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ResourcesVisa & Immigration LawUS Immigration LawIs Age Difference a Problem in K-1 Fiancée Visa Applications?

Is Age Difference a Problem in K-1 Fiancée Visa Applications?

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are going to be discussing the K-1 fiancée visa specifically the issue of age differences between the petitioner and the beneficiary

In most cases where I see this it is usually a male petitioner and a female beneficiary so it is going to be a male American citizen who is seeking to get his Thai fiancée into the United States. In same sex visa cases, it is generally a male to male situation as well and we do see age differences between the parties in those cases and the question that sometimes arises is, “Is this going to be a problem in our case?”  Well like I always say in most matters pertaining to the law is, “It depends. It is going to depend greatly on circumstances.”

First of all, I think that Immigration Authorities are not particularly interested in adjudicating the for lack of a better term, the merits of the marriage or the proposed married or I guess more, it is not really their judgment call regarding the age difference as a matter of law I should say. So long as the fiancée is of age to marry, both parties are of age to marry; in their home jurisdiction and in the United States then that really at law, is not a particular issue.  That being said age difference can be something of an issue with respect to determining whether or not the matter is a genuine marriage; or a genuine proposed marriage. Sham marriage or marriages of convenience, there are an issue and Immigration Authorities are very, very keen to sort of root those out and deter them.  In fact there is another video on this channel where we discuss specifically denaturalization proceedings that were brought against an individual who married an American citizen, became a naturalized American citizen, divorced that individual and then brought his entire family to the United States only to later be denaturalized and put into prison. Again, sham marriage is an issue. Marriages of convenience are issues that the Immigration Apparatus in the United States would like to deter. For that reason the age difference can be a factor in their adjudication of whether or not this is a genuine marriage or proposed marriage. And so  yes I think, again it is circumstantially dependent and where basically, I deal with those on a case by case basis but there are folks who say, ”we are 10 years apart”, that is, depending again on circumstances, not something we usually see that is a big deal. Again the circumstances of a given case need to be sussed out before immigration benefits are sought and they are gong to be adjudicated by the adjudicating officer so while age itself is not as a matter of law particularly a matter that is usually going to arise and cause a problem within a K-1 adjudication sort of as a matter of fact, especially in light of marriages of convenience and sham marriage concerns, age difference can be a factor that you are going to want to go ahead and deal with and maybe have the advice of a legal profession in order to understand ones position legally and take as many measures as possible to go ahead and try to explain ones situation and mitigate against any delays in overall processing.