Tourist Visa Before (And After, Sort Of) K1

[milimelo 4,481]

its not lying.. and if the officer asks a question, and u answer it, if he/she asks another, then answer it..

BUT IMHO, its not wise to answer simple question (what is your purpose in USA?) with a 20 min soliloquy of things you think they may want or need to hear..

as they say on the Court Tv shows.. "JUST THE FACTS".. you shouldn't try to give up answers to questions that he did not ask..

i am not a Border Agent but i did sleep at a holiday inn express

Ever completed a tourist visa application? It has specific questions on purpose of visit, places and names/addresses of where you will be staying. For a "friend" you also have to list all of their contact phone numbers, fax and email address and it's not uncommon for CO to even call up the person mentioned to double check the facts.

[skiptex 225]

Ever completed a tourist visa application? It has specific questions on purpose of visit, places and names/addresses of where you will be staying. For a "friend" you also have to list all of their contact phone numbers, fax and email address and it's not uncommon for CO to even call up the person mentioned to double check the facts.

so, answer..

Edited January 24, 2012 by skiptex

[My_Wife_and_I 1]

Thanks very much. This is helpful. What kind of ties did she demonstrate, specifically?

My understanding is that the tourist visa is for a year, so she could, technically, stay throughout the K1 process. However, she will want to go back to take care of some things and say goodbye properly. I will probably go back too, for a proper celebration/going away party/wedding shower.

My wife provided untranslated real estate, bank documents, proof of employment and proof that her 18 year old daughter was attending university in China. On the application, she clearly indicated that that she was the beneficiary of an in-process CR1 petition. Her Visa was approved for one year and at the POE in San Francisco, she was given a 6 month stay.

[turveydrop 4]

My wife provided untranslated real estate, bank documents, proof of employment and proof that her 18 year old daughter was attending university in China. On the application, she clearly indicated that that she was the beneficiary of an in-process CR1 petition. Her Visa was approved for one year and at the POE in San Francisco, she was given a 6 month stay.

Again, very helpful. We don't have that much, but she lives in an apartment that her family owns, she has a good marketing job, and she's scheduled to attend expensive job-related training for several months starting in March.

Edited January 24, 2012 by turveydrop

[turveydrop 4]

Ever completed a tourist visa application? It has specific questions on purpose of visit, places and names/addresses of where you will be staying. For a "friend" you also have to list all of their contact phone numbers, fax and email address and it's not uncommon for CO to even call up the person mentioned to double check the facts.

Thank you. If you put "friend" and omit some of your reasons for going, you can easily be tripped up by someone who sees that you're holding back. And again, the salient point is that we have submitted a petition before, so that's all they need.

[Boiler 45,535]

Again, very helpful. We don't have that much, but she lives in an apartment that her family owns, she has a good marketing job, and she's scheduled to attend expensive job-related training for several months starting in March.

Seems odd that her employer would do that dor somebody looking to emigrate.

How long does she want to visit for.

[agrabs 241]

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/348478-potential-fiancee-coming-to-ny-on-tourist-visa-first/page__gopid__5116174#entry5116174

I've already posted there, and this is technically about a tourist visa, but I need to hear from people who have experience within the context of the K1 process. We have decided that it is absolutely not worth trying to hide the previous K1 petition. She's just going to go in and lay it all out on the table.

There have to be some people on this site who've done this. Just to sum up, we canceled a K1 petition last year because she was unprepared to take that step after such a short time. Now she wants to visit New York to see how she feels here. She will absolutely go back to Uzbekistan, whatever she decides. She has a lot of beloved family and needs to deliberate. She's an open person and would not be able to pull off a lie anyway, and I think any interviewer with half a brain will see that.

Still, has anyone done this? Have you gone in for the tourist visa and said, "Yes, I'm thinking of emigrating, but not yet. I have a love interest in the U.S. and we even started a K1 petition before, but really, I'm not going to overstay. I want to check it out first, but I will be back to say goodbye to my family and begin the K1 process and wait my turn." What are the chances of getting a tourist visa this way? Someone in the other thread mentioned that it may work in her favor that she didn't want to rush things last time. Thanks!

If her country has a high refusal rate for tourist visa what will be most important is that she show strong ties to her home country and intent to return on a specific date. My fiance is from Romania which also has a high refusal rate and he was denied a visitor visa twice-they told him it was because he was not a property owner so couldn't show strong enough ties to his home country.The first time he said he was going to visit a friend and showed them a specific itinerary of what he planned to do while here. Second time he said he was going to see me. This was before we applied for K1 - it would have been nice if he could have spent some time here but since that wasn't possible we met up in another country for a week where neither of us would need a visa. There is thread posted on here about yes you can visit while applying for K1 -i know it isn't exactly what you are asking but the posts have good information on what they had to show to enter the US - also,keep in mind, most of those post came from people visiting from a country that participates in the visa waiver program - i didn't see any from someone in a country that is not in the VWP.

[A and T 82]

http://www.visajourn...74#entry5116174

I've already posted there, and this is technically about a tourist visa, but I need to hear from people who have experience within the context of the K1 process. We have decided that it is absolutely not worth trying to hide the previous K1 petition. She's just going to go in and lay it all out on the table.

There have to be some people on this site who've done this. Just to sum up, we canceled a K1 petition last year because she was unprepared to take that step after such a short time. Now she wants to visit New York to see how she feels here. She will absolutely go back to Uzbekistan, whatever she decides. She has a lot of beloved family and needs to deliberate. She's an open person and would not be able to pull off a lie anyway, and I think any interviewer with half a brain will see that.

Still, has anyone done this? Have you gone in for the tourist visa and said, "Yes, I'm thinking of emigrating, but not yet. I have a love interest in the U.S. and we even started a K1 petition before, but really, I'm not going to overstay. I want to check it out first, but I will be back to say goodbye to my family and begin the K1 process and wait my turn." What are the chances of getting a tourist visa this way? Someone in the other thread mentioned that it may work in her favor that she didn't want to rush things last time. Thanks!

No way they will ever grant her a tourist visa because of the previous K1, they know she will visit and marry and stay. Its probably not even worth your time to apply

[turveydrop 4]

Seems odd that her employer would do that dor somebody looking to emigrate.

How long does she want to visit for.

She's in good standing at her job, and the employer had promised her this training for a while.

Will depend on how soon we could get the visa. Hopefully close to a month.

No way they will ever grant her a tourist visa because of the previous K1, they know she will visit and marry and stay. Its probably not even worth your time to apply

Any relevant experience or information, or just a hunch?

[turveydrop 4]

If her country has a high refusal rate for tourist visa what will be most important is that she show strong ties to her home country and intent to return on a specific date. My fiance is from Romania which also has a high refusal rate and he was denied a visitor visa twice-they told him it was because he was not a property owner so couldn't show strong enough ties to his home country.The first time he said he was going to visit a friend and showed them a specific itinerary of what he planned to do while here. Second time he said he was going to see me. This was before we applied for K1 - it would have been nice if he could have spent some time here but since that wasn't possible we met up in another country for a week where neither of us would need a visa. There is thread posted on here about yes you can visit while applying for K1 -i know it isn't exactly what you are asking but the posts have good information on what they had to show to enter the US - also,keep in mind, most of those post came from people visiting from a country that participates in the visa waiver program - i didn't see any from someone in a country that is not in the VWP.

Thanks, very helpful. The refusal rate is about 50%. I wish there were statistics as to why the refusals were given. Ultimately, it will be a roll of the dice as far as what the interviewer perceives, I guess. She's getting more information soon. I'll update this thread when we get a result.

Edited January 25, 2012 by turveydrop

[Mad_Scottish 0]

The previous K1 application can be explained as you had initially decided to start it then decided to cool the jets a bit. Can link it to work or different things going on in your life or just be honest. Either way the papertrial is there (obviously) so witholding information will get the both of you no where.

She is fully entitled to apply for a tourist visa, she just needs to be honest on the application and when asked about it be honest about it. They will respect that.

But you also hit the nail on the head, it is going to be come down to what her interviewer thinks.

[Boiler 45,535]

It is not a matter of chance, as it is a non mathematical call there are always going to be slight variations.

But if you want to use that analogy, you have to pay to play.

She does not have a 50% chance.

[turveydrop 4]

It is not a matter of chance, as it is a non mathematical call there are always going to be slight variations.

But if you want to use that analogy, you have to pay to play.

She does not have a 50% chance.

Yeah, I don't mean to imply that it's a mathematically calculable affair. There are things that stand against her (the paper trail, the fact that she's an attractive young woman) and things that work in her favor. The chance is in what sort of person reviews her case, I think.

The previous K1 application can be explained as you had initially decided to start it then decided to cool the jets a bit. Can link it to work or different things going on in your life or just be honest. Either way the papertrial is there (obviously) so witholding information will get the both of you no where.

She is fully entitled to apply for a tourist visa, she just needs to be honest on the application and when asked about it be honest about it. They will respect that.

But you also hit the nail on the head, it is going to be come down to what her interviewer thinks.

Completely agreed. I think the real reason for canceling the K1 is the best: she needed to deliberate more. That should demonstrate that she isn't about to do anything hasty.

[Boiler 45,535]

The chances depend on what information is on her application form.

[turveydrop 4]

No way they will ever grant her a tourist visa because of the previous K1, they know she will visit and marry and stay. Its probably not even worth your time to apply

B visa approved several hours ago.

She put everything about the previous K-1 in the application and wrote that she was coming here to see if she likes it enough to immigrate, to visit and stay with a romantic interest. She provided details about her job of course, and said that she could provide proof that she was coming back to take a business course.

He didn't ask at the interview to see any proof of her employment or anything about the course. He asked a few questions about me and to see her pictures of us together, from when I went to Uzbekistan. She had proof that she has co-ownership of her apartment, but she didn't put that in the application, and it never came up.

So to sum up, it is not an automatic rubber stamp "DENIED" if she's a young, single woman going to meet a man. They look at the totality of the circumstances. I think the K-1 worked in our favor, actually. We never applied for a tourist visa before, and we showed every intention of doing things right with regard to immigration.

Most of all, be completely honest. Don't go in there with some half-truth story you think they haven't seen before. Aside from obvious fraud, I bet a lot of honest people trip themselves up this way.

Edited February 29, 2012 by turveydrop