married in us, left,then returned on vwp. Can i file a I-130 and adjust in US?

[healthteacher 18]

Anyone know if ESTA will renew your authorization if your passport is slightly expired? I believe they ask for a passport number, but not the expiration date.Thanks in advance.

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Have you read the ESTA form online yet?

The ESTA Application asks for Passport Number, Passport Issuing Country, Passport Issuance Date and Passport Expiration Date.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1201/~/esta-expiration-notice

As a general rule, your ESTA approval is good for multiple entries into the U.S. over a two year period. Exceptions to this validity period include applicants whose passports will expire before the two year validity period is complete - in which case the ESTA approval is only granted until the expiration date of the Passport.

[healthteacher 18]

Thanks for the heads up on the ESTA renewal,I completely forgot about that.Her ESTA is up for renewal now because her passport is expiring.You are correct, we should see if they will renew the ESTA, because without that there is no sense worrying or speculating about entering on VWP, we will have our answer in advance.The ESTA site also has informative warnings about how a VWP can/will be denied if using it and then attempting to adjust status,etc. while on VWP.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Thanks for the heads up on the ESTA renewal,I completely forgot about that.Her ESTA is up for renewal now because her passport is expiring.You are correct, we should see if they will renew the ESTA, because without that there is no sense worrying or speculating about entering on VWP, we will have our answer in advance.The ESTA site also has informative warnings about how a VWP can/will be denied if using it and then attempting to adjust status,etc. while on VWP.

You do realise that approval of ESTA doesn't mean she'll be allowed to enter right? That she can still be denied entry even on an approved ESTA? It's only when attempting to enter, at CBP, that they'll pull her up, see that she attempted to AOS the last time she was here and then left and had it denied/I-130 withdrawn and most likely (but we don't know with 100% assurance) be denied entry... Not to mention, the questions that they ask her at that entry, even if they let her in, can be designed to set her up for a denial of AOS if she does try it later.

Also, if AOS is denied on the VWP there is no appeal. She will need to leave the US. So even if she does enter, and you do file AOS and you get the interview, she can still have it denied MONTHS after thinking you're in the clear and be ordered removed from the US (or leave voluntarily) to file for the appropriate visa.

I just don't think you properly understood the ramifications of your actions when you first filed AOS on the VWP, or later when she abandoned it, or later when you withdrew the I-130... so please don't make any more rash decisions that could put you (and her) in a worse spot than you already are. File the appropriate paperwork, you visit her (or don't visit if you can't afford it) and just play it safe would be my advice.

**Edit - I will also add, apparently CBP when deporting someone do NOT need to ensure you're on a flight back to exactly where you came from, just back to where you're allowed to be. So for instance I would *want* a flight back to Melbourne for myself, but because really it's anywhere in Australia that I'm allowed to be they'd probably just put me through to Sydney, and I'd have to organise the rest of the way back to my home town. This is only what I've heard/read though. I can't say I know if that's happened to anyone but also due to being a citizen of the EU (UK passport) I could conceivably be put back on a plane to anywhere in the EU as well as legally I'm allowed to live there.. one of my fears quite honestly when I entered on the VWP (to visit though).

[B & G 200]

Speaking from an airline employee point of view, the CBP aren't the ones that decided where the passenger goes. They only care that they are sent back. They call the airline that the inadmissable passenger arrived on to inform them. It is the airline that makes the reservation to where the passenger goes and it is usually to where they started their journey.

That doesn't mean that what Vanessa Tony mentioned above doesnt happen.

[healthteacher 18]

Does a denial of AOS on a vwp affect our future CR-1 petition?

Would they deny that adjustment too?

[Merrytooth 5,748]

The first time, you tried to AOS from VWP, you could claim that there was a change of mind, to stay in US, not intentionally at all.

The second time, you tried the same trick, AOS from VWP again, do you think the USCIS is that stupid to believe your story, that you didn't plan that in advance?

[belinda63 3,038]

The denial itself won't affect your CR-1 unless they decide she made a material misrepresentation. If she lied about being married to a US citizen, lied about her intent when she arrived, something along those lines.