An American woman in her sixties is traumatised after saying U.S. consular officers mocked her romantic relationship with her 27-year-old Nigerian fiancé and denied his K-1 visa application to visit her in her country.
The U.S. citizen, who identified herself as only Deborah, called immigration lawyer Jim Hacking on his live show, where he usually gives candid advice to people seeking immigration solutions. She barraged him with questions about why her fiancé was issued a 221(g) refusal form after his interview at the U.S. Embassy.
“Information provided in the case or interview indicated that the beneficiary does not meet the qualifications for the visa class,” she said, reading the content of the form to Mr Hacking on Wednesday.
Mr Hacking said consular officers issued the 221(g) form if they were unsure of the legitimacy of the relationship. The lawyer suggested that the man might have been married in Nigeria, but Ms Deborah said she was “positive” her fiancé had never been married, let alone had children.
Ms Deborah had called a week earlier, affirming her age to be 64 and that of her Nigerian fiancé to be 27. According to the lady, her fiancé’s interview was going well until the consular officer asked for her age and exclaimed in shock upon learning of the couple’s 37-year age gap.
“When it came to the age difference, he said my age, then she (the interviewer) said, ‘Oh! She’s this age!’” Ms Deborah recounted, describing her fiancé’s experience at the embassy.
She said the consular officer repeatedly mentioned her age, which she believes was an attempt to throw her fiancé off-balance.
“So this is my thought. Because we have an age gap, the lady (interviewer) was trying to mess with him,” she told the podcaster.
She said her Nigerian fiancé presented about 20 documents, including pictures and chats, to prove their relationship was genuine to the consular officer, who dismissed the files as unnecessary at that stage.
Ms Deborah said the consular officer temporarily excused herself from the interview and walked up to another colleague ostensibly to disclose the peculiarity of her relationship. She said both colleagues burst into laughter in the hallway as her fiancé looked on.
“And then she went back to her colleague. They were both White, and then they were laughing,” Ms Deborah said on the live show.
She explained that the consular officer returned to her fiancé with a visa refusal form.
Ms Deborah sought Mr Hacking’s advice on the next line of action, asserting the visa denial dealt a huge blow to their nearly two-year-old relationship, as the couple had both been looking forward to spending time together in America.
Having visited Nigeria two times, she said she would like her fiancé to come to the U.S. for a change.
Mr Hacking advised her to consider marrying her fiancé before engaging legal representation, stating that a fiancé petition in such circumstances was “DOA” (dead on arrival).
“Oh my God!” Ms Deborah sighed in frustration upon hearing that, even after marriage, the process could take up to two more years before her husband could join her in the U.S.
“There’s no way to make him come sooner? Oh my God! That’s terrible,” the 64-year-old said.
The immigration lawyer insisted that there was no way Ms Deborah could fast-track the process, eliciting what sounded like a sob from the 64-year-old.
“That’s like the worst news I’ve heard all day,” she said.
The media could not immediately reach the U.S. for comments.
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