Will frequent, short visits to the US under VWP impact K1 interview/outcome?

[simonschus 58]

Hi all,

I've got a K1 immigration interview coming up very soon in London.

Do you think my incredibly frequent, short visits to the US are going to be brought up during my K1 immigration interview in London? Will it be a problem?

- Last year, I continued to visit the US as a tourist under the visa waiver program. The purpose of my trip was always to visit my girlfriend. However, my trips were very frequent as I was lucky enough to be able to visit every month in 2015. My visits lasted for between 3 days and 10 days at a time, so were nowhere near approaching an overstay. I have never overstayed or had any problem with entry at the border. I visited for 23 days in 2013 across 3 trips, 70 days in 2014 across 10 trips, 88 days in 2015 across 12 trips and 7 days in 2016 so far across 2 trips.

- I always spent more time outside the US than in the US. After each trip, I spent more time away from the US than I had spent in the US on the previous trip (i.e. if my trip was 10 days long I spent at least 10 days. usually, this was more like 25 to 30 days between trips to the US). As such, I’m more concerned about the frequency of trips.

- I worked up a lot of flexitime with my old employer, made excellent use of vacation time. I also made efficient use of airmiles as well as becoming a big fan of the Flyertalk forums for learning tricks to secure cheaper airfares. My partner and I also shared the cost of my flights. I visited her more often than she visited me as my academic job is a lot more flexible with hours than hers - admittedly, with my new employer, I have slightly less flexibility but still managed to get across regularly. She did visit me in the UK albeit twice a year.

Simon.

Edited February 19, 2016 by simonschus

[Boiler 45,771]

No

[yuna628 9,689]

Nope I wouldn't think so. Stop worrying.

Only worry about if you have all the documentation required during the interview, and if you have forgotten to leave the house with your passport.

[simonschus 58]

thanks Boiler and yuna628

Nope I wouldn't think so. Stop worrying.

Only worry about if you have all the documentation required during the interview, and if you have forgotten to leave the house with your passport.

I'll be flying back into London for my interview and so will most definitely already have my passport on me! I'll still end up checking every five minutes that I haven't lost any of the paperwork, despite there being no fathomable reason that it would have been lost since the last time I checked five minutes previous. As for the documentation being complete, I believe we have all the documentation needed - I'm just waiting on some emails of my partner's pay stubs just for completeness but otherwise we have everything that we need now.

I am such a worrier about these sorts of things. It is ridiculous and neurotic. These forums have been essential for information-gathering as well as letting off some angst about the admin side of things, and excessive worries that I have about the tiniest details and complete minutiae of forms and process.

Simon.

Edited February 19, 2016 by simonschus

[Boiler 45,771]

If you have saving take evidence with you as London allows you to self sponsor, they do not need a lot.

[JFH 12,190]

It's not a problem at all. Although I'm not doing a K-1, I'm in a similar position with around 60 trips to see my husband. Working in the industry and getting staff tickets certainly helps in my case! Last year I went every 6 weeks. This year has been a little different with a structural change at work and being involved in a big project at the moment. But even after marriage I have continued to go back and forth with no issues whatsoever. Like yours, my trips have been short (usually 4 or 5 days) and frequent. We work on annualised hours so we just have to make sure we have done a certain number of hours by the end of the year which works great for me because I can work longer days and extra hours and take off for a few days every month.

I have never even been asked about the frequency of my trips by the CBP officer. Once when I crossed by land at Blaine, WA he refused to stamp my passport as the previous VWP stamp was still valid (at airports they will always re-stamp even if there is still time left on the previous one) and I was coming in from Canada and he made the assumption that in the six weeks since my previous arrival I had not left North America (although I had but I was tired and didn't "need" another 90 days so I didn't dispute it).

Edited February 19, 2016 by JFH

[vpalermo85 62]

My fiance and I did the same thing--short but frequent trips on his side and longer trips for me to the UK but less frequent. As long as you didn't overstay and the US border allowed you into the country, you're completely fine

[simonschus 58]

Wonderful, thank you everybody! I get worried about these sorts of things, so I'm glad that I have you all to chat to about these things (although ultimately I know that it is always in the hands of the officials on the day).

[vpalermo85 62]

I definitely know what you man--the worst part is over I think. The only 'real' bump is the affidavit of support and even that isn't as big a deal. The interview I imagine can be nerve racking but you know your relationship is legit so you can take confidence and strength from that!

[simonschus 58]

I definitely know what you man--the worst part is over I think. The only 'real' bump is the affidavit of support and even that isn't as big a deal. The interview I imagine can be nerve racking but you know your relationship is legit so you can take confidence and strength from that!

so much love.