They turned her back at the POE

[Ed+Cindy 1]

Ironically, if she came in seperately with the visitors visa, she probably would not be in this situation.

But since she came in with her LPR husband (in the process of becoming an USC) - this probably flagged it and was sent back.

Sucks, but it clearly states that having a visa does not guarantee admittance into the US.

Bobby is likely right.

This happened to us. I'm the USC and my wife (girlfriend then) was on a visitor's visa (she could have used VWP but got a B visa in hopefully allowing her a longer visit to the US)..anyway, we entered the US together and she was turned around...every previous time we entered separately and she had no problems. A non LPR or USC traveling with a LPR or USC in a relationship is asking for trouble. Unfortunate we didn't know this before when we both came back to the US in 2008.

[-mitch- 3]

They are allowed to be out of the country for 6 months and not break the continuity rule.

The fact of the matter is there are thousands of people that try to circumvent the immigration laws, and reading the story, I would not be surprised if the couple was let into the US she might do the same thing, she got caught and sent back. We have no way of knowing what she said to CBP and we have no idea what her true intention was, but I highly doubt the CBP just decided hey your going back, without some sort of suspicion that she was going to stay. There are plenty of stories both ways on VJ, and I am sure there will be plenty more.

While on the subject I think the immigration process for US Citizens bringing over fiances, spouses, children, etc should be overhauled before they extend immigration rights to PR's. Fix the current problems for USC's and then work on the other stuff. Just my opinion.

i just have a quick question. would you react if the LPR and USC will have the same agony of wait??? a USC have to wait 6-12 months for a fiancee to come over and be with each other.... but a LPR will have to sacrifice 5 yrs away from the family just to for the petition.

it its not gonna lengthen your ( USC ) processing time then why not support us LPR who are trying to have a one great happy family too.... they can lessen maybe just 3 years! that we can understand. a USC is a USC but just asking for some support... if you think 12 months of wait for USC's petition how much more for 5-7 yrs.

[cfortune 0]

It's amazing how many people like to play Monday morning quarterback to a circumstance they didn't experience and about which they know few of the facts. While anyone is welcome to their opinion, it is not very helpful to accuse me personally of lying or not doing my homework because I didn't visit this or that immigration forum. There are dozens of such fora out there, often with contradicting information, and I visited many. I also consulted USCIS FAQs and spoke directly with an agent, who was singularly unhelpful in providing assistance. Our decision to enter in this fashion and later wait out my naturalization with my wife safely back home was based on consultation with a trusted immigration attorney (who was closely acquainted with my wife and with our case, and for the record, we had plenty of additional evidence about financial ties to my wife's home country in addition to the affidavit, including bank accounts, property deeds, proof of income, etc. USCIS officials ignored all of it). There was nothing illegal or untoward about what we did, however tenuous the chances of our success now seem. Hindsight has shown the risk of denied entry were higher than we, or our attorney, foresaw in this case. And, given a second chance, I would not try to do the same thing again - which is one of the reasons I wrote this article, as a cautionary tale to anyone who may be in a similar situation and is seeking guidance.

The second, more important reason I wrote this article is to highlight that there are discrepancies between the wait times and availability of visas for family members of LPRs and USCs. There is pending legislation - the Reuniting Families Act - that could help narrow those discrepancies, and I wanted to highlight that. The use of my personal situation to illustrate one such case was my decision, but I could have used a hypothetical case or any one of the tens of thousands of other American families split apart by outdated immigration laws. Parsing what you think are the facts of a case you know nothing about won't change the fact that the current visa process for spouses and minor children of LPRs is unduly lengthy and prone to difficulty. I believe it is in the public interest to improve that. If striving for a better, more equitable democracy is "whining," then I suppose I am guilty of that.

Debate on this issue is healthy, as it sheds more light on the difficulties faced by many people trying to plan a future life with a loved one in America. If my statistics in that regard are wrong, please let me know and I will inform the US Senator's office where I procured them. But I don't think that second-guessing and slinging around conjecture on a personal case you don't have direct knowledge of is particularly useful to anyone.

As an aside, the comment slinging mud at journalists, while it may be warranted in certain circumstances, is rather misplaced in this instance, since my profession has nothing whatsoever to do with how I navigate immigration processes.

[Minya's wife 24]

It's amazing how many people like to play Monday morning quarterback to a circumstance they didn't experience and about which they know few of the facts. While anyone is welcome to their opinion, it is not very helpful to accuse me personally of lying or not doing my homework because I didn't visit this or that immigration forum. There are dozens of such fora out there, often with contradicting information, and I visited many. I also consulted USCIS FAQs and spoke directly with an agent, who was singularly unhelpful in providing assistance. Our decision to enter in this fashion and later wait out my naturalization with my wife safely back home was based on consultation with a trusted immigration attorney (who was closely acquainted with my wife and with our case, and for the record, we had plenty of additional evidence about financial ties to my wife's home country in addition to the affidavit, including bank accounts, property deeds, proof of income, etc. USCIS officials ignored all of it). There was nothing illegal or untoward about what we did, however tenuous the chances of our success now seem. Hindsight has shown the risk of denied entry were higher than we, or our attorney, foresaw in this case. And, given a second chance, I would not try to do the same thing again - which is one of the reasons I wrote this article, as a cautionary tale to anyone who may be in a similar situation and is seeking guidance.

The second, more important reason I wrote this article is to highlight that there are discrepancies between the wait times and availability of visas for family members of LPRs and USCs. There should be discrepancies in wait times/availability of visas for those petitioners that are LPRs and those that are USC's. In the eyes of the US, the citizen is the one who has the most 'right of way' as it pertains to immigration. LPR's have the right of residency in the US, not the full benefits of citizenship. Having to wait longer to have their spouses immigrate is one of those 'restrictions,' if you will, that IMO is not so unjust. There is pending legislation - the Reuniting Families Act - that could help narrow those discrepancies, and I wanted to highlight that. The use of my personal situation to illustrate one such case was my decision, but I could have used a hypothetical case or any one of the tens of thousands of other American families split apart by outdated immigration laws. Parsing what you think are the facts of a case you know nothing about won't change the fact that the current visa process for spouses and minor children of LPRs is unduly lengthy and prone to difficulty. How is the process more prone to difficulty than for a USC trying to bring his spouse/child to the US? It is the same forms that need to be filled out and sent, same fee, same visa application, same medical exams, same visa. I believe it is in the public interest to improve that. If striving for a better, more equitable democracy is "whining," then I suppose I am guilty of that.

Debate on this issue is healthy, as it sheds more light on the difficulties faced by many people trying to plan a future life with a loved one in America. If my statistics in that regard are wrong, please let me know and I will inform the US Senator's office where I procured them. But I don't think that second-guessing and slinging around conjecture on a personal case you don't have direct knowledge of is particularly useful to anyone.

As an aside, the comment slinging mud at journalists, while it may be warranted in certain circumstances, is rather misplaced in this instance, since my profession has nothing whatsoever to do with how I navigate immigration processes.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Mr. Fortune,

We can only comment based on the information you provide in your article. You left out facts, which you are now providing, which are critical to determining whether you were treated unfairly. We can either form an opinion based on the facts provided, or we can say nothing. You can't complain that people make comments without knowing the facts when you did not provide those facts in the first place. You want a fair analysis? Then lay all your cards on the table.

This forum is loaded with similar accounts from people whose fiancee's and spouses have been turned back at a POE. The presumption that every foreigner entering the US is an intending immigrant is a matter of law. It is well known by most people here that this presumption becomes fact in the eyes of the CBP when they have any indication that the foreigner is or is likely to try to immigrate. Your wife married an LPR. What's more, she attempted to enter with her LPR husband. If your attorney did not tell you this would likely cause problems at the POE then he either wasn't aware of this, or did you a disservice by not advising you of it.

I applaud you for doing the research you claim you did, and there are indeed many conflicting opinions. There are very little facts because each case is unique, and each government official at each step of the way has a certain amount of latitude in making judgment. You experienced this yourself when you talked to USCIS. They are unhelpful because there is little way that they CAN be helpful. USCIS manages immigration. The consulates in foreign countries issue visas. The Customs and Border Patrol manage the ports of entry. Each of these agencies can provide some general guidance for their own particular piece of the puzzle, but none of them can tell you what another one is likely to do. And the best you're going to get from any one agency is general guidance. Even if they see your case just as it will be presented to the adjudicator/consular officer/CBP officer, they can still only tell you how it might be decided. Ultimately, it ends up being the decision of one person at each stage of the process.

If you really want to get a reasonable appraisal of your own particular case then you need to view it in light of the collective experience of others. You see which specific circumstances have helped and which have caused problems, and compare them with your own case to identify the weak points you need to address. An attorney may be able to help you here, but only if they have extensive experience with each government agency involved, especially the particular foreign consulate you'll be dealing with. If you had presented your circumstances on this forum, or many other visa and immigration forums, most people probably would have told you the chances of your wife entering on a tourist visa were not very good, but there's no harm in trying. And the simple fact is that your chances would not have been ANY better if you had been a US citizen. I am a US citizen, and if I had asked about my fiancee's odds of visiting the US on a tourist visa then I would have been told that she wouldn't even get the visa, much less be allowed to enter the country. This isn't the fault of USCIS, the US consulate in her country, nor the CBP. It isn't even the fault of US law. It's the fault of the thousands of people in her country who try to defraud the US immigration system every year. You can at least consider yourself fortunate that visa fraud in Argentina is low enough that your wife managed to get a tourist visa at all.

Re. your wife having to wait longer than the wife of a US citizen - GOOD! I think this is as it should be. Your wife has to wait in line behind the wives and husbands of other LPR's for a limited number of visas. My fiancee doesn't have to wait in that line because I am a US citizen. Once you get your US citizenship, then you will have the same rights I have.

[payxibka 10,045]

........ Our decision to enter in this fashion and later wait out my naturalization with my wife safely back home was based on consultation with a trusted immigration attorney (who was closely acquainted with my wife and with our case, and for the record, we had plenty of additional evidence about financial ties to my wife's home country in addition to the affidavit, including bank accounts, property deeds, proof of income, etc. USCIS officials ignored all of it).

Not only did the USCIS ignore it, the USCIS did not even review it, since the USCIS is not responsible for entry decision..... It is important to gain information from the agency charged with the part that you will be using... It is like asking the FCC for tax information.....

[milimelo 4,479]

It's amazing how many people like to play Monday morning quarterback to a circumstance they didn't experience and about which they know few of the facts. While anyone is welcome to their opinion, it is not very helpful to accuse me personally of lying or not doing my homework because I didn't visit this or that immigration forum. There are dozens of such fora out there, often with contradicting information, and I visited many. I also consulted USCIS FAQs and spoke directly with an agent, who was singularly unhelpful in providing assistance. Our decision to enter in this fashion and later wait out my naturalization with my wife safely back home was based on consultation with a trusted immigration attorney (who was closely acquainted with my wife and with our case, and for the record, we had plenty of additional evidence about financial ties to my wife's home country in addition to the affidavit, including bank accounts, property deeds, proof of income, etc. USCIS officials ignored all of it). There was nothing illegal or untoward about what we did, however tenuous the chances of our success now seem. Hindsight has shown the risk of denied entry were higher than we, or our attorney, foresaw in this case. And, given a second chance, I would not try to do the same thing again - which is one of the reasons I wrote this article, as a cautionary tale to anyone who may be in a similar situation and is seeking guidance.

The second, more important reason I wrote this article is to highlight that there are discrepancies between the wait times and availability of visas for family members of LPRs and USCs. There is pending legislation - the Reuniting Families Act - that could help narrow those discrepancies, and I wanted to highlight that. The use of my personal situation to illustrate one such case was my decision, but I could have used a hypothetical case or any one of the tens of thousands of other American families split apart by outdated immigration laws. Parsing what you think are the facts of a case you know nothing about won't change the fact that the current visa process for spouses and minor children of LPRs is unduly lengthy and prone to difficulty. I believe it is in the public interest to improve that. If striving for a better, more equitable democracy is "whining," then I suppose I am guilty of that.

Debate on this issue is healthy, as it sheds more light on the difficulties faced by many people trying to plan a future life with a loved one in America. If my statistics in that regard are wrong, please let me know and I will inform the US Senator's office where I procured them. But I don't think that second-guessing and slinging around conjecture on a personal case you don't have direct knowledge of is particularly useful to anyone.

As an aside, the comment slinging mud at journalists, while it may be warranted in certain circumstances, is rather misplaced in this instance, since my profession has nothing whatsoever to do with how I navigate immigration processes.

Aha, and is that why you are not publishing all the comments that people I know left on your blog and chose to publish only the ones that work in your favor?

[John & Nan 0]

Ouch, did not mean to start a fight about the story, I just thought it was sad that is happen, I know many people come to this site and ask the question about coming to USA while waiting for their visa. The main point of my post was to show people what may happen. I at one time want to do the same thing bring my wife to the usa, But after reading the posts and reviewing my options with my congressman's aid. It was risky to try...

Edited July 13, 2009 by John & Nan