Does DCF invalidate tourist visa?

[radacos 0]

Hi all!

My brother-in-law (a USC) has been living in Romania for 13 years. His business there is wrapping up and he is ready to move back to the US with his wife (a Romanian citizen). They are eligible for DCF. She has a multiple-entry tourist visa. My question is, does starting the DCF process invalidate her tourist visa? They are looking for a house and there is a possibility that they may have to travel to the US while the I-130 is pending. This may not be an issue depending on how long the DCF takes, but just wanted to make sure of the technicalities.

Thanks so much!

[Christi85 86]

Hi all!

My brother-in-law (a USC) has been living in Romania for 13 years. His business there is wrapping up and he is ready to move back to the US with his wife (a Romanian citizen). They are eligible for DCF. She has a multiple-entry tourist visa. My question is, does starting the DCF process invalidate her tourist visa? They are looking for a house and there is a possibility that they may have to travel to the US while the I-130 is pending. This may not be an issue depending on how long the DCF takes, but just wanted to make sure of the technicalities.

Thanks so much!

I don't think her tourist visa would be invalidated because of that. As long as she can convince the Immigration Officer at the port of entry that she does not intend to immigrate using her tourist visa (i.e. illegally), she'll be fine. So she needs to show bonds with Romania (e.g. owning a house, having a job) etc. I don't know whether the IO is able to see from their system that she's applied for a spouse visa, but I wouldn't mention it if it wasn't brought up. That said, I wouldn't risk travelling to the US more than once while my spouse visa petition was pending, as it could easily be seen as an attempt to immigrate if she does it more often. I don't know how long DCF in Romania would take, but DCF in most countries takes 4-6 months from start to finish. So she shouldn't need to travel to the States more than once during that period. And just to be on the safe side of things, if she can, it's better to avoid it altogether.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

I don't think her tourist visa would be invalidated because of that. As long as she can convince the Immigration Officer at the port of entry that she does not intend to immigrate using her tourist visa (i.e. illegally), she'll be fine.