretation or assistance needs.
• K-1s are handled like all other visas in terms of the interview.
• Same day processing is not a possibility. Consular officers attempt to process the visas within 24-48 hours for retrieval from DHL 24-48 hours after that.
• The Vancouver office receives the approved petitions from the Kentucky Consular Center. Based on approval stamps, it receives petitions 3-4 weeks after the approval.
• The Vancouver office currently has no backlog. The case is generally delayed by the applicant, as the office waits for their notification that they have collected the necessary documents.

It’s always devastating when a fiance(e) gets a denial of their fiance(e) visa at the interview. According to the Foreign Affairs Manual, the consular officer must provide the section of the law that the applicant was denied under, but also a factual basis for the refusal. That explanation for the reason for denial sometimes seems to be glossed over leaving the applicant confused about why s/he was denied.

AILA approached the Department of State about this trend, and here’s the liaison’s response:

“VO believes that while using clear language to describe refusals is essential, explanations of why a visa could not be issued need not be lengthy. Using precise legal citations creates less confusion and is less likely to be misinterpreted than other notes that consular officers provide. Because resources at posts are often stretched, we instruct our officers to use the cleared language available to them in the FAM to describe refusals.”

Upon receipt of the completed Form DS-156, Nonimmigrant Visa Application, Form DS-156-K, Nonimmigrant Fiancé Visa Application, and Form DS-230, Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration, the consular officer should initiate clearance procedures.

If the applicant, since attaining the age of 16, has resided for six months or more in a country other than the one of visa application, the security clearance procedures used in immigrant visa (IV) cases are to be followed.

For assistance with preparing K-1 interview paperwork, contact our office at 626-771-1078.

Upon the receipt of a K visa petition approved by DHS, the consular officer should promptly send to the applicant:

(1) Form DS-230, Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration or instructions for accessing Form DS-260, Online Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration;

(2) Two copies of the Form DS-156; Nonimmigrant Visa Application, or instructions for accessing Form DS-160, Electronic Nonimmigrant Visa Application

(3) One copy of the Form DS-156-K, Nonimmigrant Fiancé (e) Visa Application, unless the applicant was instructed to complete Form DS-160;

(4) One copy of the petitioner’s approved Form I-129-F, together with any criminal background information (including information on protection orders) that DHS has gathered on the petitioner and any information that DHS has provided regarding prior Form I-129-F filings by the petitioner

The DHS is in the process of preparing a pamphlet called “Legal Rights and Resources for Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence: Facts about immigrating to the United States as a Fiance(e) or as a Spouse of an U.S. Citizen. When this pamphlet is ready, it will also be included in the package.

Part of our K1 interview services is to gather relevant information and prepare the above forms along with the supporting documentation. If you need assistance with this part of the K-1 process, please call me at 626-771-1078 for a consultation.

A K-2 child accompanying his parent to the K-1 fiance(e) visa interview should bring the following:

1. A valid passport,

2. A birth certificate, and

3. A medical examination.

Note that if the child is 16 years of age or over, police certificates are required.

No chest X-ray or serologic tests are required if the child is under 15 years of age.

K-2 children seeking to accompany the K-1 parent or following to join the K-1 parent should be included in the K-1’s original fiancé visa petition. If the child was not included, contact our law office at 626-771-1078 to see how we can help the child accompany the fiancé(e) to the USA.

The following documents are required for presentation at the time of visa application:

(1) A Form DS-156, Nonimmigrant Visa Application;

(2) An original Form DS-156-K, Nonimmigrant Fiancé Visa Application,

(3) Valid passport

(4) Birth certificate;

(5) Evidence of termination of any prior marriage of beneficiary;

(6) Police certificates and

(7) Form DS-2053, Medical Examination for Immigrant and Refugee Applicant.

The interview stage of the K-1 fiance is usually the most stressful stage of the entire K1 fiance visa process. In addition to making sure that the applicant has all the right documents, in the right format, the applicant and petitioner must be concerned with adequately proving that the relationship is bona fide.

For assistance with this type of application and to utilize my 15 years of experience, call me at 626-771-1078.

When a fiancé attends a K1 interview at the U.S. embassy or consulate general overseas, it is not unusual for a consular officer to need additional time to conduct research or request additional documents from the foreign fiancé. Fiances are told that their applications require “administrative processing”. It may be required if the consular officer needs to ask the applicant to provide supporting documents such as proof of employment or if the visa photos are not of the proper dimensions. Such temporary refusals are permitted under section 221(g) of the INA.

For many of the cases, the issue is often resolved and the visa granted. However, it is important to note that the Department of State considers these temporary refusals to be equivalent to a denial. This can be startling to a visa applicant who ultimately received the visa in question. As such, when an applicant completes a DOS form for a subsequent visa, it is imperative that the applicant answer “Yes” to any question inquiring about past visa denials. Doing so can help avoid a finding of misrepresentation.

If you or your foreign fiancé or spouse has ever had an application subject to administrative processing, contact me for assistance with your visa applications.

K1 fiance visa applicants who have received an approval for their K1 fiance visa petitions must wait for their paperwork to be forwarded to the National Visa Center and then on to the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou, China. The Consulate General will send out packet 3 to the applicant with instructions on gathering documents and how to set up an interview.

Once the fiance has gathered the requisite docs, it’s time to set up an interview. This is triggered by sending notice to the Consulate General that the applicant is ready for a K1 interview. As of March 21, 2012, the Consulate General in Guangzhou is scheduling appointments about 4 – 5 weeks from the date of receiving notice from the applicant. This is a positive trend and kudos to the staff at the Guangzhou office for streamlining the processes which has resulted in faster interview scheduling.

Update on 10/10/12: the U.S. Consulate General continues to process and schedule the K-1 fiancee visa paperwork fairly efficiently for my clients. Our office believes that there are certain ways of presenting information that helps to facilitate the review process.

If you are engaged to a Chinese fiancee and are in need of applying for a K-1 fiance visa for her, please contact us to see how we can utilize our experience and expertise for you.