The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services believes that a large portion of marriage-based visa applications are fraudulent, and applied for only to circumvent the immigration process. Because of this, it's a top priority of theirs to uncover these bogus relationships. One of the main requirements of the K1 visa is to prove that you have a bona fide relationship with your alien fiance. Not proving this is one of the leading causes of getting a fiance visa denial.
What is a "bona fide" relationship?
Merriam-Webster defines it as such:
bona fide
adjective bo·na fide \ˈbō-nə-ˌfīd, ˈbä-; ˌbō-nə-ˈfī-dē, -ˈfī-də\
: real or genuinelaw : made or done in an honest and sincere way
The general meaning is not a strange concept. Let's change the terminology to something less Latin... Your relationship must be genuine, and you need to prove it.
CC license, courtesy: Pedro Ribeiro Simões on Flickr.
How is authenticity determined?
Where it gets unclear is just what exactly constitutes a genuine relationship. Human relationships are hard to categorize via a simple checklist that can be measured in finite terms. Who decides my relationship is "genuine enough"? How do i prove this?
We're talking about a government process, and it really comes down to you and the consular officer, and your interactions from ;across a cubicle desktop. The determination is fairly arbitrary. When it comes down to it, the officer has ;to take all the information about your case and make a judgement call based on:
1. The evidence included in your petition.
2. The embassy interview.
Examples of Evidence to Prove Relationship is "Bona Fide"
Anything that shows that you have a legitimate relationship will help in your case. Just think if you were on the outside looking in, would you believe that your relationship was real? Here are a few examples of things that can help build your case:
Photos of you together (With date stamps is even better)
Photos of you with each other's family (With date stamps is even better)
Joint bank accounts
Passport stamps proving visits
Airline tickets proving visits
Hotel receipts proving visits
Misc. receipts proving visits
Skype, Facetime & chat records
Phone & text records
Engagement ring receipt
Statements from friends and family
The key thing to take away is to truly begin joining your lives together, get to know each other well, and have a successful embassy interview. These few things will help you easily prove your relationship is absolutely, 100% genuine.
