Toward the end of the K1 process, the visa interview begins to loom large on the horizon. Many foreign fiancees find the time leading up to the visa interview to be a nerve wracking experience. A US Immigration attorney can be a boon to a foreign fiancee when the attorney is present in the fiancee’s country to provide guidance and moral support.
Many Thai Fiancees approach an impending visa interview with a sense of foreboding and fear. Some are concerned that they may inadvertently do or say something that will result in visa denial. Some are confused about what they need to bring to the interview. In rare situations, prospective K1 beneficiaries are worried about a precarious concern and would rather avoid disclosing it.
To those thinking about lying to the officers stationed at the American Embassy in Bangkok, be warned: consular officers are trained to be on the lookout for those wishing to use deceptive techniques in order to obtain a visa. If one is caught lying to a consular officer it could result in not only rejection of the present application, but a bar on entry to the United States for years. It is always a good decision to provide truthful answers to any of the consular officer’s questions.
For Thai fiancees and spouses who are fearful with regard to the visa interview the prospect of being interviewed can be daunting, but consular officers’ mandate is not to intimidate interviewees, but instead to ascertain if the applicant meets the legal requirements for visa obtainment. In reality, the Embassy interview is a method of facilitating a kind of due diligence with regard to the visa applicant in order to ascertain whether or not the visa application is based upon a bona fide relationship or if the alien is barred from the United States based upon a legal ground of inadmissibility.
It is a common occurrence for fiance visa applications to be denied pursuant to 221 g of the US Immigration and Nationality Act. The term “denial” is rather deceptive because a 221 g is not an outright denial, but is really a request for more documentation from the applicant. When a 221 g request is presented to the Thai fiancee it usually means that the petition was deficient in some way, usually some document is missing. The consular officer will remit a form to the Thai fiancee that stipulates what is missing and what needs to be presented in order for the consular section to process the K1 visa.
Should a fiancée receive a rejection due to the fact that the officer determined that the underlying relationship was a sham, then that determination probably cannot be appealed. However, should the consular officer deem the K1 visa applicant legally inadmissible to the USA, then there may be a waiver available for that ground of inadmissibility.
(It should be noted that the information contained in this piece should be used for educational purposes only and should not be used in lieu of individualized legal advice from a competent licensed attorney, no lawyer-client relationship is created by reading this article. One should always obtain legal advice from a competent licensed attorney.)