Fiancee Visa Approved for Client in Burma
We recently obtained approval of a Fiancee visa petition for a client from Burma. TKM had filed an I-129 petition seeking permission to bring his fiancée from Burma to the United States. The Vermont Service Center seemed poised to deny the petition because TKM and his fiancée had not met each other in person during the two-year period prior to filing as required by the regulations. The VSC requested proof that TKM and his fiancée had met within the last two years, or that compliance with this requirement would result in extreme hardship. He came to us for help.
TKM had met his fiancée for the first time in 1999. He did not see her again until 2005 when they met by chance in the Phillippines where he was visiting and she was studying. They reconnected at a gathering for Burmese expatriates living in Manila. TKM stayed in Manila and spent time with his fiancée for about one month. TKM tried to visit her again in 2006, while she was still in Manila, but he was refused entry into the country. His spent more than $1000, and exhausted his savings on the plane ticket he purchased for that trip.
In 2007 TKM did not have enough money to travel to the Phillippines again. That year he became a United States citizen. In June of 2008, his fiancée finished her studies in the Philippines and returned to Burma to live with her parents. They have been communicating by telephone, text message and sometimes email and letter although this is not the preferred method as communications may be are read by the military authorities in the country.
Complying with the personal meeting requirement truly would have resulted in extreme hardship in this case. It would be extremely difficult for TKM’s fiancée to leave Burma to meet him in another country. She is helping with her family business, but does not earn any money of her own. She cannot afford foreign travel at this time. Also, the Burmese government scrutinizes prospective travel abroad and it might not look favorably upon a request to travel to meet her fiancé who is an American citizen. Government officials are notoriously corrupt, and even if they were willing to authorize her travel, they would likely demand a bribe to grant her permission to leave the country.
It could also be dangerous for TKM to travel to Burma to visit his fiancée. While Burmese citizens who have emigrated to other countries are sometimes allowed to return to visit relatives, his fiancée is not a relative. TKM was also concerned that a visit from him to his fiancée’s family home might place her family in danger. The law requires that any person who intends to spend the night at a place other than his registered domicile inform local authorities in advance. Any household that hosts a person not domiciled there must maintain a guest list and submit it to authorities. Officials make nighttime checks of residences for unregistered visitors.
Travel to Burma in 2008 was also complicated by the fact that in May 2008, the country was hit by a tremendous cyclone which killed more than 100,000 people and devastated the country’s infrastructure. Through June 2008, the Department of State asked American citizens to defer nonessential travel to the country. It warned of increased security by Burmese authorities and urged US citizens to exercise discretion when moving about the country.
In response to the VSC’s request for evidence, we submitted evidence of all of these potential hardships. The VSC agreed that this couple would experience extreme hardship if they were required to travel to Burma to personally meet on another occasion and it approved the fiancée visa petition. TKM’s fiancée went to the Consular Office at the US Embassy in Rangoon to apply for the visa. The Consular Officer gave her the visa and she is now in the United States with TKM. They will be getting married in the next 90 days.
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