The USCIS recently made public a K-1 visa opinion from an applicant who sought to obtain a waiver to the K-1’s meeting requirement. Due to a lack of evidence demonstrating that a K-1 waiver was appropriate, the applicant was denied and his Pakistani fiancee could not enter the United States to marry him. K-1 visa lawyer Chris Gafner has reviewed the K-1 visa opinion and believes it clearly demonstrates why a couple seeking a waiver to the K-1’s meeting requirement should obtain counsel’s help.
As way of background, the K-1 visa allows for a fiancee (or fiance) of a U.S. citizen to enter into the United States for the sole purpose of marrying. The K-1 visa requires that a couple have met within the two years immediately before the K-1 application is filed. The requirement can be waived in two instances – if it would cause extreme hardship to the petitioner, or if it would violate the beneficiary’s long-standing customs and cultures.
In the recently released K1 case, the K-1 visa petitioner attempted to claim that the meeting requirement would violate the beneficiary’s long standing and strict customs, and would cause the petitioner extreme hardship. However, the k1 couple failed to provide adequate evidence. The k1 petitioner stated that he feared for his safety in traveling to Pakistan to visit his fiancee. However, he failed to provide any substantive evidence of the risks he faced. Additionally, the k1 beneficiary claimed that it was against her customs for the two to meet. The couple provided letters from the leaders of her religious community, however, the letters failed to properly show why the meeting would violate long standing tradition and custom.
The K-1 opinion is available on the USCIS website. K-1 visa lawyer Chris Gafner was not counsel to the petitioner in this case.