Traveling within USA after K-1 Visa expiration

[David & Diana R 1,005]

Well we went through all the procedures correctly, we have not done anything wrong. We are not being sneaky or shady, we went through the whole immigrations process like everyone else. She has a SSN Card and American I.D and i work for the DOD. We filed for the K-1 5 months later we got approved. I went to USCIC after that and asked them if there was a specified time to have the i-485 put in or if she would be considered illegal. And they said no. And that was 3 months ago. And then i went again this morning to ask about the flight. I have done everything so far in the process exactly as I was supossed to. They have no reason to detain her or anything of the sort.

You just don't like the answers you are hearing and I don't blame you but you are taking a serious risk. Especially when you factor in the area in which you live. But by your responses it looks like you're gonna do whatever you want so good luck.

[Brit Abroad 166]

She is out of status until you receive the NOA for AoS. Is that acceptable? Sure, lots of people have done it. Is it risky? Yes. We have so many checkpoints by road, a heavy Border Patrol presence on I-54. A lot of CBP aren't jerks, they will accept that you simply haven't filed for AoS yet, but .... if you run into the one or two that are jobsworths and do it by the book ... well ... all bets are off.

[Hypnos 6,578]

If your wife's I-94 has already expired and you haven't yet filed for AoS then she is illegally present in the US, is accruing overstay, is deportable [this does not mean she will be deported] and could be detained by ICE. These are all facts, not opinions.

Also, asking USCIS is not particularly useful because they are not the agency who would be doing the detaining, CBP would be. They are both under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, but that's about where the similarities end.

At the end of the day, it's your call what to do. One link has already been posted in this thread of an out of status K-1 being detained, and I can think of a couple more off the top of my head. As I said above, it's not likely this will happen, but given you are near the border it's more likely for you personally that it could happen.

If it were my wife, I would not take the risk. However, it's not my wife, or my risk, and is your choice.

Good luck.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Hypnos

[evadoering 0]

MerryTooth, thanks for sharing that link, it was actually very helpful! The end result of that was her husband was let out on bond and everything was good to go and all the agencies were very helpful and understanding to her. And that is my worse case scenario right there. I will text you back to let you know how it all went if we arrive at our destination like we should. If you dont here from me, then things went lopsided and i will probably be paying some fees and be forced to put the AOS in immediately or else. Which I have no issue with.

[evadoering 0]

Everyone thank you for the responses. I agree with all of you. We will fly tomorrow morning. USCIS said it was a possibility that she could be detained, but as for worrying about her getting deported they said I was fine and should not worry about that. If we miss our flight tomorrow and have to go through all that #######, I'll go through the #######. I accept the risk that it could happen. And if it does happen, we will be completely honest with the Officer. As long as at the end of the day I still have my wife. I read a regulation that was put out and it said that they can always deport someone, but this 99.9 percent of the time wont be the case if you have a clean record and they have no criminal or other reason to deport, and that you are eligible to put in a AOS, which we are. David and Z I am not dismissing anyone's comments, though, now that i look back at it, it did look like i was, i apologize for that. I love my wife dearly, and my heart is pounding, i doubt i will get much sleep tonight. God has a plan for all of us. And i will let His Will be done, even if His will is that we end up not being able to fly.

[evadoering 0]

Well, we had no issues, we are now back !!!

[aaron2020 11,651]

Well we went through all the procedures correctly, we have not done anything wrong. We are not being sneaky or shady, we went through the whole immigrations process like everyone else. She has a SSN Card and American I.D and i work for the DOD. We filed for the K-1 5 months later we got approved. I went to USCIC after that and asked them if there was a specified time to have the i-485 put in or if she would be considered illegal. And they said no. And that was 3 months ago. And then i went again this morning to ask about the flight. I have done everything so far in the process exactly as I was supossed to. They have no reason to detain her or anything of the sort.

While you have done nothing wrong, you haven't done the right thing and file for an AOS.

Without the AOS, your wife is a visa overstay and is in the US illegally.

If you want to trust the USCIS Misinformation line for legal advice (which you are not suppose to), then you have been fairly warned not to trust their misinformation.