What are the chanves of me getting in

[sjmartins 0]

I am a UK citizen my husband filed I-130 in nov 2006, I overstayed my VWP last year because I was sick and did want to travel so have am now applying for tourist visa because we have jsut had a baby girl and want to visit my husbands family in the US. I have proof of my job in the UK and my husband is living and working in the UK aswell. What are the chances of being let in for a vacation on a tourist visa. If you have had similar experiences please post them and tell me which POE you came through.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

I am a UK citizen my husband filed I-130 in nov 2006, I overstayed my VWP last year because I was sick and did want to travel so have am now applying for tourist visa because we have jsut had a baby girl and want to visit my husbands family in the US. I have proof of my job in the UK and my husband is living and working in the UK aswell. What are the chances of being let in for a vacation on a tourist visa. If you have had similar experiences please post them and tell me which POE you came through.

I can only tell you what happened to me and my ex a few years ago, so not sure if this is the case still.

Anyway, my ex (also British) and I got married on a whim while visiting in the States back in 1996, and as he had entered on the VWP we went for the AOS route to get his green card. We began the process just before his VWP expired, and we were assured by the INS (as was then) that even though his visa had expired because he was "in the system" we shouldn't worry -- as long as he stayed in the country we'd be okay. My ex and I had to return to the UK for various reasons, but we were told the green card processing could continue while we were in the UK and the file would be transferred to London. Fine, cool, whatever. So when we got to London we made an appointment to see a consular official and we were told that the file had been lost somewhere between Hartford and London, and we would need to start all over again -- at that point we had paid over $250, had the medical, and were really close to completing the process. I threw a massive hissy fit in the Embassy and said that was it, we were going to abandon the green card and I didn't want to live in that "ignorant, stinking country" anyway. (Ah, the folly of youth!)

So the next 6 years come and go, and my ex and I make numerous trips over to the States to visit my family with my ex travelling on the VWP every time. Christmas 2002 -- not the case. He was detained at Newark for 3 hours and I had NO idea where he was (I had flown to America a week before) and I was frantic. Turns out that the immigration system that had let him through a gazillion times before suddenly flagged that he had overstayed his VWP by 3 months in 1996, but had *NO* record of the lost and abandoned green card application. (We assume this was in light of a lot of changes after 9/11.) So even though he had been given permission to overstay there was no record of that permission. He was allowed in on the VWP on that occasion, but only because he could show ties back to the UK and, frankly, because he is a lawyer with high-ranking Home Office officials for parents. He was told that if he wanted to travel to the US in the future he would need to apply for a 10-year multiple entry visa (I think it was a B-2?), which he did. He had an interview at the Embassy and explained the situation and he got the visa no problem, and he travelled on it for a visit Christmas 2004. What is really funny to me at least is that we broke up about 3 months after he got the B-2 so he doesn't even need it any more!

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that all is not necessarily lost. How long was your overstay for? Can you produce any evidence that your illness prevented travel? The amount of time that it takes to process an IR1/CR1 through London is about 5-6 months currently -- can you not wait that long to go over? It's always a bit a of a gamble, even on the VWP, when you go to the border, any border, if you do not have a right to enter the country. Can your husband's family not visit you? After all, you're the new mum and you deserve to be treated like a queen that they should pay court to!

Best of luck in all of this!!!

[sjmartins 0]

I am a UK citizen my husband filed I-130 in nov 2006, I overstayed my VWP last year because I was sick and did want to travel so have am now applying for tourist visa because we have jsut had a baby girl and want to visit my husbands family in the US. I have proof of my job in the UK and my husband is living and working in the UK aswell. What are the chances of being let in for a vacation on a tourist visa. If you have had similar experiences please post them and tell me which POE you came through.

I can only tell you what happened to me and my ex a few years ago, so not sure if this is the case still.

Anyway, my ex (also British) and I got married on a whim while visiting in the States back in 1996, and as he had entered on the VWP we went for the AOS route to get his green card. We began the process just before his VWP expired, and we were assured by the INS (as was then) that even though his visa had expired because he was "in the system" we shouldn't worry -- as long as he stayed in the country we'd be okay. My ex and I had to return to the UK for various reasons, but we were told the green card processing could continue while we were in the UK and the file would be transferred to London. Fine, cool, whatever. So when we got to London we made an appointment to see a consular official and we were told that the file had been lost somewhere between Hartford and London, and we would need to start all over again -- at that point we had paid over $250, had the medical, and were really close to completing the process. I threw a massive hissy fit in the Embassy and said that was it, we were going to abandon the green card and I didn't want to live in that "ignorant, stinking country" anyway. (Ah, the folly of youth!)

So the next 6 years come and go, and my ex and I make numerous trips over to the States to visit my family with my ex travelling on the VWP every time. Christmas 2002 -- not the case. He was detained at Newark for 3 hours and I had NO idea where he was (I had flown to America a week before) and I was frantic. Turns out that the immigration system that had let him through a gazillion times before suddenly flagged that he had overstayed his VWP by 3 months in 1996, but had *NO* record of the lost and abandoned green card application. (We assume this was in light of a lot of changes after 9/11.) So even though he had been given permission to overstay there was no record of that permission. He was allowed in on the VWP on that occasion, but only because he could show ties back to the UK and, frankly, because he is a lawyer with high-ranking Home Office officials for parents. He was told that if he wanted to travel to the US in the future he would need to apply for a 10-year multiple entry visa (I think it was a B-2?), which he did. He had an interview at the Embassy and explained the situation and he got the visa no problem, and he travelled on it for a visit Christmas 2004. What is really funny to me at least is that we broke up about 3 months after he got the B-2 so he doesn't even need it any more!

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that all is not necessarily lost. How long was your overstay for? Can you produce any evidence that your illness prevented travel? The amount of time that it takes to process an IR1/CR1 through London is about 5-6 months currently -- can you not wait that long to go over? It's always a bit a of a gamble, even on the VWP, when you go to the border, any border, if you do not have a right to enter the country. Can your husband's family not visit you? After all, you're the new mum and you deserve to be treated like a queen that they should pay court to!

Best of luck in all of this!!!

Hi thanks for your help on this my husbands parents are very old and cannot travel his mum has cancer and various other problems and are worried she will ot get to see her grand daughter at all if we don't go soon, so this is the main reason I want to go, I overstayed by 40 days and I have medical bills from the hospital but they do not say I wasn;t allowed to travel, it was mainly my husbands decision to not travel cause I kept blacking out and was very weak and faint all the time.

[KHURRAM SERAJ 0]

I am a UK citizen my husband filed I-130 in nov 2006, I overstayed my VWP last year because I was sick and did want to travel so have am now applying for tourist visa because we have jsut had a baby girl and want to visit my husbands family in the US. I have proof of my job in the UK and my husband is living and working in the UK aswell. What are the chances of being let in for a vacation on a tourist visa. If you have had similar experiences please post them and tell me which POE you came through.

My wife applied for a b2 visa and was denied on the fact that since she has her husband in US she will not be a "visitor" but is a risk of staying in US

[MPGGPM 0]

I am a UK citizen my husband filed I-130 in nov 2006, I overstayed my VWP last year because I was sick and did want to travel so have am now applying for tourist visa because we have jsut had a baby girl and want to visit my husbands family in the US. I have proof of my job in the UK and my husband is living and working in the UK aswell. What are the chances of being let in for a vacation on a tourist visa. If you have had similar experiences please post them and tell me which POE you came through.

The only problem with someone (like me).....giving you our experiences, is that you can not count on your situation to end up similarly. There are so many factors involved as to why a certain consulate may be lenient on their rules in one situation, and then harsher in another.

Not knowing you, your situation all that well, and your history, no one can say for certain that what we tell you in regards to ours, will work.

That being said, what I personally did was call the consulate BEFORE I ever even put down the $100 and attempted to get my wife a tourist visa. That's because, like you, I knew the odds were against us getting one, seeing as how we were married and there was always going to be the fear, on the consulate's part, that my wife could remain in the USA and never go back.

So, after the call and setting up a meeting, I did my darndest to convince them that our intentions were honest (which they were)..........and that we would not abuse the privilege of the tourist visa once we obtained it.

I think by my going to the consulate and meeting "face to face", it made a HUGE difference to them. That's because, by email...and by phone, they were very "standoffish".........and I sincerely doubt, knowing what I know now, and their hesitancy towards me on the phone, as opposed to going in person, that my wife ever would have received the visa without the extra efforts I made to see them face to face.

After I traveled to Turkey that summer, and met with them in person (and I was with my wife at the time, so they met with us BOTH, together)......the actual interview a few weeks later went smoothly. They did not ask us for many documents, although they did want to make sure where and what my wife was doing as far as her job while in Turkey. But other than asking for just a few documents, they didn't ask us for much as far as "proof". As I said before........it was my going in person, and doing my best to be "convincing" (I am also quite persistent as well........that didn't hurt )......which made all the difference..

If you can do anything similar..........and can set up a face to face meeting ahead of time, to explain your situation, it is also quite possible that they will be willing to listen to you as well.......and you might stand a chance. Other than that, I can't really suggest more than what you are probably doing already.

But you have to remember, there were probably also other factors that played a part. Who can say exactly what it was? But......deep down....I just think they knew we were honest, and they saw my passion and determination, for the sake of being able to see my wife during our 2 years apart, and I guess in the end...............they believed us.

It turned out to be well founded on their part. My wife came to the USA 4 times........and always returned on time .

Finally, as for the POE...........I really don't see how it would make a huge difference. I guess in that respect, my only suggestion to you would to be to avoid the "smaller" airports. This is NOT because they are less safe etc........but it is because if you have ever seen the difference between O'Hare..... compared to some of the smaller airports ..........if the airport is not as busy, the POE officers may be "bored"....and therefore have more time to pick on things.

Of course, FIRST, you have to try and "get" a visa....before you even concern yourself with any POE.

And that might not be such an easy task.

You sound like you have some goods points to argue on your behalf (you were sick when you overstayed.....grandma now has cancer). So, hopefully they will be sympathetic?

Good luck.

[MPGGPM 0]

By the way.....I better mention that my wife did not have any previous overstays.

What I wrote to you was an example, in terms of what you can try to do (or your husband since he's the US citizen)...............in your case, since you are already married to a US citizen, and have also filed an I-130.

Our situation is different in a few ways.....and similar in others.

And I am just trying to give you suggestions as to what you and your husband can do. (since you emailed me yesterday)

How your particular consulate will look at it all...............is anyone's guess.