I-130 February 2018 filers

[Lillyandkip 26]

Just now, Taffi111 said:

Wow, really? We were categorically told that if we tried to visit for a holiday, border control would assume we were attempting to bypass the immigration laws so we could adjust status once within the US. Therefore, they would deny us entry. We have been advised that if you have ever been denied entry into the country, it is taken into consideration when processing the application (which makes perfect sense) and can therefore jeopardise approval. 

My husband and I went through the K1 process a couple years ago and I visited him 4 times within the 6 months it took to get the visa. I always brought rental agreements, letters from my school etc. to prove that i have to return home but no one ever asked to see any of that. They did ask me though how long i was staying and what we would be doing during my stay. I always felt like the officers have a lot of experience and can probably tell if someone is lying or not. 

I also heard that if you were denied entry because they are suspecting immigration intention it won’t affect your immigration visa application because the visa will be for that exact porpoise. It would probably  affect a non immigrant visa application though. 

[Taffi111 17]

1 minute ago, forfars said:

If you think about it it doesn't make sense though, if you are literally going on  holiday and can prove it what are you doing wrong? Also it's unlikely you're gonna spend all the money on doing form i-130 etc if you're just gonna come illegally on a tourist visa, why not just get a tourist visa and stay? I'm only going on what I've read on here I'm no expert, also there are a lot of lawyers that have no idea what they're talking about

Well that's exactly what we thought but he seemed very insistent that now we're married and have a pending I-130, they'll deny us purely due to suspicion. He has 35 years experience and seemed very knowledgeable :/ I don't know if it makes a difference that it's an ESTA visa?

 

I will definitely do some reading because it's broken us all (my daughter is 8 and really missing him) that we could meet in Canada but the flights are so expensive so we're trying to come to terms with going more than a year apart. 

 

Oh it would be so fantastic if we could visit a few times this year like we have every other year! I really hope so!

[forfars 6]

1 minute ago, Taffi111 said:

Well that's exactly what we thought but he seemed very insistent that now we're married and have a pending I-130, they'll deny us purely due to suspicion. He has 35 years experience and seemed very knowledgeable :/ I don't know if it makes a difference that it's an ESTA visa?

 

I will definitely do some reading because it's broken us all (my daughter is 8 and really missing him) that we could meet in Canada but the flights are so expensive so we're trying to come to terms with going more than a year apart. 

 

Oh it would be so fantastic if we could visit a few times this year like we have every other year! I really hope so!

well it may not be a big help to you but I'm going to the US in july once I graduate university (I'm from the UK too) to visit my wife for 3 months while we wait, I'll let you know how it goes. From what I've read from people's actual experiences I'm feeling confident about it and in my opinion a normal person's experience is more reliable than an old fuddy duddy lawyer that knows the 'on paper' rules

[Taffi111 17]

1 minute ago, Lillyandkip said:

My husband and I went through the K1 process a couple years ago and I visited him 4 times within the 6 months it took to get the visa. I always brought rental agreements, letters from my school etc. to prove that i have to return home but no one ever asked to see any of that. They did ask me though how long i was staying and what we would be doing during my stay. I always felt like the officers have a lot of experience and can probably tell if someone is lying or not. 

I also heard that if you were denied entry because they are suspecting immigration intention it won’t affect your immigration visa application because the visa will be for that exact porpoise. It would probably  affect a non immigrant visa application though. 

Thank you! I'm definitely going to look into it now. Yes, they've always asked us that on entry but we got married on 29th December 2017 so haven't been through arrivals since becoming husband and wife because the attorney said not to risk it. 

 

I'm so hopeful now! It's difficult enough waiting for the approval processes but to not see eachother so long as well, is really tough. 

 

Wahoo!!

[Taffi111 17]

2 minutes ago, forfars said:

well it may not be a big help to you but I'm going to the US in july once I graduate university (I'm from the UK too) to visit my wife for 3 months while we wait, I'll let you know how it goes. From what I've read from people's actual experiences I'm feeling confident about it and in my opinion a normal person's experience is more reliable than an old fuddy duddy lawyer that knows the 'on paper' rules

Yes, please do let me know how it goes! If I find any solid sources of information on it, I'll link them here too.

 

I really wasn't sure how I felt about this site but it's really great to be able to share experiences and advice. 

 

Thanks for your input! Good luck to you both too

[forfars 6]

Just now, Taffi111 said:

Yes, please do let me know how it goes! If I find any solid sources of information on it, I'll link them here too.

 

I really wasn't sure how I felt about this site but it's really great to be able to share experiences and advice. 

 

Thanks for your input! Good luck to you both too

Thanks, you too. We originally looked into her coming here and went on the british immigration site, they are just full of people who have had negative experiences with it and are extremely bitter - not helpful at all and basically just made us feel like it's impossible. I love this site everyone is so helpful and positive

[Taffi111 17]

https://www.uscitizenship.info/blog/travel-to-america-while-your-form-i-130-is-pending/

 

It seems difficult but I think we'll need to weigh up the pros and cons. I almost think it would be worse to get there and then find out we couldn't see him just on the other side of the gate. 

 

I think I'm going to discuss this with our attorney. 

[forfars 6]

1 minute ago, Taffi111 said:

https://www.uscitizenship.info/blog/travel-to-america-while-your-form-i-130-is-pending/

 

It seems difficult but I think we'll need to weigh up the pros and cons. I almost think it would be worse to get there and then find out we couldn't see him just on the other side of the gate. 

 

I think I'm going to discuss this with our attorney. 

Again in my opinion I'd pay more attention to what people are actually experiencing rather than what the 'rules' are on paper, I think you'll be fine especially coming from an ESTA country. I know someone who spent 88 days there while waiting for I-130 no problems, didn't even ask for evidence

[forfars 6]

2 minutes ago, forfars said:

Again in my opinion I'd pay more attention to what people are actually experiencing rather than what the 'rules' are on paper, I think you'll be fine especially coming from an ESTA country. I know someone who spent 88 days there while waiting for I-130 no problems, didn't even ask for evidence

also note how that link is talking about people who have to apply for a B-2 visa, an ESTA is the exact opposite of a visa, its a waiver

Edited March 14, 2018 by forfars

[Taffi111 17]

Just now, forfars said:

also note how that link is talking about people who have to apply for a B-2 visa, an ESTA is the exact opposite of a visa, its a waiver

Oh! Very true. Good point. 

 

Had I not changed my name we could be entering on a repeat ESTA too as it was only given in November so would still be valid. I wonder if that is enough of a clue - I could just apply for a new ESTA under my new name and if it's denied due to I-130 I know we can't go whereas if it's approved, I'm guessing it shouldn't be a problem; especially if I have all the proof were coming back to the UK. 

 

Hmm. Food for thought.

[forfars 6]

1 minute ago, Taffi111 said:

Oh! Very true. Good point. 

 

Had I not changed my name we could be entering on a repeat ESTA too as it was only given in November so would still be valid. I wonder if that is enough of a clue - I could just apply for a new ESTA under my new name and if it's denied due to I-130 I know we can't go whereas if it's approved, I'm guessing it shouldn't be a problem; especially if I have all the proof were coming back to the UK. 

 

Hmm. Food for thought.

exactly, to be honest attorney's don't care about you getting your visa they care about money and their reputation (generally) so they're going to tell you not go to the US on the slight chance you'll get denied and it makes them look bad. I wouldn't worry. My wife and I are both 20 and we've literally done everything ourselves for this exact reason

[Taffi111 17]

1 minute ago, forfars said:

exactly, to be honest attorney's don't care about you getting your visa they care about money and their reputation (generally) so they're going to tell you not go to the US on the slight chance you'll get denied and it makes them look bad. I wouldn't worry. My wife and I are both 20 and we've literally done everything ourselves for this exact reason

You're both 20!? You're so young. Married already as well? At least you started this process early on. 

 

Well that's brave of you. I'm an ex-paralegal and we still felt it best to hire an attorney (mostly because of the UK Court complications with my daughter's biological father). I just keep telling myself, it's only one year for the sake of the rest of our lives. Doesn't make it much easier though eh!?

[forfars 6]

1 minute ago, Taffi111 said:

You're both 20!? You're so young. Married already as well? At least you started this process early on. 

 

Well that's brave of you. I'm an ex-paralegal and we still felt it best to hire an attorney (mostly because of the UK Court complications with my daughter's biological father). I just keep telling myself, it's only one year for the sake of the rest of our lives. Doesn't make it much easier though eh!?

Fair enough, our case was straight forward luckily. It is the longest year ever lol Yes we've been together since we were 16

[Taffi111 17]

1 minute ago, forfars said:

Fair enough, our case was straight forward luckily. It is the longest year ever lol Yes we've been together since we were 16

Well congratulations. That's lovely. Many aren't so lucky!

 

Wishing you a plain-sailing and trouble-free process. We'll all be out there before we know it..I hope! Ha!

[tmby1045 2]

20 hours ago, Lillyandkip said:

From what I know they shouldn’t have advised you to do that! The people on the phone at USCIS are often not actual officers and from my experience some of them don’t know a lot about immigration but the lawyers should definitely know! Just search Google for “AOS from tourist visa” and you will find lots of information about the topic. I don’t doubt that your lawyers have other cases like that which will get approved but they should never advise their clients to lie to USCIS. Chances for getting through with it might be pretty good but it’s not the legal way to go and it would require you guys to lie to an immigration officer which can cause lots of trouble for your husbands case if they find out about it. I’m not a lawyer though! I only know what I read in other threads:)

 

Edit: https://www.soundimmigration.com/can-i-enter-on-a-visitors-visa-b-2-and-then-adjust-status-to-permanent-resident/

I think this article explains everything pretty well

This is what my lawyer presented when i told her about the feedback I received. It seems like she has a well understanding of my case in itself so I have set up another appointment to go through all of my documents and make sure this is all safe to do. 

 

"As I mentioned, your husband may be questioned about his intentions, like most people entering the US. My understanding is that when he comes he will be visiting his sister and going back to DR. Please remember that every case is different and this person seems to be referring to someone on ESTA, which is difference from a tourist visa. As long as his tourist visa is good he should be able to come visit. Also, the AOS can be done at anytime when he is present in the US. However, as we also discussed he will not be able to leave once his application is filed. While it is good to be informed, I will caution you about the forums as it is not a platform for legal advice nor are these lawyers,  and people may have a variety of situations that are different from your case. I hope this helps. Let me know what you all decide and when you are ready to move forward."