₦airaland Forum

VisaOfficer:
It depends on the tribe and the local custom. If a bride price is paid under conditions such that it constitutes customary marriage, and the couple is then considered married to each other and would need a divorce to become free to marry someone else, then yes, we consider the couple married by Nigerian law and custom, and they are not eligible for the K-1 (fiance) visa. We know that some tribes consider payment of a dowry part of the betrothal rather than of a marriage, though.

I would also add that if someone comes in for a K visa, refers to the petitioner as "my husband" throughout the interview; shows plenty of photos that she describes as "our traditional marriage"; describes the payment of the bride price including the envelope of money, the suitcases full of clothes, and all the yams; is wearing a wedding ring in the photos; and also has a document in her possession referring to herself as Mrs. Petitioner's Surname, we are likely going to weigh that as stronger evidence than the petitioner telling us it was really only an engagement ceremony.

But at engagement i shared an engagement ring with my fiance that i still wear till today, does this also constitute marriage? wow, cos all u said above, as in yam and the the things presented are really to our culture all part of the engagement/betrothal, it is even called traditional marriage in some cases and Never can this mean marriage itself. because what it means simply is you have taken permission of family members to have their son or daughter in marriage, that should the marriage itself comes up, and parent and family members are not able to attend either due to distance or other reasons, you have permission to go ahead and exchange marital vows. infact engagement to my culture is the real thing for families, marriage is basically for sociial and official use. And at marriage there really no time to exchange all those yam and bags etc, save only for exchange of vow and signing the dotted lines... now am confused.

A quick one here, heard someone was refused K1 visa because he said he paid dowry during their engagement ceremony, and the visa officer says that shows that the marriage was paid for, and as such fraud is detected. Could this be true in an African context, thought paying dowry was part of the engagement culture?

Thanks VO on your quick response to my last inquiry.
1. Now am booked for interview this February and like i said in my earlier post am attending the interview with my two sons. Their mother (though not legally married to me and also she has moved on in life with another person) has agreed to their leaving. Do i need to bring any document to show of her approval like her written consent, or what other document do i need bring along since we didn't separate through the court ( actually we couldn't since we aren't legally married), though someone told me it isn't necessary as she has done that at the immigration office by consenting to their passport issuance.
2. Also do i need show evidence of support apart from the one my fiance filed of herself in which, she met the minimum 125% HHS poverty guidelines for a family of four (fiancee, myself and 2 kids).
3. lastly i haven't gotten any correspondence from Lagos consulate, but my fiance said i should go ahead and book the interview based on the NVC number she got which i have done. So am asking what document is needed at interview specifically for K1 applicant with K2 dependents apart from the general sample on the interview prep packet on your site, since i considered this generalised for all category, don't want to be too much on documentation, but definitely not less.
Thank you for attending to these lengthy inquiries.

Dear VO,
Thanks for all your help especially to this thread. My fiance filed an i-129f for me including my 3 kids from my baby momma ( not married to her then, and now shes married to someone else), and it has been approved with uscis and nvc has notified of forwarding the application to lagos. Now i need your advice based on ties to nigeria and ties to the usa questions that always comes up at interviews, because i intend taking my two older kids along with me, knowing that technically the k1 visa though a non immigrant visa is treated as an immigrant one, and since i intend getting married to my fiancee within the 90 days period, and dont want to troubled by these 2 older kids academics back here in nigeria, since basically am a single parent and my mum who helps out might be overwhelmed by 3 kids. Also my fiance and the kids are very close, because whenever shes around in nigeria we all stays together and she's fond of them.
So please your advice on how to go about applying for visa. Do i apply first alone or fillout ds160 for my 2 kids K2 visa also. And also i intend coming back later for my beautiful daughter who is 4yrs old now when shes good to start school.
You are highly appreciated maam.