Are past divorces Red flags in K-1 visas?

For some of us, our current fiance visa relationship may not be our first rodeo.

If you’ve had a previous marriage, this question comes to mind: “how does a past marriage affect my current K-1 visa? Any red flags? What should I know?”

For example, let’s say you had a divorce 20 years ago… what does it mean for your fiance visa case now? If it’s a red flag, how do you fix it?

Besides submitting additional paperwork in your I-129F packet, what else is there?

And what if things look even more grim… let’s say you had 3 divorces in the last 5 years. Again, how does that affect your fiance visa situation?

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Well, that’s what we’re talking about today: how past divorces affect your fiance visa case (red flags).

And in general, the main idea is that having a previous marriage / divorce is not an eligibility issue, it’s a soft issue — a possible red flag. And excuse the harsh language but officers simply want to know

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“Will this marriage work out? Are they serious OR will it end up like the divorce(s) before?”

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Most common questions

Before we dive deep into details, let’s first get these quick questions out of the way:

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❒ Question 1: Can I apply for a fiance visa if I’ve had divorce(s) in the past?

Answer: Yes, one or more divorces don’t affect your eligibility AS LONG AS you’re currently free and legally able to marry and have proper documentation to show for it. It’s the same for both the US petitioner or foreign fiance.

There’s also no limit on how many marriages/divorces you may have had in the past. The same rule applies to widowers, same-sex couples, annulled couples. You must be currently free to marry, that’s it.

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❒ Question 2: How soon after divorce can I apply for a fiance visa?

Answer: Day one.

As long as you are legally free to marry (even if it’s only been a day since official divorce) and you have the paperwork in hand, you can file the petition I-129F.  

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HOWEVER, you have to keep the “multiple filer” limitation in mind. For some, it may mean you have to request a waiver in your I-129F. (Read “how many times can I apply for a fiance visa?”).

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❒ Question 3: I’m undergoing divorce now, can we still apply?

Answer: No, you can only begin the petition (I-129F) if you’re currently divorced / annulled / widowed and legally free to remarry. You’ll have to wait until the paperwork is finalized.

So, to summarize: there’s no legal reason to worry.

As long as you’re free to marry and have the right paperwork to back it up, the number of times you’ve been married in the past is irrelevant (unless you’re a multiple filer). In fact, it doesn’t even matter how long ago your last divorce was (even a day ago).

The real reason past marriages may be a problem is red flags.

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Two big questions in their mind

So, when your case is in front of the officer, it all boils down to two major questions: (1) is this current relationship bona fide? (2) Will this relationship work out even though there’s a history of divorces?

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Is this a bona fide relationship?

If the petitioner is divorced: officers want to sure the beneficiary isn’t scamming the petitioner as an “easy target” thinking that the petitioner is desperate for a relationship. (“Am I getting scammed by my fiance?”)

Along with that, they factor in other potential red flags, like a vast age difference.

In some cases, officers may even wonder if both of you are part of some sham relationship just for immigration benefits. For example, check out this release from the Department of Justice:

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If the beneficiary is divorced: were previous marriages to US partners? Has he/she attempted relationships or visas with US partners? Is there any reason to believe this could be another fraud attempt?

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Will this work out?

If you’ve got a not-so-reliable record of relationships, generally they may doubt whether your current relationship will actually reach its ultimate goal (marriage). OR is this just another passing “episode”.

They ask: “how likely is it that he/she will actually go through with it?” Based on the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) 9 FAM 502.7-3(C)(5), officers are told to take a hard look at evidence and determine if the relationship will end up in marriage:
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https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM050207.html

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Again, not to sound harsh, they don’t want this to be a “waste” of time — to process your case, interview you, then handle your paperwork especially if they think you’ll be back again in a few years to “try again”.

But, let’s take a step back and clarify a couple of things here…

Notice, officers aren’t trying to play cupid. They’re not there to match you with whom they feel is the “right” choice. Instead, the officers duty is to figure out if you’re SERIOUS about marriage. And if you haven’t shown a trend of sticking with relationships, it makes them question your future. That’s the core of the issue.

And don’t think just because you paid the visa fee that they’re obligated to approve you or consider you more seriously. That’s not how it works. You can’t buy a visa approval.

So now that you know the top two things that ares running through the officer’s mind when they’re interviewing you, let’s see what kind of things actually affect their final decision.

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Major factors that dictate their decision

A lot of things swirl through the officer’s minds when they interview you and affect how they make a decision. These top four make the biggest differences.

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❒ How “successful” were past marriages?

Plain and simple, how serious were those relationships for you? Did you at least try to make things work? Or were you quick to jump ship and look for another?

Here is an example of what shows you were serious: having children together– because that shows you began the relationship as bona fide (most fraud couples don’t have children together).

OR, let’s say for example you tried marriage counseling when things started falling apart.

To most officers, these two examples are good signs that you were at least serious about past marriages.

On the flip side, here are a few things that show you weren’t serious: several divorces, or repeating trends, quick relationships, or quick divorces.

If your past marriages were to foreigners (who came to the US), then quite frankly, is there a reason to suspect that your previous divorces were due to sham relationships / marriage fraud or visa fraud?

For example, did you just “happen” to have a quick, uncontested divorce after permanent residency — only to try again the following year with another foreigner?

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❒ What’s the timeline?

The second most-important factor is what kind of timeline your past relationships had. How long did marriages last? How quick did you jump between them?

● Are we talking 1 divorce 10 years ago?

● OR are we talking 5 divorces in the span of 5 years?

● Does any of this make you seem like a rash / bad decision maker?

And yes, even though I’ve said earlier that you can apply even if you had a divorce finalized a day before you mailed out your I-129F, still: “How long ago was the last divorce?”

And did your relationships overlap? Meaning, were you dating your current fiance while in divorce proceedings with your ex?

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❒  Any past criminal history?

Part of what officers consider being “serious” about past marriages is whether there was criminal history. In fact, they wonder “was your criminal history a part of the reason why previous marriages ended?”

The point is: how dependable has your history been? Will this beneficiary be “safe” with you? And, how likely is it that this will happen again?

Remember, when it comes down to it, the officers are obligated to deny a fiance visa if they feel a beneficiary / petitioner may be harmed by the other partner.

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❒  Multiple filer: is there visa privilege abuse?

The final piece of the puzzle is if you’ve had multiple petitions for fiances or spouses in the past. If you’re a multiple filer, are you abusing your privilege? Is there reason for the officers to actually approve your petition this time?

Believe it or not, the USCIS actually has authority to approve or deny your multiple filer waiver if they feel you’re not taking this serious enough or if you’ve petitioned for partners too many times without good reason. You can read the full details at “I-129F multiple filer”.

(Note that for widowers, they’re generally more understanding because they know things may have been out of your control.)

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Will they ask questions about previous divorces during the K-1 visa interview?

So by now, you should have a fair understanding of the big things in play here: (1) officers want to be sure there’s no scam for a visa (2) they want to know that you’re serious about marriage.

And plenty of things influence their decision: like your past marriages “successes” or “failures”, the timeline between relationships, and so on.

Officers will likely ask the beneficiary all about the petitioner’s divorces – not only to test your knowledge but to also make sure you’re aware of past marriages, criminal history, previous K visa petitions, etc. (that’s an actual duty they’re required to do according to IMBRA laws).

All they want to say is “hey, you DO know about [situation], right?”

Either… “he’s got a restraining order” or “she’s had three previous foreign spouses” or whatever. They want to be sure you know what you’re getting in to… especially if there was past criminal history involved with the US petitioner.

And secondly, it gives them a topic to discuss during the interview. They know this is a huge topic and something you must’ve already talked about with one another. And if you can answer questions about it, then it means you’re a bona fide couple. (Read do they ask tricky questions at the interview?).

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By the way, in my step-by-step K-1 visa course, I show examples of how people were asked these kinds of questions in visa interviews before. In fact, it’s possible to even predict which specific questions they’ll ask. It’s the “homing in” technique.

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How do I even know if I have this “red flag”?

Before you start to panic that you’re in trouble because you’ve got divorces, you first have to make sure this is indeed a red flag… I mean consider the following scenario to put things into perspective:

You first and only marriage was 10 years ago and you had a child together. Let’s say for some reason 4 years into the relationship, it didn’t work out and you got a divorce. Now, after all those years, you’re ready to try again with a fiance visa… will your past marriage be a red flag?

In most cases, probably not because of several reasons: you only had 1 previous marriage and that happened long ago. That marriage lasted 4 year which indicates you can hold on to relationships for a while. And there’s a good time space between the divorce and now, which shows that you took time to “recover” and think. And you just didn’t jump into the next relationship immediately. Finally, you had a child together which is a huge sign that you were serious.

So, to me, this particular example of a past marriage shouldn’t be a red flag in your new K-1 visa situation. And if I were in this situation, I would apply for a fiance visa without hesitation.

On the other hand, think about this scenario:

You had 3 previous marriages to foreigners in the span of 10 years. Each of these relationships lasted less than 2 years. No children. And those spouses all ended up getting their Green Cards before divorcing.

How does all of this sound? Well, not too good. I’m sure the officer is going to look up and wonder “how likely is it that either…

(1) this new relationship will be the last, permanent one? And

(2) that the last 3 marriages weren’t shams just for getting those partners into the US?”

Notice for both of these examples, a combination of things factor into their decision. It’s not just one red flag that can get your K-1 visa denied. So now, how exactly do you show them that you’re serious?

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How can I show I’m serious?

Well, the answer always comes down to proof of relationship. Show that you’re serious about the relationship and want to get married. That’s it. In reality, that’s all you can do.

Meaning in your I-129F packet OR during the K-1 visa interview, provide particular kinds of bona fide relationship evidence that would convince a skeptical officer that you’re not running a sham green card business.

Instead, your proof of relationship should scream out that you’re a genuine couple, even though you may have had a past which can be perceived negatively.

And I realize this may become harder to do if you have other MULTIPLE red flags to compound the issue (like a quick relationship, or huge age gap, etc.). But the more you work toward this goal, the easier it becomes.

To help you along the way, I suggest you take a close look at the resources on my website. In fact, start here. Download my free [pdf] guide below to get started with the top 6 proof of bona fide relationship evidence that work best.

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