Atlanta Immigration

[VetsWife328 7]

Hello all,

as some of you may know,I went to see my man here in the USA last Thursday.

Well we used Atlanta ,Georgia for POE.

And it was REAL bad.

I truthfully answered the Officers question who I was visiting with "my boyfriend',and it all started.

I was asked a million questions like "How long do you know him?" ,"Who has paid for the airline tickets?","What do you do for a living"..........................................I thought that it would be ok as long as I answered all questions truthfully and politley....NO!

I was handed a folder with the I 94,my passport,Customs Form and notes from the Immigration Officer and was told to go to the Immigration Office.

Well there I had to deal with Officer Butler..............Not very pleasant.

He basically told me that if I want to be a pain in the butt(and I only asked how long this was going to take and what was wrong,had to get my connecting flight) he would put me and my son on the next plane back to Germany.

Now my man and I have decided to wait a little while (2 months) with putting the I 129 in.

I have after all been admitted until May 3rd.............But have to go back to Germany by Feb 22nd anyway.

Now we will have to deal with that new law that goes into effect next month.............but we dont dare putting the petition in now as we had planned.............

What do you guys think?????????

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Natasha

[ufkenmill 0]

Can you be more clear and coherent about the details in your post? I understand you're emotional about what happened to you.

Which law are you talking about?

[gcox457 0]

Which law are you talking about?

The new Marriage Broker Act that is due to go into effect in March, if I had to take a relatively educated guess.

Hello all,

as some of you may know,I went to see my man here in the USA last Thursday.

Well we used Atlanta ,Georgia for POE.

And it was REAL bad.

I truthfully answered the Officers question who I was visiting with "my boyfriend',and it all started.

I was asked a million questions like "How long do you know him?" ,"Who has paid for the airline tickets?","What do you do for a living"..........................................I thought that it would be ok as long as I answered all questions truthfully and politley....NO!

I was handed a folder with the I 94,my passport,Customs Form and notes from the Immigration Officer and was told to go to the Immigration Office.

Well there I had to deal with Officer Butler..............Not very pleasant.

He basically told me that if I want to be a pain in the butt(and I only asked how long this was going to take and what was wrong,had to get my connecting flight) he would put me and my son on the next plane back to Germany.

Now my man and I have decided to wait a little while (2 months) with putting the I 129 in.

I have after all been admitted until May 3rd.............But have to go back to Germany by Feb 22nd anyway.

Now we will have to deal with that new law that goes into effect next month.............but we dont dare putting the petition in now as we had planned.............

What do you guys think?????????

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Natasha

There's no reason to delay your petition...you were lawfully admitted, end of story. Submitting the petition now just further reinforces your intention to return to Germany, in my opinion...if you planned to stay, get married, and adjust status why would you bother with the I-129F? You have the plans to do things by the book...don't let the CBP guy scare you away from following your plans.

[Cristy 4]

I looked it up, not sure why it would effect the poster.

International Marriage Broker Information Requirements

This section provides that a U.S. citizen filing a petition for a K visa for a fiancée from another country must provide information on criminal convictions for specified crimes. These include a list of violent crimes, including assault and battery as well as crimes relating to substance or alcohol abuse. The Department of Homeland Security will provide this criminal history information, along with results of their search for any criminal convictions to the foreign national beneficiary. The Department of State is prohibited from approving a fiancée visa if the petitioner has petitioned for more than 2 K visas in the past, or less than 2 years have passed since the petitioner filed for a K visa and that visa was approved. DHS can waive this bar, but if person has history of violent crimes, the bar cannot be waived unless DHS determined that there are extraordinary circumstances, or the individual's crimes were a result of domestic violence, the individual was not the primary perpetrator of the violence, and the crime did not result in serious bodily injury. DHS is directed to create a database to track repeated K applications and notify petitioner and spouse when a second K visa is applied for within a 10 year period. All future K applications will trigger similar notice, with a domestic violence pamphlet being sent to K beneficiary. The fact that an individual was provided with this information and the domestic violence pamphlet for immigrants cannot be used to deny their eligibility for relief under VAWA

[aussiewench 9]

I agree with cristy....the new law ONLY applies to those going through marriage brokers and also those filing similtaneous petitions and those having filed 2 K visas in the past, or less than 2 years have passed since the petitioner filed for a K visa and that visa was approved.

Natasha, if you are both ready to file the petition then file.

[VetsWife328 7]

Thank you all for your replies! Yes I was talking about the Marriage Broker Act of 2005,obviously I miss understood something there when I thought that the new law is going to effect ALL K 1 visas.

Yep that Immigration Officer did scare me.............

We will wait and put the papers in in April.That way I should still be able to come back here by September or October as we had it planned anyways.

As for now we are together for 2 more weeks and that already helps a lot.

Thank you all for your support!!!!!!!!

Natasha

[happyimmigrant 0]

Thank you all for your replies! Yes I was talking about the Marriage Broker Act of 2005,obviously I miss understood something there when I thought that the new law is going to effect ALL K 1 visas.

Yep that Immigration Officer did scare me.............

We will wait and put the papers in in April.That way I should still be able to come back here by September or October as we had it planned anyways.

As for now we are together for 2 more weeks and that already helps a lot.

Thank you all for your support!!!!!!!!

Natasha

There's no reason for you to wait to file. Once you get the K-1, it's good for 6 months, so you don't have to use it right away if you don't want.

Better to have it in your hands so that you can use it to enter when you plan, rather than to plan to enter, and have your plans scuttled because you haven't got it yet - because you waited to file it.

[Steph1010 1]

If I were you I would go ahead and file. Sometimes it takes longer than expected. We have been waiting over 5 months for our NOA2. Even if you get the visa beforehand...you can always wait to enter the country.

[Anja_and_Henry 0]

Hi Natasha,

Good you are there - I remember being stoped at the POE to good! It is awfull!

But do not file later - no reason. Look how long my timeline is... It is better to have the visa in hand...

Good luck, Anja

[Fuzzness 2]

Your experiences in Atlanta is why I have never entered through Atlanta. I have previously entered through Boston or Detroit (I definately recommend Detroit, I had a good experience there). Then I connected through another flight to Atlanta.

[bly 0]

I agree with cristy....the new law ONLY applies to those going through marriage brokers and also those filing similtaneous petitions and those having filed 2 K visas in the past, or less than 2 years have passed since the petitioner filed for a K visa and that visa was approved.

Natasha, if you are both ready to file the petition then file.

The law does not only apply to people using marriage brokers. Marriage brokers have extra steps they must do under the new law, but the law applies to all K1 petitions.

All K1s must do the background domestic violence check.

All K1 petitioners now have the limitations of 2 K1s before 2 year limits are enforced.

All K1s can only file 1 K1 at a time now, regardless of meeting via a marriage broker or not.

If this is your first or second K1, and you don't have another K1 filed, then the only thing the law changes is the background/domestic violence check is done.

[Jasman0717 9]

Why wait, file now! Good luck

[daisy16 0]

I too also believe you should file your k-1 petition as early as you planned.

You cannot predict how long USCIS will take to process your petition and the time apart is heartbreaking enough, without having to lengthen it.

As someone else said, it is valid for 6 months, so even if you did get it early, you can hold onto it.

If you wait to file k-1, that will extend the time for when you will not be able to visit without further hassles. Someone will correct me, but as far as I know they do track the names of people they hassle at the POE.

You did nothing wrong, you came to the US legally, with no ill intent. Some people arrive with the intent to just visit, get married and stay and then just petition to Adjust Status without getting in trouble. You will not be faulted for filing now.

oh yeah, don't come back through Atlanta!

[VetsWife328 7]

Oh trust me Daisy ,Atlanta will not be my POE after I get the K1! I've had enough of Officer Butler last week.

Unfortunatley there's some other personal (financial) problems right now and we have to wait with filing the I 129F now anyway.We hope to put it in in May........

So my son and I should still be able to come back by the end of the year.

Heartbreaking-YEAH.Don't remind me.I can't stand the thought of having to leave my man in just two weeks.I could just cry every time I think of it............

Nat