Yes, you can visit!

[TedsGirl 192]

On 6/10/2021 at 11:22 AM, HRQX said:

But the omission is not "material" since marriage during a genuine* visit is allowed: https://uk.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visa-faqs/

 

*I.e. that the visitor will not overstay during that visit; or the visitor does not have preconceived intent to adjust immigration status during that visit.

This is exactly what I'm doing. Visited with his family in and around Texas during and after our honeymoon. Next week attending family funeral before returning home without overstating my ESTA visit. 

 

Appreciate your post. 

[Kev & Lexi 41]

Hello everyone! 

I just wanted to post a bit about my circumstance here in hopes someone may have some encouraging words or advice for me going forward.

 

I’m a Canadian citizen and my fiancé is an American citizen. We have been engaged since January 2nd 2021, with a pending I-129F (sent in on that date too). I have a trip scheduled to spend September 2021 until March 2022 with my fiancé (both departing and returning tickets). 
 

My concern is that due to Covid-19, I am unemployed and I finished my certificate program at my school in 2019-2020, so I don’t really have much to give to a questioning officer. I previously spent 4 months with my fiancé during covid, and none of these questions arose because we hadn’t submitted our application at that time. It was during that trip that we actually completed the forms and submitted it together. 
 

I live with my grandmother and my father. I could possibly get them to write me up a signed document or something along those lines that states I have every intention of legally staying in America and legally returning home when the trip is over. I’m just not entirely sure what’s best. 
 

thanks in advance to anyone who responds!

[Boiler 45,382]

When you have no ties trying to invent some will look suspicious.

Edited July 15, 2021 by Boiler

[Kev & Lexi 41]

1 minute ago, Boiler said:

When you have no ties trying to invent some will look suspicious.

I see. I know honesty is the best policy, and I’ve previously discussed with my grandmother that I’d be willing to tell them that I am unemployed due to Covid and that my trip will be wholly funded by my own savings + whatever my father has gifted to me while I’ve been in Canada during the past 8 months. I’ve never been questioned on this before, but I know it’s not an impossibility to be.

[Boiler 45,382]

I would think the main issue that may attract their attention is your return date.

[Kev & Lexi 41]

1 minute ago, Boiler said:

I would think the main issue that may attract their attention is your return date.

Okay. I know I'm allowed to stay 6 months in any consecutive 12 month period (which is why we decided to book the trip the way we did, with corona making things a bit more difficult to travel back and forth). My departure date is exactly 1 year after I started my stay in America our last period. 

[SalishSea 17,765]

54 minutes ago, punkelle said:

I live with my grandmother and my father. I could possibly get them to write me up a signed document or something along those lines that states I have every intention of legally staying in America and legally returning home when the trip is over. I

This would not be evidence of strong ties at all.  I mean, once you get your K-1 visa, you'll be leaving them for up to 8 months anyway, right?  

3 minutes ago, punkelle said:

I know I'm allowed to stay 6 months in any consecutive 12 month period

Completely at the discretion of CBP.

[Kev & Lexi 41]

1 minute ago, Jorgedig said:

This would not be evidence of strong ties at all.  I mean, once you get your K-1 visa, you'll be leaving them for up to 8 months anyway, right?  

I see your point. I suppose there's not really much I can say besides what is the truth, and hope for the best. I will definitely bring proof of our K1 application and whatnot though, as per previous suggestions here. 

[Boiler 45,382]

1 minute ago, punkelle said:

Okay. I know I'm allowed to stay 6 months in any consecutive 12 month period (which is why we decided to book the trip the way we did, with corona making things a bit more difficult to travel back and forth). My departure date is exactly 1 year after I started my stay in America our last period. 

Well no there is no 6 month in 12, each admittance is at the PoE discretion and the usual admittance is for 6 months but can be less, a lot less.

[Kev & Lexi 41]

1 minute ago, Boiler said:

Well no there is no 6 month in 12, each admittance is at the PoE discretion and the usual admittance is for 6 months but can be less, a lot less.

Oh okay, I see. I can definitely adjust the dates then, to make the trip shorter. Hopefully with everyone being vaccinated, it'll make travel a bit easier.

[SalishSea 17,765]

1 minute ago, punkelle said:

I see your point. I suppose there's not really much I can say besides what is the truth, and hope for the best. I will definitely bring proof of our K1 application and whatnot though, as per previous suggestions here. 

They will already know about the K-1, and in any case, that is a tie to the US, not Canada.  And they will know about the long backup for K-1 appointments in Montreal.  You need to look for better evidence of ties to Canada.

[Kev & Lexi 41]

9 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

They will already know about the K-1, and in any case, that is a tie to the US, not Canada.  And they will know about the long backup for K-1 appointments in Montreal.  You need to look for better evidence of ties to Canada.

Okay. Thank you for your help and knowledge on the topic! 

[SalishSea 17,765]

7 minutes ago, punkelle said:

Okay. Thank you for your help and knowledge on the topic! 

You bet!  Best of luck.

[Limey 551]

On 7/15/2021 at 4:30 PM, punkelle said:

 

I’m a Canadian citizen and my fiancé is an American citizen. We have been engaged since January 2nd 2021, with a pending I-129F (sent in on that date too). I have a trip scheduled to spend September 2021 until March 2022 with my fiancé (both departing and returning tickets). 
 

 

As always with entry into the US, its going to depend on the officer that you come up against at the border.

 

After making my first 3 trips over a period of 9 months (around 9 weeks in total spent in US) I was stopped at the border for my next trip that was scheduled to be just under 4 weeks. The officer was not interested at all in what ties I had to my home country. His issue was that I was spending too much time in the US and effectively trying to live there on a tourist visa. I said that I believed it was okay to spend up to 50% of the time in the US but he disagreed and said that there is no such thing as a "visiting my girlfriend" visa and that I needed something more permanent. I was pretty sure he was going to send me home.

 

I said that I'd lived in the US previously on a J1 years ago, and had visited many times before and since that time and I'd never overstayed and always respected US immigration laws. I explained that we would apply for a k1 soon but that we were waiting for my fiancee's divorce to be completed and that we couldn't apply until that time. At this point I could sense his mood improving a little - the mention of the k1 seemed to help, and he granted me entry to the country but said that I should leave it a while until returning. For my next trip a few months later we met up in Canada instead so I could avoid a US entry, but I had no further problems with US visits after that (traveling with a k1 in progress by this time).

 

As I said, its all going to depend on the officer at the border. My experience is that even if you can show good ties to home (which you don't seem to have) there can still be problems entering the US if you've spent significant time there in the recent past, and/or are entering for a long duration stay. But there are plenty of cases here where people have had no issues at all.

[Kev & Lexi 41]

38 minutes ago, Limey said:

As always with entry into the US, its going to depend on the officer that you come up against at the border.

 

After making my first 3 trips over a period of 9 months (around 9 weeks in total spent in US) I was stopped at the border for my next trip that was scheduled to be just under 4 weeks. The officer was not interested at all in what ties I had to my home country. His issue was that I was spending too much time in the US and effectively trying to live there on a tourist visa. I said that I believed it was okay to spend up to 50% of the time in the US but he disagreed and said that there is no such thing as a "visiting my girlfriend" visa and that I needed something more permanent. I was pretty sure he was going to send me home.

 

I said that I'd lived in the US previously on a J1 years ago, and had visited many times before and since that time and I'd never overstayed and always respected US immigration laws. I explained that we would apply for a k1 soon but that we were waiting for my fiancee's divorce to be completed and that we couldn't apply until that time. At this point I could sense his mood improving a little - the mention of the k1 seemed to help, and he granted me entry to the country but said that I should leave it a while until returning. For my next trip a few months later we met up in Canada instead so I could avoid a US entry, but I had no further problems with US visits after that (traveling with a k1 in progress by this time).

 

As I said, its all going to depend on the officer at the border. My experience is that even if you can show good ties to home (which you don't seem to have) there can still be problems entering the US if you've spent significant time there in the recent past, and/or are entering for a long duration stay. But there are plenty of cases here where people have had no issues at all.

Hello! Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm sorry you were questioned as much as you were, but glad you made it in the end. As I've said in previous posts, I've had little trouble in the past, but like you've stated it all depends on the officer. 

 

I am currently compiling some ties I do have just to be prepared but I've decided not to let this discourage me. I haven't seen my man in 8 months so I am really excited despite this worry at the back of my mind.

 

I am really appreciative of all the messages I've received in response to my initial post as they've provided a lot of insight and information for me. I know I've not done anything wrong in the past, and I've always been honest to the people at the border, so I'm just hoping things go smoothly.

 

Fingers crossed!