Yes, you can visit!

[Toastbear 149]

Well.. i just checked in for my flight but couldnt print my boarding pass.. Apparently i have been selected for secondary screening ._. Now im even more anxious and wonder if it has to do because ive been to the us for 2 months until october 31st... Did anyone else expierence this?

[Valmabe 254]

If you go for he secondary screening, just be honest to every question asked. I've been to secondary screenings a couple of times due to my past long stays. Screening lasted over an hour. As I said before, be honest with your answers. Good luck.

[Toastbear 149]

1 hour ago, Valmabe said:

If you go for he secondary screening, just be honest to every question asked. I've been to secondary screenings a couple of times due to my past long stays. Screening lasted over an hour. As I said before, be honest with your answers. Good luck.

thank you, im just worried that they wont even let me board the plane. Idk. I was afraid of flying but I got used to it. The only anxiety i have now is dealing with immigration and security. The thing is, i know im doing everything legal and I am always prepared, but idk im afraid of someone having a bad day and they wont let me spend christmas with my fiance.

[Valmabe 254]

37 minutes ago, Toastbear said:

thank you, im just worried that they wont even let me board the plane. Idk. I was afraid of flying but I got used to it. The only anxiety i have now is dealing with immigration and security. The thing is, i know im doing everything legal and I am always prepared, but idk im afraid of someone having a bad day and they wont let me spend christmas with my fiance.

I understand you, I've got the same feelings on my last visit. have a safe flight.

[ZTC 0]

I flew to the US on my Greek Passport in December. I have dual citizenship, SA and Greek. The lady just asked me where I was going and then told me to do the fingerprints. Huge relief!! Felt a lot more confident now after the approval too. I am going again in April, giving a 2 month break in between. Any advice? I have ESTA as well. 

[Kürbis&Tannenbaum 21]

I (beneficiary) went to the US to visit my fiance (sponsor) over Christmas 2018 and I brought so many documents that proved that I have still bonds to Germany. For example my work contract, the exam plan of my university, an immatriculation certificate (since I am still a student) etc. as well as pictures of my fiance and me, a copy of our I-129f and NOA-1 (these were the visa documents we had so far).

 

The plane landed in Boston Logan and I was super nervous when it was my turn to talk to the officer at customs. He looked at my passport, asked me whom I am visiting and if I had any food in my bag. I replied to everything and prepared to show him all of my evidence that I would return to Germany, but he just said "Have a nice day." I was so happy that I wished him a merry Christmas  He didn't even want to see any of my documents. Super easy.

[ReyOfJakku 52]

My fiance's arrival at JFK earlier this month went very well! Just three questions: how long he was staying, purpose of his trip, and how much cash he was carrying. We're just doing a 16-day visit this first time. I will be slightly more nervous about his arrival for his second trip this summer, since that will be a two-month trip. But it really should be fine. I think. I hope.

[emeline29 167]

I flew in to LAX on February for 11th. I'm visiting for 5 weeks. The officer asked the purpose of my visit, how long I'd be staying and then just said "Have a good time, don't be silly and get married while you're here". Didn't ask to see any of my documents proving I was returning to Australia. I think the main thing is just be honest, don't try and hide that you have fiancé in the US (because they will know!). 

[Howins 37]

Hi all -- new to the community and also the visa process. This place has been an invaluable resource, so thank you.

 

We had our NOA1 in January and are now just playing the waiting game. I'm visiting America in April as the UK beneficiary of the K1 visa, and have a valid ESTA. I've been travelling to the US for many years and have only ever stayed for a maximum or two weeks at a time - always on an ESTA. 

 

I'm prepared that there's a chance I might be turned away, but I just want to make sure I'm as prepared as I can be to minimise that chance if possible.

 

I'm a freelancer, but do have an employment contract of sorts. Would this be sufficient for proof of work commitments tying me to my home country? Is it best to be upfront about why I'm coming in to the country - i.e. say that I'm visiting my fiance and have applied for K1 visa? Or do I just state that I'm there for a holiday (also true) and have a flight home booked on X date? I don't want to appear as though I am trying to hide anything.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

Edited March 14, 2019 by Howins
Typo

[Limey 551]

On 3/14/2019 at 9:51 AM, Howins said:

Hi all -- new to the community and also the visa process. This place has been an invaluable resource, so thank you.

 

We had our NOA1 in January and are now just playing the waiting game. I'm visiting America in April as the UK beneficiary of the K1 visa, and have a valid ESTA. I've been travelling to the US for many years and have only ever stayed for a maximum or two weeks at a time - always on an ESTA. 

 

I'm prepared that there's a chance I might be turned away, but I just want to make sure I'm as prepared as I can be to minimise that chance if possible.

 

I'm a freelancer, but do have an employment contract of sorts. Would this be sufficient for proof of work commitments tying me to my home country? Is it best to be upfront about why I'm coming in to the country - i.e. say that I'm visiting my fiance and have applied for K1 visa? Or do I just state that I'm there for a holiday (also true) and have a flight home booked on X date? I don't want to appear as though I am trying to hide anything.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

I was in a similar situation when I traveled, as I was my own boss (I run a company with my brother).

1) I think it actually helped, as I was able to explain why I could take relatively regular trips to the US (major job for a client ended, could fit in a break).
2) Don't say that you're visiting fiance unless they ask. Reason for trip is "vacation". If they ask where you're staying, give them the city, etc. Only if they ask who you are staying with do you need to tell them its your fiance. This isn't hiding anything. When I did once get questioned further (on a trip before applying for k1) and said I was visiting my girlfriend (as she then was) they didn't give me any problems about lying, as I volunteered this information as soon as they asked who I was visiting.
3) Since I had no employment contract etc, I took some other documents to show I would be returning home

i) my NOA1 and my entire file of k1 documents. This showed I was well into the k1 process, had no reason to believe that I'd be denied (had police certificates etc showing all clear), and therefore it was very unlikely I'd overstay when I had a perfectly good path to US residency and had already invested several hundred dollars on that.
ii) V5 for my car. Showed that I still had ties to the UK that needed to be wound up before my move
iii) Return ticket doesn't count for too much as its a requirement of entry on ESTA I believe, so even if you intended overstaying you'd have one. Plus its often cheaper to buy a return that one way. But often I did have other flights booked up after my return from the US (my brother lives in Portugal, so I normally had UK/Portugal flights booked). I took print outs of these, as they would show that I had plans for travel etc after my return to the UK.

Most likely you'll find that you're not asked too much at all, and don't need any of these docs, assuming this trip isn't right after a previous one, and you're only staying 2-4 weeks.

[Howins 37]

On 3/18/2019 at 8:53 PM, Limey said:

I was in a similar situation when I traveled, as I was my own boss (I run a company with my brother).

1) I think it actually helped, as I was able to explain why I could take relatively regular trips to the US (major job for a client ended, could fit in a break).
2) Don't say that you're visiting fiance unless they ask. Reason for trip is "vacation". If they ask where you're staying, give them the city, etc. Only if they ask who you are staying with do you need to tell them its your fiance. This isn't hiding anything. When I did once get questioned further (on a trip before applying for k1) and said I was visiting my girlfriend (as she then was) they didn't give me any problems about lying, as I volunteered this information as soon as they asked who I was visiting.
3) Since I had no employment contract etc, I took some other documents to show I would be returning home

i) my NOA1 and my entire file of k1 documents. This showed I was well into the k1 process, had no reason to believe that I'd be denied (had police certificates etc showing all clear), and therefore it was very unlikely I'd overstay when I had a perfectly good path to US residency and had already invested several hundred dollars on that.
ii) V5 for my car. Showed that I still had ties to the UK that needed to be wound up before my move
iii) Return ticket doesn't count for too much as its a requirement of entry on ESTA I believe, so even if you intended overstaying you'd have one. Plus its often cheaper to buy a return that one way. But often I did have other flights booked up after my return from the US (my brother lives in Portugal, so I normally had UK/Portugal flights booked). I took print outs of these, as they would show that I had plans for travel etc after my return to the UK.

Most likely you'll find that you're not asked too much at all, and don't need any of these docs, assuming this trip isn't right after a previous one, and you're only staying 2-4 weeks.

 

Thank you - this was so helpful (and reassuring!)

 

V5 is such a good idea - didn't even cross my mind. 

[Sbrisa 41]

Alright, I decided to write about my full experience here. I apologize if it's gonna be too long.
I come from Italy and I'm engaged to an American citizen. We sent our petition in December and we got our NOA1 on December the 19th.
I decided to visit him for 2 and a half months since I'm currently unemployed and let's be honest, being apart sucks, so I decided to risk it.
I left 2 days ago and no matter how prepared I was, as soon as I landed and reached customs, I started shaking (thank you social anxiety ❤️).
Anyways, this is what happened:
- Purpose of your visit? I'm here to visit my man
- How long are you gonna stay? I leave on June the 8th
- Have you ever been in the US before? Yes, last year for 3 weeks
- When are you getting married? We don't know yet
- Do you have a job? I'm currently unemployed but I have to be at home by mid/the end of June cause I'll start working again
It was at that point that the officer told me: "Alright, please collect your bags and wait in that room over there". "Here we go..." I thought, but somehow I managed to calm down. I felt doomed but confident at the same time, cause I knew they had no real reason to deny me.
Back to the room, two officers started searching through my bags and they told me to take a seat.
They asked me if I had any money with me and I said around 40$ in cash, they asked my where I was keeping them (biggest bag) and if I was carrying any guns with me, blunt objects or illegal items , which of course I wasn't carrying, so I said "No, none of them".
After a couple minutes, the guy I met at POE (let's call him officer n.1) told me to stand up and get closer. He kept looking at my passport, at me and he kept writing stuff on the computer. He asked me several questions like:
- Have you ever been to the US before? (Again) Yes, last September, from the 29th to the 19th of October
At this point another officer gave him the giant pack of documents I brought with me (complete K-1 application, NOA1 receipt, travel medical insurance, return ticket + itinerary, medical certificate translated, ESTA, etc.) and he only scrolled through the bookmarks I put on each different type of document.
- So, you said you have a boyfriend or fiancé, which one? Fiancé, we got engaged last October while I was visiting
- How long do you intend to stay? (I know, again) I leave on June the 8th and I'll be back in Italy the 9th
- You mentioned something about being back to work in late June...? Yes, I'm currently unemployed but mine it's a seasonal job so we only work during certain periods each year.
- I see. Did you applied for ESTA?  Of course I did, last year before visiting
- Are you gonna marry this guy? Any plans? One day sir for sure, but certainly not now. We can't really make any plans since we are still waiting for our NOA2.
- Right, cause you know you can't get married on this trip. Yes sir, of course not.
- Are you gonna get married in the US? Mmmm, well I know that if you apply for a K-1 you have to marry within 90 days upon arrival in the US so yes, we are gonna get married here.
- Are you gonna celebrate the weddings outside the US? I'm not sure about that, but since my brother can't stand airplanes, we might consider getting married in Italy too cause I'm afraid my brother won't be able to attend the ceremony here.
- You got your NOA1, waiting for NOA2, so what now? What are you gonna do? Well, there's really not much we can do for now. We just need to be patient and wait till we reach the next steps
At that point, another officer showed me my e-cigarette and asked me what kind of liquid was that. I didn't understand what he meant at first so I stared at him with a puzzled look on my face so he asked:"Does this contain marijuana or something?" and I answered:"Oh! No no, no marijuana!" , smiling cause I really didn't expect that kind of question.
Officer n.1 was done and he stamped my passport, but I didn't get to see the stamp so I felt a little dejected cause I really thought it went poorly and it was all my fault for being too nervous.
I was already thinking about having to pack my bags again and have another 9 + 2 hours long fly back home, when one fo them found a notebook I brought with me. He handed it to officer n.1 telling him :"It's in Italian but there's something written in English ". I panicked for a second but then I remembered I left a list I made for the trip. Officer n.1 then asked me:"Did anybody help you organizing this trip?" So I said "No, I'm here by myself so I took care of everything", but then he asked:" Cause I see you wrote "ties to home country" on this sheet" so I told him:"Oh yes, cause before the trip I went on Visa Journey to try and find some infos about which documents I should have brought with me in case I visited while on the K-1 visa ". He was done but the other two officers were still searching through my bags and they found the two copies of my passport (hey you never know! If I lose it at least I have some backups!) so one of them asked:"You've been in Canada?" (I thought: "Oh man, it's a long story PLEASE don't ask anymore questions about it! 😭 I just want to leave!") "Uh yes, in 2013", and FORTUNATELY that was it.
He already had my passport stamped for a while at that point, so I felt like I had nothing to lose anymore and I was mentally swearing at myself for bringing that damned list with me,  BUT... as I wrote in another thread, officer n.1 told me:"You were a little nervous today" (Yes, cause I'm terrified of you guys! 😫) and I answered:"Heh, I know...I'm sorry, I'm just very tired" .....SO..... after an overly dramatic suspance which I did not appreciate, he handed me my passport and said: "You're good to go" and all of a sudden he was smiling and the other two guys turned from badass scary bad cops into friendly buddies you meet at the bar.
Before I left, one of them said:" You're gonna end up on that TLC show... (he meant "90 days fiancé")" so I said:"Oh god no please! Don't even get me started on that... it's just plain stupid" and they all started laughing. Last thing they told me was:"Say hello to your boyfriend!" and then I left.
First thing I did as soon as I was in my fiance's arms, was CRYING and CRYING and CRYING again 😅 but hey, the important thing is that we are together till June now 😍 passport stamped in hand for 90 days (even tho I leave sooner) and the chance to spend time with my man while waiting for NOA2.

Guys, I don't know what to suggest, so if you're patient enough to read the entire story, you can come up with your own conclusions. Based on your personal interpretation, my experience can either discourage you from trying (it is VERY stressful and nerve-wracking) or give you some hope cause in the end, if someone as clumsy and socially awkward as me got to pass, I think there's hope for everybody! 😉
Honesty is thing n.1 you need to "bring with you", even before any document, cause in the end that's the only thing that gets you through.
(Ok, great and professional officers on a lucky day too, but come on now).
Bye! Sorry abouth the lenght 😥 

[Miosotty M 90]

I am planning to visit my fiancé next month, we apply in February. But I am afraid of being rejected because I renew my passport after my divorce, and in the previous one I have the current visa but with the previous name of married. Would this be a problem?

[Boiler 45,451]

I doubt it.

[mamawitch1215 0]

Thank you so much for this.... It really helped me.  Its very hard to understand all the information out there.  Info over-load.