Canadian Travel to US after DS 260 Filed

[CanadianinUSA 3]

I am a Canadian citizen living in the US as a green card holder. I petitioned for my wife who is a Canadian citizen and filed the DS 260 form with the previous US travel history. I am wondering is she still allowed to travel to the US after filing this form? She is Canadian so she doesn't require visas and has global entry so does not get bothered by customs.

 

 

[Alabamak1 688]

1 hour ago, CanadianinUSA said:

I am a Canadian citizen living in the US as a green card holder. I petitioned for my wife who is a Canadian citizen and filed the DS 260 form with the previous US travel history. I am wondering is she still allowed to travel to the US after filing this form? She is Canadian so she doesn't require visas and has global entry so does not get bothered by customs.

 

 

you mean immigration officer. you still deal with customs, when you hand over you slip with or w/o the X on it. I also have GE.

 

 

[skyzee 182]

22 hours ago, CanadianinUSA said:

I am a Canadian citizen living in the US as a green card holder. I petitioned for my wife who is a Canadian citizen and filed the DS 260 form with the previous US travel history. I am wondering is she still allowed to travel to the US after filing this form? She is Canadian so she doesn't require visas and has global entry so does not get bothered by customs.

 

 

I crossed the border by plane after filing DS 260 (still waiting for case complete) very recently (last week). Border guard did not ask anything about the application though I got a grumpier than usual officer. I was very prepared though given my paranoia and neuroticism, bringing employment letter signed by boss, HR, etc, and all my documents relating to application. 

 

The one caveat about my anecdote is that I have Nexus / Global Entry, so it may very well have been different had I been in the normal line-up where I hear you may or may not get flagged after paying for IV/AOS fees.

 

Edit: nvm see the Global Entry pass your wife has. YMMV though, it's all dependent on whoever you get, no one really knows if they see the open application or not. I always expect to get turned away when I cross nowadays.

Edited June 6, 2018 by skyzee

[CanadianinUSA 3]

1 hour ago, skyzee said:

I crossed the border by plane after filing DS 260 (still waiting for case complete) very recently (last week). Border guard did not ask anything about the application though I got a grumpier than usual officer. I was very prepared though given my paranoia and neuroticism, bringing employment letter signed by boss, HR, etc, and all my documents relating to application. 

 

The one caveat about my anecdote is that I have Nexus / Global Entry, so it may very well have been different had I been in the normal line-up where I hear you may or may not get flagged after paying for IV/AOS fees.

 

Edit: nvm see the Global Entry pass your wife has. YMMV though, it's all dependent on whoever you get, no one really knows if they see the open application or not. I always expect to get turned away when I cross nowadays.

Thanks a lot for your response, appreciate it. I am not worried about her getting turned away, just didn't know if it's an issue if she travels here for a couple days.

[skyzee 182]

17 minutes ago, CanadianinUSA said:

Thanks a lot for your response, appreciate it. I am not worried about her getting turned away, just didn't know if it's an issue if she travels here for a couple days.

No problem. Best of luck - if I could ask for a favor, could you update this thread or PM me with what happens with your wife's crossing? I'm hoping to attempt it again closer to end of month and was wondering if I just had a one-off experience.

[CanadianinUSA 3]

19 minutes ago, skyzee said:

No problem. Best of luck - if I could ask for a favor, could you update this thread or PM me with what happens with your wife's crossing? I'm hoping to attempt it again closer to end of month and was wondering if I just had a one-off experience.

If she comes before the end of the month I will definitely let you know. She may be coming for Canada Day long weekend.

[skyzee 182]

2 minutes ago, CanadianinUSA said:

If she comes before the end of the month I will definitely let you know. She may be coming for Canada Day long weekend.

By the way, I do have a story from one other who was told by a CBP officer that she should not be travelling after DS260 was submitted because of the travel history. I believe she was asked to bring a record of her visits post DS260 submission to interview which was never checked and her visa was approved fine. She had a long hard history with the CBP being turned away early on in their IR1 process though, so I'm not sure if this had any impact to her crossing and the relevant officer's statement.

 

@acidrain fun times, eh? :|

[acidrain 325]

43 minutes ago, skyzee said:

By the way, I do have a story from one other who was told by a CBP officer that she should not be travelling after DS260 was submitted because of the travel history. I believe she was asked to bring a record of her visits post DS260 submission to interview which was never checked and her visa was approved fine. She had a long hard history with the CBP being turned away early on in their IR1 process though, so I'm not sure if this had any impact to her crossing and the relevant officer's statement.

 

@acidrain fun times, eh? :|

My situation was different in that I had to go through secondary every time I traveled. It was Christmas and I had literally just got my case complete at NVC (within 2 days). I got the impression even despite getting cc it didn't show up on the agents screen. He kept asking to see my sheet and comparing it with what he saw on his screen. I can't say for certain but I was under the impression once your case gets sent to NVC the information is passed on to customs.

 

The border officer looked at me and said "you know you aren't supposed to travel right now right"? I said no, I didn't know that and why? He said the DS 260 had already been filled out with the last 5 visits. I acknowledged he was right. He said he'd let me through but to make sure to declare my trip when I went for my interview.

 

I was a nervous wreck going to the interview because I decided to extend my trip from 2 weeks to 6 weeks. The customs agent gave me 4 months on my passport which coincided with 2 months in the US. I declared this information to the interviewer and she did not care at all. What I took away from the interview was the consulate does not really concern themselves with time spent in the US. Just as long as it didn't exceed 6 months in the past 12 months.

 

I would travel with your immigration paperwork just to be on the safe side. But you shouldn't have any issues.

[CanadianinUSA 3]

12 hours ago, acidrain said:

My situation was different in that I had to go through secondary every time I traveled. It was Christmas and I had literally just got my case complete at NVC (within 2 days). I got the impression even despite getting cc it didn't show up on the agents screen. He kept asking to see my sheet and comparing it with what he saw on his screen. I can't say for certain but I was under the impression once your case gets sent to NVC the information is passed on to customs.

 

The border officer looked at me and said "you know you aren't supposed to travel right now right"? I said no, I didn't know that and why? He said the DS 260 had already been filled out with the last 5 visits. I acknowledged he was right. He said he'd let me through but to make sure to declare my trip when I went for my interview.

 

I was a nervous wreck going to the interview because I decided to extend my trip from 2 weeks to 6 weeks. The customs agent gave me 4 months on my passport which coincided with 2 months in the US. I declared this information to the interviewer and she did not care at all. What I took away from the interview was the consulate does not really concern themselves with time spent in the US. Just as long as it didn't exceed 6 months in the past 12 months.

 

I would travel with your immigration paperwork just to be on the safe side. But you shouldn't have any issues.

Thank you so much for your story, helps a lot! 

[kendraf 124]

Oh dear I am going to travel next week for the weekend ..I didn't even think about the ds260 records..

[CanadianinUSA 3]

11 hours ago, kendraf said:

Oh dear I am going to travel next week for the weekend ..I didn't even think about the ds260 records..

I think you should be fine, good luck! Let us know how it goes please.

[kendraf 124]

On 2018-06-08 at 11:54 AM, CanadianinUSA said:

I think you should be fine, good luck! Let us know how it goes please.

So it was much different than any other time I travelled previously. I stepped up to the desk and he asked where I am going, why (see husband - I always say this right away), for how long (just the weekend). He scanned my stuff and then looked through every single page of my passport. He asked me how often I go (monthly or we alternate and he comes here). He did a lot of clicking on the computer and I just put my self into a comfortable position. It was also awkward because the supervisor and another guard not open were in the small corner with us so I was trying to be relaxed because I knew this was a possibility lol he said, is your husband American citizen or on a work visa. I said he is a citizen. He said, are you in process? I said yes and I have my interview letter with me. He immediately relaxed, said all my paperwork is in order and gave my back my stuff. I slowly walked to the escalator and did a silent happy dance in my head hehe 

[CanadianinUSA 3]

8 minutes ago, kendraf said:

So it was much different than any other time I travelled previously. I stepped up to the desk and he asked where I am going, why (see husband - I always say this right away), for how long (just the weekend). He scanned my stuff and then looked through every single page of my passport. He asked me how often I go (monthly or we alternate and he comes here). He did a lot of clicking on the computer and I just put my self into a comfortable position. It was also awkward because the supervisor and another guard not open were in the small corner with us so I was trying to be relaxed because I knew this was a possibility lol he said, is your husband American citizen or on a work visa. I said he is a citizen. He said, are you in process? I said yes and I have my interview letter with me. He immediately relaxed, said all my paperwork is in order and gave my back my stuff. I slowly walked to the escalator and did a silent happy dance in my head hehe 

Wow, awesome!!! I always do the happy dance lol. 

 

One question, do you have global entry or nexus?

[kendraf 124]

On 6/15/2018 at 9:34 AM, CanadianinUSA said:

Wow, awesome!!! I always do the happy dance lol. 

 

One question, do you have global entry or nexus?

I don't have either of those .. sometimes I wish I had applied since I travel so much!