Fiance long visit from Canada on Tourist visa while K-1 pending

[Andreas et Andrée 0]

We've read all the threads we could find on this and are asking particularly about Canada to US.

Hi everyone. We're so glad that this site exists! It's already been so helpful in planning and applying.

My fiancee is a Canadian living in Montreal and I'm US living here. We applied for the K-1 (Vermont Service Center) and got I-129F NOA1 2007-09-20. We, of course, can't wait to be together as much as legally possible.

I can support her staying with me if she could come on a long tourist visa if that is possible. She is just starting a new non-professional freelance career so would just stop taking work until getting the K-1 + work permit and stay with me. To make that work she'd move her stuff to her mom's house (near her) and make that her permanent residence.

I called USCIS and they say, "sure, it's just up to the Customs & Border Patrol or Embassy to grant the Tourist Visa". I just came-back from visiting her and asked the CBP agent who let me back into the country about this and he gave the grave answer, "...Personally, if it were me, I wouldn't even have her visit at all until getting the K-1." That's silly as other agents have let her in for weekend trips with a smile and friendly advise about what exactly to do when she gets her K-1. That said, don't know what to do given it could look like she has "immigrant intent" even though she obviously at least has to go back to Montreal to do the K-1 Embassy interview.

We're thinking to try to get a Tourist Visa from the Embassy beforehand so she knows how long she'll likely to be able to stay.

So any advice appreciated as I anticipate things are a little different due to the Canada - US country relations.

Specific questions:

1) How long can she come? (6 months would be awesome!)

2) What's the best way (most predictable, least subject to whim, etc.) for her to get the Tourist Visa (Embassy application? Directly at the boarder? other?)

3) Any particular wording, documentation, etc. that we should use? (I know we should be completely up-front/truthful). Note again that she has very little income right now and it's all freelance so may be more problematic to show she must go back (except eventual K-1 interview @Montreal seems like good enough reason!).

4) If she got a nice long tourist visa could the CBP still limit her stay? How likely is that from Canada to US? Any thoughts on how to mitigate the chance of that?

5) Can she re-enter (visit her mom & come back to the US) or is risky every time that an agent could worry she has "immigrant intent"

Thanks so much. We did read as many similar threads as possible and hope this warranted a new thread because of the odd details.

Cheers,

Andreas & Andrée

[YuAndDan 153]

Canadians are allowed to visit the US for up to 6 months, is that long enough? Strong ties back home are needed to be demonstrate to the POE officer.

[*julez* 124]

99% of pending K1 applicants are denied so I wouldn't waste $100 on trying to get a tourist visa.

Make sure she brings enough evidence with her to show ties to Canada and give it a go. Many have successfully visitied wile K1 pending. There are no guarantees, but if you are willing to risk lo9sing time/money, it won't affect the K1 process if she is turned away.

[~Laura and Nick~ 5]

Just wanted to say welcome to VJ

Come on over to the Canada Board and make yourself at home!

Best of luck on your journey!

Hugs

Laura

[Meridien 0]

I wouldn't bother applying for a tourist visa. Canadians don't require a visa to travel to the US - even if we have a K1 visa application pending. Just go through customs as usual. Just make sure that your fiancee has plenty of evidence of her intent to return to Canada, and make sure that the customs agent is made well aware that this is just a visit (she won't be able to provide a letter from her employer, but anything else she can come up with to prove her ties to Canada will be helpful, such as rental agreement, mortgage agreement, return plane ticket, anything that shows she is just visiting) There is always a chance that she will encounter a grumpy agent who will turn her back, but lots of Canadians (myself included), have successfully gone for visits with K1 pending. I honestly answered the agent that I was visiting my fiance when he asked, and he let me through no problem, he never even asked to see the evidence of my intent to return (of which I had tons, just in case!)

Somewhere in the forums is a thread called "Yes, you can visit" which has lots more info and personal stories of visiting US while K1 is pending.

[Meridien 0]

Hi, it's me again! I just wanted to point out that Canucks travelling to the US without visa are only supposed to stay for a maximum of 6 months. So, assuming she gets in to the country okay, definitely make sure she heads back to Canada before 6 months is up. And as far as returning to Canada and coming back to the US goes, there's no rules against it, but every time she tries it there's always the chance that she'll encounter a difficult POE Officer. Once she's in the US, I wouldn't push my luck trying it again...

[Kathryn41 3,205]

That is also supposed to be a maximum of 6 months out of 12, so she needs to include all of the time she has currently spent in the US in the past year and subtract that from the six months to find out how much time she is currently allowed. Part of the K-1 application includes a list of all of the time spent in the US up until the date of application so her time in the US is on record. It is a possibility, although not a big one, that if she is in the US for more than 6 months that immigration will look closely to ensure she doesn't have an overstay which can be grounds for a denial and needing a waiver to overcome. Canadians are just as much 'foreigners' in the US as are citizens of any other country even though we enjoy close ties.

One of the other things she needs to keep in mind if she is intending to spend a large portion of time in the US while waiting for the K-1 to be processed - don't show up at the border with all of her clothes or with clothes for a different season that she can expect to see while in the US - that is a big red flag that this person is actually an immigrant and not a visitor.

While the six month yearly maximum is allowed, it is still up to the border guard to determine how long he/she will allow a Canadian to visit the US. They can say none, 10 days, 1 month, 3 months or allow the full time - they are the ones who decide, whether you have a visitor's visa or are taking advantage of the special relationship Canadians have with the US.

I don't mean to be a wet blanket on your plans; I just don't want you to end up in a situation that could lead to a denial of your fiancee's visa or as a visitor. That is even harder to deal with than the time spent apart between visits, because it could have been prevented.

[Andreas et Andrée 0]

Thanks everyone. So we're thinking she'll just go to the border and hope we get someone decent. Now if she gets a short visit 'allowance', would it be worth trying again the next week? It seems so much at the whim of which CBP agent we get. Would there be a downside to that?

We're also somewhat perplexed about the return intent. Of course she'll go back for the visa interview. Shouldn't that be enough? It's especially hard because what job would wait for someone for a multi-month stay? Unfortunately not hers and her career is one where everyone's a freelancer (fitness instructor) so can't show 'strong ties' there.

Again, any thoughts welcomed.

Cheers,

Andreas & Andée

[Meridien 0]

I suspect that in the event that she is given a 'short stay' visa that she will end up with a stamp in her passport to that effect, and that it will show up when they scan her passport on subsequent visit. If there's anyone out there who can confirm this fact, that would be great. If she does get permission to enter the country for a limited stay, she should probably just be happy and enjoy her 1 month, 3 month or whatever stay, then return to Canada. She could always try to come for another visit down the line. But, chances are she will be allowed into the country with no restrictions, so don't worry too much about it. Just be prepared for whatever might happen...

I know it's a bummer, we Canadians get so used to unrestricted travel back and forth accross the US border, most of us have done it dozens of times without a second thought. But, the fact is that once you're an intending immigrant, they look at you very differently. I was in the same boat as you guys, I originally thought I'd just move down to the US and live with my fiance while I waited for my visa. It was only after doing some research that I realized that it was more complicated than that...so I decided to stick it out and keep working in Canada for the time being. It's no picnic being apart for all those months, trust me everyone on this website can feel for you!

Anyway, good luck!