Visiting USA during immigration process

[ziggyboo 0]

Okay, my husband and I have sent in everything now, and I think all we're waiting on is the letter to tell me when the interview date in Montreal will be (and, of course, I'll have to go to one of the designated doctors here to get checked out). However, I wasn't sure whether or not I was allowed to enter the states for visits while immigration proceedings were going on or not. And I can't seem to find an answer on whether or not it would be all right to go to the U.S. for a few weeks while I'm still waiting on that letter. I feel incredibly stupid asking this now (especially since it's been a year already), but is it okay to visit?

(thought maybe I should crosspost to this section, since this is the visa type we filed for me)

[YuAndDan 153]

FAQ: 4.6)...Can my fiance(e) come to the US to visit me once the visa process is started? (Applies to all visas)

http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1k2visa-application.html#4.6

Though the consulate in Montreal has this:

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

So it is up to the officer at the border to decide to let you visit or not.

[Karaoke 0]

Did you see that in any piece of US administrative regulations/laws? I mean, any mention of that on the CBP web?

I think that it is indeed up to the officer, but I think they assess each case differently, probably also based on the country you came from, profession etc.

FAQ: 4.6)...Can my fiance(e) come to the US to visit me once the visa process is started? (Applies to all visas)

http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1k2visa-application.html#4.6

Though the consulate in Montreal has this:

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

So it is up to the officer at the border to decide to let you visit or not.

[MsZ 6]

My husband comes and visits all the time. Are you saying you haven't come into the US at all during this period? Wow!

Yes, you can come. Bring your ties back to Canada just in case they ask at the border, which they probably won't.

If you are not planning on staying and all you are doing is visiting, it is very legal and very doable. I'd reckon my husband has made more than 20 trips into the US since we got married. Some trips were for weekends and some were for weeks. He'll be here tomorrow night for another weekender.

[przy 0]

My husband just came and visited me from Germany and he had absolutely no problems whatsoever. They asked him the typical questions: "What's the purpose of your stay here?" "Where are you staying?" "Who do you know here?" and so forth. His POE for the visit was Los Angeles (LAX).

[MGW 0]

Hi all.

I, too, am going the CR1/IR1 route and have a ticket to visit my husband. I am near Winnipeg, MB and he is in Spokane, WA. I realize that the burden of proof (that I will return to canada) is on me. I just got a teaching job for Sept and work part time at a grocery store so I will take letters from both employers. What specifics should those letters include? I am living at my parents' so I have no rent/bills as such. What other documentation should I take? Bank statements? Car insurance? Evidence of our immigration process?

Also, this is my first attempt to visit my husband since before we were married and started this whole visa journey AND it has been over a year and a half since I last attempted to enter the US. Last time I tried (Dec 2006) we were driving my car and I was denied entry, photographed, fingerprinted and we were made to feel like criminals (Peace Gardens POE MB-ND) largely because a couple who had been living together ILLEGALLY in the US for the last 5 years had tried to cross a couple hours before we showed up and they were caught in several lies!! The customs officers were understandably ticked but they took it out on us! So my question is: will my having been denied in 2006 and the fingerprinting etc show up as a red flag when I try to cross to visit now? I do have a different passport in my married name (just added his to mine).

I have a return ticket (July 2-15) and will be flying through WPG which means that I will go through US customs in wpg airport. Anyone have any experiences with Wpg airport customs when visiting a spouse?

Just want to be prepared. We haven't seen each other since January and we have a house in Spokane that I have yet to see in person so I am DYING to visit!! So far we have only met in canada to visit.

Please share your thoughts, advice and experiences!

Thanks,

MGW

[criandjen 0]

Are you sure about the visiting?

I will be in the same situation soon. Me (Italian) and my girlfriend (American) are planning to get merried in august september. Then we'll start the CR-1 process but we would like to be sure we can visiting each other waiting for the visa.

Is there any documents that give a 100% sure answer?

C

[shiri 0]

Did you see that in any piece of US administrative regulations/laws? I mean, any mention of that on the CBP web?

I think that it is indeed up to the officer, but I think they assess each case differently, probably also based on the country you came from, profession etc.

FAQ: 4.6)...Can my fiance(e) come to the US to visit me once the visa process is started? (Applies to all visas)

http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1k2visa-application.html#4.6

Though the consulate in Montreal has this:

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

So it is up to the officer at the border to decide to let you visit or not.

I not only looked at the CBP website, but I called the POE that he has to go through twice and spoke to a supervisor the second time and basically what he said is just that "It is up to the officer at the Port of Entry." For me this is rough because we have to buy plane tickets and such too and they have to be nonrefundable to get him across the border. We are having a baby, so this is really important to us. They didn't seem to think it was a big deal as long as there were good strong TIES to his country. (He is a Canadian citizen and I am a US citizen.)

[jedinite 0]

I was in a similar position. I was working in the US for several years (6 to be exact) before we got married. Upon leaving the US late last year to return to Canada for another TN-1 I was denied entry because of my change of marital status. At the time I did not intend on becoming a citizen because we had just got married and we were still trying to figure out what to do. Anyways, the customs officer that I spoke with allowed me to fill out a form for voluntarily withdrawing my entry to the US. This is suppose to be a reference that I tried to cross but because of my change in status that I would withdraw my entry until we decided which form of immigration we were going to pursue (Canadian or American).

I followed up a week later with the Consulate on whether I could travel and visit my wife and they sent me back to the Customs Officers at the Airport. So after much running around I managed to speak to a Customs Officer during their open office hours and they told me that because of our status I was not able to enter the US unless I could show significant proof that I would be returning to Canada, but it would also be to the discretion of Officer at the Border at the time of entry on if you are able to cross.

His examples of proof that you would be returning are: proof of employment, proof of ownership of a home or permanent residence, insurance, car insurance, bills with Canadian address, bank accounts, and anything else that you would have as a person that was living in Canada that has something to come back to. But again, he said it was no guarantee that I would be allowed over the border.

It might be more trouble than it's worth since if you get an officer on a bad day they may take you in for questioning and if they do not allow you to withdraw your entry to the US then you right a great chance of getting a black mark on your record and I'm sure that would not fair well for your I-130 or I-129F application. Keep it on the safe side and get your spouse to visit you in Canada. My wife has flow up here many times to spend a week or weekend with me. Now that it's finally summer it's much more enjoyable than it was when it was cold or rainy.

Keep your fingers crossed and hope that you get your visa approved quickly and you can finally put the time apart behind you and enjoy your marriage.

[shiri 0]

I was in a similar position. I was working in the US for several years (6 to be exact) before we got married. Upon leaving the US late last year to return to Canada for another TN-1 I was denied entry because of my change of marital status. At the time I did not intend on becoming a citizen because we had just got married and we were still trying to figure out what to do. Anyways, the customs officer that I spoke with allowed me to fill out a form for voluntarily withdrawing my entry to the US. This is suppose to be a reference that I tried to cross but because of my change in status that I would withdraw my entry until we decided which form of immigration we were going to pursue (Canadian or American).

I followed up a week later with the Consulate on whether I could travel and visit my wife and they sent me back to the Customs Officers at the Airport. So after much running around I managed to speak to a Customs Officer during their open office hours and they told me that because of our status I was not able to enter the US unless I could show significant proof that I would be returning to Canada, but it would also be to the discretion of Officer at the Border at the time of entry on if you are able to cross.

His examples of proof that you would be returning are: proof of employment, proof of ownership of a home or permanent residence, insurance, car insurance, bills with Canadian address, bank accounts, and anything else that you would have as a person that was living in Canada that has something to come back to. But again, he said it was no guarantee that I would be allowed over the border.

It might be more trouble than it's worth since if you get an officer on a bad day they may take you in for questioning and if they do not allow you to withdraw your entry to the US then you right a great chance of getting a black mark on your record and I'm sure that would not fair well for your I-130 or I-129F application. Keep it on the safe side and get your spouse to visit you in Canada. My wife has flow up here many times to spend a week or weekend with me. Now that it's finally summer it's much more enjoyable than it was when it was cold or rainy.

Keep your fingers crossed and hope that you get your visa approved quickly and you can finally put the time apart behind you and enjoy your marriage.

WOW... I appreciate your wisdom and opinion in this situation!

[MGW 0]

I have a ticket for July 2 to visit my husband for 2 weeks less a day.

I am currently collecting my "evidence of ties to Canada" and am wondering if anyone has eny experiences to share regarding US customs in WINNIPEG AIRPORT?

thanks,

Michele

[jedinite 0]

I have a ticket for July 2 to visit my husband for 2 weeks less a day.

I am currently collecting my "evidence of ties to Canada" and am wondering if anyone has eny experiences to share regarding US customs in WINNIPEG AIRPORT?

thanks,

Michele

Sorry, I live in Calgary. BTW, please be aware that if you do not make it on your flight because of Customs you may lose your flight, as it was stated to me when I was trying to get back to my home in LA that it is not the responsibility of the airline to ensure that you have the proper documentation and access to a foreign country. If you are denied access you may even forfeit the right to a transfer to a flight of a later date. I had to go through some hoops with my credit card company to get a refund on my returning flight to the US, the conditions to which I was unable to fly back where not covered under even the travel insurance provided, the credit card agent had to refund me the amount of my flight as "services not rendered."

Like I mentioned above, you are better off having your spouse fly up to see you or even taking a vacation together somewhere outside of the US. If you do manage to make it down there though, please share with us your experience so that we may be able to be prepared for travel to visit our spouses too.

Cheers!

[Catt 6]

My husband just came and visited me from Germany and he had absolutely no problems whatsoever. They asked him the typical questions: "What's the purpose of your stay here?" "Where are you staying?" "Who do you know here?" and so forth. His POE for the visit was Los Angeles (LAX).

Same here.

We are currently waiting for K-3 visa approval and I have just visited my husband in the US (on the visa waiver program). I had brought proof of home ties (non refundable return ticket, letter of employer, proof of travel insurance, last paystub, proof of payment of rent for the following month etc.)

At the POE, the Officer only asked me are if I was there on business or for pleasure. That was it.

Before, I had stressed a bit about this, but like przy's wife and MsZ's husband, I had no problem.

I had also made sure not to pack too much stuff, don't know if that is important but I did not want to give any impression that I would stay longer than said.

[*Snowdrop* 604]

We started the visa process in October last year and I have visited twice since then on the VWP both times for about 2 weeks. I had no problems at POE - when I said I was there to visit my husband the IO just said fine and let me through. The issue of the visa was not even mentioned.

I had proof of employment, rental agreement etc with me but no one asked to see them.

[MsZ 6]

I think the issue with going back to Canada for another TN renewal makes that situation a lot different than what most US/Canadian couples go through. Most couples are visiting w/o another visa involved. Going for a TN while you're married sets off alarm bells for immigration because they think you're using one type of visa with the intention of coming to stay.