Crossing American Border with 2 Pending Visas

[arielle 0]

Depending on questions U could get mis-rep in the future if U do

not fess up to coming to see your husband. answers at ports R entered

into system, and travelling during process or getting marry is fine if

U leave, however if you state you coming to see a friend or family, or

as a tourist, at the interview they will see date of marriage and any

deception to the CBP so be very careful

Okay, so would you say it would be best to call him my "husband" this time when i cross the border on Friday?

I've been trying to figure out if "fiance" or "husband" would be better.

But probably "husband"?

Or would that make then suspicious?

[arielle 0]

Keep it simple.

You are married.

If you wnat another wedding you need toi be divorced first, sounds like the word you are looking for is celebration.

hmmm! Interesting!

So if I said "celebration" instead of "wedding" at the border, do you think it would make it less suspicious?

[arielle 0]

NEVER lie to CBP. Very often they jot notes on your record and they can be pulled back up and used as Misrepresentation at a later stage. Misrepresentation doesn't have a time limit. It can happen before the visa is approved, it can happen when you apply for naturalization, it can happen when you are a citizen years down the line. It does not pay to lie.

You are legally married for the purpose of the visa, but you want a proper wedding ceremony for your families and friends. I see no problem in being truthful about the purpose of your visit. Of course, you will want to make sure that you have all the necessary evidence to prove that you intend spending a honeymoon period in the US and returning home to Canada to wait out the processing of your visa. CBP aren't stupid, neither are USCIS or the consulate staff at the Embassy. Start out with the truth, stick with it. Provided you plan ahead and get all your paperwork in order you shouldn't have a problem.

After all, how many people come and get married in Vegas and then leave? It's not unheard of.

This is incredibly helpful. Thank you so much.

Hi,

Two ways of looking at this: Practically & Theoretically.

Practically, I think you should go ahead with your plan. I have travelled to and fro the US a few times with i130 pending for 8 months earlier this year (it was approved recently) and no body ever questioned me about it. Once, I even had to go to secondary (because I was going for an elective course for a month and a half, without the full approval from the concerned university, they asked more questions about the program, entered a whole bunch of information in the computer and then let me through). The caveat here is that I always flew to the US, with a return ticket and I think that does hold weight when crossing the border, also, I would never lie to the authorities, answered all questions honestly and without panicking. If they had asked me about a pending i130 - I was mentally prepared to give them the truth, and then show them documents showing strong ties to Canada, but they didn't & I dont think its my job to bring it up, neither should you.

Theoretically, what you are doing is illegal. You can not go to the US with a set plan in your mind to get married without the proper visa (K3?). A friend of mine did the same thing you are doing, but he had no intentions of immigrating to the US. I told him what he's doing is considered illegal, but his exact words were "f*** em". He just wanted to get married in Chicago for other reasons and his wife would immigrate to Canada (still, by law, what he did was illegal). He had a smooth passage and I don't think anyone really cares, unless you have a nervous break down and spew all your intentions.

Go about it in a smart manner, and you'll be fine.

Good luck.

This is really really helpful! Thank you so much. Means alot.

[arielle 0]

Hello, if I am reading your post correctly,

*You and your husband are CURRENTLY legally married (I am guessing a civil ceremony)

*You want to be able to go visit him but are unsure if you will be bounced back at the POE because of your pending visa

*You would like to have a formal 'wedding' ceremony in the U.S. with some guests accompanying you into the U.S. and you plan to return to Canada after a short time to await your CR1 or K3.

*You are wondering if your visa process can be expedited so that you and your husband can be contestants on a Television show.

As you seem to already know, visiting your spouse (or fiancee) while having a visa pending can be a bit of tricky and confusing issue; and in most times you can be at the mercy of the CBP agent processing you. Some agents might feel that because you are an intending immigrant (at some point) they will deny you entry...while others are more concerned about the purpose of that particular trip and make their call based on that.

As you have said, it's helpful if you are able to firmly establish to their satisfaction that you are planning to return Canada on the date you have stated, such as providing a non refundable return ticket, a copy of your lease, a letter from your employer ect.as well as any currently paper work related to your visa application such as your NOA2. It will help establish that you aware the legal process and are taking the correct steps to follow it.

Unfortunately, no one here can guarantee that you will have no problems crossing into the U.S. Although, I can tell you that when I was in the process, I was always allowed to enter. Sometimes, depending on the question they asked me such as "Hello, do you have any fruit?"..."No"...."Great have a nice day" it was quick and easy...sometimes I was asked for proof that I planned to return. Only once was I sent to a secondary inspection, and it wasn't even the agent who processed me. After I cleared inspection and went to hand my card to the agent collecting them, she took a look at my baby (mine and my husband's- I had given birth prior to getting my Cr-1) and marked my card to go to the secondary.

When I handed my card to an agent at secondary- he asked me what happened. I told him, "Honestly I don't know...she took my card..then she kind of did a double take when she saw the baby stroller- marked the card red and sent me over here". I guess he must have felt sorry for me (seeing I had a small baby and needed a Air Canada Rep to help me with my bags - for those who don't know, at Pearson Airport you don't get to drop off your bags until after you have cleared customs) or because they were so busy he didn't want to add more work to their pile..and sent me on through.

As far as you and your family/friends entering the U.S. for a formal wedding, I would encourage you to be as honest as possible. If a CBP agent suspects you are trying to be deceptive or get one over on them , the consequences could have devastating effect on your visa process. Again, the questions you get asked might be as simple as "What is your final destination in the U.S. " or they could be more involved.

As to your visa being expiate so that you both can appear on a televised competition, it seems unlikely. In my situation, it kind of was (long story...as my process took almost 1.5 years...because of some minor mistakes on my husbands part such as sending the copy of the application instead of the one with our actual signatures (causing a 3 month delay) and for some explainable reason after our application cleared the NVC the CSC asked them to send it back which caused another several months to rectify ...but in our situation, our daughter (a USC) was very ill.

I have also heard of an application being expedited because a child of beneficiary (who was also going to immigrate) was going to 'age out'. In addition to situations if the fiancee ( in a K1) was going to deploy.

Your husband is free to plea his case to try and get the process expiated, but given the examples I am aware of..I don't think they would consider this to be a 'life and death' type of situation.

Wow! Thank you for all of this information.

Amazingly helpful.

All of this feedback is making everything feel alot less stressful and scary. haha

Thank you for putting so much time into this response. It really means alot.

Hopefully it will all go well on Friday and then we can continue with planning the wedding celebration for December.

And I'm not too concerned about the TV show. If they really want us, they'll be fine with waiting till the next season.

Hello, if I am reading your post correctly,

*You and your husband are CURRENTLY legally married (I am guessing a civil ceremony)

*You want to be able to go visit him but are unsure if you will be bounced back at the POE because of your pending visa

*You would like to have a formal 'wedding' ceremony in the U.S. with some guests accompanying you into the U.S. and you plan to return to Canada after a short time to await your CR1 or K3.

*You are wondering if your visa process can be expedited so that you and your husband can be contestants on a Television show.

As you seem to already know, visiting your spouse (or fiancee) while having a visa pending can be a bit of tricky and confusing issue; and in most times you can be at the mercy of the CBP agent processing you. Some agents might feel that because you are an intending immigrant (at some point) they will deny you entry...while others are more concerned about the purpose of that particular trip and make their call based on that.

As you have said, it's helpful if you are able to firmly establish to their satisfaction that you are planning to return Canada on the date you have stated, such as providing a non refundable return ticket, a copy of your lease, a letter from your employer ect.as well as any currently paper work related to your visa application such as your NOA2. It will help establish that you aware the legal process and are taking the correct steps to follow it.

Unfortunately, no one here can guarantee that you will have no problems crossing into the U.S. Although, I can tell you that when I was in the process, I was always allowed to enter. Sometimes, depending on the question they asked me such as "Hello, do you have any fruit?"..."No"...."Great have a nice day" it was quick and easy...sometimes I was asked for proof that I planned to return. Only once was I sent to a secondary inspection, and it wasn't even the agent who processed me. After I cleared inspection and went to hand my card to the agent collecting them, she took a look at my baby (mine and my husband's- I had given birth prior to getting my Cr-1) and marked my card to go to the secondary.

When I handed my card to an agent at secondary- he asked me what happened. I told him, "Honestly I don't know...she took my card..then she kind of did a double take when she saw the baby stroller- marked the card red and sent me over here". I guess he must have felt sorry for me (seeing I had a small baby and needed a Air Canada Rep to help me with my bags - for those who don't know, at Pearson Airport you don't get to drop off your bags until after you have cleared customs) or because they were so busy he didn't want to add more work to their pile..and sent me on through.

As far as you and your family/friends entering the U.S. for a formal wedding, I would encourage you to be as honest as possible. If a CBP agent suspects you are trying to be deceptive or get one over on them , the consequences could have devastating effect on your visa process. Again, the questions you get asked might be as simple as "What is your final destination in the U.S. " or they could be more involved.

As to your visa being expiate so that you both can appear on a televised competition, it seems unlikely. In my situation, it kind of was (long story...as my process took almost 1.5 years...because of some minor mistakes on my husbands part such as sending the copy of the application instead of the one with our actual signatures (causing a 3 month delay) and for some explainable reason after our application cleared the NVC the CSC asked them to send it back which caused another several months to rectify ...but in our situation, our daughter (a USC) was very ill.

I have also heard of an application being expedited because a child of beneficiary (who was also going to immigrate) was going to 'age out'. In addition to situations if the fiancee ( in a K1) was going to deploy.

Your husband is free to plea his case to try and get the process expiated, but given the examples I am aware of..I don't think they would consider this to be a 'life and death' type of situation.

Wow! Thank you for all of this information.

Amazingly helpful.

All of this feedback is making everything feel alot less stressful and scary. haha

Thank you for putting so much time into this response. It really means alot.

Hopefully it will all go well on Friday and then we can continue with planning the wedding celebration for December.

And I'm not too concerned about the TV show. If they really want us, they'll be fine with waiting till the next season.