Had an issue yesterday with customs.....

[Jeetyetkidd 0]

My wife and I were married on the 15th of Feb. The I130 packet along with the G 325A was sent Feb. 25th and received on Feb. 27. The check still has not been cashed. So, as far as I am concerned the process hasn't started yet with customs. She has a tourist visa that is good until 2014. Shortly after filing she went back home to Venezuela to work and plan the religous wedding in Dec.

On March 8th she came back to Atlanta and we flew to Miami for our honeymoon cruise. Customs in Atlanta did not give her any trouble at all. Asked some questions and that was it. We arrived from our cruise to the same port we left 7 days earlier in Miami and Customs makes an issue saying she needs a Parole to travel after filing the I-130 package. They told us she can not leave the country without it or she will be denied entry when she tries to come back in. They said she needed that with the adjustment of status. So I asked do I need to file that too? They told me I already did with the I130 package. Nothing makes sense from what I have read on this site, USCIS site, and talked with others who have gone thru the process. There is a separate adjustment of status form to be filed. The I-485. They also stated that the customs guy in Atlanta must not have been very sharp.

We made an appointment in Atlanta for Thursday morning to speak with an immigration officer to get everything straight. I called USCIS customer service this morning and explained everything to him. He said we do not need a parole to travel but can do so at our discretion. He also stated that Customs can deny entry to her anytime they want for whatever reason they want. This doesn't sound right to me and has me not only frustrated, but very confused.

Has anyone else had this happen? We are trying to do this thing right and thought we were. Now we do not know what to think! So, any help would be appreciated.

[YuAndDan 153]

The customs officer was confused and thought you were adjusting status from the tourist visa, though you have not filed the I-485.

Note travel in to the USA can be restricted after an I-130 is filed for a CR-1 visa, there is immigrations intent being shown by filing the I-130.

Note this one came up the other day:

Entry to the U.S. while Petition is Pending

All persons traveling to the U.S. as visitors or students, Canadian or other nationality, under U.S. law are deemed to be intending immigrants and thus inadmissible for temporary purposes until they have an immigrant visa in hand. The burden of qualifying for any visa for entry to the U.S. rests solely with the applicant. Entry to the U.S. is solely up to a Department of Homeland Security/Customs and Border Protection (DHS/CBP) officer at the Port of Entry. While intending immigrants may have and lawfully seek to exercise a dual intent to be a visitor or student now and an immigrant later, it is against U.S. law to enter the U.S. as a visitor or student with the intent to wait for or seek immigrant status while in the U.S. Anyone who attempts to enter the U.S. by misrepresentation, or unlawfully, may face severe sanctions up to and including permanent ineligibility to enter the U.S.

http://www.amcits.com/immigration_usa_relative.asp Edited March 17, 2008 by YuAndDan

[MsZ 6]

An officer can deny entry to the US at their discretion. So she needs to bring evidence of her ties to her home country with her that are strong enough to suggest she wouldn't just abandon her house, job, etc. Mortgage statements, letter from boss, pay stubs, utility bills, etc. are good evidence.

But even with evidence, you can be denied. That's just the way the system is designed. So always be polite! (And never lie. It could come back to bite you later.)

[Jeetyetkidd 0]

An officer can deny entry to the US at their discretion. So she needs to bring evidence of her ties to her home country with her that are strong enough to suggest she wouldn't just abandon her house, job, etc. Mortgage statements, letter from boss, pay stubs, utility bills, etc. are good evidence.

But even with evidence, you can be denied. That's just the way the system is designed. So always be polite! (And never lie. It could come back to bite you later.)

There is nothing to hide or lie about. It just doesn't make sense to me that you get so many conflicting results from each Customs agent you speak to. I wrote my Congressman also. So between that and the appointment on Thursday morning, we will see what comes of it. There are so many gray areas that even the ones enforcing them don't know what to make of it. One thing we are going to do at the appointment is see if she indeed needs one. If so then we will do it. If not, then we will ask for a certified letter stating so with Agent name and number. That way she will have that to carry with her.

[Brian&Mel 0]

On March 8th she came back to Atlanta and we flew to Miami for our honeymoon cruise. Customs

When I read that I thought - oh no here it comes. I think cruises are a real issue for us. Easy to get out, but problematical to get back in. When we came back from Mexico (also honeymoon cruise) into the Port of LA the couple ahead of us was escorted off. We got up and the agent said "is this your residence?" I thought Alert, Danger Will Robinson!!! and I carefully replied "it is my residence and where she is staying while she is visiting." "Where did you get married?" "Port Orford Oregon" "I suppose now you are going to apply for AOS." (It was a statement, not a question - again the alarm bells were ringing) "No I will file for an I-130 after she goes back to Malaysia in a week." That seemed to satisfy her and Mel got admitted into the country again.

She will be coming to visit me for a bit (on a B2 which she has had previously) and while we have friends in Canada I'm not going to take the risk of multiple crossings as each crossing has its own risks - and the more crossings the more risk.

The cruise was wonderful, had a great and fantastic time, but watching the couple ahead of us who probably also had a great and wonderful time get marched off to never never land was very nerve wracking and I felt like we had somehow dodged a bullet by being allowed back in. Part of me knows why the Agent doesn't have to meet the legal requirements for "probable cause" but a big part of me says "look we are legal, we are within the law, so just let us go on with our lives." <sigh>

Good luck and please let us know the outcome.

Brian

[Jeetyetkidd 0]

On March 8th she came back to Atlanta and we flew to Miami for our honeymoon cruise. Customs

When I read that I thought - oh no here it comes. I think cruises are a real issue for us. Easy to get out, but problematical to get back in. When we came back from Mexico (also honeymoon cruise) into the Port of LA the couple ahead of us was escorted off. We got up and the agent said "is this your residence?" I thought Alert, Danger Will Robinson!!! and I carefully replied "it is my residence and where she is staying while she is visiting." "Where did you get married?" "Port Orford Oregon" "I suppose now you are going to apply for AOS." (It was a statement, not a question - again the alarm bells were ringing) "No I will file for an I-130 after she goes back to Malaysia in a week." That seemed to satisfy her and Mel got admitted into the country again.

She will be coming to visit me for a bit (on a B2 which she has had previously) and while we have friends in Canada I'm not going to take the risk of multiple crossings as each crossing has its own risks - and the more crossings the more risk.

The cruise was wonderful, had a great and fantastic time, but watching the couple ahead of us who probably also had a great and wonderful time get marched off to never never land was very nerve wracking and I felt like we had somehow dodged a bullet by being allowed back in. Part of me knows why the Agent doesn't have to meet the legal requirements for "probable cause" but a big part of me says "look we are legal, we are within the law, so just let us go on with our lives." <sigh>

Good luck and please let us know the outcome.

Brian

It sounds like you are going to be in the same situation as us. I will reply back here the outcome of the meeting.

[Jeetyetkidd 0]

Well we went to the appointment and found out she DOES need the letter. Also, there is another packet of forms that needs to be sent in. One catch...they can't be sent in until we have a case number for the I-130 packet which has been received but not processed nor check cashed. So, I would recommend this to anyone with questions on here.....go to your local immigration office and talk with an immigration agent. I should have done that the first time instead of using info on here. The checklist for the I-130 here says she doesn't need the birth certificate needed anymore. Well on the official instructions for the I-130....it is still required. So thanks to that, there is a chance of the package coming back.

SO my advice and recommendation to anyone and everyone....goto the officials with your questions. It will save you wasted time and money.