Thai wife of US Citizen for 10 years refused entry at airport

[MacUK 983]

Sometimes I truly wonder why US immigration bothers to have rules seeing as they let people break them so easily.

[Unidentified 2,930]

Sometimes I truly wonder why US immigration bothers to have rules seeing as they let people break them so easily.

Couldn't have said it better. We who do it legally get to go through a long process and we barely get to see our loved ones. And then comes a cheater, walks up to a CBP officer and say "Hey, I'm on a tourist visa and I intend to get married and adjust status" or anything similar and the CBP officer says "Welcome to America!". And in the end guess who get screwed over by tougher rules?

[paulfr 1]

Couldn't have said it better. We who do it legally get to go through a long process and we barely get to see our loved ones. And then comes a cheater, walks up to a CBP officer and say "Hey, I'm on a tourist visa and I intend to get married and adjust status" or anything similar and the CBP officer says "Welcome to America!". And in the end guess who get screwed over by tougher rules?

We are not cheaters.

My wife's Tourist Visa was used 2 times as a tourist in the past.

And we/she told the truth as we entered last week.

We were admitted as tourists recognizing that we may not be granted a COS/AOS.

I was told one has 2 options to bring a wife to the US if married for more than 2 years;

1/ File DCF in Thailand and get Ir-1 Visa with green card up front

2/ Come to US and change status

We had little choice but to do #2 since my illness came on quickly and is urgent.

I must be in the US to be under Medicare here.

Now they may reject our petition for COS/AOS and my wife of 10 years must return to Thailand to

do #1 above. So she would be forced to return to Thailand splitting up our family.

OR

They can do the sensible and compassionate thing and grant the green card here.

Our porous Southern border really has little in common with our situation.

Edited October 22, 2015 by paulfr

[Pennycat 880]

Couldn't have said it better. We who do it legally get to go through a long process and we barely get to see our loved ones. And then comes a cheater, walks up to a CBP officer and say "Hey, I'm on a tourist visa and I intend to get married and adjust status" or anything similar and the CBP officer says "Welcome to America!". And in the end guess who get screwed over by tougher rules?

This more-or-less happened to a friend of mine (or, rather, a woman I was in a mutual friend's wedding with and we've been Facebook friends for 8 years and catch up over tacos when we're in the same city). She and her husband straight-up didn't know that you couldn't do that. How this is possible, I will literally never know, but obviously they're not alone (see the OP). But, some people really are just naive I guess. Either way, he'd been coming and going from Mexico on a 10 year tourist visa for most of his life (had it since he was a child), they'd been living together in Mexico City, they had a religious ceremony in Mexico, flew to Houston with the intention of having a legal wedding here (this should be a big "hmmmm" about how they knew enough to not have a legal wedding abroad but....I'm not going to grill her).

She says that he was honest with CPB who told him that that was not the way to do things, gave him 90 days instead of the usual 6 months and told him to get his paperwork in order. What they meant by that, or if they noted something in his passport, I'll never know (or what she understood from what they meant, I don't know) but they got courthouse married more or less immediately but they had huge problems at AOS. Again, the nature of these problems, I don't know, I'm not going to grill her to ask (right now she's just recently had twins and is living in the middle east so our schedules don't exactly coincide for chit chats). But it was long, drawn out and extremely expensive. So... there's something. Somehow.

Still the point stands. Why does anyone with VWP or a B2 (or any other type of visa for that matter) have to go through this process if sad-puppy-eyes of "but I didn't knooooow" works just as well. Except, you know, money.

[Pennycat 880]

We are not cheaters.

Our Tourist Visa was used 2 times as tourists in the past.

And we told the truth as we entered last week.

We were admitted as tourists recognizing that we may not be granted a COS/AOS.

I was told one has 2 options to bring a wife to the US if married for more than 2 years;

1/ File DCF in Thailand and get Ir-1 Visa with green card up front

2/ Come to US and change status

We had little choice but to do #2 since my illness came on quickly and is urgent.

I must be in the US to be under Medicare here.

Now they may reject our petition for COS/AOS and my wife of 10 years must return to Thailand to

do #1 above. So she would be forced to return to Thailand splitting up our family.

OR

They can do the sensible and compassionate thing and grant the green card here.

Our porous Southern border really has little in common with our situation.

How on earth does the porous Southern border enter into this discussion? You realize that it's possible to break rules without jumping the border? What you did was improper, based on bad advice (with the proper advice easily accessible from State and USCIS's webpages, or a phone call to the embassy). You may not have any trouble with it, and CBP allowed it (for reasons both unknown and unfair) but it doesn't change the fact that AOS from a B2 is not the way to go about it and makes it more difficult for people to get B2's in the future (directly from the mouth of someone who used to adjudicate them for a living....we have a former foreign service officer in this thread) and makes it more difficult for people with B2s to legitimately visit their spouses in the future.

So what she may have to go back to Thailand for a year? Most people here are separated by that amount of time and distance as a matter of *routine*. What you're basically saying is "I didn't do my homework, broke some rules I didn't know existed, somehow kinda sorta got away with it, but now I might be facing going through what I should have in the first place, that you all are currently in the middle of. Feel sorry for me. It's hard". It's not going to fly. Because your possibility is everyone's current reality.

[AC1022 27]

Is it necessary to point out the obvious that he broke some rules? Things happen, people break rules, and guess what, life goes on. OP posted his situation with the hope of getting answers, however I think people who suffered from the dreaded experience of the 'legit' immigration experience are just more interested in being bitter and shouting out 'It's unfair that he tries to cheat since I went through it the hard way!'

When we were applying for my conditional GC my American citizen husband did not know ANYTHING about the immigration process, I mean, anything, he was under the assumption that since we are married I can just take the test and get my citizenship. Now I'm renewing my permanent residency, I still do not think he has gained much knowledge about the process except for knowing 'it is very stressful process,I will need to do whatever my wife tells me to help her.'

Is my husband just particularly lack of knowledge on immigration process than any other average Americans? I highly doubted, and I highly doubt it is okay just to call the OP a cheater, there are far more serious immigration related crime going on so people should really just drop their attitude on pounding on those who came here, being honest, arguing from his point of view, in the hope of finding a solution.

If the immigration cheaters / criminals really upset you, pursue a career in ICE or something similar, that'd actually help everyone.

[Unidentified 2,930]

Is it necessary to point out the obvious that he broke some rules? Things happen, people break rules, and guess what, life goes on. OP posted his situation with the hope of getting answers, however I think people who suffered from the dreaded experience of the 'legit' immigration experience are just more interested in being bitter and shouting out 'It's unfair that he tries to cheat since I went through it the hard way!'

When we were applying for my conditional GC my American citizen husband did not know ANYTHING about the immigration process, I mean, anything, he was under the assumption that since we are married I can just take the test and get my citizenship. Now I'm renewing my permanent residency, I still do not think he has gained much knowledge about the process except for knowing 'it is very stressful process,I will need to do whatever my wife tells me to help her.'

Is my husband just particularly lack of knowledge on immigration process than any other average Americans? I highly doubted, and I highly doubt it is okay just to call the OP a cheater, there are far more serious immigration related crime going on so people should really just drop their attitude on pounding on those who came here, being honest, arguing from his point of view, in the hope of finding a solution.

If the immigration cheaters / criminals really upset you, pursue a career in ICE or something similar, that'd actually help everyone.

Usually people research big decisions and weigh their options. I had no idea the K1 even existed until my boyfriend proposed and we were trying to figure all of this out. That's the way you do it. Google is your friend and USCIS.gov got your answers. People seem to just go with what everyone else is telling them without even checking if that's what you really should do.

I'm more annoyed with the fact that the people who shouldn't even let these B2 or VWP in who clearly state "hey I'm here to get married and adjust". They keep telling us "hey there's not what the visa is for" but they still say "Hey and welcome to America!" every time it happens. Will the B2 and VWP ever learn their mistake? No, they'll go and tell their buddies "you're not supposed to do it but you can totally get away with it."

[Pennycat 880]

Is it necessary to point out the obvious that he broke some rules? Things happen, people break rules, and guess what, life goes on. OP posted his situation with the hope of getting answers, however I think people who suffered from the dreaded experience of the 'legit' immigration experience are just more interested in being bitter and shouting out 'It's unfair that he tries to cheat since I went through it the hard way!'

When we were applying for my conditional GC my American citizen husband did not know ANYTHING about the immigration process, I mean, anything, he was under the assumption that since we are married I can just take the test and get my citizenship. Now I'm renewing my permanent residency, I still do not think he has gained much knowledge about the process except for knowing 'it is very stressful process,I will need to do whatever my wife tells me to help her.'

Is my husband just particularly lack of knowledge on immigration process than any other average Americans? I highly doubted, and I highly doubt it is okay just to call the OP a cheater, there are far more serious immigration related crime going on so people should really just drop their attitude on pounding on those who came here, being honest, arguing from his point of view, in the hope of finding a solution.

If the immigration cheaters / criminals really upset you, pursue a career in ICE or something similar, that'd actually help everyone.

So you want two sets of rules, then? I don't like it because it does NOT happen the same way every time. There was a woman in here, 7 months pregnant, whose husband was coming back from Italy to be with her and was honest at CPB that they were going to stay and adjust and was turned around at the airport and sent back to Italy. It created real hardship and stress for her and I felt terrible for her. Meanwhile, there's others who are just as clueless who have zero problems, and worse, others who purposefully abuse this known loophole in the system, encourage others to do so and in the process make future B2s and spousal visits during the immigration process harder for all. I have no idea how things turned out for her, she stopped coming here, but it sounded rather grim.

And it's less being upset at the OP for not knowing because honestly, this is a stupid process and is really counter-intuitive in many cases but it is upset at the powers that be for just allowing some people to get away with "circumventing" the crappy system in place (purposefully or not), but not others.

Where OP is getting harsh feedback is on the apparent solicitation for sympathy for his immigration situation (which is significantly preferable to most people's here) and incredulity that he, a US Citizen, was treated this way and is expected to maybe, possibly have to live apart from his wife for a whole entire year. Like, you know, everyone else here.

[MacUK 983]

My comment wasn't aimed at the OP but at the system itself.

A system that allows itself to be abused is not fit for purpose.

Tourist visas are for visiting only but don't worry about that, you can use it to immigrate as long as you can blag your way past CBP. It's a wonder why anyone with a B-2 or from a VWP country even bothers with a K-1 or CR-1.

As to the OP, he is not at fault here. Their plan is illegal but that is due to ignorance/bad advice, not intent.

The person at fault is the CBP officer who allowed his wife to enter.

The CBP officer should be disciplined, their sole purpose is to control entry into the US and if this officer can't do this then they shouldn't be doing the job.

Without wishing to be harsh, the OPs wife should have been refused entry.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

I will never understand why there is such animosity towards those who adjust from vwp or b visas. Shouldn't the outrage be directed at uscis which allows this to happen? It's not an illegal method or way of doing things, it's just another way that they allow (and seldom seem do deny going by these boards). Call it a loophole of you wish, but uscis still allows it with little to no penalty.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

My comment wasn't aimed at the OP but at the system itself.

A system that allows itself to be abused is not fit for purpose.

Tourist visas are for visiting only but don't worry about that, you can use it to immigrate as long as you can blag your way past CBP. It's a wonder why anyone with a B-2 or from a VWP country even bothers with a K-1 or CR-1.

As to the OP, he is not at fault here. Their plan is illegal but that is due to ignorance/bad advice, not intent.

The person at fault is the CBP officer who allowed his wife to enter.

The CBP officer should be disciplined, their sole purpose is to control entry into the US and if this officer can't do this then they shouldn't be doing the job.

Without wishing to be harsh, the OPs wife should have been refused entry.

Completely agree with you. That officer messed up.

[Unidentified 2,930]

My comment wasn't aimed at the OP but at the system itself.

A system that allows itself to be abused is not fit for purpose.

Tourist visas are for visiting only but don't worry about that, you can use it to immigrate as long as you can blag your way past CBP. It's a wonder why anyone with a B-2 or from a VWP country even bothers with a K-1 or CR-1.

As to the OP, he is not at fault here. Their plan is illegal but that is due to ignorance/bad advice, not intent.

The person at fault is the CBP officer who allowed his wife to enter.

The CBP officer should be disciplined, their sole purpose is to control entry into the US and if this officer can't do this then they shouldn't be doing the job.

Without wishing to be harsh, the OPs wife should have been refused entry.

I agree 100%!

[Transborderwife 4,666]

We are not cheaters.

My wife's Tourist Visa was used 2 times as a tourist in the past.

And we/she told the truth as we entered last week.

We were admitted as tourists recognizing that we may not be granted a COS/AOS.

I was told one has 2 options to bring a wife to the US if married for more than 2 years;

1/ File DCF in Thailand and get Ir-1 Visa with green card up front

2/ Come to US and change status

We had little choice but to do #2 since my illness came on quickly and is urgent.

I must be in the US to be under Medicare here.

Now they may reject our petition for COS/AOS and my wife of 10 years must return to Thailand to

do #1 above. So she would be forced to return to Thailand splitting up our family.

OR

They can do the sensible and compassionate thing and grant the green card here.

Our porous Southern border really has little in common with our situation.

You can request an expedite using your health for a cr1.

[Pennycat 880]

I will never understand why there is such animosity towards those who adjust from vwp or b visas. Shouldn't the outrage be directed at uscis which allows this to happen? It's not an illegal method or way of doing things, it's just another way that they allow (and seldom seem do deny going by these boards). Call it a loophole of you wish, but uscis still allows it with little to no penalty.

From what I've been reading (and saying, repeatedly) it IS towards USCIS/CBP.

Where the animosity comes into play is when someone who has done this/is doing it gets morally outraged that they may have some kind of difficulty doing it. Or that it's an issue in the first place. I mean, this OP is ranting about the nerve of CPB *almost* (but not!) denying entry to his wife, who clearly stated her intent to misuse the visa she was traveling on. And bemoaning the fact that they *might* be required to go about this the way everyone else does.

That's the animosity. It's like being caught plagiarizing (knowingly or not. Some people don't know the rules of what constitutes plagiarism, just like some people don't know the rules of what constitues immigration fraud) and being outraged that they almost (but didn't) expel you and fretting over the fact that they MAY make you re-write the paper. Or, you know. Not. May just grade the plagiarized one and let you graduate right along with everyone else who did their own honest work. Then go complain about all of this to your classmates who just pulled 3 weeks of all nighters during finals. You can do it. You can't expect sympathy.

[Pennycat 880]

You can request an expedite using your health for a cr1.

Exactly. If they don't want to gamble the AOS from B2 (which some here say is not a gamble but personal experience says otherwise), apply for the CR-1, expedite it, and they may have it before the B2 even expires. That's the kind of practical advice you can get if you don't start ranting about "unfairness" in a system that just cut you the world's largest break to people who haven't gotten a single one.

Or try the AOS. It's only a matter of money, and because these things are so unevenly applied, OP could wind up being the type that doesn't get that move scrutinized at all. Or not.