Likelihood of waiver approval - Kenya

[exploradora]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and have looked around quite a bit. My partner is from Kenya and was deported 3 years ago for overstaying a visa. He has a 10 year ban. We met in Kenya and have a baby together. We want to get married, but we're a little uncertain of the best route to take if we want to live in the U.S. I'm in the U.S., he's in Kenya. We are trying to figure out if we should apply for a K-1 fiance visa or marry in Kenya and go the K-3 route.

Question 1:
Can we file for a K-1 visa if has a 10 year ban or do we have to be married and go the K-3 route? I've received differing opinions from 2 lawyers and 1 immigration officer. Some say it's impossible to apply for a K-1 with a ban.


I know that either way, we'll have to file waivers (both 212 and 601, I believe).

Question 2:
Are Kenyan citizens often approved for the 212 and 601 waivers?

I talked to an immigration officer at USCIS via the phone today and she basically told me not to waste my/our money because he won't be approved. Her reasoning was that our daughter was conceived/born after he left the U.S. (through deportation) and that we are not financially dependent on him.

Is this true? I thought there are other types of hardships - like safety, medical, eduation, etc that we can use.


This is such a huge process! Thank you in advance for any feedback. I will keep on reading the forums and links for answers as well.

Best,

E.D.

[Laura]

We were just talking about this the other day. You can absolutely do waivers (I-601 and I-212) as fiances, you do not need to marry. If you look here there are posts about filing waivers as fiances (http://immigrate2us.net/forum/showthread.php?t=17569&page=3), including sections of the law and memos discussing it.

As far as the process itself, I don't know how many people we have had here with waivers going through Kenya, so it's hard to say how strict they are. Generally, if a person has unlawful presence and deportation (and not misrepresentation or criminal issues) it's easier to get waivers approved.

You can be creative with your arguments. The fact that you had a baby in the U.S. without him is not some sort of game-ender. You should go for it!

You might want to consult with Laurel Scott, she's very experienced with waivers all over the world. She can help you brainstorm hardship ideas too. If you are going to hire an attorney you can't go wrong with her for this sort of case.

visacentral.net is her site.

Welcome again - best of luck!

[exploradora]

Thank you, Laura! I really appreciate your thoughts on the topic and the link to the other thread.

I'm relieved we can do a fiance visa. The immigration officer had me in tears this morning.

Have a good day!

[douginguam]

Hi everyone,

My partner was deported for overstaying a visa. He has a 10 year ban.
We want to get married. I'm in the U.S., he's in Kenya. We are trying to figure out if we should apply for a K-1 fiance visa or marry in Kenya and go the K-3 route.....

E.D.

E.D.
1. From what I have observed there no advantage in not getting married. The reason for doing a K-1 is (should be) that your fiance can get a non immigrant visa entry to the US (quicker) and then adjust status inisde the USA later. The evidence is that it is not faster. He still has to go through all the visa processing with K-1.
With the 10 year bar in place and the need for an I-212 & I-601 waiver, nothing is going to happen fast anyway - 12 to 18 months+.
I think that makes K-1 pointless (and you will have to pay another $1010 to adjust status under form I-485) and so the simple I-130 route becomes most effective (for cost and speed).
2. I don't know about Kenya specifically but I doubt Kenya makes that much difference - it should be very easy to prove some additional country based hardships for a US Citizen and her baby there.
3. What the imigration officer said just does not ring true if you read around this site. Soundly based, well written, evidence based, clear arguments (along with a baby of the union that needs a fathers love and support) and simple overstay seem to result in more than 75% approval.

:go:You can do it:go:

[exploradora]

Douginguam,

That is pretty much what one of the lawyers said in a consultation. You're good. :)

I'm going to Kenya next month. My fiance is dying to meet his daughter - he hasn't met her yet in person. I'll be there for 3 weeks, which is kind of cutting it close for being able to marry there (you have to go, register, wait 2 weeks, then you can marry). Hopefully, Kenyan bureaucracy will cooperate with us if we go the K-3 route. It probably makes most sense since marriage is the end result either way, and that is what we want.

This is all kind of scary! Government and law scare me. I can do it...I can do it...

[Zia80]

Dear E.D.,

Our case scenario's are only alike in the sense that we both have young children and are separated from our significant others. After being on this site I have been able to overcome doubt, fear and denial only to find strength and a strong will to file and get an approval eventually.

If I can , so can you!

Welcome, and don't worry, things WILL work out.

Zia80

[kilimanjaro]

douginguam,

Just wondering if you had to overcome vaivers as well and how fast did that go for you???

Thanks

[douginguam]

douginguam,

Just wondering if you had to overcome vaivers as well and how fast did that go for you???

Thanks

kilimanjaro,
about 9 months from start I-130 to visa interview (denied). 4 further months for waiver approval.
the timeline is in my signature

[kilimanjaro]

Douginguam,

Your experience is amaizingly fast with those waivers approvals. Is this a norm from Guam? Because the average timeline everywhere else is 6-7 months...

Congratulations

[douginguam]

Douginguam,

Your experience is amaizingly fast with those waivers approvals. Is this a norm from Guam? Because the average timeline everywhere else is 6-7 months...

Congratulations

Our waiver was approved through Bangkok. (Guam is a part of the "good old" US of A - or as they like to say in Guam "the place where America's day begins").

Waiver times vary throughout the world, and across the years in the same embassy, from weeks to months to many many months. Bangkok has been as fast as 24 days in the past, but is currently quoting "about 6 months". In Mexico (CDJ) , waivers can be granted at an interview (special system in Mexico), but then the approved can wait a few more months to actually get the visa stamp in their passport. Other countries have been known to take 18 months+ for a review. The easiest place to get a feel for this is in Pinkpig's waiver results spreadsheet (I would link but I don't know how).
I know 4 months was an awful long time for my wife to wait - though not so long now that she is headed back to the USA (=Guam:wink:).
:go: Good luck - I hope your waiver comes, as soon as it can. :go: