Yes, you can visit!

[Oli&Marie 2]

Hi all,

My fiancé and I are currently applying for K1 visa for me (i-129f was received at TCS on Feb 18 2015). As we expect a really long wait, I'd love to visit my fiancé. I have a valid B1/B2 visa. But I'm currently unemployed (no job contract/payslips) live with my parents (no contract/rent). I don't own a car or have a pet. Basically, I can't really prove having any serious obligations in Denmark. I do receive unemplyment benefits, and I have an unpaid internship at the moment. will that be any good?

Based on your experience, how big is the chance that I will be rejected at the airport. My POE will be JFK/NY.

Thanks so much in advance!

[D.Ba 85]

I decided to be totally honest in Newark:

Purpose of visit? Visiting my fiancé

What is he doing here? He lives in XX, XX

Is he German or American? American

Meeting the family for the first time? No, I met them 20 years ago.

Is he still living here? Yes, in XX, XX

Maybe it helped that there was only one person behind me and the line was to be closed. He wanted to go home. But 3 out of 4 people in front of me were taking to secondary questioning. And the guys who took them didn't seem friendly...

Edited April 29, 2015 by D.Ba

[stevenjuniper 0]

I just got back from a trip to the states (San Francisco birthday trip, my fiance lives in Orlando). We haven't received our NOA2 yet but I entered just fine.

The POE (LAX) officer asked me a few questions:

- I have an expired J1 visa in my passport so he asked if I was entering on that. I said no, ESTA.

- How often do I visit the United States? Every 5-6 months.

- When did I last visit the United States? August last year

He then took my photo and finger prints of right hand and stamped my passport.

After picking up my suitcase for my connection flight, I gave my customs form to an officer and he asked what my business in San Francisco was so I replied with 'It's my fiance's birthday...' before he cut me off, laughed and moved me on.

Pretty easy entry. No need to stress about.

[obijuan3 1]

I was just wondering if it is a bad idea for a the petitionee to leave their country of origin to work to earn money during the K1 Visa process. Example; leaving the Philippines to work in Macau while she awaits NOA2 and the subsequent Visa approval? Thanks in advance

[SantyAndAllie 155]

I was just wondering if it is a bad idea for a the petitionee to leave their country of origin to work to earn money during the K1 Visa process. Example; leaving the Philippines to work in Macau while she awaits NOA2 and the subsequent Visa approval? Thanks in advance

If it's legal and there's no noa2 yet, then I don't see why not, but don't quote me cause I don't know if there's any rules against it! Pretty sure not, though. They'd have to be permitted to work in the other country, but since the beneficiary doesn't have anything they can really do until the application reaches the consulate, why not?

[obijuan3 1]

Thank you

[TylerandSue 4]

Great to see more positive stories on here!

I've just booked my flight to visit my fiance in Philadelphia for the month of July! So very excited, it's my first visit to the States since we filed our K-1

[Pebbles1989 3]

POE Portland was really a pain in the ###.

When it was my turn, I gave the IO my passport and the customs form. He scanned my passport and stared at his computer for about 5 minutes, did not say anything though. He did not ask for the purpose of my visit.

Where are you going to stay during your visit? - At the Mariott Hotel in Salem. You can see the address on the customs form. - Mhm. Who do you know in Salem? - My fiancé lives close to Salem. - What are you doing in Austria? - Jobwise? - Yes. - XXX at company XXX. - What is your fiancé doing? - XXX. - Do you have marriage plans? - Our plans changed as I got a good job offer in Austria. He will move back with me. - Is that possible for him? - Yes. - For how long? - With a visa "D" he is allowed to stay up to 6 month. - He already has a visa? - Yes and no. We are going to pick his visa up at the Austrian consulate on 17th. - Mhm. And he will quit his job and move to Austria? - Tomorrow is his last day at the company, so yes. - Sure? - Yes, sir. I do have proofs if you want to see anything. - Like? - Our both return flight tickets, confirmation of my job and so on. - Let me see the return flight tickets of him. - Here you are. (Showed him the ticket...) - Mhm.

Gave me my passport with the "approved" stamp and the customs for back.

I picked up my luggage and gave the customs form the officer next to the exit. He said that I have to wait a second. He looked something up in the computer and said: Let's see what the problem is. - Problem? - I don't know yet. My computer is pretty slow today. - Oh! (I started getting nervous!) - Let me check your bags first. Do you have any food with you? - 2 chocolates, it's not a whole bar, it's like 1 package with 3 little bars, so 6 bars all together. (I started answering really detailed as I did not want to make any stupid mistakes or get into an awkward situation.) - Any drinks? Alcohol? - An approx. 5 cm high bottle with Mozart Schnaps. It is very small. - Anything else? - No. - Money? How much money do you carry with you? - About XXX in cash and XXX on my bank card. - You have proofs? - Right. (Showed him my folders.) - You said your fiancé is going back with you to Austria? - Right. He is moving to Austria. - I see, you filed for the K1? -Yes, but have withdrawn it as he is moving. - You are not married yet. Is that possible? - With a visa "D" it is possible, yes. - He already has this one? - Yes, it is already approved but you have to pick it up in person in Los Angeles. That's what we will do on the 17th. - Okay. Let me take a closer look to your folders. - Sure! (Showed him every single folder and told him exactly what is inside. He was really interested in the whole papers.) - Well.. I see you are well-prepared, I believe what you say. You can go. Welcome to the States! - Appreciate it, sir. Thank you!

That was mainly what we talked about.

I am pretty sure that they see the petition in the computer as I did not say anything about it and he asked for my K1.

Anyways, after 45 hard minutes I made it through customs. Yay!

The best of all: David and I got married during the trip and are both in Austria. He lives with me now and we start our lives together here! We will visit Ohio and Oregon in September. Let's see how that goes as his wife... and I am pretty sure that we will move to the States on day in future. We want to stay here in Austria for at least 2 years though

So I guess, I'll switch to the VJ spouse group now...

I wish you all lots of luck, patience and love on your ways!! <3

[jbed81 1]

POE Portland was really a pain in the ###.

When it was my turn, I gave the IO my passport and the customs form. He scanned my passport and stared at his computer for about 5 minutes, did not say anything though. He did not ask for the purpose of my visit.

Where are you going to stay during your visit? - At the Mariott Hotel in Salem. You can see the address on the customs form. - Mhm. Who do you know in Salem? - My fiancé lives close to Salem. - What are you doing in Austria? - Jobwise? - Yes. - XXX at company XXX. - What is your fiancé doing? - XXX. - Do you have marriage plans? - Our plans changed as I got a good job offer in Austria. He will move back with me. - Is that possible for him? - Yes. - For how long? - With a visa "D" he is allowed to stay up to 6 month. - He already has a visa? - Yes and no. We are going to pick his visa up at the Austrian consulate on 17th. - Mhm. And he will quit his job and move to Austria? - Tomorrow is his last day at the company, so yes. - Sure? - Yes, sir. I do have proofs if you want to see anything. - Like? - Our both return flight tickets, confirmation of my job and so on. - Let me see the return flight tickets of him. - Here you are. (Showed him the ticket...) - Mhm.

Gave me my passport with the "approved" stamp and the customs for back.

I picked up my luggage and gave the customs form the officer next to the exit. He said that I have to wait a second. He looked something up in the computer and said: Let's see what the problem is. - Problem? - I don't know yet. My computer is pretty slow today. - Oh! (I started getting nervous!) - Let me check your bags first. Do you have any food with you? - 2 chocolates, it's not a whole bar, it's like 1 package with 3 little bars, so 6 bars all together. (I started answering really detailed as I did not want to make any stupid mistakes or get into an awkward situation.) - Any drinks? Alcohol? - An approx. 5 cm high bottle with Mozart Schnaps. It is very small. - Anything else? - No. - Money? How much money do you carry with you? - About XXX in cash and XXX on my bank card. - You have proofs? - Right. (Showed him my folders.) - You said your fiancé is going back with you to Austria? - Right. He is moving to Austria. - I see, you filed for the K1? -Yes, but have withdrawn it as he is moving. - You are not married yet. Is that possible? - With a visa "D" it is possible, yes. - He already has this one? - Yes, it is already approved but you have to pick it up in person in Los Angeles. That's what we will do on the 17th. - Okay. Let me take a closer look to your folders. - Sure! (Showed him every single folder and told him exactly what is inside. He was really interested in the whole papers.) - Well.. I see you are well-prepared, I believe what you say. You can go. Welcome to the States! - Appreciate it, sir. Thank you!

That was mainly what we talked about.

I am pretty sure that they see the petition in the computer as I did not say anything about it and he asked for my K1.

Anyways, after 45 hard minutes I made it through customs. Yay!

The best of all: David and I got married during the trip and are both in Austria. He lives with me now and we start our lives together here! We will visit Ohio and Oregon in September. Let's see how that goes as his wife... and I am pretty sure that we will move to the States on day in future. We want to stay here in Austria for at least 2 years though

So I guess, I'll switch to the VJ spouse group now...

I wish you all lots of luck, patience and love on your ways!! <3

I have always wondered if they knew. I worked in the government for several years and typical the right hand isn't sure there is a left hand much less do they know what it does. This sort of thing worries me, because my fiancé lived with me in HU and quit everything and moved home for the "4-6 month" wait on the k1. Well that was about 5 months ago, so we don't have any real "proof" that she will return. We are planning a visit for her in a few weeks and I'd lie if I said I wasn't skeptical that she can get in. This would be her second ESTA entry. I think I due to my job would stand to lose more if she didn't return (could be sacked for defrauding the government). Need to buy a ticket soon, but worried it will be a huge waste of money and a let down. Especially if Seattle is a pain like this.

[TabeaK 517]

Well, I do not know if they see - especially pre-NOA2. It is a pretty straightforward thing to ask about a K1 once an fiance has been mentioned.

Be optimistic! I have so far not have had any issues on my ESTA entries. Given that this process takes an age, I will likely go for another few days in July....

But, yeah, I also come armed with ties...

[Pebbles1989 3]

Right. I am not 100% sure if they see pre-NOA2 stuff. I entered the states on 15th and we got the NOA2 dated on 16th. They did not receive the withdrawal in time, so they already sent a NOA2. So perhaps they dealt with it earlier then the 15th and just sent it on the 16th, which would mean that they perhaps have my NOA2 in their computers...?! I don't know.

I also don't want to frighten anybody. Not at all. What I would recommend is to bring enough proofs, make a folder with all the stuff, sort everything so it makes sense to you and you find your stuff easily... things like that. Don't be afraid. Just wanted to share my experience which was kind of frightening but it went good, even if it was a pain in the ###.

[ellisteph 1]

My fiancé and I live together in Australia. It's early May and we are just about to send out our application form I 129F packet.

I am moving back to the United States permanently in June. My fiancé is coming with me to help move me back home, and he will stay for only three weeks and then return to Australia. He has a round-trip ticket and proof of school enrollment.

We will be separated from July 7 until early October, when he finishes his last college semester. At that time, we are assuming our K-1 will not be approved yet...and we are planning on him to come to the United States for an extended visit to make up the time we have spent away from each other.

October: Since the K-1 will probably not be approved and also because he has to leave the country anyway for the interview overseas (right??), he will enter with a round-trip ticket. However by this time he will have graduated college, and not have a school schedule to show ties to Australia. He also lives with his parents and doesn't pay rent. We are assuming he'll be able to get a letter from his employer to show he is only gone temporarily... but other than that we aren't sure what to show in case they're hard on him at POE???... Of course he'll have the entire k1 packet and evidence with him though..

- He has a USA multiple entry B1/B2 visa type R stamped in his passport. Does this work in his favor or against him?

- Does anyone know if the JFK New York POE is difficult?

So... At this time with current processing times, does this sound like an OK plan?

...Filing the petition in early May. Him entering the U.S. (along with me) for a short stay June 11-July 7. Then him visiting me for an extended stay(2 months maybe) in early October... ?? Him returning to Australia, hopefully before/in time for his interview. Then moving back to US asap...

-How much notice for the interview date do they give you?

-Can he come to US as soon as his interview is done, given our K1 is approved?

We have already lived together for the last two and a half years, so we are making sure we can be together ASAP again!

Thanks!

[TabeaK 517]

Chances are you have you visa by then as new petitions go to CSC- so you likely won't have to go through the hell at TSC as the rest of us. Which also means it is rather likely you will have your visa in October.

Visiting is no problem and I have personally had no issues at JFK.

[TabeaK 517]

Chances are you have you visa by then as new petitions go to CSC- so you likely won't have to go through the hell at TSC as the rest of us. Which also means it is rather likely you will have your visa in October.

Visiting is no problem and I have personally had no issues at JFK.

[xstarlet 4]

I'm gonna visit my fiancé in July and I hope they'll let me!

I guess I just have to convince them that I'm not planning on staying while visiting. Right?