I have observed a number of postings here and elsewhere that, at embassy interviews for K-1 or K-3 visas, the fiancee or wife needs to show evidence that their American fiance or husband, prior to meeting the woman, provided the woman (through a "marriage broker") with documents produced by an criminal background check so that the future fiancee or wife had a prior opportunity to see the document and reject their chosen man on an informed basis. IIRC, IMBRA was enacted in the spring of 2006. I met my wife in 2004 through was is now labeled by the IMBRA law as a "marriage broker." We met nearly 2 years before IMBRA was enacted, took quite a bit of time to develop a good relationship, and finally got married in early 2007. BUT........
Since I cannot completely prove that we met in 2004, but have admitted on my petition that we met via what constitutes a "marriage broker" under IMBRA, should I now anticipate a potential problem for my wife at her embassy interview ....... that the consulate official will, nevertheless, require my wife to show a prior criminal background check on me?
With my petition, I have provided evidence of my visits to her in Ukraine starting in 2004 by furnishing copies of all my boarding passes and/or tickets (yes, I kept them all), plus copies of all pages of my passport, with numerous dated immigration stamps from 2004 and 2005. However, there is no complete proof that our first meeting was not in 2006 or 2007. So, should I now prepare to rebut a presumption by the consulate that we might have met just prior to our wedding in 2007, and so be required to observe this provision of IMBRA law requiring the background check?
I hope this question doesn't reflect excessive concern, but my immigration lawyer is telling me that the immigration department and the consulates is/are now routinely misinterpreting and misapplying the IMBRA law. However, and furthermore, my lawyer does not know the answer to this question. So, once again, I am coming to this so-often superior source of immigration knowledge and wisdom -- the RWD Forum.
Should I consider, for example, going back to the "marriage broker" and now generate a criminal background check for my wife to retrieve and bring to the interview? Or, should I take an opposite approach and obtain an affidavit from the agency owner/director saying that my wife and I met there in 2004? The latter would seem better, if anything such steps are advisable. Is there any other evidence that might be useful? Or, has anybody else experienced this situation and found that their fiancee/wife had no problems at a recent embassy interview?
I look forward to your thoughts on this, as I am pondering this endlessly. Thanks.
Journeyman
