Going to US for 3 months... Hopefully... Please help...

[Jonathan - Tamsyn 0]

Hi all,

I have sent the i-130 off (no NOA1 yet) and will hopefully be sending off the i-129f once I receive the NOA1. We are planning for her to come to America on July 1st (from England) and have a few questions about her getting into the US.

She currently works for her brother and is able to leave for the 3 months but will return to her home country to wait out the remainder of the visa processing time, and her brother will be writing a letter to confirm this (and if needed, possibly get lawyer certification on the letter). The questions are:

1. Will there be an issue with a letter from her employer considering it is family?

2. Will a lawyer certification help any?

Also, she is currently living with her dad and paying him rent.

3. Will receipts and/or a lease from him be a wise thing to bring to the border as well?

We are concerned since it is her family business and she is renting from her dad, so we would like some advice on this. Does anyone else have any experience with our situation?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond!

[imaisha 0]

while i can't in good conscience tell you not to worry about any of that, i can tell you that my husband has come over twice since we filed and told them he was here visiting his wife and they never asked him for any more information. you never know though and it would be terrible to get turned away (as other people have), so do bring as much as you can. i wouldn't worry about the letter being from her brother if it is somewhat official (on letterhead, with contact numbers etc.) and a lease could only be helpful. maybe also consider sending her a copy of the NOA1 as proof that you are pursuing legal immigration.

on another note, have you considered pursuing a CR/IR-1 visa instead of the K-3? unless you have a reason for choosing the K-3 in particular, the immigrant visa is almost always the better choice now as the K-3 is basically useless. just a friendly suggestion!

Edited May 18, 2009 by imaisha

[Jonathan - Tamsyn 0]

while i can't in good conscience tell you not to worry about any of that, i can tell you that my husband has come over twice since we filed and told them he was here visiting his wife and they never asked him for any more information. you never know though and it would be terrible to get turned away (as other people have), so do bring as much as you can. i wouldn't worry about the letter being from her brother if it is somewhat official (on letterhead, with contact numbers etc.) and a lease could only be helpful. maybe also consider sending her a copy of the NOA1 as proof that you are pursuing legal immigration.

on another note, have you considered pursuing a CR/IR-1 visa instead of the K-3? unless you have a reason for choosing the K-3 in particular, the immigrant visa is almost always the better choice now as the K-3 is basically useless. just a friendly suggestion!

Thank you so much for your quick response! What do you mean when you say that it is basically useless? I know that she will also need to get a SS card and EAD before she can begin to work, but that is the only drawback or no?

The reason we are going for the K3 is because of the quicker (supposed) turnaround time. We were under the impression that the K3 was the quickest option.

Thank you so much again for responding!

[imaisha 0]

i say it's useless because there is really no difference in processing times anymore. it was created at a time when the I-130 was taking much longer to process than the I-129f. nowadays the two get approved on the same day. sometimes filing the I-129f will actually delay you more (it did that for me- everyone who filed only the I-130 got transferred to the much quicker California service center and i got stuck in Vermont for 7 months). if you use the guides and the NVC shortcuts here you really can get the immigrant visa in about the same amount of time as the non-immigrant.

the other benefit to the CR/IR-1 visa is financial. It'll save you $671 in the long run. check this out:

K-3:

I-130: $355

I-129F: NONE

Consulate: $131

Adjustment Of Status: $1010

($1496)

CR-1

I-130: $355

NVC I-864: $70

NVC Visa fee: $400

($825)

also, it takes about 3 months to get an EAD, so that'll be 3 months when there's not much she'll be able to do (some people have had trouble getting even driver's licenses during that wait, but that depends on the state). with the CR/IR-1 she can work basically right away (as soon as she gets the ss card ~ 2 weeks after she gets here).

don't mean to preach but i originally planned on going the K-3 route and it's done nothing but terrible things for me. even the operators at VSC always asked me why i bothered when i called for updates. just want you to choose the best one for you!

[Frenchwife 1]

proof she intends to return in case she has questions is always good

at the border answer his questions but don t overload the guy unecessarily

about K3 , I did it also myself at vsc

does not seem very interesting

but VSC is very chaotic so you only tell after the facts

I think there are a few very old I130 still hanging

? more than K3 I can t tell

if you have (some) time then avoid K3 and it might be quicker and cheaper I d say

[mrsB 0]

I've been told I cannot go to USA while my I-130 is processing. According to the Americans I'd immediately get sent home. However, there is no legal reason why I couldn't visit. Tourism to USA is allowed even while a visa is processing... So it'll come down to luck. I wish you a good, successful trip!

[Jonathan - Tamsyn 0]

while i can't in good conscience tell you not to worry about any of that, i can tell you that my husband has come over twice since we filed and told them he was here visiting his wife and they never asked him for any more information. you never know though and it would be terrible to get turned away (as other people have), so do bring as much as you can. i wouldn't worry about the letter being from her brother if it is somewhat official (on letterhead, with contact numbers etc.) and a lease could only be helpful. maybe also consider sending her a copy of the NOA1 as proof that you are pursuing legal immigration.

on another note, have you considered pursuing a CR/IR-1 visa instead of the K-3? unless you have a reason for choosing the K-3 in particular, the immigrant visa is almost always the better choice now as the K-3 is basically useless. just a friendly suggestion!

Also, if you don't mind me asking. How long was he here for each time? we are going for the full 90 days (or a few days shy of that) and would like to make sure this is acceptable.

thank you so much again for your responses, they have eased our minds somewhat already!