Sam Shults

My wife finally got her visa interview for August 2nd and we were so happy.
She brought:

1. Marriage certificate (certified copy)
2. Pictures of us together (including when I visited her in China in
January although there weren't many of us together),
3. A letter I wrote to her while in Air Force basic training
4. A letter from my employer stating my annual income and the fact that she
is covered on my medical insurance
5. My plane ticket from when I visited in January

She was denied. The reason given is: "You have been found ineligible for
an immigrant visa under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act. We have carefully reviewed your application for an immigrant visa based
upon your relationship to the petitioner. Although we have thoroughly
reviewed the particular facts of your case and the evidence you have
provided, you have failed to establish that a bona fide relationship exists
between you and your petitioner. Should you have further evidence of the
bona fides of your relationship to the petitioner, you are welcome to submit
that evidence."

We were crushed. I had confidence she would pass this easily. So now we
started gathering a little more information. They wouldn't tell us what
proof we needed but I asked my friends and family to write a letter stating
how we didn't hide our marriage and how much we loved each other and how
much I talked about her while she was gone. We got 1 letter via email and
decided to use that and some other things and try again 2 days later. We
had that letter, phone logs from 2.5 months showing I call her almost every
night and some of our emails and instant messages. She submitted those and
we waited a day for the result. Denied again, same reason.

We're very frustrated and have no idea what they want from us. We're going
to try one more time and if that fails, I'll have to get a teaching job in
China just to be near my wife. It's been 7 months since I've seen her and I
miss her terribly.

For the third time we're going to have this evidence:

1. Information showing that she is on my checking account
2. Medical insurance card
3. Phone bills from last October (when she had to go back to China) showing
I call her almost every single night (maybe miss 1 night every month).
4. Original marriage certificate
5. Bank statement (which won't be all that impressive. I don't have much
money in it)
6. Photocopy of my passport that shows I went to China
7. Email letter from company showing I was considering teaching in China
just to be near my wife.
8. Signed letters from friends and family about our relationship (more than
just that 1 emailed copy)
9. Letters from my wife while I was in basic training
10. My own letter telling the consulate about our relationship.

But what else can I do? I'm afraid they'll deny her visa again. My wife
insists they are denying the visa because she isn't on my checking account
and we don't have a medical insurance card for her. She thinks those show
that we are actually a married couple and serious about it. I don't think
that's what is causing the denials. I'm still going to put her on the
account since she's my wife and of course I'll send the physical copy of her
medical insurance card but there has to be something else. What are we
missing?

The bad things are we got married very quickly and the original interviewer
even mentioned about it. We got married maybe 1.5 months after initially
meeting. The other possible red flag was that she was on a K1 visa for
someone else originally (had known him for 1.5-2 years) but he was a jerk
and decided not to marry him. I think these are the two reasons they are
denying the visa, not the financial stuff.

Please help. We're very frustrated about what they want from us.

Jessica Simpson

    > But what else can I do? I'm afraid they'll deny her
    >visa again. My wife insists they are denying the visa
    >because she isn't on my checking account
    > and we don't have a medical insurance card for her.
    > The bad things are we got married very quickly and
    >the original interviewer even mentioned about it. We
    >got married maybe 1.5 months after initially meeting.
    >The other possible red flag was that she was on a K1
    >visa for someone else originally (had known him for
    >1.5-2 years)

Has it seriously occurred to you that she may be taking you for a ride?
Saying she's denied a visa because she doesn't have access to your checking
account? Married a month or so after you met? After being on a K1 visa from
someone else? These are alarm bells for the INS, and they should be.

Having said all that, the thing to do is to enlist your family and friends
to start writing your congressman and senators to generate some pressure. So
far, you haven't done anything to give them any disincentive for refusing
your visa. Believe it or not, contacting your rep. or senators can be very
effective in situations like yours.

Sam Shults

Ms. Simpson,

Thanks for the reply. Honestly, I thought of all that when we met for the
very first time. But I knew her situation and other details before getting
married. I'm 100% sure that she is not trying to take my money. I don't
have much and she knows that. I appreciate the concern but that's not it.
However, I'm sure that is what the consulate is worried about and I don't
blame them but in our case it's just not true.

My parents said the same thing about writing to congressmen & senators. If
our third try with the consulate doesn't work then I'll try that process.
I'll probably also take two weeks to visit my wife in China again. I'm glad
I got someone else to second the idea. If you have time, could you give me
a little more information on what I would do? Would I need to ask my family
to write letters or just me? And would we all write to the people in my
state? My family is spread out a little and I'm the only one in Washington
state.

Thanks again.


"Jessica Simpson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:qEkRc.227119$IQ4.207362@attbi_s02...
    > > But what else can I do? I'm afraid they'll deny her
    > >visa again. My wife insists they are denying the visa
    > >because she isn't on my checking account
    > > and we don't have a medical insurance card for her.
    > >
    > > The bad things are we got married very quickly and
    > >the original interviewer even mentioned about it. We
    > >got married maybe 1.5 months after initially meeting.
    > >The other possible red flag was that she was on a K1
    > >visa for someone else originally (had known him for
    > >1.5-2 years)
    > Has it seriously occurred to you that she may be taking you for a ride?
    > Saying she's denied a visa because she doesn't have access to your
checking
    > account? Married a month or so after you met? After being on a K1 visa
from
    > someone else? These are alarm bells for the INS, and they should be.
    > Having said all that, the thing to do is to enlist your family and friends
    > to start writing your congressman and senators to generate some pressure.
So
    > far, you haven't done anything to give them any disincentive for refusing
    > your visa. Believe it or not, contacting your rep. or senators can be very
    > effective in situations like yours.

Capt. Tuttle

Is this the same person you asked about just over a year ago in another
Newsgroup?
That might have something to do with the denial.
Or, am I just feeding the troll?

From: Sam Shults
<http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&c2coff=1&q=author:solicit%40seijin.net+>
([email protected] <mailto:solicit%40seijin.net>)
Subject: Hopefully easy visa question


Newsgroups: alt.visa.us
<http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&c2coff=1&group=alt.visa.us>
Date: 2003-05-15 10:37:27 PST

Hi,

I couldn't quite figure out what to put in the header. Hopefully this
is an easy question for people here. I have a Japanese female penpal (28)
that I plan on hosting here in the states. The idea is I teach her English
and American culture and she teaches me Japanese. She has her passport &
everything and has been to California and Hawaii for vacation so that's all
in order. I'm just curious if there's a type of visa she is able to get for
this situation or if I'll just have to use the 90 days provided under the
visa waiver program?

Unless something happens, I'd like to be able to invite her over for 6
months rather than the 3 provided with the VWP.

Sam

Ironman6626

It appears you've got an interviewer weilding a power hungry attitude. Get your Senators office involved immediatly. If necessary have other family members accompany you there to the office. This appears to be you're only recourse now. Later, Troy.

Sam Shults

I'm not a troll. There were two different visa situations I was looking at.
Before I met my wife i was considering doing a short term stay in Japan and
was curious about that situation. I met my wife almost exactly a year ago
and we started the visa process late September. She's the same one I've
asked about since then.

This is a real problem I'm dealing with here.


"Capt. Tuttle" <TuttleMD@M*A*S*H.4077> wrote in message
news:[email protected] hlink.net...
    > Is this the same person you asked about just over a year ago in another
    > Newsgroup?
    > That might have something to do with the denial.
    > Or, am I just feeding the troll?
    > From: Sam Shults
<http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...=author:solici
t%40seijin.net+>
    > ([email protected] <mailto:solicit%40seijin.net>)
    > Subject: Hopefully easy visa question
    > Newsgroups: alt.visa.us
<http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...group=alt.visa.
us>
    > Date: 2003-05-15 10:37:27 PST
    > Hi,
    > I couldn't quite figure out what to put in the header. Hopefully this
    > is an easy question for people here. I have a Japanese female penpal (28)
    > that I plan on hosting here in the states. The idea is I teach her
English
    > and American culture and she teaches me Japanese. She has her passport &
    > everything and has been to California and Hawaii for vacation so that's
all
    > in order. I'm just curious if there's a type of visa she is able to get
for
    > this situation or if I'll just have to use the 90 days provided under the
    > visa waiver program?
    > Unless something happens, I'd like to be able to invite her over for 6
    > months rather than the 3 provided with the VWP.
    > Sam

Ironman6626

Sam,
I want to follow this VERY CAREFULLY! I'm in exactly the same situation as you. Except that my wife is in Russia. I'd like to compare some more notes and maybe discuss this over the phone. [email protected]
Later, Troy.

Capt. Tuttle

Sam Shults wrote:

    >I'm not a troll. There were two different visa situations I was looking at.
    >Before I met my wife i was considering doing a short term stay in Japan and
    >was curious about that situation. I met my wife almost exactly a year ago
    >and we started the visa process late September. She's the same one I've
    >asked about since then.
    >This is a real problem I'm dealing with here.
    >"Capt. Tuttle" <TuttleMD@M*A*S*H.4077> wrote in message
    >news:[email protected] thlink.net...
    >
    >>Is this the same person you asked about just over a year ago in another
    >>Newsgroup?
    >>That might have something to do with the denial.
    >>Or, am I just feeding the troll?
    >>From: Sam Shults
    >>
    ><http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...=author:solici
    >t%40seijin.net+>
    >
    >>([email protected] <mailto:solicit%40seijin.net>)
    >>Subject: Hopefully easy visa question
    >>Newsgroups: alt.visa.us
    >>
    ><http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...group=alt.visa.
    >us>
    >
    >>Date: 2003-05-15 10:37:27 PST
    >>Hi,
    >> I couldn't quite figure out what to put in the header. Hopefully this
    >>is an easy question for people here. I have a Japanese female penpal (28)
    >>that I plan on hosting here in the states. The idea is I teach her
    >>
    >English
    >
    >>and American culture and she teaches me Japanese. She has her passport &
    >>everything and has been to California and Hawaii for vacation so that's
    >>
    >all
    >
    >>in order. I'm just curious if there's a type of visa she is able to get
    >>
    >for
    >
    >>this situation or if I'll just have to use the 90 days provided under the
    >>visa waiver program?
    >> Unless something happens, I'd like to be able to invite her over for 6
    >>months rather than the 3 provided with the VWP.
    >>Sam
    >>
    >

With the denial and the past visa I think your best bet is going to be
to get an attorney. Things have really gotten difficult and I think
professional help is in order.

Zenas

The fact that she was doing another visa for a different person sends up BIG RED FLAGS for the interviewer.

I think you are going to need a lawyer. Perhaps, you can move there for a few years, and show your marriage sustainability. It's going to take more than 1 year anyways, to get this sorted out if she's denied again.

Hypertweeky

I am so sorry to hear about the denial Sam
All I can think of is.. Hire a lawyer!
Good Luck and keep us updated please!!
Take care!

inquisitive40

Is not your money, it is her green card. My SO was married to a Navy Commander for many years and there was a nickname for US military overseas (can't remember the name) but basically a lot of women see them as targets, particularly the younger kids in the Navy etc, young, some are first time away from home and lonely, VERY east pickings.

I hope I am wrong, BUT I think the USCIS may have saved you some heartache down the road.

Patrick

donahso

Sam, GZ can be that way. Save the lawyer money and get a ticket; that is the most common way to overcome a GZ rejection.

Also, check out http://candleforlove.com where you will find stories about others who have been in your shoes. Good Luck.

linda94002

Sam,

I am sorry for your K3 vida Denied. If your marriage is real. I mean you really love your wife. There is a GOOD way to save the trouble. YOU GO TO GZ immidiately with your wife, together with all documents, evidence. It is tough for Chinese to get immigrate via. As I know some of same tough case. they finally get the visa when the husband went to see the consulate. Whatever you do here in US won't help much. INS is testing your relationship. You can ask your wife to visit a Chinese immigration forum for help. There are some girls with same experiance

http://www.chat001.com/forum/jessi99/index.html

They talk in Chinese. very helpful forum.

Good Luck

spouse

I am sorry to hear about your denials. But if you truly love each other, I am sure you will be able to overcome this.

In addition to the information you are already planning on including - Put her on your bank accounts (you can get an ITIN number for her in the States and use that). Include pictures of your wedding (it doesn't sound like you did this!) Take her on a late honeymoon, and show pictures. If possible put her on other bills, phone bills, rental contract, utilities, just about anything that shows that the two of you are together. Heck, get a credit card, and put her on it as an authorized user (giving her a second credit card). All of this shows that you are really sharing your life together - and/or plan to do so. For good measure get a US savings bond in both of your names - even if it is only 50 dollars. Contact your congressman/senator - whichever seems to be the most sympathetic, have them write to the consulate and request EXACTLY what type of proof you need or use any excuse to get them in contact with the consulate. Get a plane ticket, go over there for the next interview, and walk in with her - hold her hand, look lovey dovey.

I would say that if this is going to be your last attempt, take a little extra time and go all out! Get every bit of evidence that you can, do everything you can to do this right and get it approved. It may take some extra time to get it all together, but the approval will be worth it - unless for some reason you really want to move to China....

If you can do anything, that shows plans for the future (I don't know make reservations somewhere for your first anniversary, or something to that effect - it can't hurt you.) At this point, just go overboard, anything and everything that you can think of - include (especially those things which are a part of your every day life). If they end up feeling like they don't want to look through that much evidence they will pretty much have to approve her!!!!

The financial stuff actually could have a bearing on things, as I see it. A "normal" married couple shares accounts, credit cards, bills, everything. Thus, these types of things "prove" the reality of a relationship. On the other hand, if none of these things are shared, then it makes it a lot easier to get out of a relationship, and involves a lot less risk, making it less likely that the marriage is real.

just out of curiousity, she didn't overstay her K1 visa did she? because that could put a whole other twist to the story!

I wish you the best of luck and hope that everything works out for you...

Sam Shults

"spouse" <member8699@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
    > > My wife finally got her visa interview for August 2nd and we were so
    > > happy.
    > > She brought:
    > >
    > > 1. Marriage certificate (certified copy)
    > > 2. Pictures of us together (including when I visited her in China in
    > > January although there weren't many of us together),
    > > 3. A letter I wrote to her while in Air Force basic training
    > > 4. A letter from my employer stating my annual income and the fact
    > > that she
    > > is covered on my medical insurance
    > > 5. My plane ticket from when I visited in January
    > >
    > > She was denied. The reason given is: "You have been found ineligible
    > > for
    > > an immigrant visa under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and
    > > Nationality
    > > Act. We have carefully reviewed your application for an immigrant visa
    > > based
    > > upon your relationship to the petitioner. Although we have thoroughly
    > > reviewed the particular facts of your case and the evidence you have
    > > provided, you have failed to establish that a bona fide relationship
    > > exists
    > > between you and your petitioner. Should you have further evidence of
    > > the
    > > bona fides of your relationship to the petitioner, you are welcome to
    > > submit
    > > that evidence."
    > >
    > > We were crushed. I had confidence she would pass this easily. So now
    > > we
    > > started gathering a little more information. They wouldn't tell us
    > > what
    > > proof we needed but I asked my friends and family to write a letter
    > > stating
    > > how we didn't hide our marriage and how much we loved each other and
    > > how
    > > much I talked about her while she was gone. We got 1 letter via email
    > > and
    > > decided to use that and some other things and try again 2 days later.
    > > We
    > > had that letter, phone logs from 2.5 months showing I call her almost
    > > every
    > > night and some of our emails and instant messages. She submitted
    > > those and
    > > we waited a day for the result. Denied again, same reason.
    > >
    > > We're very frustrated and have no idea what they want from us. We're
    > > going
    > > to try one more time and if that fails, I'll have to get a teaching
    > > job in
    > > China just to be near my wife. It's been 7 months since I've seen her
    > > and I
    > > miss her terribly.
    > >
    > > For the third time we're going to have this evidence:
    > >
    > > 1. Information showing that she is on my checking account
    > > 2. Medical insurance card
    > > 3. Phone bills from last October (when she had to go back to China)
    > > showing
    > > I call her almost every single night (maybe miss 1 night every
    > > month).
    > > 4. Original marriage certificate
    > > 5. Bank statement (which won't be all that impressive. I don't have
    > > much
    > > money in it)
    > > 6. Photocopy of my passport that shows I went to China
    > > 7. Email letter from company showing I was considering teaching in
    > > China
    > > just to be near my wife.
    > > 8. Signed letters from friends and family about our relationship
    > > (more than
    > > just that 1 emailed copy)
    > > 9. Letters from my wife while I was in basic training
    > > 10. My own letter telling the consulate about our relationship.
    > >
    > > But what else can I do? I'm afraid they'll deny her visa again. My
    > > wife
    > > insists they are denying the visa because she isn't on my checking
    > > account
    > > and we don't have a medical insurance card for her. She thinks those
    > > show
    > > that we are actually a married couple and serious about it. I don't
    > > think
    > > that's what is causing the denials. I'm still going to put her on the
    > > account since she's my wife and of course I'll send the physical copy
    > > of her
    > > medical insurance card but there has to be something else. What are
    > > we
    > > missing?
    > >
    > > The bad things are we got married very quickly and the original
    > > interviewer
    > > even mentioned about it. We got married maybe 1.5 months after
    > > initially
    > > meeting. The other possible red flag was that she was on a K1 visa
    > > for
    > > someone else originally (had known him for 1.5-2 years) but he was a
    > > jerk
    > > and decided not to marry him. I think these are the two reasons they
    > > are
    > > denying the visa, not the financial stuff.
    > >
    > > Please help. We're very frustrated about what they want from us.
    > I am sorry to hear about your denials. But if you truly love each
    > other, I am sure you will be able to overcome this.
    > In addition to the information you are already planning on including -
    > Put her on your bank accounts (you can get an ITIN number for her in
    > the States and use that). Include pictures of your wedding (it doesn't
    > sound like you did this!) Take her on a late honeymoon, and show
    > pictures. If possible put her on other bills, phone bills, rental
    > contract, utilities, just about anything that shows that the two of you
    > are together. Heck, get a credit card, and put her on it as an
    > authorized user (giving her a second credit card). All of this shows
    > that you are really sharing your life together - and/or plan to do so.
    > For good measure get a US savings bond in both of your names - even if
    > it is only 50 dollars. Contact your congressman/senator - whichever
    > seems to be the most sympathetic, have them write to the consulate and
    > request EXACTLY what type of proof you need or use any excuse to get
    > them in contact with the consulate. Get a plane ticket, go over there
    > for the next interview, and walk in with her - hold her hand, look
    > lovey dovey.
    > I would say that if this is going to be your last attempt, take a little
    > extra time and go all out! Get every bit of evidence that you can, do
    > everything you can to do this right and get it approved. It may take
    > some extra time to get it all together, but the approval will be worth
    > it - unless for some reason you really want to move to China....
    > If you can do anything, that shows plans for the future (I don't know
    > make reservations somewhere for your first anniversary, or something to
    > that effect - it can't hurt you.) At this point, just go overboard,
    > anything and everything that you can think of - include (especially
    > those things which are a part of your every day life). If they end up
    > feeling like they don't want to look through that much evidence they
    > will pretty much have to approve her!!!!
    > The financial stuff actually could have a bearing on things, as I see
    > it. A "normal" married couple shares accounts, credit cards, bills,
    > everything. Thus, these types of things "prove" the reality of a
    > relationship. On the other hand, if none of these things are shared,
    > then it makes it a lot easier to get out of a relationship, and involves
    > a lot less risk, making it less likely that the marriage is real.
    > just out of curiousity, she didn't overstay her K1 visa did she?
    > because that could put a whole other twist to the story!
    > I wish you the best of luck and hope that everything works out
    > for you...
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

What a lot of great information! Thank you. She did bring our wedding
pictures - on the first visit for the interview. Also, I just added her to
my credit card and they should be issuing a duplicate card for her soon.

Also, I called my senators today and spoke to a young lady that was very
helpful. She mentioned that right now they seem very strict in China and
Taiwan because of mail order brides and slave trafficking. But she also
sounded sympathetic and said if I were to write up a letter explaining the
circumstances then there was a chance they could also issue a letter for me
to include in our next "interview". I think that would be extremely
helpful. I'm writing a letter to fax to them tomorrow morning. Also asking
for the senators to push at the consulate a little would be helpful if we
fail our third try.

I'd like to go over for the next time my wife goes to the consulate but I'm
not sure I can break away in a very short period of time. I'm curious -
what are my rights in that situation? My wife now no longer interviews with
anyone. She submits the new information and then waits a day for their
response. If I were to go with her, could I request to speak to someone
about our case when she submits the proof? Or maybe take the proof with me
to speak to someone? I have a feeling they may just ask for the proof and
tell us to come back tomorrow.

And no, my wife didn't overstay the K1. She left a day before it expired.

Thanks again for all the help! I think my wife will be trying again around
the 23rd of August so hopefully I'll have good news around then.