AOS from Visa Waiver - Secondary Inspection

[ImmemorialN 7]

Hello,

This is a long winded question, my apologies. I am in a long-term relationship with a US citizen, I'm a British citizen myself. I've visited my now-wife in the US three times since November of last year, never staying for longer than a month. On my third entry, March 4th 2013, I was pulled into "Secondary Inspection"

During that, no out-of-the-ordinary questions were asked, it took literally 5-10 minutes. The official asked me how long I planned to the stay in the US for, I said no more than a month, potentially less. My passport was stamped, and I was let into the US under the VWP. I never had to sign any declarations, or indeed anything at all, and they all but glimpsed at my luggage - I didn't have an excessive amount of luggage, given my intended short stay.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. I, as a surprise, proposed to my girlfriend last week, and we spontaneously got married yesterday. If I want to adjust status now, by doing the concurrent filing, will the fact that I was pulled into secondary inspection pose any issues?

Also, can you see any issues that may arise from the entire adjustment of status process?

Many thanks

[Hypnos 6,578]

No.

[Penguin_ie 5,997]

It means they were somewhat suspicious of you, and if you now apply for AOS they will be even more so. Your case will be looked at closer than a "normal case", but that does not mean you will not succeed. Since you did not sign anything and, presumably, they didn;t write anything in your passport other than the usual stamp, you will probably be ok. Do you have any proof you can show, if asked, that this was a spontanious decision? For example bought the engagement ring only once over here, good job back home, left all your documents at home, have a pet or lease to home there etc?

[VanessaTony 3,567]

It could, I won't lie, but it's low risk.

Here's the issue - if you're denied there is NO APPEAL. Why not just file the I-130 and continue visiting? If you really were planning to just visit for a month, what happens to your life back home? Suddenly the ties you had don't exist?

Anyway the choice is yours.

[ImmemorialN 7]

Thanks for the replies thus far.

No, during secondary the usual stamp was issued. Literally the only question I was asked was how long I intended to stay, within the allowed time. The stamp was given with no restrictions, the full allotted time under the VWP was given.

Yes, bought the ring only last week, I have a lease on a property back in the UK as well as an assignment I was due to go on for the company I was contracted with.

The ties don't disappear; it's just that naturally we would rather not be apart if possible, and given we had absolutely no intent whatsoever we do seem to be prime candidates for the AOS? Though naturally, I'm far from an expert and all my "knowledge" comes from the realms of google and this site.

We have a significant amount of "proof" of our long relationship, both during my wife's time during her 6 month stay in London, and my multiple short visits to see her.

It's a confusing topic! Any input appreciated.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

and given we had absolutely no intent whatsoever we do seem to be prime candidates for the AOS?

You *should* be fine... but here's my problem. You've been a member since November 2012. About a month 1/2 after joining (December) you ask about visiting the US again after a "short period of time". Now, a few months later, suddenly you had a change of heart.

Personally, I don't believe you weren't on here investigating options... Then there's buying a ring last week (having the money to do so as well) and "just deciding to get married"... but they rarely ask about intent (I've read some, but not many). So, you have the money to support yourself for the next 3 months or so, to buy a ring, to get married... "on a whim"...

Like I said, the risk is a denial without appeal, and you would have 30 days to leave. None of us "want" to be apart but you could just as easily file the I-130, go and finish what you need to back in the UK, and then come in on a CR-1 (visiting in the meantime). It's funny that after this latest visit that you suddenly had a change of heart, but I'm not the one adjudicating your application.

Again, sure, entering without intent, having a sudden change of heart makes someone eligible for AOS. Being pulled into secondary indicates they had suspicions and that's not great.. but they still let you in... so sure, you *should* be fine. We can't guarantee anything... not even a CR-1.

Best of luck to you both.

[Hypnos 6,578]

All that matters is that you were granted entry, the rest is just fluff.

There have been cases where CBP wrote in people's passports "No AoS", and they still managed to AoS just fine.

[ImmemorialN 7]

Don't get me wrong; at some point we knew one of us would have to take the plunge and move. It's not that it's such a sudden change of heart in that its swung from never wanting to move to wanting to move right away, it's more to do with how things have changed (aside from the obvious) in both our lives during the past few weeks.

I for sure don't want to have my application denied and be sent back home for immigration fraud, I would naturally much sooner continue to visit every couple of months. It really is that neither of us can stand the thought of being apart again now, that's the only motivating factor. I do have some fairly significant savings, and that's just from many years of being stringent with my own incomings and outgoings, and it's how I can support myself during this time.

I have absolutely nothing to hide, and have been and will continue to be entirely upfront and honest with everyone involved. The reason I was pulled into secondary is because I openly stated I was visiting my girlfriend, it always gets the raised eyebrows and I suppose this time it was just a little too soon for the gentleman who initially saw me. However it was smooth sailing through secondary, so I hope that should be fine.

Ultimately I will do whatever the majority of the people who have already been through this advise is for the best. It's not exactly easy either way; I now have to pay for all my belongings back home to be fed ex'd to me, as well as the various documentation I need in order to file this. Not to mention early cancellation fees on my lease and not being able to work my notice period satisfactorily.

[JoannaV 174]

Go ahead and apply for AOS. Well so long as you are sure you can get all the documentation together and do the medical and so on in time to submit your application before your 90 days are up. As you are adjusting from VWP I would probably want to be able to submit early enough that I would receive the NOA1 before the 90 days. Do take a couple of days though to think it all through, to be sure that this is the way you want to do things: of course you don't want to be separated, but on the other hand having to get other people to deal with your belongings/documents in the UK is a bit of a hassle, and if this will leave your company flailing around to find a replacement then you might want to consider that. Don't let your emotions completely bowl you over (And if you did enter on VWP with the intent to "spontaneously" do all this, then definitely get back to the UK right now.)

But if you decide to AOS then yes I think you should be approved fine and will not have to be separated from your wife

Congratulations on your engagement and marriage!

[Little_My 464]

You should not and cannot leave this decision resting on opinions of a bunch of strangers online, most of whom really have absolutely no official training in matters of US immigration law. Don't get me wrong - many people here are extremely knowledgeable, and probably understand the ins and outs of US immigration better than many immigration lawyers who charge enormous fees for mostly making things slower - but you still cannot state that you're just going to go with the majority opinion on an open online discussion board. If this was about which colour to paint your living room walls with, sure, why not - but not when it's about something as big and important as immigration.

Vanessa&Tony has already laid the situation out for you in a pretty detailed and simple way. As she said - most likely, you will be fine if you decide to AOS. But no one here knows for sure whether you will be or not. All we know for sure is that, if denied, you have no right to appeal the decision, and you will have to leave. My understanding is that if you didn't have an overstay that would warrant a ban prior to filing for AOS, the denial itself would not make you ineligible to apply for a greencard again right after the denial - but the only option for you to do that would be to take the CR-1 route. This would mean that you would have wasted around $1500-$2000 on the AOS application, plus 4-6 months that it will probably take for the whole application to be processed, plus your airfare back home - and then you would be looking at another $1500-$2000 for the CR-1 application, 8-12 months waiting for that to be processed, and the airfare back to the US. That is essentially what could happen - if you are denied.

You know the facts. Now you and your wife have to decide which route to take, based on those facts. CR-1 really is much less riskier, but involves you two being apart for most of the processing time. AOS keeps you together - but can come with a very high price, if you are denied.

[ValerieA 350]

All that matters is that you were granted entry, the rest is just fluff.

There have been cases where CBP wrote in people's passports "No AoS", and they still managed to AoS just fine.

Yeah, I was one of those that the officer in secondary wrote No EOS/AOS and I adjusted no problem.

OP, unless you have other serious negative factors that we don't know about, you should be fine. What others have told you about the consequences of having your application denied are true - except you will have an approved I-130 through the AOS process, so that fee and waiting time would go away if you had to go back and do a CR-1. Not sure how much time that takes off currently, it was fairly significant when I initially applied for a CR-1 from Canada.