Here is our situation...

I have visited May in the Philippines 3 times (2 weeks each in Aug 2008/Apr 2009 and for the month of Oct 2009). We are still trying to get her previous marriage to a Japanese citizen (divorced in Japan 2006) terminated in the Philippines. There are no more court hearings scheduled, we are just waiting on the ruling which her lawyer guestimates to be near the end of 2009. We thought we would be together by now butthe courts move slow.

May is fortunate. She owns her own modern home, several dozen hectors of farm land in her home province and a business in Mandaluyong City.

We would really like to spend the holidays togther but I cannot make another trip there this year.

Since it seems we will not even be able to apply for her K1 Visa until the beginning of 2010 (if the court issues it's decision by the end of December) the only option is to see if she can get a tourist visa.

She has the funds, real estate and a business interests that I would think would make her a good candidate to get a tourist visa as she has assets there to protect.

I have 2 questions...
Do you know how long the process is to obtain a tourist visa?
Has anyone here been in a similar situation or has anyone been successful in getting their lady to visit the U.S. with a different visa before applying via a K1 Visa?

Thanks

Adam

Do you know how long the process is to obtain a tourist visa? - get an appointment, attend the interview, if approved, visa within the week
Has anyone here been in a similar situation or has anyone been successful in getting their lady to visit the U.S. with a different visa before applying via a K1 Visa? - i did a business visa to the US before our K1 application. My job before requires me to frequently travel. Had no problem applying for any visa

We were in a very similar situation & applied for a tourist visa. I had what I thought would suffice as evidence that my fiancee would return to the Philippines & not only did they not accept the evidence they wouldn't even look at it. You can certainly try but please don't expect a favorable outcome.

Do you know how long the process is to obtain a tourist visa? -Depends on how fast can May gather documents needed for the interview.

Please visit http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwh3024.html, everything is there...from required documents to scheduling interview.

Has anyone here been in a similar situation or has anyone been successful in getting their lady to visit the U.S. with a different visa before applying via a K1 Visa? - I visited my fiance in Colorado using a B2 (tourist visa) before we applied for K1 visa. I didn't encounter any problem getting the tourist visa. I'm now here in CO and the visit made it easier for me to adjust well in my new surroundings.

Goodluck!

She "Might" be a candidate for Tourist Visa, I think the odds are against her, But Apply for it, It cheap enough.

Wouldn't it be easier and more fun to go to PI insted of her coming to USA.

You mentioned she was married to a Japanese, is she not a resident of Japan yet? If she is, then she is allowed to come here in the US without any kind of visa, all she needs to do is apply for this exemption.

The others have given you sufficient info about your first question but I would like to give you some tips. First, she must not let the CO know that she's going to the US to visit you. They are very leery about this and might cause her denial. Her owning a business and properties are ways to convince the CO that she's capable of doing a pleasure trip in the US, so that's what she must tell the CO as reason for her travel. Of course, this should be supported by a substantial amount of money in the bank. Secondly, it would help a lot if her passport have some stamps of foreign travels in the past. Most CO wont even bother to look at supporting documents if the applicant did not have previous travels and the reason stated for traveling in the US is not convincing enough. And lastly, it would help also if she is currently employed in a reputable company or if her business is profitable enough to certify that she's earning more than enough in the Philippines and would not need to go somewhere else for a greener pasture (so to say).

As to your 2nd question, I applied for a tourist visa to visit my fiance and his family in the US but I told CO that I am doing a pleasure trip to visit some friends. I am blessed to have worked in a reputable company and had the chance to do some travels in Asia and in Europe in the past years, thus, I did not have difficulty in getting a tourist visa. I spent 4 months in the US and met everyone in my fiance's family. We also did a 1 month travel in Europe for him to meet my side of the family. It was rather costly but well worth it.

Getting a US tourist visa is not easy but if she has all the supporting documents and the confidence needed to convince the CO of her capability to be a tourist in the US, then she can get it.

Good luck.

The only problem with your advice is that you are suggesting she knowingly deceive the CO which is a violation of VJ's Terms of Service.

Additionally, if she does get caught in the lie then she has committed Immigration Fraud and will be Banned from receiving future immigration visa benefits.

You'll say the chance of her actually getting caught is very slim but even so is it worth it?

If you can't be honest then learn to be more patient.

Before we got engaged, my wife wanted to come to the US to spend some time visiting her aunt. She owned a business and had plenty of money in the bank. She was denied a visa because the CO told her she was young and attractive and so they couldn't be sure she wouldn't find some nice American guy, fall in love, and stay in the US.

My wife wants her sister to apply for a visa with her mom now. I'm betting that her mom will be approved but her sister won't.

if the case officer asks directly, i recommend she tell the truth rather than lie.

No it's not actually deliberate lying, rather, it's a matter of not giving unnecessary informartion given the nature of their situation. The purpose of a tourist visa is for pleasure and/or visiting family and friends in the first place. She can just tell the CO she's visiting some friends and will do some pleasure trips instead of mentioning about the fiance. It would help if she really have some family and/or friends in the area where she's going as there would be some follow-up questions like "how did you meet this friend?" and "how long have you been friend with this person". In my case, I told them I am visiting a long-time friend who has been inviting me to visit her. While it was not my main purpose of going to the US, it did help to get an approval and I did visit that friend as she is a common friend of me and my fiance and she happen to live in the same area.

Im not trying to encourage lying here. Im sorry if it came across as such. What I am trying to say is that one should be very careful in stating the purpose of visit, and giving out too much/unnecessary information wont help. Most CO would not even care how much you have in the bank or how much assets you have, they wont even bother to look at any of your supporting documents if you give them a very doubtful reason for travel, and visiting a fiance could be a red flag. This is because there is a possibility that the couple might just opt to get married in the US without having to go through the K1 application (which violates the purpose of the tourist visa). I am not saying that the poster plans to do this but I know some people who did things this way and the CO are well aware of situations such as this, thus, visiting a fiance as a reason for travel pose a possibility for denial.

The main thing is, the CO must be convinced that she has a valid reason for traveling and for returning to the Philippines.

Item 37 of DS-156 (Non-Immigrant Visa) form specifically asks:

Are any of the following persons in the U.S., or do they have U.S. Legal Permanent Residence or U.S. Citizenship? Mark YES or NO and indicate that person's status in the U.S. (i.e., U.S. legal permanent resident, U.S. citizen, visiting, studying, working, etc.)

Husband/Wife
Fiance/Fiancee
Father/Mother
Son/Daughter
Brother/Sister


Did you declare in the DS-156 form that you had an American fiance? If no, that would have been misrepresentation.

If yes, that would have been a red flag but your solid employment and travels removed any doubts in the CO's mind that you were an intending immigrant.

Thank you for all of the advice and sharing your personal experiences.

Remember, she is in the process of terminating her marriage from her Japanese husband (they divorced in Japan 2006). Therefore, it is pointless for us to get married in the US on that trip. Even the K3 visa process will check on her marital status in the Philippines. When they see she is still married according to Philippine law any US marriage will become null and void.

We may or may not be approved but we plan on being honest during the interview. She also has some family and friends in the U.S. as well.

Yes I did, but the CO did not ask me about it. Not sure if he didn't notice it or just simply ignore it since I would think I have established already a strong justification of my travel intent as strictly for tourist purposes. I think I was able to erase any doubts (which would have been established early on during the interview had I disclose rightaway about my fiance) and made the CO go through my supporting document that might have further contributed to the approval of my tourist visa. I am not saying that she should totally and deliberately deny or lie about her fiance, what I am saying is, she need not disclose about it rightaway if she is not asked about it. It would really help if she would be able to convince the CO to go through her supporting document first, which is why it is very crucial that she choose carefully what reason she would give the CO for her intent to travel to the US (it's the first question during the interview). CO would not hesitate to deny the application and would not even bother to look at the supportng document if he/she has strong doubts about the applicant's intent to travel.

Yes, but the CO does not know this so it might not really matter. And she might not be able to have the chance to explain the complexities of the situation to the CO.




As I have stated in my previous post, I am not suggesting that she deliberately lie, I am just saying that she need not disclose anything that is not asked of her. Given the fact that she has family and friends in the US, who I would think she would also want to see while she's there. It wouldn't hurt if she tells the CO that her purpose of visit is to see family and friends. Of course, it's your and your fiancee's decision and I wish you good luck on the application.

I agree. It is always best to disclose everything "on paper" but never volunteer any information during interview. Answer only what is being asked and keep the answers short.