Traveling

[a.lindroos 0]

Hello,

I am wondering whether or not my husband can travel to the USA while he has a pending Visa Application.

We need to go search for an apartment and he may need to see to a job interview.

I do plan on contacting the embassy to find out, but hoped someone would know already!

[canadian_wife 1,822]

It would be very helpful if you listed what country your husband was from. Some countries require a visa to enter the US, some fall under the visa waiver program which allows them a 90 day stay without a visa, others - like Canada - do not require any sort of visa to visit for up to 6 months.

If your husband requires a visa to visit, then he must list you as his wife on the application.

It is up to the border patrol when he arrives in the US as to if he is granted entrance and for how long. I suggest he bring strong ties to his home country (and a copy of the immigrant visa applicaition) to show the border patrol that he intends to return to his country.

Good luck

[pushbrk 12,898]

Hello,

I am wondering whether or not my husband can travel to the USA while he has a pending Visa Application.

We need to go search for an apartment and he may need to see to a job interview.

I do plan on contacting the embassy to find out, but hoped someone would know already!

I think you are asking if he can enter the US while he has a petition pending. Visa applications generally only "pend" between the interview day when they are submitted and the visa issue date, a day to a week or so later.

The rules are the same while the petition is in process as they are before that. Each entry is allowed or disallowed by the CBP at the Port of Entry.

[raysfan 0]

Hello,

I am wondering whether or not my husband can travel to the USA while he has a pending Visa Application.

We need to go search for an apartment and he may need to see to a job interview.

I do plan on contacting the embassy to find out, but hoped someone would know already!

Be patient you will have enough time to do everything but latter, your husband should stay put until the visa gets approved he will not be able to get in and that could put in jepardy your visa petiton.

Good luck on your journey,

Orlando....

[Catt 6]

Be patient you will have enough time to do everything but latter, your husband should stay put until the visa gets approved he will not be able to get in and that could put in jepardy your visa petiton.

Good luck on your journey,

Orlando....

This is not necessarily true!

While we were waiting for approval of my I-130 and I-129F petitions and ultimately for me to get my K3, I DID travel to the US for a few weeks, without any issue.

As one poster wrote, whether/how easily husband can travel to the US would depend on the country he is in now. If he lives in a VWP country, it would be easier than if he would have to apply for a tourist visa.

Should he live in a VWP country, he could in theory travel.

What is important when he does, is that he has "sufficient proof of home ties", to show to the officers at the US Port of Entry that his intent, during this trip, is NOT to move to the US but merely to visit for a short period of time.

Such proof would for example be: letter from his employer that he will return to work after x amount of time / proof of ownership of house/appartment or copy of ongoing rental agreement in the foreign country / utility bills for upcoming month etc.

If they ask him if he IS in the process of getting a K3 (or Ir-1/CR-1) visa, he should be truthful and give them the number of the case (he has nothing to hide).

They might not ask for this proof (they didn't ask me anything), but they can. And should he not have it with him then, he might be denied entrance, which would complicate your case.

Good luck.

[HeatDeath 430]

You haven't specified what visa your husband is applying for (although K-3 is a fair assumption given the forum you posted in), or what consulate he is applying through, so my advice will be very general. But that's ok. Other people will come through later, by searching and reading old threads related to their issue, and this will be relevant for them too.

I traveled to the US twice during our K-1 visa process, for about a week each time, once just prior to the I-129F NOA2, and once after I had received Packet 3 but before I had responded to it.

Both times were by air. I brought evidence of ties to Canada (of the kind described above) both times. Wasn't even asked for it. The first time I stated the purpose of my trip was to visit my girlfriend's family (I should have said fiancee, but they either didn't see the I-129F on their screen, or didn't call me on it. Don't do that! ) The second time I did say "to visit my fiancee". I also mentioned that we had a fiance visa application in progress. Didn't have any problems. [Got pulled into secondary by Canadian customs on the way back, but that has nothing to do with CBP.] Granted the DHS officers stationed Canada are pretty mellow (at least compared to other postings! ), but it should be ok. It's nice that in Canada, you clear US Customs and Immigration before you get on the plane, so that if something does go wrong you only need a car to get back home.

I went primarily to visit, though part of the second trip was to pick up some of my fiancee's documents (I-864 documentation for her and for our joint sponsor, and additional relationship evidences) that would be required for the interview.

Apartment hunting is a reasonable activity for such a trip, but unless the employer is willing to accept an indeterminate-but-probably-several-months interval between the interview and the start of employment, interviewing for a job is likely to be somewhat pointless prior to visa issuance.

Assuming he is from Canada or a VWP country, or already has a multiple-entry tourist visa, make sure he brings proof of ties to your home country, and tells the WHOLE truth about ANYTHING they ask him. He doesn't have to volunteer much, but should avoid equivocation (and for G-d's sake DON'T lie!) and he'll be fine.

If his traveling here would require a new tourist visa, most of the same advice holds. Bring lots of evidence of ties to the visa interview, and be totally honest. I have no idea, though, if they will likely give him a tourist visa given a pending spousal visa or not, no matter how much evidence he brings. That will depend a lot on how mellow the consular officer is feeling that day. In some consulates, the consular officers never feel mellow :\

Edited March 8, 2010 by HeatDeath