Question on immigrating boyfriend (fiance) from the UK

[Bioautographica]

My boyfriend lives in London. He just got back from visiting me for a month. We met through the internet, as we both have internet jobs, over three years ago. During this time I was married; actually, I legally still am. Before anything became romantic, I had separated from my husband, although not legally. We basically just packed up our belongings and moved out, although both of us were so busy that - and don't ask, I really don't know why - we barely even thought of the paperwork to get divorced. We worked out custody of our son ourselves, we had no assets or debts to divide, we've been living like divorced people for awhile now - but we're just still married on paper. This is something I'm working on completing right now. My boyfriend knows all about it (in fact, when my ex was busy not listening to me when I had problems with our relationship, my current boyfriend is who I would talk to).

What I'm wondering is, since it sounds like immigration will ask for proof of my divorce in the divorce documents, will they be less likely to approve my boyfriend's visa if they look at how recently I got divorced only to now attempt bringing in my boyfriend? I'll happily explain, but are they known for being moral sticklers who would deny a petition because - oh no - we interacted and eventually fell in love even while I was still legally married? Do they take things like that into account?

Also - do the interviewers ACTUALLY ask "trick" questions? I've seen some sources that say yes, although they're asking for money, making me less likely to trust them. I've also seen some sources say no, and they AREN'T asking for money. Or is there just a subjective snag on what some people would consider "trick" questions? I love my boyfriend and want to be with him - while we both philosophically don't believe in marriage, we'll get married to be together. So it's not like we don't have an ACTUAL relationship; we both know each other inside out. I'd just like to know that some pencil-pusher at INS isn't going to attempt "tricking" us somehow, as we're not trying to trick them. We're in love, he wants to move here. Simple as.

Any advice?

 

[seniorjudge]

Q: What I'm wondering is, since it sounds like immigration will ask for proof of my divorce in the divorce documents, will they be less likely to approve my boyfriend's visa if they look at how recently I got divorced only to now attempt bringing in my boyfriend?

A: What did the bureaucrats who approve visas say when you asked them your question?

 

[Bioautographica]

Er - I haven't asked them yet. I believe "asking that question", in effect, equals to putting in the application. It's not like I'm NOT going to apply either way, I'm just curious as to if anyone has any experience with that and know if they're prone to care about that.

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

As long as you are legally divorced when you petition for your boyfriend, there will be no questions as to when you got divorced relative to meeting him, etc.

As for trick questions, there are no trick questions. There are just questions to ascertain the bona fide nature of the relationship so if it is, in fact, bona fide, there should be no issues.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or how I can be of further assistance to you in this matter.

 

[Bioautographica]

Thanks a lot, Lana. Actually, I do have another question -

1.) I know I'll have to prove my income as I'll be financially sponsoring him here. Will HE be asked to furnish things like past tax returns? I ask because, well . . . he's a brilliant guy, great writer and basically an entertainer, but is a bit naive about more real-world stuff like finances and the like. He's had jobs, lived with his family up until he was about 21 years old, but they were all small part-time jobs and, as far as he was aware, his employers in the UK never sent him things akin to the W-2s we receive at the end of the year in America. So, honestly, he's never really . . . filed taxes. If they ask for any income tax returns from him, he won't have any to give. (I was just as amazed by this as you probably are). He's basically the starving artist type, so it's not like he nefariously tried to duck taxes, he just honestly didn't know he owed any. And if an employer never asks tax information or sends out that kind of info at the end of the fiscal year, then how WOULD one know?

So, is it likely that income is going to be as much of an issue for him as it will be for me? I'm perfectly at the ready to prove how much I make in order to be his financial sponsor. I'm hoping I'm correct in assuming that they're more concerned with his criminal record, health (as far as communicable diseases), and lack of terrorist affiliations.

2). What is considered "hard evidence" of a long-distance relationship? He just got back from a month-long visit here, so we've got photographs of us together. He and I were basically members of an online community based around his personal website, so we've got mutual friends who know of our past together. We do have IM chatlogs, although I wouldn't want to show immigration ALL of the content (y'know, sort of private). He's got several emails proving he's text-messaged my cell phone many times since I got it in November of 2006. We have no phone bills because we're not dumb enough to pay international phone rates; we use the free web service Skype to talk to each other.

We're both basically cheap, internet savvy people who met through our jobs - we didn't write physical flowery letters through snail mail, we don't call each other long distance over the phone. What things will they accept as hard evidence, besides photographs of us together during his visit?

 

[ImmigAttyLana]

1. Only you would have to furnish the financials as the petitioner/sponsor; he will not need to furnish anything in this regard. If your income is not sufficient, you will have to get a co-sponsor
2. You will have to furnish proof of your having met in satisfaction of the fiance visa petition requirements and that the relationship is bona fide. For different couples this type of evidence will be different but at the very least, certainly things like airline tickets, credit card receipts in both places, phone call records, photos, etc. would be a good start as far as starting to gather the necessary evidence.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or how I can be of further assistance to you in this matter.

 

[Karena899]

Hey There I have recently just received my US permanent visa from the department so I fully understand what you are going through right now. It can be a very daunting process.

I was previously married as well and recieved my divorce papers from my first husband 2 weeks before I left for the US with my US born fiance. I entered the US on the Visa Waiver program which enabled me to stay in the US for 90 days. My fiance and I married in the first week that I was here and lodged the Permanent visa paperwork soon after. Once this paperwork was lodged I could stay in the US while I waited for approval and was approved within 9-10 months.

As far as the whole paperwork process is concerned, you will need to provide divorce papers if you plan to apply for a fiance visa or a spousal visa. My husband also had to provide his tax statements from previous years as well and provide proof of income/employment. This was done on a separate statement form and I DID NOT have to provide any evidence of my financial status.

Your fiance from the UK will also have to have medical paperwork filled out by a specified Immigration doctor and my tests involved HIV/Aids Test, blood work, TB Test and up to date vaccinations. Biometrics also need to be taken at a prior arranged date.

All this paperwork should be in your Immigration folder or can be downloaded from the US Immigration Website.

As far as the interview is concerned, which is the last process, there are no trick questions. All up my interview lasted for a total of 10 minutes and basically they just went over our application paperwork, made sure that they recieved all the required supporting documents and answered any question we may have had. They ask no trick personal questions such as what is your partners favourite colour or their birthdate etc which I thought would be the case.

At the interview you will also need to provide evidence of your relationship. This can be done through personal photos of the 2 of you, correspondece you may have had over the years through letters or emails as well as through any joint accounts or bills that you may have together. In my case we had a bunch of photos and letters - no bills or accounts that we have together. They considered these items as providing hard evidence of a relationship.

Anyways I have gone on and on. If you want you can email me at [email protected] if you have any other questions in the process or just want someone to talk to.

Karen

 

[evcalyptos]

A K-1 fiance visa from the UK is one of the easiest in the world to get. Meeting on the internet is becoming more common for this visa than meeting in real life! Your divorce situation isn't uncommon either.. in fact, once you start looking around you'll probably be amazed at how many people like you two there are.

Re: his taxes, first of all, UKCs don't do returns in the same way that we do, and taxes are generally under the PAYE system and taken out before he gets his pay anyway. And, his financials are not really at issue here. It's you who will have to show that he will not become a public charge. You can read more about this and how you show it in this article:
I-134 and Overcoming the Public Charge Issue
http://www.familybasedimmigration.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28

Just focus on the evidence you need to file your petition: proof that you are a US citizen and that you have met each other in person some time in the past 2 years.
Ongoing relationship stuff can be presented at the interview, if necessary.

good luck, it's not as hard as you might think, but pay attention to detail (and get that divorce final before you apply!)