Help preparing for NVC DS260 by filling out DS230 Questions

[AC SQRD 3]

Hello, my wife and i are preparing to fill out the DS260 and have some questions related to our specific situation. Some background info, I am the USC and she is the beneficiary. While dating she visited me in the US from Canada for over 6 months but under 1 year (advised by lawyer that this was legal). She was refused entrance once immediately after that extended stay but has since been back multiple times with some hassle from Homeland Security but they are aware of the extended visit and have approved our application. We are mainly concerned about question 20, 25 and 32 on DS230.

Re: question 20; Does my wife need to list stay in the US (as legal visitor) since it was over 6 months, even though she wasn't officially LIVING in the USA? Our concern is, if we list it as somewhere she LIVED they may say "so you were living there illegally?". Or do we just list it under question 25 as a visit.

Re: question 25; Do we need to list short stopovers in the US while traveling overseas? We were processed through US customs each time so they may see this on their in and out transcripts. (each time they granted my wife a 6 month visa to the states in her passport)

Re: question 32; Since she HAS been refused once we have to check "YES" on this question. Has anyone else had a refusal and what is the best way to answer this question as to why? Do we give as little detail as possible and let the interviewer ask about details?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks guys!

[NikLR 13,232]

The DS-260 asks for only the last 5 visits to the USA, not all of the visits, so if this visit was within that last 5, you need to mention it on her visits. Yes, you need to mention every visit (unless it was just a layover in an airport IMHO) but you could mention those as well.

The DS-260 also asks for EVERY residence she has lived at since age 16. It asks for month/year and exact address regardless of the amount of time spent there. If you felt she was visiting and not residing then you do not list this address as a residence. I listed my 3 month stay in the USA because I was there on a college internship and considered this my residence at the time. I also listed 2, month long stays, at my mother's home when I was a) between residences and actually lived there for about that period oftime, and b) homeless.

As for the denial of entry, I suggest asking Saylin as she was denied entry twice but had zero issues getting her green card.

[Saylin 1,605]

Agreed with NLR's advice

As for the refusal, it won't be an issue. Just be honest and explain the situation on the DS-260. As NLR said, I was denied twice within 2 weeks, and after the second attempt, I stopped (as I was "threatened" that if I tried again, I could get a lifetime ban). On the DS-260, I explained in two short paragraphs (one for each refusal) what happened, where, and on what dates. When I went to the interview, I brought copies of paperwork from those refusals, in case anything was asked. But, when it got to the actual interview, I was never even asked about it! I believe for Canada, it's not rare for someone to get refused entry, especially when you're dealing with visiting a US spouse as they may think you're going to stay there illegally or you've spent too much time there (as it sounds like in your case). Now, if you were refused entry because of illegal possession of drugs or something, THEN it might be a problem

[AC SQRD 3]

The DS-260 asks for only the last 5 visits to the USA, not all of the visits, so if this visit was within that last 5, you need to mention it on her visits. Yes, you need to mention every visit (unless it was just a layover in an airport IMHO) but you could mention those as well.

The DS-260 also asks for EVERY residence she has lived at since age 16. It asks for month/year and exact address regardless of the amount of time spent there. If you felt she was visiting and not residing then you do not list this address as a residence. I listed my 3 month stay in the USA because I was there on a college internship and considered this my residence at the time. I also listed 2, month long stays, at my mother's home when I was a) between residences and actually lived there for about that period oftime, and b) homeless.

As for the denial of entry, I suggest asking Saylin as she was denied entry twice but had zero issues getting her green card.

Thanks for the quick reply NLR, my wife and I noticed you helping lots of couples on VJ and we value your advice. Yes, the last 5 visits included the stopovers we mentioned earlier as well as the extended visit. We think we will list the stopovers just to be safe even though that were just quick stops and we didn't leave the airport. However, we are still not sure whether to list the extended stay as a residence (question 20), a visit (question 25) or both. We will definitely ask Saylin as you suggested, her experiences and wiki has been our main resource through the NVC procedure.

Cheers,

AC SQRD