Visiting Visa While IR1-CR1 Is Pending

[Crazy Cat 41,898]

Just now, Sharif Shakhshir said:

I checked with the school in advance and thankfully, they only need birth certificate, prior school records and vaccinations.  Thankfully, immigration status is not a condition for a child to receive an education.

Visitor visas are for visiting....not for residence.......

[Crazy Cat 41,898]

Is it permissible to enroll in school while in B-1/B-2 status?

No, it is not.  The regulations, at 8 CFR 214.2(b)(7), specifically prohibit a course of study in the United States while in B-1 or B-2 status.

Before enrolling in a course of study, individuals who are in B-1 or B-2 status must first acquire F-1 (academic student) or M-1 (vocational student) status.  Enrolling in a course of study while in B-1/B-2 status will result in a status violation.  Individuals in B-1 or B-2 status, who have violated their nonimmigrant status by enrolling in a course of study, are not eligible to extend their B status or change to F-1 or M-1 status. These regulations provide no exceptions.

 

 

That is a direct quote from the USCIS site.

Edited June 7, 2017 by missileman

[Sharif Shakhshir 5]

2 minutes ago, missileman said:

Is it permissible to enroll in school while in B-1/B-2 status?

No, it is not.  The regulations, at 8 CFR 214.2(b)(7), specifically prohibit a course of study in the United States while in B-1 or B-2 status.

Before enrolling in a course of study, individuals who are in B-1 or B-2 status must first acquire F-1 (academic student) or M-1 (vocational student) status.  Enrolling in a course of study while in B-1/B-2 status will result in a status violation.  Individuals in B-1 or B-2 status, who have violated their nonimmigrant status by enrolling in a course of study, are not eligible to extend their B status or change to F-1 or M-1 status. These regulations provide no exceptions.

 

 

That is a direct quote from the USCIS site.

Thank you but, before this whole idea came up, I checked with the high school and they specifically said that immigration status is irrelevant for enrolling in their school.  Perhaps the regulations you are citing only pertain to adults (18+)?

[Crazy Cat 41,898]

1 minute ago, Sharif Shakhshir said:

Thank you but, before this whole idea came up, I checked with the high school and they specifically said that immigration status is irrelevant for enrolling in their school.  Perhaps the regulations you are citing only pertain to adults (18+)?

Nope........Enroll them at your own peril........

Edited June 8, 2017 by missileman

[Boiler 45,557]

You mean to say the US does not provide free education for visitors from around the world?

 

Must be Trump.

[Crazy Cat 41,898]

4 minutes ago, Boiler said:

You mean to say the US does not provide free education for visitors from around the world?

 

Must be Trump.

Amazing, isn't it?

[MalachiPDX 111]

Wife visited me during the USCIS stage for 2 months, they basically only asked if she had her birth certificate and she did not. He did not ask any other relationship questions. 

 

In 2 days she will be here , we are at the embassy stage with an interview scheduled Next month. I dont know what a stronger case to go back is! Still a little nervous. 

[Sharif Shakhshir 5]

8 hours ago, UsSwedlover said:

Wife visited me during the USCIS stage for 2 months, they basically only asked if she had her birth certificate and she did not. He did not ask any other relationship questions. 

 

In 2 days she will be here , we are at the embassy stage with an interview scheduled Next month. I dont know what a stronger case to go back is! Still a little nervous. 

Best of luck.  Keep us posted.   So they never inquired about pending USCIS application?

[MalachiPDX 111]

On 6/9/2017 at 0:37 AM, Sharif Shakhshir said:

Best of luck.  Keep us posted.   So they never inquired about pending USCIS application?

Shes here now. 

 

The guard asked , "Are you here for vacation" 

she replayed "vacation" 

g- "where are you staying"

S- (names part of town, with my friends and husband)

g-"OK, enjoy the rain"

 

This is also Portland airport which has the most relaxed guards in my opinion. 

[mallafri76 1,012]

On 6/7/2017 at 6:47 PM, Sharif Shakhshir said:

I checked with the school in advance and thankfully, they only need birth certificate, prior school records and vaccinations.  Thankfully, immigration status is not a condition for a child to receive an education.

That's good. As a US tax payer, I don't mind tourists from other countries coming to the US and using our resources for free.... 

 

Oh, and when your wife and her kids come over on their visitors visas, be sure they tell CBP that they're coming to start school in the US. Because you know, thankfully immigration status is not a condition for a child to receive a free education paid for by US taxpayers...

Edited June 13, 2017 by mallafri76

[PP_2016 246]

On 2/10/2014 at 11:17 PM, Hotter Otter said:

It also applies to CR1 people but we haven't had a general thread for it in this section which is why I created it.

This a really good thread. I have my CR1 case in the last leg and little late for this thread though.

[Sharif Shakhshir 5]

There are so many success stories about spouses visiting their US citizen husband/wife.

 

Can anyone share any stories where they were not successful?

[wanderlust88 17]

has anyone visited between NVC CC and interview? I've visited twice while my I-130 was under process but a little worried about my upcoming conference trip now that I'm further along in the process and don't want to jeopardize anything. i would rather not travel to the US now but i'm having to as a it's a work thing. sigh.

[Jens79 64]

5 hours ago, wanderlust88 said:

has anyone visited between NVC CC and interview? I've visited twice while my I-130 was under process but a little worried about my upcoming conference trip now that I'm further along in the process and don't want to jeopardize anything. i would rather not travel to the US now but i'm having to as a it's a work thing. sigh.

 

I just did a couple of weeks ago. I got the email from NVC with my interview date on June 14, I went to the US on June 16 and stayed for 10 days. No problems what so ever. I used the APC-kiosks at JFK and the only question I got was how many days I was staying. 

[acidrain 325]

I thought I'd share my story for all of those who have gone through the experience of being denied entry (Section 212 7a) and wondering if you can visit afterwards. I've been married for 9 years to my dual US/Canadian spouse and we have a 4 year old son. Now that we know the rules we feel stupid to have sold our house and packed up all our belongings into a U-Haul. Last Jan we attempted to cross the US border and I was denied entry. The border agent said he'd permit my son and my stuff to cross but not me until I completed the immigration process. I was denied not necessarily because I intended to immigrate but because of lack of ties to Canada. The border agent was actually very nice throughout the ordeal and we had to come back to Canada to figure out how to do everything legally.

 

I was told to call the same land crossing when I wanted to visit my spouse. The short end of the story is I got the supervisor who in my opinion was very rude. Everyone else at this land crossing was nice and professional. However, the supervisor said if I crossed the border I'd be turned back. The part I found the most shocking was how little this border supervisor knew about the immigration process. I got into an argument when he said it was "impossible" for a spousal visa to take a year because there was no wait time for it. It's true a spouse does not have to wait for a visa to become available but as we all know it takes time to process. My spouse and I asked several different POE's what their take was. After being fingerprinted, photo taken and entered into the system I was terrified of a ban. The agents at Vancouver airport, Seattle airport, Las Vegas airport and Sumas land crossing were all in unison. They said it was up to the individual border agent whether they felt I would return to Canada and it would be up to me to prove to the agent I would return. I also asked our lawyer who is a retired Federal immigration judge who also said the same.

 

Our lawyer suggested I draft up a letter of declaration I would give to secondary that demonstrated I had no intention to immigrate and that I will return to Canada. Our lawyer signed and stamped my letter to show he had reviewed it. I put together a binder of documents just as other has suggested in these forums (thank you). I printed off everything I could think of that showed any evidence I was coming back. I printed off a Facebook message chat with my best friend showing our plans for the summer and hotel reservations. I had fall school registration for both myself and my son. I had a copy of my lease, damage deposit, a bank statement showing all my bills including my rental payments, photos of the inside of my apartment, return ticket, letter from my son's daycare provider, day care subsidy, payment of MSP coverage, a copy of my spouses letter of employment, mail forwarding service, car insurance, credit card statement, a quote for my son's dental procedure and appointment, doctor's appointment.

 

I have been told there are two categories of people. Those who the border knows are trying to immigrate and those they do not know. Most people in this forum will more than likely visit without ever having to go through secondary. I was told however that once you are in the system you are in there until your immigration status has been resolved. So every time I enter the US I will be subjected to the following.

 

I arrived at the airport and was told to check in at the self serve kiosk. I was not able to complete the transaction as I need additional security checks. I had to go check in with a real person and she told me I had been "randomly selected" for additional security checks. I already figured I was in the system after my Section 212 denial. You will know if you have been selected because you will have four SSSS on your boarding pass. I wound up being a nervous wreck on my connecting flight not knowing what kind of grilling process was going to happen. I had no idea how my previous denial would impact me. The Westjet attendant was at least funny in saying she's always selected for random checks because she once puked on the plane.

 

I got to YVR and was totally prepared to be told to get on another flight back home. I entered the security screening area and the first person asked if that was my boarding pass. My son who I was traveling with did not have the four SSSS as I was told he has a claim to citizenship therefore can stay in the US if we wanted. I had to go through a number of additional security screening tasks. They took me aside and did a complete pat down. Then they took a sample from my hands and my waste band for drugs. Then the x ray machine had to carefully screen my carry on bag. When that was done I was asked to turn on my electronics as they needed to confirm it wasn't a bomb.

 

I went to check into the self serve kiosk stations for US customs. I took my photo and told the machine I was visiting as a tourist. When it printed out my ticket it had a big X across my face. If you've watched the show Family Feud I could hear the X buzzer go off in my head. I gave the ticket to the attendant and she said I was to go a different way than the others. I waited in line with others who appeared to have Visa's that needed stamping. All the other Canadians were in another line up. After waiting a while I went up to the station. The border agent was very nice and you could tell was rooting for us. He checked over the permission letter my spouse provided for my son. He muttered "let's see what's going on here" and could see him taking a deep breath. If it were Family Feud this was the second XX buzzer to go off. He told me to accompany him to secondary and told my escort that I had immigration issues and a random bag check.

 

I have to say all the US customs agents were very professional and nice during my encounter at YVR. We were taken to an area to wait for an agent. I was really stressed out by this time. I tried to stay calm as I was traveling with my 4 year old son. I thought 2 1/2 hours for a layover would've been fine but did not realize how long everything would take. My son of course had to use the washroom so we wound up  having to leave the secured area and come back. They were really good about that and was thankful. The agent was ready for me upon my return. She asked how many bags I had because they had to find them to take them physically off the plane and search them. She asked for a list of employers since the year I married my spouse. Since we have been married almost 10 years it was a lot of companies and schools I had to list.

 

I showed the border agent my ties to Canada and the declaration letter I had put together with the help of my lawyer. We went through the binder from start to finish. I explained everything. I included a copy of all the correspondence with my lawyer. I also included the entire copy of my IR-1/IR-2 application. She flat out asked me "how do I know your not going to stay in the US and wait out the immigration process"? It was a valid question and I pointed out all the appointments I had to come back for and me and my son's school. She was very nice and professional and was quite relieved I had gotten an agent who knew the immigration process extensively. I brought up a prior application which realized later I really did not need to overcompensate information. But she said that it's good my spouse is living in the US because he has to prove domicile (ties to the US) which he did not have before. It sounds like the agent who denied entry was fair in his notes and said we were a bunch of morons who meant no harm. We just did not know what we were doing. It was the truth and it was the honest truth I was coming back to Canada.

 

The border agent did say something to the effect that I was coming back right away so there was no concern there. I watched Border Security religiously in the days leading up to my trip. If you treat the trip more than a simple vacation it will raise flags. In all honesty most people can't leave their lives for more than a week or two. If a person can blow off their life for 3 months than it's a valid question to ask how strong the persons ties are to that country. I asked if I had to go through this process again and she said absolutely until the immigration process is resolved either way. She could not tell me if traveling in 6 weeks would be approved. It depends on so many variables and it often depends on the agent in front of you. She complimented my binder and said she wished she could show others the extensive evidence I provided. I spent days putting things together, highlighting, writing notes. It paid off because I was a nervous wreck. She approved my trip and stamped my Passport and we had a wonderful 12 day trip!

 

2 out of the 3 bags did not make it to my destination. My word of advice for anyone in a similar situation is to make sure you allow enough time for questioning. I thought 2 1/2 hours would be more than enough but I literally made it to my flight with 5 minutes remaining. I intend on traveling back to visit my spouse in 6 weeks and putting together a new package showing what I have to come back for. Things like if you plan on attending a wedding, baby showers, appointments are quite helpful. I know occupation is one of the more important things too and showed my tuition payment. I also included a list of phone numbers including a cell phone for my landlord should she want to call. I was as transparent as possible and the whole process took a while. But it worked and it was worth it!

Edited July 11, 2017 by acidrain