One-way verses Round-trip ticket fofr k-1 vias

Dave&Roza · October 14, 2010

Hi All:

I had seen several questions about whether to purchase a one-way verses a round-trip when bringing your fiance(e) to the USA in order to get married. Of course most of the time one-way tickets are more expensive and a few times you can find a carrier where the one-way is about 75% the cost of the RT ticket.

For my example, to travel from Almaty, Kazakhstan, to Denver, Colorado, and have the trip not stop in the USA except for Denver; I have two choices. Fly BMI and BA thru London Heathrow for about $1500 or fly thru Frankfurt on Lufthansa for $3100. I perfer Lufthana as they have not been very late in departing Almaty and they have not canceled a flight out of Frankfurt unlike BA. So I asked Lufthansa what would happen if I bought a RT ticket for $2000 and not use the return leg back to Almaty. Here is their response:

"The conditions for round trip ticket are as following:

the ticket is valid for one year starting from the date of travel

partly used tickets (flown one way) are non refundable, means return portion may only be used for travel (no refund) untill validity end (one year) against rebooking fee of usd150-200. Of course, you may not use the return portion at all and there is no penalty for that if you cancell your travel dates in advance, then you just lose the return portion voluntary.

Hope, this info helps to choose between One Way or Round Trip."

So that answers the airline question for me. Now all I have to do is determine if the risk of the USCIS causing problems with the visa is worth $1000 or not. Of course that person on VJ that had trouble with their visa had a tourist visa not a K-1 and they did not cancel the flight like I plan to do. Still deciding.

Thought I'd put this out there for those deciding what to do.

Good luck to everyone.

Dave

Edited October 14, 2010 by Dave&Roza

patient2010 · October 14, 2010

thanks this is good information to know.....Good luck on POE :thumbs:

Edited October 14, 2010 by patient2010

Eric-Pris · October 14, 2010

Now all I have to do is determine if the risk of the USCIS causing problems with the visa is worth $1000 or not. Of course that person on VJ that had trouble with their visa had a tourist visa not a K-1 and they did not cancel the flight like I plan to do. Still deciding.

There is no risk in my opinion.

It does not matter one bit whether you choose a one-way or RT ticket.

As long as you fulfill the requirements of the visa, CIS doesn't care what kind of ticket you have. You can swim here if you'd like. If you were ever questioned about why you bought a RT ticket instead of one-way, you would simply say "because it was cheaper". Besides, how would they even know what type of ticket you have? You don't buy the ticket until you have the visa in hand already.

Do whatever is cheaper. I booked my wife and subsequently daughters all on round-trip tickets because they were a little cheaper. They used the incoming portion and then other just expired eventually. I didn't waste my time canceling it.

Edited October 14, 2010 by Eric-Pris

Dave&Roza · October 14, 2010

There is no risk in my opinion.

It does not matter one bit whether you choose a one-way or RT ticket.

As long as you fulfill the requirements of the visa, CIS doesn't care what kind of ticket you have. You can swim here if you'd like. If you were ever questioned about why you bought a RT ticket instead of one-way, you would simply say "because it was cheaper". Besides, how would they even know what type of ticket you have? You don't buy the ticket until you have the visa in hand already.

Do whatever is cheaper. I booked my wife and subsequently daughters all on round-trip tickets because they were a little cheaper. They used the incoming portion and then other just expired eventually. I didn't waste my time canceling it.

Because someone on VJ had a thread about the problems they had when they were doing the AOS and the US government said that the person had left the country becuase he had a RT ticket and did not cancel it. I am sure it is like all things with the Government and that it was a random check done on flight manifests and he just happened to get caught. THAT is the only reason I am concerned as I do not want to have to go thru the process of proving that my fiancee did not leave the country and the Government said she did--the burden of proof is on you. And for some of us money is not the the only deciding factor. Ease of travel, no complications, and not having problems with the Government are part of the decision making process.

Dave

Edited October 14, 2010 by Dave&Roza

Eric-Pris · October 14, 2010

Wait, are you saying that if the government accuses an applicant of leaving the US, the burden of proof is on the applicant t show they didn't? I disagree on this one. If the government accuses you of something like that, they must have some kind of evidence. A simple ticket doesn't mean you left. They'd have to show a flight manifest or something showing this person onboard a flight.

It may have happened once as you say (I don't doubt it), but the chances are probably 1 in a million. If it was me, I'd do it again the same way. But it's your choice obviously.

Dave&Roza · October 14, 2010

Wait, are you saying that if the government accuses an applicant of leaving the US, the burden of proof is on the applicant t show they didn't? I disagree on this one. If the government accuses you of something like that, they must have some kind of evidence. A simple ticket doesn't mean you left. They'd have to show a flight manifest or something showing this person onboard a flight.

It may have happened once as you say (I don't doubt it), but the chances are probably 1 in a million. If it was me, I'd do it again the same way. But it's your choice obviously.

I am just going with what the poster of the other thread said (here is that thread) Here is another thread discussing one-way verses RT tickets that references the thread with the probelms (Another thread)[/url].

. I agree that it sounded like there may have been more to the story than what was posted, but it does make you stop and think given how screwed up this process is and knowing how the US government works--or doesn't work in the case of getting a SSN. I agree with you that the chances are very, very slight and maybe the person refered to in the other thread had something else going on. I just want others to realize that there was one documented case of problems with a tourist visa on a RT ticket. As a poster on anothter forum says when deciding what to do when dealing with the FAA, "Chose wisely." Now there is a government agency that is "fun" to deal with :wacko: .