Looking for some advice

[RoninGeek 0]

My fiancee and I met in June of last year and after six months of skype and phone calls, we finally met during the '09 holidays. It was incredibly brilliant.

What we would like to do is for her to come over again and have us spend more time with each other. We think this is a reasonable and prudent idea. We would like to spend more than the 90 days the VWP provides, so we are thinking of going for the B2 visa which gives her six months here in the states.

I've been advised the the London Embassy may not grant the B2 since she is eligible for the VWP. Would it be possible for her to come to the US on the VWP for the 90 days, then lets say us take a day trip to Canada and have her re-enter on the VWP? Or do we run the risk of her getting denied at the border?

We would really like the six months together, but I'm a bit nervous about her getting denied the B2 and having that haunt us through the process of the CR visa.

Edit: One more bit of information: Should things go as well as we think they will, we plan on getting married in a small ceremony here in the states and then having her return to the UK to kick off the CR/IR visa process.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Chris.

Edited February 7, 2010 by RoninGeek

[jkminney 30]

My fiancee and I met in June of last year and after six months of skype and phone calls, we finally met during the '09 holidays. It was incredibly brilliant.

What we would like to do is for her to come over again and have us spend more time with each other. We think this is a reasonable and prudent idea. We would like to spend more than the 90 days the VWP provides, so we are thinking of going for the B2 visa which gives her six months here in the states.

I've been advised the the London Embassy may not grant the B2 since she is eligible for the VWP. Would it be possible for her to come to the US on the VWP for the 90 days, then lets say us take a day trip to Canada and have her re-enter on the VWP? Or do we run the risk of her getting denied at the border?

We would really like the six months together, but I'm a bit nervous about her getting denied the B2 and having that haunt us through the process of the CR visa.

Edit: One more bit of information: Should things go as well as we think they will, we plan on getting married in a small ceremony here in the states and then having her return to the UK to kick off the CR/IR visa process.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Chris.

I think typically if someone were to come for the entire 90 days they would deffinately question her trying to come back in so quickly. My fiance has come in twice for extended periods but there was a month and half gap between each of those visits. She has to provide proof of ties to the UK when comin in for that long. She would have a pretty hard time explaining why she was here for 3 months and then back again in a day for another 3 months? It looks dodgy. She would need to be well prepared for the fact that she may not get back in.

[Boiler 45,753]

No 'Try before you buy' visa

Maybe 2 months in the US and then swap around and visit the UK?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

People have done it. You might want to look up Kim and Russ. She's now a mod. We were doing the K1 thing together so I got familiar with her story. They got by with it for a long time flying all over the place....like Iceland, then back in. He was essentially living in the US on VWP. Then the refusal finally came. They allowed him to "withdraw" his reqest for US entry, (so he was never denied entry) but he had to return to New Zealand never to return until he had the K1 visa. It would be better to try to space out your 90 days with a break. It could work once, but you never know because it's solely up to the CBP officer on duty the day you present yourself for admission on VWP.

I don't think denial of a tourist visa has any effect on a later immigrant visa. There's others who've progressed right through after not getting a tourist visa. You can tell your story and reasons of wanting to make sure before jumping into a marriage. You would have to be convincing that she won't seek employment.

I wonder how it would go for her. So many who come over are quickly bored with nothing to do while the spouse goes off to work. Would you buy her a car to get out in while you're at work? The ones who come and marry at least know it's only a few months until they can look for a job. They are married and have a sense of commitment to stick it out even though they hate the bread and chocolate. There's something not far ahead for them to look forward to....like working and starting a married life. It's kinda tough at first for many, so I was just wondering how it would go for a non-wife who still has to go back to the UK and wait some more. Your relationship might be brilliant, but 6 months of nothing to do could tarnish a promising relationship. I just wanted to present the other side of the fairy tale for you to consider because it sounds like you're really trying to be mature about making a plan.

[RoninGeek 0]

People have done it. You might want to look up Kim and Russ. She's now a mod. We were doing the K1 thing together so I got familiar with her story. They got by with it for a long time flying all over the place....like Iceland, then back in. He was essentially living in the US on VWP. Then the refusal finally came. They allowed him to "withdraw" his reqest for US entry, (so he was never denied entry) but he had to return to New Zealand never to return until he had the K1 visa. It would be better to try to space out your 90 days with a break. It could work once, but you never know because it's solely up to the CBP officer on duty the day you present yourself for admission on VWP.

I don't think denial of a tourist visa has any effect on a later immigrant visa. There's others who've progressed right through after not getting a tourist visa. You can tell your story and reasons of wanting to make sure before jumping into a marriage. You would have to be convincing that she won't seek employment.

I wonder how it would go for her. So many who come over are quickly bored with nothing to do while the spouse goes off to work. Would you buy her a car to get out in while you're at work? The ones who come and marry at least know it's only a few months until they can look for a job. They are married and have a sense of commitment to stick it out even though they hate the bread and chocolate. There's something not far ahead for them to look forward to....like working and starting a married life. It's kinda tough at first for many, so I was just wondering how it would go for a non-wife who still has to go back to the UK and wait some more. Your relationship might be brilliant, but 6 months of nothing to do could tarnish a promising relationship. I just wanted to present the other side of the fairy tale for you to consider because it sounds like you're really trying to be mature about making a plan.

We're not looking to do a multiple reentry, as such. Ideally we'd like the B2 visa to be approved. That gives us six full months together. We both think it will go wonderful, based on our conversations and the two and a half weeks we had together over the holidays. But we're both aware that sometimes after the initial few weeks of being with someone, sometimes things go sideways for unknown reasons. We are 35 and 40 respectively, so while we want to be together as soon as we can, we know that there are always bumps and issues in a relationship, especially when starting out. Again, hence the B2 visa idea.

We've talked about her being bored while here, and we've come up with a workable solution. It's workable on paper anyway. I'm roommates with my best friend who has a son. The plan would be for my her to be at the house to get him off to school and be here when he gets home, as well as generally doing the day to day running of the household. Which is hard for two full time working adults, as I'm sure most know from first hand experience. Debbie is ok with this, as she enjoys this kind of lifestyle more than the career woman lifestyle.

Someone mentioned that maybe her spend two months here and me spend a month there. I'd love to do that, but sadly life doesn't allow for me to spend a month out of the country at the moment. Kids, job, and parents that are ill keep me here for now.

Thanks for the replies, and I hope this sheds a bit more light on our situation. Again, any advice is welcome!

Thanks!

Chris.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Good plan. See I could tell you were mature. I vote to go for the tourist visa. They can only say no, so try it. It won't hurt your future marriage or fiance visa chances.

[Boiler 45,753]

Forget the B, nothing is ever No in visa land, this is pretty close.

A visitor is also not allowed to work btw.

[RoninGeek 0]

Forget the B, nothing is ever No in visa land, this is pretty close.

A visitor is also not allowed to work btw.

Just wondering why the B visa's are close to a no? I'm not discounting your experience, just wanting to fully understand what we're up against.

Right, she isn't able to work. She wouldn't be looking for a job here at all, nor receiving any money for anything she does.

[English Muffin 59]

If you do try for the B visa and it is denied it won't affect your CR-1 application at all, it will just create potential problems on any future VWP visits.

And what you're proposing she does to keep busy is considered 'work' and not allowed under the VWP or B visas.

I can understand your frustration but like Boiler pointed out, there is no 'let's see how things work out between us' visa.

On the other hand, you could spend 6 months in the UK without a visa.

[Boiler 45,753]

Just wondering why the B visa's are close to a no? I'm not discounting your experience, just wanting to fully understand what we're up against.

Right, she isn't able to work. She wouldn't be looking for a job here at all, nor receiving any money for anything she does.

She can enter on the VWP, you mentioned you could not take a 1 month vacation, yet she wants more than 3?

Work does not always involve being paid, it includes other activities which are normally paid, like child care.

[RoninGeek 0]

If you do try for the B visa and it is denied it won't affect your CR-1 application at all, it will just create potential problems on any future VWP visits.

And what you're proposing she does to keep busy is considered 'work' and not allowed under the VWP or B visas.

I can understand your frustration but like Boiler pointed out, there is no 'let's see how things work out between us' visa.

On the other hand, you could spend 6 months in the UK without a visa.

I'm not frustrated, just literally trying to get my head around the reality of it all. =)

I didn't know that what we had thought would be considered work. Just seems to me like being a part of a household.

[Boiler 45,753]

. Just seems to me like being a part of a household.

But she is not, she is just visiting

[English Muffin 59]

I didn't know that what we had thought would be considered work. Just seems to me like being a part of a household.

It's also something that a nanny or a housekeeper would get paid for, so it's considered work.

[RoninGeek 0]

She can enter on the VWP, you mentioned you could not take a 1 month vacation, yet she wants more than 3?

Work does not always involve being paid, it includes other activities which are normally paid, like child care.

Right, she is able to take three months. So it seemed like a good idea for her to take advantage of this time to spend some a good amount of time here. Where I'm not, because of the reasons I explained.

Ok, right. So if she were to do anything could be done for pay, it's a no-no. That is good to know, and I appreciate you explaining that to me.

[Nik+Heather 121]

Nich-Nick already gave way better advice than I could. I wanted to direct you to the visiting FAQs page. It has a list of things to show ties to home country. To get in for 6 months to visit one's boyfriend will require a very good case, and this link has a list of possible evidence to use to show that she will return.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=k1visit