Noorah101

They only got engaged 2 months ago. I'm sure he's not even close to applying for the visa. In this scenario, no visa denial, since it would only be a cancelation of the petition, not the visa.

Rene

Pulaski

That's good news then.

ian-mstm

You have misunderstood more than that, I'm afraid. The K-1 will take about 8-10 months so yes, you likely won't have it in time to get married in August.


So... moving forward:

1) Your USC fiancée should contact USCIS and tell them she's cancelling the I-129F petition. There is no visa denial because you haven't yet applied for the visa - besides, you couldn't have applied for the visa until after the I-129F has been approved. That said, if she doesn't cancel the I-129F, it will die a natural death when there's been no response to it for a year.

2) It is perfectly legal for you to enter the US on ESTA, get married, and leave after the wedding.

3) After the wedding, you will start the process for a CR-1 spouse visa... the K-1 is dead in the water at that point because you will already be married. The CR-1 visa will take 8-10 months to process. Once you have the visa, you will immediately become a US permanent resident (= green card) the day you enter the US with that visa.

I see that you're concerned about problems entering the US when you come to get married. Sorry, but that's the chance you and everyone else takes when you ask permission to enter the US. It'll help to know that fewer than 1% of travelers are denied permission to enter when using ESTA. It is totally irrational for you to believe that you will be in that 1%.

Ian

Pulaski

I agree, with the sole exception that I believe the figure for "denied permission to enter" travelers from VWP countries is less than 0.1% (less than one person in one thousand).

PandK2016

Ok great - really helpful all, thanks for your comments

I think we've got it down to 2 main questions/options...

1. Should we cancel the K1, or should we just drag it out so its still processing when I go to america on a holiday?
2. If we do cancel the K1...how do we do that... and is there a risk it would then show up as 'denied' rather than just 'cancelled'?

Pulaski

The answers to these questions are already covered in posts #14-#18, above.

ian-mstm

If you get married, you will immediately invalidate the entire K-1 process. The K-1 specifically allows you to come to the US to get married and stay to adjust status. If you're already married, you can't get a K-1 visa. It's as simple as that. End of story.


You have already been given that information. Please read what has already been written.


You can't possibly get a denied visa prior to applying for a visa... and you haven't yet applied for a visa. A cancelled petition has no impact whatsoever on a visa. This has already been explained, and I have already outlined the way forward for you.

Ian

PandK2016

Hi,
Thanks for the reply - think I'm getting my head around it all.
The only confusing part, is that we have done the initial application for the K1 and its in the 2nd processing office...but that doesn't count as 'applying for the VISA' ? At what point would it stop becoming a petition and become a application for a VISA then?

ian-mstm

No, you haven't. That's why you're confused. The I-129F petition verifies the relationship between a US citizen and a non-US citizen. That's all. Once that relationship is verified, then you apply for the visa. You haven't yet applied for the visa and until you do, there can't possibly be a visa denial.


At no point does that happen. Those are two completely separate steps of the overall process. The petition doesn't magically turn into a visa application. Once the petition is approved, that's the end of that process... and you begin a new process when you then apply for the visa.

Ian

PandK2016

Ok great - thanks so much for the help Ian
So there's not actually any need to cancel anything, we just won't do anything more with the petition/application?

ian-mstm

Correct.

Ian