Re: K1 medical worries
 

Re: K1 medical worries
 

No, it won't get denied prior to you attending the in-person visa interview.

The interview is where you can explain everything to the consular officer.

Rene

Re: K1 medical worries
 

They only need documentary evidence if your current name is different from the name provided in additional evidence (i.e. passport copies, etc.). It seems OP will not have this issue as their name change was done years ago and all their documents match up with the current name.

From the instructions, pg.11: "If either you or your beneficiary use a name other than the one shown on evidence submitted in support of your petition, you must submit copies of the legal documents (such as a marriage certificate, adoption decree, or court order) reflecting the legal name change."

I do agree that all previous names should be declared going forward, and just be honest with the doctor. They aren't trying to catch you out and I'm sure they'll be sensitive to each applicant's medical situation.

Your medical summary is free to access, simply request a 'Patient Care Summary' from your GP. I'm not sure if you'll need more specific information for the surgeries, it should just be in your summary, but double check and ask the GP if they have any data to give on specific treatments.

Good luck!

Re: K1 medical worries
 

Hey OP, I was in a very similar situation to you, except I moved to Canada.

You must declare your previous names on the application. They won't care. Bear in mind they also ask for previous names on ESTA applications. I too was concerned about potential harassment/discrimination from CBP when I declared this, so I applied for Global Entry to help mitigate that risk. (This also gives you TSA Pre-Check which reduces your exposure to body scanners at US airports.) I don't live in the US but travel frequently and I've never had issues with CBP. (I'm aware your main concern is USCIS but I hope this datapoint is reassuring.)

As for the medical, when I had mine in the UK for Canada, I told the doctor I was transgender. She also didn't care one bit. She actually said that she gets a disproportionately high number of transgender people through her door relative to our number due to the fact that trans people emigrate/immigrate at a much higher rate than the general population. So in essence, everybody in the process has seen us all before, quite frequently.

Two general observations for you as well: be aware that HRT can cause elevated blood pressure. If you are on a high dosage and don't have an active lifestyle, your blood pressure may be high. If this is the case, you probably want to do something about this anyway, but you may have issues at the medical if your blood pressure is high. Also, the Gender Recognition Act can interfere with the US's ability to process your application. If they ask the UK for security related data on you, the UK might turn around and deny you exist because of the GRA (you may have experienced this when registering to vote/checking your driver history/dealing with HMRC outside of Public Department 1 etc.) This slowed down my Canadian PR application quite a bit, and in the end the Canadian High Commission in London asked me to deliver the required documents myself.

Also, make sure you have your full name history on your police certificate. I know they offer to hide your previous name on it, but USCIS might reject the certificate if it doesn't show it.

Re: K1 medical worries
 

:goodpost: This is also important advice.

Re: K1 medical worries
 

Re: K1 medical worries
 

I think a lawyer is a good idea, even if it just serves to put your mind at rest. J Craig Fong is frequently recommended on here, and he has experience with LGBT immigration. You may wish to consult with him.

Bear in mind I was an economic immigrant to Canada whereas you're using a family category, so things will be different. My application was also marginal, which triggered a visa interview at the consulate (Canada does not do this routinely, unlike the US). I forget which documents I provided and what they managed to get themselves, and I doubt they'd disclose their security procedures to an applicant anyway. I know I was asked for my birth certificate, and I offered the consular officer both (I still had the original copy). He mentioned something about the old one being a struggle for Ottawa to obtain themselves, although I'm not sure why as I believed the old one remained on record. He did ask me some questions off of my UK tax returns so I figure they managed to get those directly. When I submitted the original paperwork bundle to IRCC, I included my passport, my deed poll, and my ACRO certificate, along with other documents which won't be relevant to your K1 (degree certificates, employment history, IELTS test etc.)

Your name history sounds like a nightmare and I can see why you might not be able to document that. Mostly what they want to do is to run security checks against all your names, so the key is to declare them, even if you can't document them. But you must have a deed poll from your most recent deadname, so I would suggest that and your GRC are the two key documents, along with a sworn statement of names used in childhood (maybe have some unofficial proof as well such as school reports or medical records). But a lawyer can advise better than I can.

The percentage of millennials in the workforce is increasing, and the vast majority of us have a decent awareness of trans issues, so as long as you don't hide it, I don't foresee an issue with the case officers. I have a friend who used to be US diplomat and worked in USCIS before that, and she told me that her default position when looking at a petition was "how can I approve this?" rather than "how can I deny this?". And I would guess that a USCIS agent would understand your rationale for not declaring, even if you should have.

Re: K1 medical worries
 

RGH80's advice is good and valuable but do bear in mind, he went to Canada and you are going to the US. He did not use a marriage-based visa; you are.

Two different countries, two different immigration laws, two different types of visa.

Re: K1 medical worries
 

You're free to use a lawyer if you want, but I sincerely doubt it it necessary or that they will add any value, other than perhaps make you feel more "comfortable". Be aware that a lawyer may also complicate matters more than necessary, and/or otherwise louse up your application - that is certainly not unheard of here on BE.

In my opinion your application is quite straightforward, with the only "complication" being that you need to disclose multiple names used. Be aware that marriage visas are very rarely denied, and typically only because of someone's criminal record or drug usage. The only likely reason for "failing" a medical is having a communicable disease. So unless there are more aspects to your situation that you haven't disclosed (and I am not suggesting that you need to disclose more than you already have) your case doesn't really have any particularly complex issues.