transiting with a K1

[Nancy and Ramos 0]

I am canadian working in HK. When i leave hk I will be going to Canada and Ramos will be driving up from Huston to meet me and we will enter the US together. Sounds good so far right? Well there is a bit of a hitch, My ticket is with United and i have to transfer in the Chicago to take a flight to Toronto. I will most likely have to go through customs. Will they let me pass without using my K1 visa since i taking a connecting flight. The flight is all paid for and no refund is possible. Any ideas on what will happen?

Thanks

Nancy

[john_and_marlene 162]

You do have a problem. You will have to clear immigration and customs in Chicago.

If you then continue on to Canada, you will not be able to use the K-1 again to reenter the U.S.

[raymaga 25]

You should try to contact someone at the airport in customs and immigration to ask what you can do about this situation, because it IS possible to enter the U.S. WITHOUT activating your K-1 Visa. I should know.... I did it, and my daughter (K-2 Visa) also did it.

BUT.... and I add a BIG but.... we both drove across the border, we did not fly into the U.S.

We both visited the U.S. before we were ready to activate our visas (on separate occasions) and told the border officer that we were just visiting the U.S. and were not ready to activate our visas on this trip. There was no problem whatsoever. We were told that as long as you don't activate the visa, you can leave and re-enter the U.S. This was at the Blaine, WA. border crossing.

I am certainly not telling you that this will be possible for you, but I just wanted to let you know that it did happen before, so it might be worth trying to find out if you have options.

Good luck.

[payxibka 10,045]

It should not be a problem (but that is not saying you won't have a problem). You should be prepared to fully disclose the facts and circumstances by showing and explaining you do not have immigrant intent on this entry(by showing onward passage, etc....) and explain this immediately upon presentation of your passport in Chicago. Do not wait for the CBP officer to ask you questions.

I think this situation is much easier to usurp because you have the physical visa in your passport than if you were simply in the middle of the visa process.

Good Luck.....