Difficulties with Passport control on B1

[roadstomoscow 1]

My GF came to visit on a B1 from Russia, this is her 3rd trip to the U.S. in the last year, all spread out a few months and only 2 week trips. This time she arrived in Chicago and did not have her hotel pre-arranged as she did in the past but had her return ticket. The USC agent seem to have it out for her and tried to spin her in circles with questions and I believe unfairly. For example when asked how my GF was going to get to her hotel and she replied by Taxi, the USC then asked if she was too good for public transportation. The woman just seem to have it out for her and no answer was good enough. The USC agent searched her purse on the spot and left everything a shambles. I have passed through this passport control nearly a dozen times this last year and have met a few of the agents multiple times and never seen this kind of thing going on but this one I did not recognize the description of so I'm not sure who it was. In any case we are worried about her long term ability to use her Visa. The woman wrote a lot of notes and tried to find any reason to give her issues and I suspect took notes on anything that she did not think sounded reasonable. She was eventually granted access and one thing that was interesting was that this agent tore off the visa, put it upside down, then stamped it with entry date and an exit date 6 months later then re-stapled it mangling other pages of her passport in the process. Should we be worried about her future prospects of getting in? What notes from previous entries are reviewed by USC agents at the time of entry? How much damage could this clearly unhinged agent do to my GF's ability to enter in the future? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Edited July 27, 2012 by gurutogo

[canadian_wife 1,827]

It is their job. They try to shake the person to judge their responses.

Not saying it is fair, but your girlfriend has traveled a lot this year, perhaps you got a border agent on a bad day.

Even with a B1 visa, entrance is never a guarentee.

They didn't rip the visa, they ripped the I94, different but it shouldn't affect future applications for entry

When visiting Canada, the CBP asked my husband (when he said he was staying with me at my sister's house) "so you don't like her parents then?"

Shake it off, if it was a real issue they would have put her into secondary inspection

Good luck

[Harsh_77 718]

With your GF having multiple entry and exit over few months raises a flag.... is she trying to settle in US everytime she comes and goes is she trying to set up friends make connection with potential bf's, employeers etc. and than use the B1 one more time to gain entry.

So for someone single, young and from Russia this would would be a red flag. ICE agent was doing her job to make sure your GF was not going to mis-use the visa, its within their power to search or go thru ones belonging including purse.

Most agents I have experienced would go thru your stuff and would let you repack and that repacking is not going to be as perfect as the one you packed at home.

ICE agent would never tear a page from any passport, tearing a passport would render it useless.

One would not be able to use a passport that has tear in it. It would be considered passport tampering.... what they stamped with 6 months time is I-94.

Everything is documented, specially if one is pulled in for secondry or additional question every conversation is recorded and it stays on there for long time. (Not exactly sure how long, but personally experience atleast 7 years back stuff is on their system)

If your GF is going to have multiple entry within a single year than she got to make sure she has enough eveidence that ties her back at home.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Harsh_77

[Dave&Roza 748]

My GF came to visit on a B1 from Russia, this is her 3rd trip to the U.S. in the last year, all spread out a few months and only 2 week trips. This time she arrived in Chicago and did not have her hotel pre-arranged as she did in the past but had her return ticket. The USC agent seem to have it out for her and tried to spin her in circles with questions and I believe unfairly. For example when asked how my GF was going to get to her hotel and she replied by Taxi, the USC then asked if she was too good for public transportation. The woman just seem to have it out for her and no answer was good enough. The USC agent searched her purse on the spot and left everything a shambles. I have passed through this passport control nearly a dozen times this last year and have met a few of the agents multiple times and never seen this kind of thing going on but this one I did not recognize the description of so I'm not sure who it was. In any case we are worried about her long term ability to use her Visa. The woman wrote a lot of notes and tried to find any reason to give her issues and I suspect took notes on anything that she did not think sounded reasonable. She was eventually granted access and one thing that was interesting was that this agent tore off the visa, put it upside down, then stamped it with entry date and an exit date 6 months later then re-stapled it mangling other pages of her passport in the process. Should we be worried about her future prospects of getting in? What notes from previous entries are reviewed by USC agents at the time of entry? How much damage could this clearly unhinged agent do to my GF's ability to enter in the future? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Third trip within a few months in the last year is what caused all this. Even though the trips are short, she has been spending a lot of time in the US. She may want to wait a while before using her visa again. You may not like their methods, but they are doing their job. Only citizens are guaranteed re-entry to the US. All others have to show they have followed the rules for their status even LPR. Look at it this way, she was admitted. This IO could have denied her entry in which she would have to return to Russia and her visa most likely would have been canceled. Was the treatment harsh? Maybe. In the end your GF was admitted to the US and she still has her visa. (A tourist visa for a single woman from Russia I might add). I would just be careful the next time. Have all plans already made. Make sure she spends some time in Russia before coming back to the US. Maybe come thru a different POE. Use this event to learn from.

Good luck,

Dave

[Harsh_77 718]

Third trip within a few months in the last year is what caused all this. Even though the trips are short, she has been spending a lot of time in the US. She may want to wait a while before using her visa again. You may not like their methods, but they are doing their job. Only citizens are guaranteed re-entry to the US. All others have to show they have followed the rules for their status even LPR. Look at it this way, she was admitted. This IO could have denied her entry in which she would have to return to Russia and her visa most likely would have been canceled. Was the treatment harsh? Maybe. In the end your GF was admitted to the US and she still has her visa. (A tourist visa for a single woman from Russia I might add). I would just be careful the next time. Have all plans already made. Make sure she spends some time in Russia before coming back to the US. Maybe come thru a different POE. Use this event to learn from.

Good luck,

Dave

Different POE does not matter, all the information is centrazlised, every entry and exit is recorded which can be seen by all the ICE staff all over the country.

[roadstomoscow 1]

Different POE does not matter, all the information is centrazlised, every entry and exit is recorded which can be seen by all the ICE staff all over the country.

Another quick second question. Actually she has a B2 not a B1 and now we have a legitimate business together. I am wondering if we should change her over to a B1 so she can use the business as the main reason for her visits. To me it seems easier because it's more the truth because we do work on the business development, advertising, contracts etc when she is here. Also we plan for her to come again in November for a month this time. Is it possible to change a B2 to a B1? But we started our business before she applied for the B2 and now she is worried because she is afraid to explain why she didn't get a B1 in the first place. I feel that she should get the B1 because it's much easier to explain the reasons for her visits and going to the same region every time if she has a legitimate business.

Also has anyone seen the screens that ICE looks at and do they usually have to dig through multiple pages to find old entry notes? Could they have put a "flag" on her file just from a bad 1st level interview? It seems to me that once a visa entry is open and then closed when the person leaves the country it would go to a secondary screen and though I have seen the screens from afar not enough to tell what the panels look like or the flagging codes or anything. Is it possible to find out if she might have issues entering the country before she leaves Russia next time? Also keep in mind she is in her 30's, owns a successful company in Moscow, travels to many other countries every year, has a home in Moscow, and has alot of ties back to Russia so this is not a 20 year old we are talking about and also keep in mind Russia is a low rejection country not the Ukraine or the Philippines (not trying to knock these countries just using them as contrast). Your feedback is always helpful and welcome

Also I want to make clear that we would prefer to be completely honest because have the means to have a relationship without being forced to marry each other and prefer to let our relationship develop normally and without the pressure of immigration. I hate feeling like a criminal for doing something that is innocent and I hate trying to avoid red flags which is what gets us into all this trouble in the first place. I would prefer to just tell them we have a long distance relationship and we meet each other not only here in the US but in other countries as well and that we plan when the time comes to do everything legally and honestly through the immigration process.

Edited July 28, 2012 by gurutogo

[Little_My 464]

I am not an expert on B1-visas, but my understanding is that it is not really meant for someone to come to the US to do work with a US based company, as is the case with your business.. She cannot be paid salary from a US based entity while in the US on a B-1, and it is meant for temporary visits, not reoccurring visits that involve work for a US-based company. B-1 can be used to enter the US for trainings, conferences, work events, scouting for investing opportunities, negotiating and signing contracts for goods that are manufactures outside the US, etc. but my understanding is, that using the B-1 to come to the US to do work for a US based company is not what the visa is meant for.

Regarding ICE computer systems - it doesn't really matter what their screens look like. It's 2013. Any information that is stored in any database on any computer via any program is, more or less, accessible and viewable by a couple of clicks. It's not like they have to perform a massive search operation on the computer to pull out a visitor's past information - most likely all that information just pops up once they have scanned the passport. There's really no way to foresee whether she will have issues on her next entry or not - but given her last experience, I would say that if she plans to re-enter again with a fairly short period between visits, she should be prepared for extra scrutiny and possible denial of entry. She has been here three times in a year already, and plans to come again in a few months, for a longer trip. I would say it is pretty likely ICE will find this suspect, and will ask her quite a few questions when she is attempting to re-enter. Whether or not she will be allowed back in or not is impossible to say.

[Boiler 46,000]

You can undertake Business on a B1, but not work.