U.S. Citizen married to Ecuadorian- wants to visit the U.S. for Xmas

[jessyfrank 0]

I have read forum topics until my eyes hurt but I cannot find anyone in a similar situation. I met my now-husband on a service trip in November of 2006 and was travelling back and forth from the U.S. to Ecuador for a year until I decided to get a TEFL certificate, found a job in Quito, and moved to Ecuador to be with my then-fiance. We have lived together for over 7 months and after being engaged for over a year we got married in a civil ceremony in Quito last Thursday (10/09/08).

Before I moved here, Fred* and I had agreed to live in his country for at least 2 years...and I am happy and willing to do that...but I want to be able to visit my family and friends on occasion in the States. We started the process of filing for a tourist visa for him about 3 months ago (before we got married). The entire process went by very quickly...including the interview (which lasted for 3 minutes after 3 hours of waiting). We had considered not revealing our engagement out of fear of rejection but decided that honesty was the only option. They then informed him that he would never be permitted to enter the US with this type of visa because he was engaged to a U.S. citizen but would not explain any further about alternative options. So we lost $180 just like that (an amount which is sizeable in a 3rd world country). The Embassy refused to read the letter of support that was written by my father and did not even look at his other documents. My dad later tried to confront our congressman...who told him that we should just get married and try again.

Since then, Fred* has gotten a new job and I have plans to renew my contract with the institute I currently work for...neither of us has plans to relocate in the near future. Fred's* family is here, we have a great apartment, and even a cat together...but none of this seems to be evidence enough that we want to stay in Ecuador. So now we are attempting Direct Consular Filing...which will cost another sizeable sum...not to mention hours of preparation, legal document preparation, and time off from work to fit into the Embassy's appointment scheduling. Here is the thing that makes us different...I DON'T WANT TO MOVE BACK TO THE UNITED STATES YET!!! And neither does my husband. We just want to go home for the holidays...and I am not even sure if I am going about this in the correct way. If we DO get approved...we might not be able to return to Ecuador (to our apartment/our belongings/our jobs)...and if we DON'T get approved...then I will have to go home without my husband...and my grandparents and niece and nephew won't meet him for at least another year.

Again...if it IS approved and we attempt to come home before adjusting his status...will that ruin his chances of immigrating in a few years? Will we be able to go back and forth between countries on occasion without needing ANOTHER type of visa? I am so confused and I wish that there was some basic instruction that was without the legal jargon so that I could understand what I am supposed to do with my money and my life. Can anyone help me? Does anyone have any experience like this?

So confused and almost broke thanks to the U.S. government,

Jessilea

[payxibka 10,045]

You have made your case stronger by permanently locating yourself to Ecuador... You need to "play" that fact up in the next application... You need to continue to demonstrate strong ties to the local country... BOTH having jobs is excellent evidence...

PS and FWIW, a letter from a USC in support of any non-immigrant visa applicant is worthless and is not ever considered, as an applicant must make it on his own merits....

[TBoneTX 44,674]

PS and FWIW, a letter from a USC in support of any non-immigrant visa applicant is worthless and is not ever considered, as an applicant must make it on his own merits....

What is your source for this information, please?

[Boiler 44,858]

You are now going throught the Immigration process, which does not strengthen your case for a Visitor Visa which requires non immigrant intent.

But that sounds your only option, unliely to get a B2 anytime soon.

An PR needs to be permanently resident in the US, but you should be able to fudge it for a while, especially as it wil take time to process, you have time before you activateit, and of course you eventually do wish to move.

PS I would also agree that it looks much better if he can fund his own stay for a visitor visa.

[jessyfrank 0]

With the decision to change our visa application we have completely abandoned the visitor's visa. Since we are now married, there would be no point in applying for one of those...and the Embassy had no interest in knowing about our relationship with the tourist visa (our engagement was actually what caused the rejection of the first application). And of course being able to fund one's own trip is ideal...but we both have Ecuadorian incomes here...about $700 a month each...and with living expenses...we don't ever have much left in savings...not to mention the constant fees for paperwork for the visas. The I-130 petition costs $355 to process and that is not including all of the collection of documents costs. I can't help but feel like the U.S. government wants all immigrants to be completely dependent when they first move to the country...because there is no way that anyone from here could have an independent transition into the States.

We turned in our petition last Thursday and were told to wait for at least 2 months before we check our status. Because we did it through the foreign country's consulate...we are hoping that the process will go faster. The fingers are officially crossed and we are just waiting now for any news.

[Mononoke28 134]

Good luck to you both!!!

Diana

[travelinchica 0]

As I was reading this post I was in disbelief. This is my story. I haven't found anyone with a similar story. I have the same concerns and questions.

My story, in brief, takes place in Peru. Aug of 07 I quit my job and took a year off ot travel. I rented out my house, put everything in storage and took off.

Jan of 08 I met my fiance in Peru while I was visiting friends. He is the nephew of a friend. We went to a wedding as our first date and the rest is history. I stayed in Peru to the end of Feb and then returned to the USA. I came back a month later and stayed until July. I returned for a brief visit to the usa for a work conference in Nov. I have been living here (in Peru) since November 08 until today and I'll be here until June 09. We are planning our wedding for July 09. We'll have been together a year and a half.

So we tried and failed to get a tourist visa in October. My fiance works for a microfinance visa and doesn't often get vacation time. He got a month in October and we wanted to take advantage of it and have him meet my friends and family and get to know my life in the USA. We too told the truth thinking it was the best thing to do...tell the truth. DENIED of course, they thought we wanted to thwart the system and get married in the US. He was heartbroken.

So anyway, my issue is the same. I quit my job (where I was making 50k) in the usa and didn't work for a year. I am now working part-time for a company in France, but of course it is a lot less than I was making before. However, I don't need that much to live here and he makes enough to support us. We are buying land here in Peru and plan to live here for the near future, at least 5 years. I am thinking of selling my house in the US.

So my issue, question, confusion is what we do now. We'd like to be able to visit the usa together. We don't want to have him immigrate to the usa at this time, or maybe never. We do want to have the option to visit family and when we have children, we want to be able to travel to the usa to visit family together. How do we do this??? What is our best option. It seems the k3/k4 is only for immigration. I don't want to screw up again like we did with the tourist visa.

Help????

[payxibka 10,045]

PS and FWIW, a letter from a USC in support of any non-immigrant visa applicant is worthless and is not ever considered, as an applicant must make it on his own merits....

What is your source for this information, please?

You may provide a letter of invitation or support. However, this cannot guarantee visa issuance to a foreign national friend, relative or student. Visa applicants must qualify for the visa according to their own circumstances, not on the basis of an American sponsor's assurance.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/denials/denials_1361.html

[cmdpdiva 0]

I know it is possible to have a green card and a travel permit that allows you to travel and work outside of the country for a defined period of time, sometimes even up to two years. However, I'm not sure how long it takes. You might have to go to the States and activate your husband's visa and remain there while the travel permit is processing, then move back to Ecuador until you are ready to relocate permanently. But it might be an option to look into!

[Boiler 44,858]

So my issue, question, confusion is what we do now. We'd like to be able to visit the usa together. We don't want to have him immigrate to the usa at this time, or maybe never. We do want to have the option to visit family and when we have children, we want to be able to travel to the usa to visit family together. How do we do this??? What is our best option. It seems the k3/k4 is only for immigration. I don't want to screw up again like we did with the tourist visa.

Help????

Reapply for a Visitor Visa when you have a more secure position to show his need to return home.

[pushbrk 12,569]

With the decision to change our visa application we have completely abandoned the visitor's visa. Since we are now married, there would be no point in applying for one of those...and the Embassy had no interest in knowing about our relationship with the tourist visa (our engagement was actually what caused the rejection of the first application). And of course being able to fund one's own trip is ideal...but we both have Ecuadorian incomes here...about $700 a month each...and with living expenses...we don't ever have much left in savings...not to mention the constant fees for paperwork for the visas. The I-130 petition costs $355 to process and that is not including all of the collection of documents costs. I can't help but feel like the U.S. government wants all immigrants to be completely dependent when they first move to the country...because there is no way that anyone from here could have an independent transition into the States.

We turned in our petition last Thursday and were told to wait for at least 2 months before we check our status. Because we did it through the foreign country's consulate...we are hoping that the process will go faster. The fingers are officially crossed and we are just waiting now for any news.

The DCF process is faster and generally a good choice but it results in an immigrant visa. Once you have the visa, it must be used to enter the US within six months. He would enter with conditional permanent resident status, which simply means you file to remove those conditions 21 months later. You'll want to google, "maintaining permanent resident status" to become familiar with what that entails. The resulting CR1 visa is not a visitor visa, it is for immigrating to the US and that immigrant (legal permanent resident status) must be maintained or he can be refused entry.