Chance of getting a tourist visa with USC boyfriend... ever?

[Donna & Paul 4]

Just throwing this out there. You said:

"He lives in one of the northern states, just across the dotted line."

1) Visit Canada somewhere close to the border and meet his family there. They could travel across the border into Canada to visit you.

2) Lease an apartment, open bank accounts, get affidavits from people you know that you are expected to return to your home country on a specific date, get a job where your employer would provide you with a letter saying you'd be expected to return on a specific date. Anything that would show you have ties to your country and intend to return there. It sounds as if you didn't have much except your word previously.

It would appear to me that visiting Canada and having his family travel to visit you there would be the quickest option. I know you said he lives just across the dotted line but how far away from the border does his family live?

[jaycali 415]

I agree, try ESTA in 6 months or so.Assume they will be visiting you.You are not allowed to work in the US as a tourist.

As far as remote work I've heard differently, as long as the main purpose is still tourism, and:

1. The employer is based in a foreign country.

2. The pay is from a foreign source, to a foreign bank account.

3. The job can be done from anywhere and does not require you to be in the US.

4. The job is not available to US citizens or LPRs (Since they'd need work permits).

5. It's not journalism.

Kind of like if a USCIS adjudicator with a home office brought some petitions to the UK on vacation, got a couple of petitions done in the hotel room between lunch and dinner and then went to see the Big Ben. No British jobs taken, no work permit needed.

Edited June 18, 2012 by jaejayC

[bigdog 376]

You have to pay the piper so to speak. Pay for the USC to travel, maybe the two of you can figurine it out then.

[aayitrun 66]

have u heard of "don't ask don't tell"?

[Inky 1,111]

Can I do this from Canada, or do I need to return to New Zealand?

You will not be allowed to interview in Canada for a K-1, you have to show that you are there on a residency or work visa to be allowed to interview. You will have to return to NZ for your interview + medical etc.

[Xanax 349]

You will not be allowed to interview in Canada for a K-1, you have to show that you are there on a residency or work visa to be allowed to interview. You will have to return to NZ for your interview + medical etc.

You can actually do your medical anywhere as long as it is with a civil surgeon from the uscis list.

Edited June 20, 2012 by BrittandDan

[warmnoodle 0]

Just an update for anybody interested: I read on the US Embassy London website that being denied under 214b did not mean I couldn't travel on a visa waiver. That said, I did have that pesky ESTA denial. So I changed my flight, flew into Vancouver, made my way to the far edges of British Columbia, close to where the boy lives, then he came up to meet me and we drove to the US border to let a real person make the final decision.

They did not seem to have any information about my visa denial (that they were letting on), because the officer seemed genuinely surprised when I ticked the "I have had a visa denied" box on the back of the green visa waiver form. He asked me why I'd been denied. I said "214b. I assume because I have a US citizen boyfriend and a relatively new job."

He asked to see my flight itinerary, which I had (as well as a million other documents). My boyfriend ventured that there was a very convoluted series of events leading us here, if he was interested. He indicated that he was not interested in the slightest. He stamped my forms, asked for six bucks, and we were away.

Thanks for your advice people. Luckily I'm not one to take "no" for an answer. I spent Sunday floating down a river in an inner tube drinking PBR, and have another two months of Summer to look forward to.