Just Got Engaged - Want a Tourist Visa (No K-1)

[milimelo 4,481]

She has to list her fiance on DS-160 relatives section.

[Boiler 45,541]

Well Boiler will probably point out my usual errors, but I was under the impression that someone planning on marrying a USC is unlikely to get a tourist visa if for no other reason than they are not in fact a tourist, but an impending immigrant.

I would think that even if somehow the embassy granted a tourist visa despite you telling them the truth, then if the POE officer asked the reason for your visit and you said, to visit with my fiancee and his/her family...that they might also decide to put you back on a plane home...

Also, if you are planning to get married in her country, then a K1 visa would not be appropriate....since that is for people wishing to bring a foreign fiancee to the USA and getting married here within 90 days or deciding not to marry and returning to their home country.

OP has not mentioned anything other than she is from the Ukraine, that alone suggests a B2 will not be a given but who knows?

Seems unusual for someone with a newly issued B2 to be turned away at the PoE.

She has to list her fiance on DS-160 relatives section.

Fiance is not a relative.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

So she is going to go to the airport in Ukraine, and say "I demand to be put on that plane for parole in place?"

This plan will not work.

[B & G 200]

So she is going to go to the airport in Ukraine, and say "I demand to be put on that plane for parole in place?"

This plan will not work.

As Harpa said, airline will refuse to carry you. Flat out. Airlines get heavily fined for sending passengers to the US without the proper documentation, which is either a visa, or ESTA.

That is based on the guidelines that the US custom and border protection provides.

So arriving at the airport and stating PIP wont get you anywhere.

Try it at the US embassy, which is considered US soil. If granted, you need documentation to show the airline, or else they will refuse travel.

[Girl from Celebes 588]

Are you saying that if she's not granted a tourist visa then your wife ( presuming both of you have already married at the time and she's your dependent) will showing at the airport and ask "Parole in Place"?

She needs a visa and the airlines will checked it prior departed whether she has proper documents to enter the US. My husband is in the military and still a military active duty. When we flew from my country to the US, the airlines still checked my passport and his as well to make sure I have the US visa on it and asked why both of us will fly together.

[Griffinco 1]

Lots of great information here. Anyone with experience actually going the PIP route? The most recent case I know about went through El Paso at the Border. Said the process took about 3 hours.

[Boiler 45,541]

So you are going to fly to Mexico and enter there.

Interesting.

[Griffinco 1]

So you are going to fly to Mexico and enter there.

Interesting.

I said that was the most recent successful case I know about.

[Boiler 45,541]

What other options are you considering?

[Griffinco 1]

That's part of what I'm looking to get out of this thread...additional options and people with real-life experience. Opinions are great (especially educated ones) and can be a nice starting point...experience will carry much more weight for me.

Edited August 16, 2014 by Griffinco

[alicia98981 128]

Tried it, failed, and wasted a lot time. My fiancee and I wanted to do the same thing and then apply for the CR-1 while he sorted out some legal family matters. Even honesty of our intentions and his ties home weren't good enough. Could have had his K1 visa by now if I hadn't listened to my mother who insisted that we get a B2 and meet the family before agreeing to just permanently move him all at one time which we definitely weren't prepared to do. So much time wasted waiting for a formal thanks for the cash we made a decision before you got here denial interview, then having to go back to take time from work to go back to Morocco again to get the paperwork for the K1 squared away a few months later. Nine months gone, fooling around with trying to get a B2 and we could have had a K1. Trust me it's not worth it. Just do the K1. . . .

[Griffinco 1]

For those who say that PIP is only for those already in the US, here's the bit that pertains about aliens arriving in the US:

40.6.2 Individual Grounds of Inadmissibility Under INA Section 212(a)(6)
(a) INA Section 212(a)(6)(A): Alien Present Without Admission or Parole or Who Arrives at Undesignated Time or Place
(1) General. INA section 212(a)(6)(A)(i) contains two closely related inadmissibility grounds. The first ground relates to the alien who is “present in the United States without being admitted or paroled.” This inadmissibility ground generally covers those who entered the United States without inspection (and are still in the United States).
The second inadmissibility ground in section 212(a)(6)(A)(i) relates to the alien “who arrives in the United States at any time or place other than as designated by the [secretary of Homeland Security].” Where the first inadmissibility ground leaves off, this one picks up. Using the present tense (“arrives”), it covers the alien who is in the process of entering U.S. territory without inspection.
The two inadmissibility grounds contained within section 212(a)(6)(A)(i) are thus complementary. Together, they capture aliens who have already achieved entry without inspection and those who are in the process of attempting such entry.

[Griffinco 1]

Tried it, failed, and wasted a lot time. My fiancee and I wanted to do the same thing and then apply for the CR-1 while he sorted out some legal family matters. Even honesty of our intentions and his ties home weren't good enough. Could have had his K1 visa by now if I hadn't listened to my mother who insisted that we get a B2 and meet the family before agreeing to just permanently move him all at one time which we definitely weren't prepared to do. So much time wasted waiting for a formal thanks for the cash we made a decision before you got here denial interview, then having to go back to take time from work to go back to Morocco again to get the paperwork for the K1 squared away a few months later. Nine months gone, fooling around with trying to get a B2 and we could have had a K1. Trust me it's not worth it. Just do the K1. . . .

Thanks for posting your experience, Alicia.

[alicia98981 128]

Well Boiler will probably point out my usual errors, but I was under the impression that someone planning on marrying a USC is unlikely to get a tourist visa if for no other reason than they are not in fact a tourist, but an impending immigrant.

I would think that even if somehow the embassy granted a tourist visa despite you telling them the truth, then if the POE officer asked the reason for your visit and you said, to visit with my fiancee and his/her family...that they might also decide to put you back on a plane home...

Also, if you are planning to get married in her country, then a K1 visa would not be appropriate....since that is for people wishing to bring a foreign fiancee to the USA and getting married here within 90 days or deciding not to marry and returning to their home country.

FYI the FAM says you can get married on a tourist visa as long as you show intent to return to your home country. The law, i.e. the rules set forth by the FAM, dictate what standards that are allow that allows one to prove one's intent to return home. Unfortunately, the FAM also allows the personal opinions of the COs to dictate that intent regardless of the individual's true intent and how the intent is attempted to be proven by the interviewed individual. The CO's opinion based on the law saying everyone is essentially guilty until proven innocent of immigrating is not in anyone's favor, particularly for those of high immigration fraud countries.

[portlandref09 0]

Generally, it is easier to obtain a K-1 than a B1/B2 primarily because you need to show intent and the means on returning to your country after your time has expired in here in the United States. In comparison, a K-1 you are more defending marriage fraud which is common amongst proving other elements. If you have a B1/B2 and get married you are still required to depart the U.S. unless you file an I-485 for Adjustment of Status (AOS). The kicker on the K-1 is you must complete the marriage within ninety days or you will be considered out of status and overstayed subject to removal. You can get married on any type of non-immigrant visa, however, you need to file the appropriate paperwork at your local CIS Office or else you will eventually become out of status and create other issues.

The law makes it harder to seek admission and easier to defend removal.

Edited August 16, 2014 by portlandref09