tourist visa (or VWP) before or after K-1 petition?

[Mathilda 19]

Hi folks,

Fist of all, I want to thank this amazing community. It really helps to hear about people's experiences and being able to share yours.

I need some advise for my situation. Precisely, I would need to hear experiences of people that successfully or not attempted to enter the U.S. while the K-1 (or K-3) application was pending.

1) I have been here on a J1 (actually 3: short 6 months, 1 year+1 year renewal) with 2-years home (Italy) requirement. As many of us, I fell in love and got engaged in the meanwhile. Even if neither did I plan it, nor I wanted to, now I need to go back to be with my love, who is American.

2) First, I applied for the 2-years waiver (no Objection) and a day before I was notified of the approval, I found out the awful long processing times of K-1 and K-3 visas. It sucks, full support to who is waiting right now. Of course, what I thought it was the end of a very stressful experience was in fact just the beginning.

see my J1 waiver timeline here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/289012-j1-waiver-no-objection-italy-timeline/

3) What to do next!? I know that if we apply for the K-1 visa, they may not allow me to go back to the U.S. to visit, which I feel is really unfair. Furthermore, one of my best friends (yes, 3 years are enough to make good friends) is getting married and I am one of her bridesmaids. It would be really awful if they did not allow me to go to her wedding. So here's my options:

– Spend some time (1 month) in Italy (with my mom in the house which I have always had residence in and I co-own),apply for the tourist visa (or try to enter on the VWP), go to my friends' wedding, petition the K-1. This sounds reasonable but I have a PhD and I am in a delicate moment of my career, so I don't want to stop working for an entire year, especially, not just for my friend's wedding (which is important but not more than my life)...

– Spend some time (1 month) in Italy (with my mom in the house which I have always had residence in and I co-own), file the K-1 petition first in the meanwhile, collect proof of ties with home country, apply for a tourist visa or enter for 3 months on a VWP, go to my friend's wedding, spend some time with my love, come home and wait again. After all, I got temporary visas before and I have never neither convicted with crimes, nor overstayed.

How many of you have tried this in similar situation?

Any thought is appreciated!

Thanks,

Mathilda

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You are already in the US, so if you want to get married now, you can marry in the US and file for your adjustment of status. If you go this route, you will not be able to go to Italy for around 3 months after you send in the application, until you get a temporary travel permission called Advance Parole. Once you get your GC that makes the temporary travel permission obsolete, as you get travel permission with the card itself.

Here is the guide:

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

Also, you can check out this forum:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/130-adjustment-of-status-from-work-student-tourist-visas/

Edited January 5, 2011 by Harpa Timsah

[Mathilda 19]

Thanks for your reply, Harpa.

Unfortunately my visa expired and I used my 30 days grace period to visit his family in the U.S., then I went home. He proposed during Xmast so we did not have the time to realize all these time issues and I received notice of the waiver approval only on Jan the 31st so we were not sure about our possibilities for sure. Short story, now I am in Italy.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Ahhh, I see. Then what I said does not apply obviously Well, plenty of people have successfully visited the US while their K-1 visas were pending. I remember a recent thread called "Yes, you can visit" or something with someone's success story. Not sure about the B-2 visa in the interim though. If you are looking for work positions in the US related to your PhD you might be able to demonstrate a need for a B-1 visa or something (to attend interviews). Good luck!

Edit: Found the thread... I guess it's old, but good info I think:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/67796-yes-you-can-visit/

Edited January 5, 2011 by Harpa Timsah

[Mathilda 19]

Good point! I am applying for various positions all around the world, including the U.S. so I can hope to get an interview.

To be honest, I would not even go through this immigration nightmare if it was not for my fiance' (up to) 4-years amazing postdoc position... I wish I could tell the consul how little I care about the green card!

[Mathilda 19]

Ahhh, I see. Then what I said does not apply obviously Well, plenty of people have successfully visited the US while their K-1 visas were pending. I remember a recent thread called "Yes, you can visit" or something with someone's success story. Not sure about the B-2 visa in the interim though. If you are looking for work positions in the US related to your PhD you might be able to demonstrate a need for a B-1 visa or something (to attend interviews). Good luck!

Edit: Found the thread... I guess it's old, but good info I think:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/67796-yes-you-can-visit/

BTW, thanks for the post, I read through it carefully and it is great! Lots of positive vibes, some scare, but most important: it confirmed that they are not trying to prevent couple from being together, but they are just trying to prevent illegal immigration (kind of reasonable).

After all, if you are honest on the purpose of your stay and your intentions, should be fine.

M.