Visiting Visa While IR1-CR1 Is Pending

[Erika & Joey 0]

Hello. My name is Eri. I am so glad that i found this helpful website.
I would like to get your opinions!
I am Japanese, and my husband is American citizen.
We got married in Feb 2014 in Japan.
We filed I-130 to USCIS in Jun 2014, and received NOA1. Now, we are waiting for NOA2.
We just had wedding on Oct. After the wedding, my husband went back to Texas for his work. ( He served in Marine for 20 years and just retired this July.)

I am planning to visit him next week for 30 days which is 12/16-1/15 .

Since Japan has Visa waiver program, I have ESTA to visit the USA.
I will bring the return ticket and certificate of residency just in case the consular officer asked me the proof that i will go back to Japan.

(I live with my parents, so I don't have any proof that i am paying for my own place.)
Is there any risk that I may be denied?
I would like to know how much risk there is.
Also, I left my job as English teacher after the wedding in October, so i am afraid... if the officer ask me what i do for living, i have to answer that I am currently not working.

Does the fact that i don't have job increase the rick of deny of entry?

If so, what's the best way that i can persuade the officer that I will go back to japan?

Also, i am thinking about bringing my husband's medical record since he goes to the hospital for his back (He had the back problem while he was in military) It could be the good reason to visit him.

Thank you for your help!!

[Ketsuban 1,034]

Hello. My name is Eri. I am so glad that i found this helpful website.

I would like to get your opinions!

I am Japanese, and my husband is American citizen.

We got married in Feb 2014 in Japan.

We filed I-130 to USCIS in Jun 2014, and received NOA1. Now, we are waiting for NOA2.

We just had wedding on Oct. After the wedding, my husband went back to Texas for his work. ( He served in Marine for 20 years and just retired this July.)

I am planning to visit him next week for 30 days which is 12/16-1/15 .

Since Japan has Visa waiver program, I have ESTA to visit the USA.

I will bring the return ticket and certificate of residency just in case the consular officer asked me the proof that i will go back to Japan.

(I live with my parents, so I don't have any proof that i am paying for my own place.)

Is there any risk that I may be denied?

I would like to know how much risk there is.

Also, I left my job as English teacher after the wedding in October, so i am afraid... if the officer ask me what i do for living, i have to answer that I am currently not working.

Does the fact that i don't have job increase the rick of deny of entry?

If so, what's the best way that i can persuade the officer that I will go back to japan?

Also, i am thinking about bringing my husband's medical record since he goes to the hospital for his back (He had the back problem while he was in military) It could be the good reason to visit him.

Thank you for your help!!

Well, everyone who approaches the border risks being denied entry, apart from US citizens. Just be honest, that's all you can do. However, I would not bring along your husband's medical records because it makes it look like you are coming over permanently to look after him as a carer. You don't need a good reason to visit him - he is your husband!

I visited my husband without an issue in August and wasn't asked about my work. I was just asked who I was visiting and for how long, then we had a friendly chat about my ongoing visa application.

When I came in on my visa over a week ago, the girl in front of me was going in on the VWP and she was just asked how long she was staying for.

Less than 1% of VWP entrants get denied entry, so I'd say you have a good chance of getting in.

[Erika & Joey 0]

Well, everyone who approaches the border risks being denied entry, apart from US citizens. Just be honest, that's all you can do. However, I would not bring along your husband's medical records because it makes it look like you are coming over permanently to look after him as a carer. You don't need a good reason to visit him - he is your husband!

I visited my husband without an issue in August and wasn't asked about my work. I was just asked who I was visiting and for how long, then we had a friendly chat about my ongoing visa application.

When I came in on my visa over a week ago, the girl in front of me was going in on the VWP and she was just asked how long she was staying for.

Less than 1% of VWP entrants get denied entry, so I'd say you have a good chance of getting in.

Thank you very much for your reply.

I will be honest and tell the officer that i visit my husband. I wouldn't bring his medical record as you said.

I hope I can spend the holiday with my husband!!

Congratulations on your visa!

Enjoy your holiday with your husband!!

[robinde 0]

hi! My question is regarding whether my husband should attempt to travel to the United States for the Christmas holidays. We started his immigration process from Canada in May 2013 and my husband's green card interview has finally been scheduled at the Montreal Consulate on January 5th, 2015. He is getting the medical exam done this week.

Some background on our situation... In July 2013, I returned to the US with our two children to re-establish my US residence. We thought that his green card process would be finished within a year, so he went ahead and closed his business in Canada. I assumed he could stay with us as a visitor while his green card application was being processed. He visited twice for under 90 days, then returned to Canada for several weeks to break up his visits. He never filed for AOS in the US, as this would be illegal, and he always stated his intention at the border to return to Canada for his consular green card interview. When he re-entered the US in late January 2014, the border guard told him that Canadians are only allowed 6 months total out of any 365 day period, and that he had "used up" 5 of these months up in his previous visits (even though he had returned to Canada twice for several weeks). But she still allowed him to enter the US for a one month stay.

We immediately visited the local USCIS office and at their advice, we filed a non-immigrant extension of stay (I-539) application, so that he could stay lawfully for 6 months as a visitor until late July 2014 (6 months after his entry date). The USCIS representative told us that he could lawfully stay as a visitor while waiting for a decision on the I-539 form. We waited and never heard anything back, other than confirmation that USCIS had received the form and a request for additional financial details. We sent USCIS a letter in early July 2014, and never got a response. Finally in August 2014, we received a confirmation that his I-539 application had been approved, but it was only valid for one day from July 25, 2014 to July 26, 2014 (and the form was processed on August 6, 2014). So by the time it was processed in August, the I-94 form was no longer valid.

We immediately applied for another I-539 extension of stay at the advice of another USCIS representative. We also asked our local Congressional representative to inquire about the first I-539 application to find out why USCIS had issued a I-94 form in August that was only valid through July, leaving my husband in uncertain status. The result of the congressional representative inquiry was that USCIS reopened our case in late August and reversed their decision on the first I-539 form and denied & revoked his expired I-94 form. This denial letter said that he no longer had any lawful status and that he needed to leave the US immediately. The reason for the denial was because USCIS said that he didn't qualify for B-2 visitor status since he was also applying for a immigrant visa. USCIS also said if they gave him a valid I-94, then he would likely file for AOS, even though he has always stated his intention to complete the process through the consulate. Incidentally our second I-539 application had already been paid for and accepted by this time and is still seemingly in progress.

After making another futile visit to the USCIS office to inquire about further options, my husband returned to Canada in early September 2014. He departed the United States within 10 days of receiving the I-539 denial form. We sent a letter to USCIS explaining the situation and documenting his exact return date to Canada. Now he is concerned that he will face some kind of entry ban if he tries to cross the border to drive to see us at Christmas. He was present in the US for over 180 days with his last stay, but he tried diligently to remain in lawful status (even if that status was called into question when his I-539 was approved and then denied). It is really frustrating not to know his status. Would it help to call the border to find out? My thought is that he could possibly get denied at the border (if the officer says that he has already "used up" his full 6 months), but would this denial affect his green card interview? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Edited December 8, 2014 by robinde

[Ryan H 3,812]

My thought is that he could possibly get denied at the border (if the officer says that he has already "used up" his full 6 months), but would this denial affect his green card interview? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

If he is refused entry at the border, it will not adversely affect the spousal visa process.

As for attempting to visit, there is a greater than 50% chance he has been flagged and will likely be refused entry. However, I"m not 100% sure of this so ultimately, it's up to him as to whether or not he wants to try or not.

[DaveStephChalm 3]

No IR1\CR1 pending at this stage, we plan on doing this after our two year anniversary. I entered the US at LAX back in March 2014 to visit my wife and celebrate our first wedding anniversary :-) the BPO asked how long I was staying (three months), who I worked for (aust government), who was at the address on my entry card (my wife) "welcome the the US sir, enjoy your stay".

We decided a few weeks ago that we wanted to visit for our first Christmas together so I updated my ESTA, re-entered on December 17 using the new automatic entry kiosk at the refurbished (and faincy) lax international terminal, took two minutes to scan passport, take prints, photo and fill out deceleration, then 45 seconds in front of BPO, she asked why I was visiting Texas " to spend Christmas with my wife", she asked that it was under six months since my last visit and how that worked with my employer in Australia, I replied honestly that march to June was on a mixture of annual leave and long service leave and that this time was leave without pay, "welcome to the united states sir, enjoy your Christmas together".

I was prepared with a letter from my employer and return air ticket and approx 3h in my bank but did not need it, honesty I believe is the answer.

And with the new auto entry kiosks I was in under five minutes as opposed to 45 minutes queuing!!!

[AmandaLane102 3]

Our experience :

I live abroad in Namibia with my husband, but we both came to the States for the holidays but did *not* travel together (I got off work a week earlier than him) so I was nervous he would have a hard time but this was our experience:

We secured a tourist visa for him before we submitted the I-130 (Namibia is not a VWP country).

He entered at JFK and they only asked him his purpose of visit (visiting the States with his wife who lives with him in Namibia for the holidays but they didn't ask if I was an American citizen) and they asked him a question about whether he was near Ebola affected countries. And that's it!!!!

[Innocence 1]

I was planning on applying for a B-2 visa in Ukraine to go visit my husband in the US and finally meet my in-laws before returning home to do my interview whenever the date is set for that back in Ukraine. We are at the NVC stage currently waiting to get our packages processed. My worry is not so much that they'll deny my visa (I know that's a possibility), but that they will stamp my passport with denial and put it on some kind of permanent record which could affect things for me in the future. Do they put a denial stamp in your passport if you are denied a visa based on your immigration case? Losing the visa fee which is 160 USD is really not a big worry for me, but having my passport stamped is scary. Anyone know what the situation is like in this case? Much appreciated.

[Ryan H 3,812]

I was planning on applying for a B-2 visa in Ukraine to go visit my husband in the US and finally meet my in-laws before returning home to do my interview whenever the date is set for that back in Ukraine. We are at the NVC stage currently waiting to get our packages processed. My worry is not so much that they'll deny my visa (I know that's a possibility), but that they will stamp my passport with denial and put it on some kind of permanent record which could affect things for me in the future. Do they put a denial stamp in your passport if you are denied a visa based on your immigration case? Losing the visa fee which is 160 USD is really not a big worry for me, but having my passport stamped is scary. Anyone know what the situation is like in this case? Much appreciated.

Denial of a tourist visa will not in of itself adversely affect the immigrant visa process.

[Innocence 1]

Denial of a tourist visa will not in of itself adversely affect the immigrant visa process.

That's great but do they still put a stamp in your passport with the denial? I'm only worried about that and having some kind of permanent record of denial.

I remember when I was about 15 I wanted to visit a friend in the UK during school vacation, the people at the UK embassy told me after looking over my application that I'd be denied visa because of being 15 and female mostly, but that they would return my application fee and not stamp my passport if I chose to withdraw. This was nice since it meant my passport was clear after that.

[Ryan H 3,812]

That's great but do they still put a stamp in your passport with the denial? I'm only worried about that and having some kind of permanent record of denial.

No stamp will be placed in your passport but the denial will be on the record and you would need to disclose it. However, like I said before, refusal of a tourist visa or refused entry into the US in of itself does not adversely affect the immigrant visa process.

[phyxsius 1]

Hi all,

Question: Yesterday we got our documents from NVC approved. In the letter it states that we should just wait now for our interview date.

In the letter is also states to not make any travel arrangements. I have a planned vacation on the 22nd of January to the U.S, I traveled into the U.S about 6 months ago with no issues.

Does this still apply?

I just counted the _do not make any travel arrangements_ as a form of, do not book your ticket for your move over to the U.S, or do they mean that I can't even travel into the country from here on out, until my visa gets approved?

I am from an ESTA country.

[laucs72 3]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for this thread, very helpful.

My husband is a USC and we started the process just a week (just received my NOA1). We both live in Colombia (he is a student here) and are planning to visit his parents in the US for a couple of days in April.

We were told that it is a terrible idea to arrive together to the airport because they will assume that i m planning to stay and deny my entry.

Is this true? Any opinions?

Thanks so much

[louise81 0]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for this thread, very helpful.

My husband is a USC and we started the process just a week (just received my NOA1). We both live in Colombia (he is a student here) and are planning to visit his parents in the US for a couple of days in April.

We were told that it is a terrible idea to arrive together to the airport because they will assume that i m planning to stay and deny my entry.

Is this true? Any opinions?

Thanks so much

I traveled into the US with my husband in November and it was totally fine (he was traveling under the VWP). I was even moving to the US so we had all our stuff and our cat - talk about looking like we were both planning to stay! Like you, I had considered having us arrive separately because I was worried but my immigration lawyer said not to worry about it and he was right. We had a couple of documents showing that my husband would return to the UK after helping me settle in but we didn't need them.

When we arrived at JFK, we first asked a security officer if we could go through the US citizens line together - because my husband had an ESTA that he had already used to enter the US, we were allowed to go through the automated passport line together. If it weren't for an issue with MY passport, he would have entered the country without even talking to an immigration officer. But we did have to go speak to one. He asked Patrick how long he was staying (five weeks), purpose of his visit (helping me move/staying for holidays) and what he did for a living and that was it.

Edited January 2, 2015 by louise81

[laucs72 3]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all your valuable comments on this issue.

My husband (the USC - he lives with me in Colombia) and I are planning to visit his parents in the US for a week or so. I would like to hear any opinions regarding,

1) Should we go through customs together (like through the US citizens line and I'll go as his family member)? Or is it better if each one goes separately through the appropriate line?

2) Anyone entering with a B1/B2 visa after starting the process... Do you usually get your passport stamped for 6 months or dot hey give you less?

Thanks so much