Travelling to US while CR-1 is in process

[B & G 200]

Hey guys!

Just need some advice. Come July this year, I am finally marrying my better half! Travelling to US, getting married, immediately filing for CR-1 visa and then returning to Greece. All that in just 15 days.

I work for an airline so it is a whole lot cheaper for me to fly to visit in the US than my fiancee to come and visit here in Greece.

I have read through the forums on people visiting the US while their CR-1 visas are in process, trying to see what my chances are to be allowed to enter. I dont know of CBP can see that I will have file for a spouse visa in the system. The thing is I have dual citizenship. I hold both Greek and Australian passports. I will be using my Greek passport for the visa process. Should I just not bother to use my Greek passport for visits and just use my Australian one until my visa has been approved???

Thanks

Geena

[B & G 200]

Also... Will it look bad if we marry on July 1st and then send out the I-130 on July 2nd? I see that alot of couples here waited as long as a month before sending anything through.

Thanks

[grrrrreat 109]

Hey guys!

Just need some advice. Come July this year, I am finally marrying my better half! Travelling to US, getting married, immediately filing for CR-1 visa and then returning to Greece. All that in just 15 days.

I work for an airline so it is a whole lot cheaper for me to fly to visit in the US than my fiancee to come and visit here in Greece.

I have read through the forums on people visiting the US while their CR-1 visas are in process, trying to see what my chances are to be allowed to enter. I dont know of CBP can see that I will have file for a spouse visa in the system. The thing is I have dual citizenship. I hold both Greek and Australian passports. I will be using my Greek passport for the visa process. Should I just not bother to use my Greek passport for visits and just use my Australian one until my visa has been approved???

Thanks

Geena

People who have pending CR-1 petitions sometimes have problems obtaining a visitor visa or problems entering under the visa waiver program. The problem is that you have to prove that you do not intend to stay once you enter, since it's illegal to enter with the intent to stay on a non-immigrant visa or under the visa waiver program. People who need tourist visas are more likely to have problems than VWP entrants, since visa applicants are coming from higher-fraud countries and get more scrutiny from consular officials.

If you do want to come to the U.S. while you are obtaining the CR-1, you should try to bring evidence that you will go home to Greece when your trip is over. This could be a rental lease or house mortgage, proof that you are working in Greece like a contract or employment letter from your airline, etc. I expect you wouldn't have a problem as long as you don't give a border agent any idea that you intend to stay, but people have been denied before especially if they make frequent trips, even from low-fraud places like Canada. I would be careful about, for instance, hauling in a huge wedding dress or the like past customs lest you invite questions about your intent to stay after you marry. Of course, border patrol will generally ask you why you're coming, so you'll have to be honest about that.

As to the issue about Australian/Greece passports, I don't know that there's any rule about this. You have to list both your nationalities on the G-325A, which accompanies the I-130 petition for the CR-1, so they may have your name in the system as a beneficiary under both nationalities. The main thing is that you are honest and upfront with the border agents if they ask you something (like if you have more than one passport, have a I-130 petition pending, know anyone in the U.S., etc.)

Last thing, have you considered entering on a K-1 visa? I realize you would have to plan your wedding around your visa process, and not the other way around, which sucks. I might be a tad worried about scheduling a huge wedding with a very short time frame to gain entrance to the U.S. If you happen to be denied, as others have, it could wreck your plans. There's not any risk that you'd have problems entering under the K-1, on the other hand.

[grrrrreat 109]

Also... Will it look bad if we marry on July 1st and then send out the I-130 on July 2nd? I see that alot of couples here waited as long as a month before sending anything through.

Thanks

No, you can send it as soon as it's ready. You will have to have an official marriage certificate though, and I'm not sure that you're going to be able to get one from your local government so quickly.

The reason some might wait to file the I-130 is if they entered on a non-immigrant visa and are applying for adjustment of status, not the CR-1. It's not illegal to adjust status from a non-immigrant visa, but it is illegal to enter the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa with the intent to adjust status and stay, so if you enter on Monday, get married on Tuesday, and try to adjust status on Wednesday, USCIS might wonder whether you misled them about your intentions on Monday.

[B & G 200]

People who have pending CR-1 petitions sometimes have problems obtaining a visitor visa or problems entering under the visa waiver program. The problem is that you have to prove that you do not intend to stay once you enter, since it's illegal to enter with the intent to stay on a non-immigrant visa or under the visa waiver program. People who need tourist visas are more likely to have problems than VWP entrants, since visa applicants are coming from higher-fraud countries and get more scrutiny from consular officials.

If you do want to come to the U.S. while you are obtaining the CR-1, you should try to bring evidence that you will go home to Greece when your trip is over. This could be a rental lease or house mortgage, proof that you are working in Greece like a contract or employment letter from your airline, etc. I expect you wouldn't have a problem as long as you don't give a border agent any idea that you intend to stay, but people have been denied before especially if they make frequent trips, even from low-fraud places like Canada. I would be careful about, for instance, hauling in a huge wedding dress or the like past customs lest you invite questions about your intent to stay after you marry. Of course, border patrol will generally ask you why you're coming, so you'll have to be honest about that.

As to the issue about Australian/Greece passports, I don't know that there's any rule about this. You have to list both your nationalities on the G-325A, which accompanies the I-130 petition for the CR-1, so they may have your name in the system as a beneficiary under both nationalities. The main thing is that you are honest and upfront with the border agents if they ask you something (like if you have more than one passport, have a I-130 petition pending, know anyone in the U.S., etc.)

Last thing, have you considered entering on a K-1 visa? I realize you would have to plan your wedding around your visa process, and not the other way around, which sucks. I might be a tad worried about scheduling a huge wedding with a very short time frame to gain entrance to the U.S. If you happen to be denied, as others have, it could wreck your plans. There's not any risk that you'd have problems entering under the K-1, on the other hand.

We are not scheduling a huge wedding. Our plan is to get married at county courthouse in his area because it is so much easier and quicker to obtain a marriage license in the US than it is in Greece. US is a 2 day process and in Greece its a 4-5 week process. And I am not planning on staying in the US and filing for Adjustment. I will still have my job and home in Greece and I will fly back and wait for the CR-1 visa there.

So is it advisable to tell the customs officer that my visit is to get married, even though I am not playing to stay?

We will problably wait until my departure to send the I-130 out. So I will be out of the country when the process starts.

[B & G 200]

No, you can send it as soon as it's ready. You will have to have an official marriage certificate though, and I'm not sure that you're going to be able to get one from your local government so quickly.

The reason some might wait to file the I-130 is if they entered on a non-immigrant visa and are applying for adjustment of status, not the CR-1. It's not illegal to adjust status from a non-immigrant visa, but it is illegal to enter the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa with the intent to adjust status and stay, so if you enter on Monday, get married on Tuesday, and try to adjust status on Wednesday, USCIS might wonder whether you misled them about your intentions on Monday.

The official marriage certificate will be issued in the US. The only thing I have to do when I arrive back in Greece is just register it with the local governement and the marriage will be recognised in Greece as well.

[sulhaq 60]

If you inform the customs officer that your intent is to marry without conclusively proving to hin that you do not have any intentions whatsoever to stay and adjust status, you will be denied entry.

I am not telling you to lie. That is neer a good idea. I am just informing you that you should be very cautious with your choice of words when deacribing your purpose of visit, leat you be denied entry and your whole trip is ruined.

As for visiting while the application is under process.....a gain, even if you use yoyr Australian passport you eill still be asked for the intent of your visit at which point you will have to admit that you are visiting your husband. At this point it is comoletely at the customs' officer's discretion whether he lets ylu in or not.

Also, the more you visit while your application is pending, the lower your chances of successfully gaining entry.

[grrrrreat 109]

The official marriage certificate will be issued in the US. The only thing I have to do when I arrive back in Greece is just register it with the local governement and the marriage will be recognised in Greece as well.

Sorry, I meant that it may be tough to get a marriage certificate from a U.S. local government one day after the wedding. Generally, the officiant has to return the signed marriage license to the county or city, and the county or city has to process it and generate the official certificate. You should check with the local government to see how long that will take.

If you inform the customs officer that your intent is to marry without conclusively proving to hin that you do not have any intentions whatsoever to stay and adjust status, you will be denied entry.

I am not telling you to lie. That is neer a good idea. I am just informing you that you should be very cautious with your choice of words when deacribing your purpose of visit, leat you be denied entry and your whole trip is ruined.

As for visiting while the application is under process.....a gain, even if you use yoyr Australian passport you eill still be asked for the intent of your visit at which point you will have to admit that you are visiting your husband. At this point it is comoletely at the customs' officer's discretion whether he lets ylu in or not.

Also, the more you visit while your application is pending, the lower your chances of successfully gaining entry.

I agree, except to say that you MAY be denied entry, everyone's experience is different.