Fiancee coming to US this week as Tourist... what to show at POE?

[ACGeiger 0]

Hi all,

Thankfully after 2 1/2 months of separation, my fiancée will be here on Friday! She is flying into Atlanta from Sweden with a connecting flight in London. She will be staying till November 2nd, so it will be approximately two and 1/2 months in the States.

We have a round trip ticket purchased and she is going to have that in hand when she goes through customs so they will know she is leaving before the 3 month period.

My question is, should she have any other documenting evidence for her to show when she arrives at the POE? I have heard some horror stories of people being denied entry and I would really hate for this to happen to us.

As always, I appreciate all the information I receive from this forum and best of luck to everyone in this process.

Casey och Linnéa

[belinda63 3,038]

a round trip ticket is a good start but anyone can miss the return flight. Maybe also show rental agreement, employment letter, anything to show she will return and has reasons to return to her country.

[pushbrk 12,898]

a round trip ticket is a good start but anyone can miss the return flight. Maybe also show rental agreement, employment letter, anything to show she will return and has reasons to return to her country.

Having such things available to show if asked is a good idea. However, it's best to avoid the need to show them. This is usually accomplished by giving generic answers to "purpose of visit?". Answers like pleasure, holiday, visiting friends and family would all be truthful but not raise further questions. Avoid answers like "to visit my boyfriend or fiance" etc. unless specifically asked. Never lie but don't voluteer unnecessary information either.

[ACGeiger 0]

Avoid answers like "to visit my boyfriend or fiance" etc. unless specifically asked. Never lie but don't voluteer unnecessary information either.

Yea this is what I was wondering about also... At the point of entry will they be able to pull up and see she has a K1 filed and processing? If so, shouldn't she go ahead and say she is here to visit me? That way it doesn't look like she is trying to withhold information.

I guess the best response is to just be short and sweet with all the answers...

[Dakine 26]

Since Sweden isn't a high fraud country I wouldn't worry to much.

At the same time do as pushbrk said and don't offer info. Keep answers short and to the point.

[SCFsnoopy 0]

Avoid answers like "to visit my boyfriend or fiance" etc. unless specifically asked. Never lie but don't voluteer unnecessary information either.

Yea this is what I was wondering about also... At the point of entry will they be able to pull up and see she has a K1 filed and processing? If so, shouldn't she go ahead and say she is here to visit me? That way it doesn't look like she is trying to withhold information.

I guess the best response is to just be short and sweet with all the answers...

This time last year - back when my fiance was just my boyfriend and we were nowhere near thinking about marriage - I got held up at the POE in Anchorage on suspicion that I was going to marry and AOS illegally. They didn't even find out about my USC boyfriend until after I was already in secondary questioning, since my answer to purpose of visiting was, "I'm on vacation before starting a new job." The thing that threw up a red flag for me was that I was coming for an 80-something day visit, after having just been in the US for 13 months (there was about a two month gap between trips), and I only had about $500 to last me that amount of time. I was expecting more money to be wired over from my parents plus my tax return to be deposited into my bank, but they didn't care about that. My return ticket, a pending job offer in Australia on my return and a hell of a lot of talking was the only thing that convinced them to let me through.

I'm also headed back to the States to visit this week and I am much better prepared! I have letter of full time employment, letter of expected return from my employer, letter of expected return from my landlord, a notice of an educational assessment I'm due for in September as part of a program of study I'm doing with work, a copy of my NOA1 from the K-1 (just in case!), and of course my return ticket. I'm only going for a two-week trip this time and I have plenty of cash, so I'm hoping for a smooth POE

Since Sweden isn't a high fraud country I wouldn't worry to much.

At the same time do as pushbrk said and don't offer info. Keep answers short and to the point.

Doesn't matter. Australia isn't high fraud either, but I was the only white girl on a flight full of Asian families and I was one of the only ones pulled into secondary.

[linnea.lindblad 1]

This really scares me!! What if they do not let me in? What should I bring to prove that I really am going back to Sweden`?

[Nik+Heather 121]

For the last visit, showing the NOA1 from the K1 petition really clinched the deal (he was in secondary too). Of course, Nik was coming in on a much shorter visit.

When he came for 87 days (before engagement, before we knew about VJ) he had no job letter, no leases or anything like that, just his return ticket, and they let him in without even going to secondary inspection. Maybe it's because I was with him at the time. Anyway, the point is: Don't be scared, just do the very best you can, and bring all you've got. Most people get in. Some don't, it's true, but read their stories and learn from them. Don't be shady and they won't have a reason to probe further.

[cappucino boy 29]

Hi Casey,

My girlfriend had come to US before (I didn't know her then) and she filed for a time extension for pleasure and being a tourist, the extension it was denied so to make a long story short she had to leave right away because her original I-94 was past the due date.

Fast forward to to the time we met and she told me horror stories about how the INS inspectors at the airports can make a tourist visit a nightmare and that she was worried when we decided for her to come to the US. I didn't believer her but sure enough she flew into Atanta on June 22, 2009 and ended up detained for basically no reason at all. The agent told her something about that they needed to inspect her luggage and didn't give her any other information. Her connecting flight time to L.A. was only about an hour. Well she missed it, they finally let her leave and the only reason I think that they didn't turn her away is because she got cute with a male agent, she pretty. It was a female agent that detained her and I don't think it was for any reason that they needed to do so. The only thing I can think of is that the denied extension request is stuck in her passport information. A friend later told me is that she should just get a new passport with a new number that is not connected to the old number with a new visa.

I just filed the I-129 and was hoping that the time she is her coicides with the time her visa comes through but I think it will take more than the 180 days that she is allowed to stay on the tourist visa so we will be waiting until she get her visa before we can see each other again.

Good luck,

Bernie

Hi all,

Thankfully after 2 1/2 months of separation, my fiancée will be here on Friday! She is flying into Atlanta from Sweden with a connecting flight in London. She will be staying till November 2nd, so it will be approximately two and 1/2 months in the States.

We have a round trip ticket purchased and she is going to have that in hand when she goes through customs so they will know she is leaving before the 3 month period.

My question is, should she have any other documenting evidence for her to show when she arrives at the POE? I have heard some horror stories of people being denied entry and I would really hate for this to happen to us.

As always, I appreciate all the information I receive from this forum and best of luck to everyone in this process.

Casey och Linnéa

[haleywynne 0]

My fiance visited me this past May (through Newark) and he told the truth and had absolutely no problems. He didn't even have any concrete proof of ties to the UK other than his itinerary and our NOA1. The officer didn't even ask for either and was very friendly! He just asked him a few questions about me and our plans with the K-1 visa.

Believe me we were very worried!

[ACGeiger 0]

Hi Casey,

My girlfriend had come to US before (I didn't know her then) and she filed for a time extension for pleasure and being a tourist, the extension it was denied so to make a long story short she had to leave right away because her original I-94 was past the due date.

Fast forward to to the time we met and she told me horror stories about how the INS inspectors at the airports can make a tourist visit a nightmare and that she was worried when we decided for her to come to the US. I didn't believer her but sure enough she flew into Atanta on June 22, 2009 and ended up detained for basically no reason at all. The agent told her something about that they needed to inspect her luggage and didn't give her any other information. Her connecting flight time to L.A. was only about an hour. Well she missed it, they finally let her leave and the only reason I think that they didn't turn her away is because she got cute with a male agent, she pretty. It was a female agent that detained her and I don't think it was for any reason that they needed to do so. The only thing I can think of is that the denied extension request is stuck in her passport information. A friend later told me is that she should just get a new passport with a new number that is not connected to the old number with a new visa.

I just filed the I-129 and was hoping that the time she is her coicides with the time her visa comes through but I think it will take more than the 180 days that she is allowed to stay on the tourist visa so we will be waiting until she get her visa before we can see each other again.

Good luck,

Bernie

Hi all,

Thankfully after 2 1/2 months of separation, my fiancée will be here on Friday! She is flying into Atlanta from Sweden with a connecting flight in London. She will be staying till November 2nd, so it will be approximately two and 1/2 months in the States.

We have a round trip ticket purchased and she is going to have that in hand when she goes through customs so they will know she is leaving before the 3 month period.

My question is, should she have any other documenting evidence for her to show when she arrives at the POE? I have heard some horror stories of people being denied entry and I would really hate for this to happen to us.

As always, I appreciate all the information I receive from this forum and best of luck to everyone in this process.

Casey och Linnéa

Ill tell Linnéa to put on her charm with the male agents haha.

I must admit, these "horror" stories scare me to death. In Sweden, she allowed the I-94 just by having a passport right? Everything we looked up from the state department said this was the case but I just wanted to verify. I guess it may be a little to late if I was wrong as she is leaving in a few hours.

Atlanta is her final destination and as long as she can just get through and come up the stairs where I will be waiting I will be the happiest person in the world! We have a letter from her employer, we have a round trip ticket and, after reading one of the earlier post, she is probably just packing summer clothes to avoid suspicion if they were to go through her baggage.

If she was to be denied however, is there anything I could do from the top to convince someone to let her in? Also, would she have to pay for the ticket back? That would just be shitty...

I will keep everyone posted on what happens tomorrow. Wish us Luck!

Casey och Linnéa

[ACGeiger 0]

Oh I also wanted to say, Linnea has been into the US twice before but with a student visa. Should this help? She should come up on there database when they have her do the thumb prints and all at the POE and, since it will say she has been in the states before, Im hoping they will just say "welcome back."

[VanessaTony 3,567]

With the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) just remember that the rules changed sometime last year and you now have to register online BEFORE leaving. here's the website:

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

Good luck

[carvin317 0]

I live in atlanta and my fiancee just cam over about a week and a half ago. She had zero troubles with the boarder patrol agent. She had two work letters, bank statements, NOA1, and k1 packet. She didn't have to pull anything out. Just saying your going on a vacation and visiting friends.

[ACGeiger 0]

With the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) just remember that the rules changed sometime last year and you now have to register online BEFORE leaving. here's the website:

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

Good luck

I had no idea about this! How long does this application take!?