Question about the B2 visa

[Miles Ramsell 1]

Hey there,

My mum (permenet resident) has filed an I-130 visa for me and am currently waiting on that.....that's fine....what I wanted to know is....

could i get a b2 visa in the mean time to go and stay over there for 6 months.... not work or anything just visit for 6 months?? would that affect the I-130 and would i have a problem doing that? also is the B2 visa the same green thing you fill in on the plane when you visit the US or do you actually have to file for a B2???

any help would be muchly loved!!!

Thank you very much!!!!!

Cheers

Miles R

[English Muffin 59]

Applying for a B2 visa won't affect the I-130 application. However, if you're eligible for the VWP it's highly unlikely that you'll get a B2. What country are you from?

[Ed+Cindy 1]

Applying for a B2 visa won't affect the I-130 application. However, if you're eligible for the VWP it's highly unlikely that you'll get a B2. What country are you from?

actually people who can travel on VWP can get B2s. The B1/B2 allows them to stay for a longer period and avoid the electronic authorization that is now required for VWP travel.

[English Muffin 59]

London very rarely issues B2 visas to people eligible for the VWP. Other Embassies may be different.

[Miles Ramsell 1]

Okay cool, I'm from Southampton, England.. what i would like to do is go over for the 3 months (90 days) and then try and extend my stay another 3 months, Is that a B2 or is that different??

would i be able to do that without having applying prior and simply do this once i was over there?? and also what are the chances of me being able to extend my stay another 3 months once out there??

Thanks

[English Muffin 59]

The only way to stay longer than 90 days is to get a B2 visa before you go. London are unlikely to grant you one though if you are eligible to use the VWP. All you can do is apply for one and see what happens, you might get lucky. Bear in mind that if you are refused the visa you'll need to disclose it on the I-94W (green form) every time you enter the US in future and will likely be sent to secondary.

There's no way of extending the VWP at all once you're inside the US.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

It is true that people from countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program can apply for a B1/B2. However, the issuing agency may wonder why you want one. If you tell them you want to take a longer vacation than "only" 90 days, they will have a close look to your ties to Merry Olde England. You'll have to show the lease for your flat, document that your job is waiting for you etc. Then they will ask you how you can afford such a long vacation.

Once you reveal that you have an immigration case pending, and at some point you actually might have to in order not to lie (which is really, really, really bad and could have dire consequences for the pending I-130), the conflict surfaces. They could--just a possibility--assume that you basically want to immigrate now, and just hop back to the UK for one last trip once your mom's petition for you is approved, which would not only cause them to deny your B1/B2 application, but could have other negative effects as well. Doesn't have to be that way, but I'm trying to play devil's advocate here.

If I were you, I wouldn't try to get a B1/B2. I would take a vacation within the permitted 90 days of the VWP and then return to England until you formally can move to the US.

Edited July 24, 2009 by Just Bob

[Miles Ramsell 1]

Okay, it's just my friend (from england) who has just gone out the states for 3 months has applied at the passport /embassy office out there to extend his stay by another 3 months on the basis he wants to travel about a bit...???

Will he not be able to extend his stay as he hasen't applied for the B2 before leaving??

[English Muffin 59]

There is no way to extend the VWP beyond the 90 days allowed, as your friend will soon discover. There are also no US Embassies in the US so I'm not sure what your friend is talking about.

[milimelo 4,571]

Saw on that ABC or whatever the channel is show DHS or Border protection. This British girl in her late 20s was coming to the States to visit her brother in Cali. Sad story, their mother passed away recently in Britain and she I guess wanted to get away from everything, got the B2 visa and made it to I believe O'Hare with 2 loaded suitcases and her cat. POE officer inquired how long she wanted to stay - 6 months. No proof of bank accounts, I guess she either quit her job or took a leave of absence... wanted to be with her brother. They went through her overloaded suitcases and told her looks like she's coming to stay. Long story short, denied entry, put in some room at the airport with her cat to await the next flight back to Britain.

[SCFsnoopy 0]

Saw on that ABC or whatever the channel is show DHS or Border protection. This British girl in her late 20s was coming to the States to visit her brother in Cali. Sad story, their mother passed away recently in Britain and she I guess wanted to get away from everything, got the B2 visa and made it to I believe O'Hare with 2 loaded suitcases and her cat. POE officer inquired how long she wanted to stay - 6 months. No proof of bank accounts, I guess she either quit her job or took a leave of absence... wanted to be with her brother. They went through her overloaded suitcases and told her looks like she's coming to stay. Long story short, denied entry, put in some room at the airport with her cat to await the next flight back to Britain.

I've heard that bringing a pet with you for "just a holiday" is a HUGE tip off to border patrol agents that you may have immigrant intent... and I can understand why... flying animals is expensive and it doesn't make sense for anyone to bring their pet with them on holiday. Don't know about England, but let's say I were to fly my cat to the US and back to Australia for a holiday - getting the cat into the US might not be a problem, but getting the cat back into Australia afterwards involves literally thousands of dollars and six months in quarantine. If I'm flying any animal into the US I sure don't intend to bring it back!

Back on topic - as other posters have said, there's no way to extend the VWP 90 days. Even if you border hop to Canada or Mexico, you will still be readmitted for the ORIGINAL 90 days - you WON'T get a new balance. You could stay 90 days, fly back to England, turn right around and attempt to re-enter for another 90 days - but I seriously doubt your chances of being allowed reentry since they will think you are abusing the purpose of the VWP. If I were you, I'd just go for the 90 days and call yourself lucky to even get that long a trip.

[Boiler 46,232]

There was a similar thread a few years back, this time an English Lady who turned up at the PoE with Cat etc, same result.

There followed a long discussion about travelling with animals. Let us put it this way, if you turn up with a cat etc, you are likely to be questioned a bit more. So you better have a solid story.