I have been reading for a few hours about IMBRA, etc. Hopefully I am missing something because I see a problem for those of us who have filed in the past. Can someone reconcile the differences among these three sourcs:
1. IMBRA says:
A consular officer may not approve a petition under paragraph (1) unless the officer has verified that _
(i) the petitioner has not, previous to the pending petition, petitioned under
paragraph (1) with respect to two or more applying aliens; and
(ii) if the petitioner has had such a petition previously approved, 2 years
have elapsed since the filing of such previously approved petition.
2. Every since this law was passed, I have been reading various legal and layman interpretations that were consistent with the immigration attorney Gary Bala’s words from his webpage.
Some petitioners will need to wait before they can successfully file for a fiancee visa. For example, if you filed two (2) or more fiancee visa petitions in the past, and at least one of them was approved, you must wait two (2) years from the filing date of the last approved petition before you can be successfully approved for another fiancee visa petition. (Exception: Under some circumstances, a petitioner may be able to obtain a "waiver".)
3. The Draft I-129F (5/23/06) has been released. Item 4 of the instructions says:
If you have filed two or more K-1 visa petitions at any time in the past or previously had a K-1 visa petition approved within two years prior to the filing of this petition, you must apply for a waiver.
Do you see the discrepancy? Is the USCIS misinterpreting the law? The instructions suggest that the law in stating “such a petition” means a single petition regardless of whether it was the only petition or one of two or more petitions. Also, the law states that the two-year waiting period begins with the date of filing the approved petition; however, USCIS draft instructions say the two years begin upon its approval.
These two inconsistencies hopefully are just sloppy work by the USCIS and will be corrected in the final version.
BTW, Item 9B of the instructions uses proof death as the only example for a waiver.
