Travel to Puerto Rico or US Virgins on K1?

[opsanus 0]

After posting a similar question on another board (rwguide.com), I got reports that it has been done successfully, to P.R. Another response said that both P.R. and U.S. Virgin Islands are specifically allowed as destinations from which the K1 holder can return, despite not having the conditional green card or Advance Parole from form I-131. Can anyone confirm that? How can I get an official statement on it?

BTW, I called USCIS and went through the process of waiting to speak to a real human. (used the suggestion at www.gethuman.com/us/) The person I spoke to said "NO," that P.R. would be treated as any foreign country, in regard to the K1. However I got the impression that this person was giving an opinion without checking any further. I was not convinced that the person had specifically dealt with this question before, and it seemed to be based solely on the logic of, "P.R. is not one of the 50 states, therefore..."

[flutter95 4]

I have heard alot about this. Technically its US land but its NOT a good idea to leave the continental US, because some people HAVE had trouble coming back and I just wouldn't risk it untill I had AP or was a CPR.

[rika60607 215]

After posting a similar question on another board (rwguide.com), I got reports that it has been done successfully, to P.R. Another response said that both P.R. and U.S. Virgin Islands are specifically allowed as destinations from which the K1 holder can return, despite not having the conditional green card or Advance Parole from form I-131. Can anyone confirm that? How can I get an official statement on it?

BTW, I called USCIS and went through the process of waiting to speak to a real human. (used the suggestion at www.gethuman.com/us/) The person I spoke to said "NO," that P.R. would be treated as any foreign country, in regard to the K1. However I got the impression that this person was giving an opinion without checking any further. I was not convinced that the person had specifically dealt with this question before, and it seemed to be based solely on the logic of, "P.R. is not one of the 50 states, therefore..."

Hey,

I flew in and out of PR from the US in 2003 and I showed them NOTHING but my Driver's license. Being an F-1 student with expired F-1 but still in status (valid I-20). Sooo, if things did not get tighter, you should be fine as long as your fiance has a valid US driver's license!

Rika

[Yodrak 7]

flutter95,

So Hawaii and Alaska are risky places to go and return from?

You've heard a lot of mis-information.

Yodrak

I have heard alot about this. Technically its US land but its NOT a good idea to leave the continental US, because some people HAVE had trouble coming back .....

[zyggy 9]

Puerto Rico and the USVI are defined as part of the United States in the INA (Guam and American Samoa are as well)... therefore, you can go to them on a K1 without leaving the US and therefore, no AP needed...

However, no side trips to the BVI or any other Carribean islands...

[Dr_LHA 3]

I have heard alot about this. Technically its US land but its NOT a good idea to leave the continental US, because some people HAVE had trouble coming back and I just wouldn't risk it untill I had AP or was a CPR.

Its only really risky if your plane gets diverted and you end up in a foriegn country. Then of course if you return to the USA you have to go through immigration. Its unlikely to happen, but possible.

However, I've personally travelled to Hawaii about 7 times without a passport (an sometimes without a valid visa in the passport that I left at home), and I plan on doing so again in a few months.

[opsanus 0]

(from Original Poster)

F.Y.I. on this topic of travel to U.S. territories, specifically P.R.: On 3.16 my wife & I returned from 5 days in P.R. Technically she was still on an active K-1. (now expired, as of 3.18) In our experience, using her Russian passport was apparently more than enough to meet the minimum requirement of having some kind of government-issued photo ID. It appeared that no official at either end of the trip took note of the specific nature of the entry visa, and no questions were asked.

[peterg222 0]

I went to St. Thomas (USVI) for my honeymoon in December & didn't have any problems.

I flew direct from Philadelphia. Immigration & customs is in the St. Thomas airport so everything was done there & so when we landed at Philly it was like landing on a domestic flight.

[flutter95 4]

flutter95,

So Hawaii and Alaska are risky places to go and return from?

You've heard a lot of mis-information.

Yodrak

I have heard alot about this. Technically its US land but its NOT a good idea to leave the continental US, because some people HAVE had trouble coming back .....

I used the wrong word, I meant the actual states.

My brother was a k-1 and had trouble when traveling to us virgin islands.