New Berlin man files lawsuit against Homeland Security after Chinese fiancée denied visa

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NEW BERLIN (CBS 58) -- It's been about two weeks since Christopher Carson and his fiancée  Fiona Yang were denied a K-1 Finance Visa. 

Christopher works as a criminal defense attorney and fell in love when he met Fiona online. 

“We have the same values, same approach to life and there's a deep attraction," said Carson. 

About a year ago, they applied for a K-1 visa. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, in order to obtain a K-1 visa, the couple must marry each other within 90 days of the fiance entering the U.S. 

Last June, the application got approved with "no derogatory information." In July, a Consular officer in China interviewed Fiona as part of the next step in the K-1 Visa process but she got denied. 

“You don’t need to keep out a Chinese lady who works for the Justice Department and a veteran criminal defense attorney from marrying. Let's keep out people who possibly terrorists, criminals. Fine, that’s not us," Carson said. 

According to the lawsuit, the officer asserted that she failed to demonstrate to him there was a "bona fide relationship." The next day, Carson flew to China to ask the Consulate to reconsider but they denied to see him. 

In September, Carson got a letter from the immigration attorney's stating they would not resubmit the petition to the Consulate. 

“This is a fiancé case, I am her fiancé. I don’t’ think the United States needs to be policing my particular choice in a future spouse," said Carson.

In the lawsuit, Carson is calling on the government to take action and reaffirm it's previous approval to allow Fiona to come to the U.S. 

The visa approval isn't just about love, Fiona's health is on the line. 

“It’s a tumor, we had an appointment at the Medical College of Wisconsin," Carson said. 

A spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security said she could not comment on pending litigation. 

Carson hopes love will win out. 

“She's Fiona Yang, hopefully, she will be Fiona Carson before too long," Carson said. 

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