QUESTION
If my fiancé has violated immigration law before, will this affect her chance of getting a k1 visa?
Asked on Aug 09th, 2017 on Immigration - Georgia
More details to this question:
In October 2015, my fiancé travelled to the US with her 8 year-old-kid on tourist visas to visit her daughter. Then when she came to visit me, I suggested her to stay a little bit longer that the kid went to school. He did for 3 months. Then they came back before their 6-month entry ended. When they came back to the US after 2 weeks to attend her daughter's graduation, they were stopped at the port of entry. They said that the little kid went to school and that's illegal. She was asked if she still wanted to stay but then she chose to go back. They said she could still apply for a visa. We've been together for 4 years and we just filed our petition mid-June and received our NOA1 on June 23rd. We're still waiting for our NOA2. The agent that we've hired for our petition said that our evidence and proofs of a true relationship are very strong. Will the event in the past affect her chance of getting k1 visa for her and k2 visas for her kids? We've been together for long time and our relationship is genuine.
1 ANSWER
Although not completely clear from your email, it sounds like your fiance never overstayed her authorized time in the U.S., and if the fiance petition was properly prepared and well documented I would expect it to be approved. It is not clear what you mean by "the agent that we've hired for our petition"; if you hired an experienced immigration lawyer then you should be able to rely on his/her assessment of the strength of your case and likelihood of approval. The unauthorized practice of law is a very serious matter, and each year many people are harmed (some irreparably) by steps taken by so-called "notorious," "form-fillers" or others who claim to be able to help someone navigate the often complex immigration application process. If you have hired someone other than an immigration lawyer (or in some instances an officially accredited representative), then you should seriously examine: whether that person may be engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, whether you promptly should engage an immigration attorney to review the steps that person took and to represent you in the remaining immigration-related steps; and even whether that person should be reported to authorities.
Answered on Oct 19th, 2017 at 10:31 AM