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What are the most common reasons that spouse and fiance cases get denied? Hi, I'm Jim Hacking, an immigration lawyer practicing law throughout the United States at our office here in St. Louis, Missouri. We have a great lead intake team here. And one of our members, Ellen, has been sending me questions that she gets from people who call the firm. And this video is going to answer one of those questions.
The caller wanted to know the most common reasons that oversee cases, that is, spouse cases and fiance cases, what's the most common reason that those cases get denied? We don't see a lot of denials. And of course, at the State Department, they're not actually even called denials. They're called refusals, and refusals can be based on many different reasons. The State Department at the Embassy is supposed to give you a piece of paper that says why your case was refused.
A visa application gets denied for various reasons, such as incomplete documentation, ineligibility for the particular immigrant or nonimmigrant visa categories, and unsatisfactory visa interview performance. Section 104(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act under the U.S. Immigration Law states that a consular officer in the Embassy or Consulate has the power to approve or deny visa applications.
Some refusals can be overcome, and some refusals cannot be overcome. If your spouse is refused for some kind of national security concern, they were in a military force, such as in Iran, which the US now views as a terrorist organization, that might be a refusal that can't ever be overcome.
I think what the caller was wondering more about is marriage-based cases that don’t get approved. I think the number one reason that these cases get refused and sometimes permanently refused is when there's a huge age gap between the petitioner, the US citizen or the green card holder, and the beneficiary, the person overseas who wants to come to the country. When there's a big age gap, the officers do cause a fair bit of mischief.
They do like to cause trouble. We've had people actually mocked at their interview. They don't like it when there's a huge age gap. They think that the foreign national is just marrying, and usually, it's the foreign national who's young and the petitioner, the US citizen or green card holder, who's older.
And so we've had cases where there were large age gaps. When I say a large age gap, I mean maybe more than 10 or 15 years. Anything less than that shouldn't be a problem, but the age gap is the big issue. We've had some situations where the couple was refused, or their case was sent back to USCIS, and that's usually because of that age gap.
Other things can include if the US citizen has been married many times before. We've seen refusals when the beneficiary has made multiple attempts to come to the United States, maybe even having married other people. That's always interesting when that happens. We also see refusals where they don't believe that the US citizen is going to be able to support the foreign national financially. That's sort of rare.
Most visa refusals will result in what's called a 221G, which is administrative processing, and that is sort of where we help file lawsuits. In those cases, they're delayed because there's something about the case that the State Department doesn't like, but they don't feel that they have enough to flat-out refuse it. When we sue them, it sort of compresses time, and it gets us to the end and an answer faster.
In our lawsuit cases, we see cases get sent back to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for possible revocation. We certainly see many, many approvals, and then we also see some refusals where the State Department makes it clear that they're going to stand on that refusal and not give the visa. And because of a case that went to the Supreme Court about 10 years ago called Kerry versus Din, the State Department doesn't have to explain to you why they are refusing, and you can't challenge it or appeal it in federal court. You really have to win your spouse or fiance's case at the interview.
Speaking of fiances, because I didn't really talk about that. In those situations, a lot of times, they just don't believe the relationship. And so there's this stupid show called 90 Day Fiance, and I think those people have ruined it for many, many people. And if you can't establish that the relationship is real, you're going to have a hard time getting a visa, fiance, or spouse or otherwise.
A few other reasons for visa denials include:
•Security Risks: Visa applicants with a previous criminal record or who are deemed a security threat may be denied entry into the country.
•Health Concerns: A visa applicant who doesn’t meet the health requirements, such as carrying a contagious disease, may be advised to stay in their home country.
•Missing Consular Appointment: You shouldn’t miss a scheduled consular appointment, mainly if without a valid reason, to prevent visa rejection.
•Travel History: A particular visa applicant with a history of overstaying visas or committing immigration violations will face visa refusal.
•Fraud: Immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants are bound for rejection if they present false information or fraudulent documents. A visa officer can detect fraud using modern technology, so it’s better to be truthful from the beginning.
The visa application process is long and quite expensive. Whether you’re applying for a tourist visa, immigrant visa, or student visa, follow the procedures the USCIS has set to get visa approval from consular officers. You must also fill your bank account with enough funds to sustain your stay in the U.S.
Contact our St. Louis immigration lawyers if you need help with anything about immigration.
Hire a St. Louis Immigration Attorney
We hope this answers the question. We hope Ellen's caller is happy now. Our phone number is (314) 961-8200, if you have questions about this. You can also email us at [email protected]. You can join us on our Facebook group, Immigrant Home. We have a lot of people joining us every day. We also have a new Instagram account called Hacking Immigration Law, LLC, so make sure to give us a follow!
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