I-129f form - Potential pitfalls and misconceptions

I-129F form is a basis of your application and the whole case will be built to support information provided in it. Many people believe that the fiance visa process involves only I-129f form. This form is a framework of your fiance visa application, however, this framework itself must be built properly and the rest of the structure is rather complex. I am not even mentioning the rest of the process, which tends to be more difficult at the US Embassy stage as you as a Petitioner have very little control and your fiancee is left to battle with the rest of the process.

This article will concentrate on I-129F form pitfalls and potential problems. These are not preparation instructions as each case tends to be unique. I do advise utilizing the law firm, which will ensure that your application is prepared accordingly, however, there are some aspects that you may want to be aware of prior to initiation of the fiance visa process.

I-129F: Criminal Background Information Disclosed to foreign fiance

International Marriage Broker Act requires U.S. citizens petitioning to sponsor K1 visas to disclose convictions for a list of violent crimes on the I-129F petition form that they file with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, including convictions for domestic violence and assault and battery, as well as convictions for elder abuse, child abuse or neglect, and stalking; and multiple (three or more) convictions for offenses related to alcohol/controlled substances. USCIS must provide to a foreign fiancee a copy of the petitioner's I-129F form, together with any criminal background information (including information on protection orders) that USCIS has gathered on the petitioner under existing authority. USCIS must provide these materials to the foreign fiance. The U.S. consular officer conducting the K1 visa interview overseas must inform the foreign fiance that this information may not be complete.

I-129F: Physical meeting with your fiance.

You must have evidence of correspondence establishing that you had a formed intent to meet your fiancee when you traveled to your his/her country. Your relationship will not be considered strong if you have met your fiance while being on vacation and thereafter have decided to petition for him/her. In this event it would be advisable to make another trip to your fiance country.

I-129F: Have you ever filed for this or any other alien fiance?

If you did file for any other fiance in the past you must provide USCIS with an affidavit regarding the circumstances of your previous application. If the beneficiary for whom you have petitioned previously has arrived to the United States successfully and you married and thereafter divorced - you will be required to provide evidence that he/she has successfully adjusted status.

I-129F: My Citizenship was acquired through:

If you were born in the United States - you citizenship was acquired through birth in the United States.
Do not mark "Parents" unless you are an immigrant and your parents have applied for a certificate of citizenship for you before you have turned 18.

A# (alien number):

Only immigrants have alien numbers assigned to them. If you were born in the United States and your fiancee has never been in the United States - both of you will not have an A number.

Previous spouses:

There are only two boxes for previous spouses on I-129f form. However, in case you have been married more than 2 times - it does not imply that you have to include only two divorce decrees. You will required to provide all final divorce decrees for all of your prior marriages.

U.S. Embassy abroad you want to have your case processed at:

Not all U.S. Embassies or Consulates process K1 visas. Typically, there is only one U.S. Embassy in each country that processes fiance visas. There are only few countries that have two U.S. Embassies that handle fiance visa: Canada, China, India and only a few more.

REFERENCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMBRA