Visiting Visa While IR1-CR1 Is Pending

[Sekhvaruli 74]

My legal husband, a Georgian national, would like to go and spend some time with me in the US even before we filed the petition I-130. We are living together in Georgia now. I keep telling him chances of granting a visitor's visa are next to nill. Please, explain that to him again, guys, so he could believe and be not willing to waste a couple hundred dollars B1 application fee.

[Ryan H 3,812]

My legal husband, a Georgian national, would like to go and spend some time with me in the US even before we filed the petition I-130. We are living together in Georgia now. I keep telling him chances of granting a visitor's visa are next to nill. Please, explain that to him again, guys, so he could believe and be not willing to waste a couple hundred dollars B1 application fee.

Explain it to him this way:

A tourist visa application must show strong ties to their own country. Having a spouse that is a US Citizen is more of a tie to the US than it is to one's own country and will supersede virtually anything else that shows his ties to Georgia.

[billtherese 0]

Just a report, my wife and step son boarded a plane today for the states and got one question and were allowed in. No fuss, no problems.

Off to spend quality time with my family

[JCV 5]

Just a report, my wife and step son boarded a plane today for the states and got one question and were allowed in. No fuss, no problems.

Off to spend quality time with my family

what one question did they ask?

[billtherese 0]

what one question did they ask?

Oh, it was "how long are you staying?"

To be fair, they were expecting 1700 people in the queues about 10 minutes after she was there. She said they looked like they were just trying to get people through as quickly as possible to handle the tidal wave coming in. So a little luck was on our side this time.

Edited April 6, 2015 by billtherese

[anamaral 4]

Great billtherese! Which airport did they enter?

And… how long are they staying? Im thinking about going for like a month, don't know if it would an issue..

Have a nice time with your family

[billtherese 0]

They entered in Dublin. They're staying a couple of weeks and we're all flying back to Dublin together to continue our wait. Hope to be home for good in July.

Great billtherese! Which airport did they enter?

And… how long are they staying? Im thinking about going for like a month, don't know if it would an issue..

Have a nice time with your family

[anamaral 4]

Hope you can!

Which airport in the US?

Enjoy!

[billtherese 0]

Atlanta. But they were cleared in Dublin.

Hope you can!

Which airport in the US?

Enjoy!

[anamaral 4]

Has anyone ever come across any problems going through Orlando(MCO) while visiting after petitioning? We are hoping for my husband to visit for 70 days.

Hello SamPon, how did it end up going? Did your husband visit you? Did he enter through Orlando? I'm planning to visit my hubby on August and the fares for Florida are cheaper

Tks!

Atlanta. But they were cleared in Dublin.

Understood! Thank you!

[JCV 5]

Does anyone know my chances of visiting for one month, under vwp whilst i130 pending since january. no huge ties apart from a return flight and letter of my graduation for college. Fairly confident but if it is a must i can find a job quickly to prove i have one to go home too.. :l

[RKD314 2]

My legal husband, a Georgian national, would like to go and spend some time with me in the US even before we filed the petition I-130. We are living together in Georgia now. I keep telling him chances of granting a visitor's visa are next to nill. Please, explain that to him again, guys, so he could believe and be not willing to waste a couple hundred dollars B1 application fee.

The chances of getting a B1 before filing i-130 are not necessarily so bad. It depends on your specific circumstances.

I am a USC, my husband is a Ukrainian citizen. We live together in France. The only property we own here is a used car. We have an apartment lease, and both have jobs based in France. He applied for a B1 visa a couple of years ago, and got one for 5 years with no problem.

If he can show *strong* ties to Georgia--a job, property of substantial value, dependent children, anything like that--and especially if you also live there with him, I actually think it's not a bad idea to try and get the B1 first. For us, it is really useful that my husband has one. It will allow him to come to the US and help move me and my daughter into an apartment, and then come back to France for his visa interview.

[anamaral 4]

Does anyone know my chances of visiting for one month, under vwp whilst i130 pending since january. no huge ties apart from a return flight and letter of my graduation for college. Fairly confident but if it is a must i can find a job quickly to prove i have one to go home too.. :l

Maybe some bills wih your UK address and bank statements (prove that you have a bank account) can help? Not sure, just going by other people's histories here

Good luck!

[jshoe1984 0]

Entry point: Atlanta

Applicant is Japanese

I can't say how thankful I am for this thread. We applied to the NVC two weeks ago and, just yesterday, flew to the US on a tourist visa. We spoke with the agent that we were in town to visit family and do a small wedding. She didn't ask anything about our application at the NVC and said have a nice vacation.

[Ketsuban 1,034]

Oh, it was "how long are you staying?"

To be fair, they were expecting 1700 people in the queues about 10 minutes after she was there. She said they looked like they were just trying to get people through as quickly as possible to handle the tidal wave coming in. So a little luck was on our side this time.

Just to point out that just because an immigration area is super busy with thousands of passengers doesn't always mean they will rush to process people so that they can clear the area (though I am glad that is what happened with your family!).

The first time I flew in to the States in 2011, I arrived at LAX and waited for about an hour in the queue. I was towards the front of the line, so people at the back probably waited 2 or 3 hours to see an immigration officer. The officer asked me a few questions in a suspicious fashion (he didn't immediately believe that I had a job and paid for my own ticket do 21 year old women not work in America? ) but ultimately let me in. Then the customs guy asked me even more questions in an even more suspicious fashion... but again, let me in. Of all the times I flew in, that first trip was the only one I got even a smidgen of hassle.

If time is a worry for anyone, then I have found the 4 or 5 times I flew through Newark, even on busy days I was only in line for around 10 minutes. Most times there is no line at all because they have so many desks open. Especially at Terminal C. They tend not to ask too many questions either, in my own experience, but there are probably stories out there of hour long interrogations in Newark.