January 23, 2013

Fiancee Visas and the Recession

In the last couple of years I have observed a very strange phenomenon in the fiance visa business: Many foreign fiances do not actually want to move to the U.S.

These fiances have read newspapers and magazines that describe the economic recession and high unemployment in the U.S. since 2008. They think that Americans are now poor and have a low standard of living. Many potential fiance visa petitioners tell me that their fiancees are very worried about coming to the U.S. due to the poor economy here. One client, who is a senior corporate executive, told me that his fiancee thought he might live in a cardboard box. He showed her photos of his house but she was not totally convinced that he was economically stable.

The United States is a very wealthy and stable industrialized country. The standard of living here is among the highest in the world. I advise my clients who have a reluctant fiancee to educate her about the United States. The U.S. is a wonderful country full of natural beauty and economic opportunity. Do not let your fiancee’s unfounded fears about the U.S. get in the way of your life together.

01/18/2012

J Visa Foreign Residency Requirement

The article today is about the J visa foreign residency requirement because some of my fiance visa cases involve Americans who become engaged to foreigners living in the U.S. on a J visa.

The J visa is known as a cultural exchange visa because its purpose is enable foreigners to live and work in the U.S. for the purpose of learning about America. It is hoped that J visa holders will return to their home countries to tell their countrymen positive things about the U.S.

To further the goal of cultural exchange the J visa holder is required to return to their home country for at least 2 years at the termination of the J visa. In other words, J visa holders must live in their home country for at least two years before being eligible to obtain any form of immigrant or non-immigrant visa to live in the U.S.

It is, however, possible to obtain a waiver of the J visa foreign residency requirement. A J visa waiver is required to obtain a fiancee visa for your J visa holder foreign fiancee. My next post will cover the J visa waiver.

November 12, 2012

I got a call this past Friday from a potential client with a truly distressing case. He had filed the case himself and been denied. Worse yet the embassy was alleging that his fiancee had lied about her date of birth and/or identity. The embassy was requesting that the USCIS decide whether the foreign fiancee was permanently excludable from the U.S.

I felt bad for this potential client because I believed that if I had represented him from the start the fiancee visa would have been approved. The problem in his case seems to have occurred due to a misunderstanding regarding his fiancee’s birth certificate. A good immigration lawyer would have been able to explain the situation in a manner that satisfied the embassy. I and other experienced immigration lawyers know how to resolve problems at the consular level. The consular processing stage of the fiancee visa is actually trickier than the USCIS petition.

November 11, 2012

Once again immigration law is in the news. Both parties want to overhaul the immigration laws and deal with the millions of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. Over the 11 years in which I have been practicing law I have seen several attempts to reform immigration law. Not one of these attempts has resulted in any significant changes.

Congress is divided and deadlocked and unable to address policy overhauls. I don’t believe that the immigration law will be changed. In any event the Congress is only really focusing on dealing with illegal immigrants. There is no discussion of changing the laws regarding fiancee visas. The procedures and wait times for obtaining a fiancee visa are not going to change.

As always I highly recommend that anyone with a foreign fiancee hire an experienced fiancee visa lawyer to represent them. I continue to receive calls from people who handled their fiancee visa case themselves and have been denied. It is more difficult to deal with a denied case then it is to deal with a case correctly from the start. Many consulates are tightening the rules and procedures for visa issuance.

09/21/2012

A child born abroad to at least one United States citizen parent is entitled to American citizenship under the following circumstances:

American Citizenship is a precious asset. I encourage all American citizens who are parents of a child born abroad to contact me to discuss obtaining a "Certificate of Birth Abroad of an American citizen" for your child.

August 3, 2012

There are some countries in which the consular interviewer is very interested in whether the fiancé visa petitioner and beneficiary have fulfilled certain cultural rituals.

For example in Cambodia the consulate is very interested in whether the petitioner and beneficiary have had a large engagement party in Cambodia with lots of family and friends in attendance. In Cambodia a large engagement party is customary and not having one can lead to denial of the fiancee visa on the grounds that the relationship is found to be not legitimate.

The beneficiary needs to bring ample photographic evidence of the engagement party to the interview. A lawyer who is not experienced in dealing with the American embassy in Cambodia will not be able ensure success for her clients.

Cambodia is just example of where a lawyer needs to have experience to ensure success. When evaluating lawyers you need to be sure to hire a lawyer with experience in dealing with fiancee’s from your fiancee’s country.

August 1, 2012

I just obtained USCIS approval in interesting and difficult case in which the American petitioner was in jail for Felony Robbery.

One of the greatest practical difficulties in the case were the prison rules. For example the USCIS requires passport size photos of the petitioner, but the prison did not want to allow my client to get these photos taken. Additionally it was difficult for me and the foreign fiancee to communicate with the petitioner due to the prison rules.

Nonetheless I was persistent in working on the case and to everyone's delight the case was approved and I look forward to seeing my clients get married. I took this particularly difficult case because I could see that the petitioner and beneficiary were very much in love.

07/23/2012

Qualifying for The Fiancee Visa (I-129F) vs. the Marriage Visa (I-130)

1. You must be an American citizen;

2. You must be free to marry your fiancee (single, widowed or divorced) at the time of filing;

3. You must have met your fiancee within the 2 year period immediately preceding the date of filing of the I-129F petition.

To qualify for a marriage visa you must meet the following conditions:

1. You must be an American citizen;

2. You must be legally married to your foreign wife. Furthermore you must have had a typical in-person marriage ceremony or a qualifying proxy marriage ceremony. Please see my earlier blog entry about proxy marriage for more details.

Benefits of The Fiancee Visa (I-129F) vs. the Marriage Visa (I-130)

The primary benefits of the fiancee visa vs. the marriage visa are as follows:

1. The fiance visa process is both much faster and much easier;

2. With the fiance visa the American petitioner does not need to make as much of a commitment to his foreign fiance. The American fiancee visa petitioner does not need to marry his fiance prior to filing paperwork to bring her to the U.S. After your foreign fiancee enters the U.S. you have 90 days to get married. If you decide not to get married your foreign fiancee can simply return to her home country.

The major drawback of the fiancee visa is that after you marry your fiance in the U.S. she will need to file additional USCIS paperwork to change her status to permanent residency.

07/12/2012

The K-2 visa is the appropriate visa for your foreign fiancee's child or children. It allows the dependant child to enter the U.S. with his mother (your fiancee).

To obtain a K-2 visa it is necessary to list the dependant child in question 13 on the I-129f. The child does not need his own USCIS paperwork. Once the I-129f petition is approved by the USCIS the dependant child will need to file his own consular paperwork with the American embassy in his home country. This K-2 paperwork is typically filed along with your fiancee's consular paperwork. I work with my clients to prepare the K-1 and K-2 consular paperwork.

It is much easier to bring the dependant child to the U.S. with a K-2 visa than to file an immediate relative petition at a later date.

07/11/2012

Potential fiancee visa clients will frequently complain to me about the time and trouble involved in obtaining a fiancee visa. These complaints will often include references to all the illegal aliens currently living in the U.S. Sometimes people will ask me whether it is a good idea to simply smuggle their fiancee into the U.S. from Mexico.

It is a terrible idea to do anything other than petition for a fiancee visa. First, it is becoming ever more dangerous and difficult to live in the U.S. as an illegal alien. Some states are trying to criminalize unlawful presence in the U.S. and e-verify is making it very difficult for illegal aliens to find work.

The people who are currently living in the U.S. illegally do not generally have any path toward obtaining legal status. I personally have dealt with many illegal aliens who desperately wanted to obtain legal status. Unfortunately it is just not possible usually. In other words most illegal immigrants would obtain legal status if they could.

Your foreign fiancee on the other hand has a very well defined path to legal status: the fiancee visa. This visa enables your fiancee to enter the U.S. legally and ultimately obtain permanent legal status here. The fiancee visa is not really that difficult to obtain with the help of a good lawyer. Following the law is the best path for you and your fiancee.

07/09/2012

Military servicemen who want to marry their fiancee abroad are often unable to get to their fiancee's country to have a typical in person marriage ceremony. In such cases the American serviceman can do a proxy marriage under certain conditions.

The USCIS only recognizes proxy marriages if the American petitioner and his wife can prove that they have consummated the marriage (had sex) after the date of the marriage. In practice this means that the American needs to visit his wife in her home country at some point after the marriage to consummate the marriage. To prove that the marriage was consummated the American needs to provide the USCIS with proof of the trip and an affidavit attesting to the fact that the marriage has been consummated.

I have successful experience in dealing with proxy marriage immigration cases. In fact, I just received an approval in one proxy marriage case and just filed another such case. If you are considering having a proxy marriage to your foreign fiancee please call me to discuss the best way to proceed.

07/06/2012

A lawyer is a skilled professional who has devoted many years to obtaining their education and passing a state bar exam. A visa service is a random person who generally has no legal qualifications and limited experience.

Lawyers are regulated by the state and must conform to a high standard of competence, ethics and professionalism. The people who run visa services are not regulated by anyone and actually are not even permitted to represent clients in front of the USCIS. Visa services operate on the fringes of the law. Visa services are only allowed, under the law, to fill out forms. They are not allowed to give legal advice and as noted above they cannot deal with the USCIS on your behalf if there is a problem in your case.

If your choice is between hiring a visa service and doing the case yourself I highly recommend you do the case yourself. The best choice, however is to hire a skilled and experienced fiancee visa lawyer who can expertly represent you before the USCIS and the embassy in your fiancee's country. Only an experienced immigration lawyer will be able to anticipate and solve problems that come up in your fiancee visa case.

July 02, 2012

As part of the fiancee visa process the American petitioner must execute an affidavit of support (form I-134) promising to support the fiancee visa beneficiary once she enters the United States. To successfully execute an affidavit of support the petitioner must establish that he has sufficient ongoing income. The 2012 income guidelines are as follows:

Sponsors Household Size	Income Requirements (125% of Poverty Guidelines)
2	$18,912
3	$23,862
4	$28,812
5	$33,762
6	$38,712
7	$43,662

For American fiancee visa petitioners who are employed the process of submitting the I-134 is very simple: They simply need to provide a tax return, a W-2 and a letter from their employer confirming their salary or wages and terms of employment.

For self employed fiancee visa petitioners the I-134 can loom as a major hurdle because self employed individuals sometimes have trouble documenting their income. First of all self employed individuals naturally take every deduction available to them which has the effect of making their taxable income artificially low. Second self employed fiancee visa petitioners do not have a W-2.

To establish their income for I-134 affidavit of support purposes the self employed petitioner must provide the following documentation:

I have never had a problem documenting my self employed client's income. The key is to provide ample evidence of the ongoing income. In cases where the self employed fiancee visa petitioner cannot document sufficient income I have successfully used evidence of his assets to satisfy the affidavit of support.

To discuss your fiancee visa case with me please call my office at 952-544-6804.