Visiting Visa While IR1-CR1 Is Pending

[jennylo87 7]

Hi guys,

 

Hope my story helps someone and calms nerves! Never posted before, but I've been referencing this site for the past year, as my husband and I are nearing the end of our green card process. I'm the USC, my husband is a Cypriot national and we filed our i130 November of 2016. We have our NOA1, NOA2, payed all our fees, and are just waiting for our supporting docs to reach NVC. So, we are nearly at the finish line. My husband has a B1/B2 tourit visa, which he got when when first met (3 years ago), since Cyprus is not on the VWP. We've been living in Cyprus together for the past two years, and I just landed a job opportunity back here in New York. We figured we would fly together (we have a 18 month old who is also a USC) to New York and my husband would return for his interview at the embassy in Nicosia. I was worried sick reading some of the stories on VJ. When we flew, I took copies of everything- our NOA1, NOA2, a complete copy of our NVC package and my husband's return flight, which is booked for March 25th. All that worry for nothing- we were all directed to US entry line, since CBP was not very busy at all. I was about 2 or 3 people behind him, I was delayed a bit- it was a hassle scanning both my and my daughters passport and taking out photo at the kiosk. I watched my husband step up to the CBP officer expecting the worst. The officer asked one question- reason of the visit, to which my husband replied- visiting family. That was it! Visa stamped and given the standard 6 months. Not one question about our pending IV or anything. As soon as I seen the officer stamp his passport, a weight come off my shoulders. So, he's here until the end of July...very hopeful that we will have an interview before that. 

 

Just to note- My husband got his B1/B2 visa in 2015. He's entered only two times since then, Christmas of 2015 and Christmas of 2016- only staying two weeks each...and always getting the maximum allowance of 6 months. So, it's his (and mine, as well), first time back since leaving January of 2016. 

Edited January 28, 2018 by jennylo87

[redvines 57]

These posts have been very reassuring. I'm going over in May for a holiday and this thread has been great to read through.

[Invisigoth 16]

Hello, friends!

 

My husband and I have been dating for almost two years now.  We live about four hours apart (Ontario and Upstate New York).  We generally visit each other every other weekend.  For the majority of our visits, he travels to the States, crossing at the 1000 Island bridge into New York.  Our crossings and interactions with the Border folks have always been great.  My husband has had to pull over for a quick search a couple of times.  I have yet to be stopped for an extra inspection.  When our children travel with us, the officers have been wonderful.  During my son's first crossing, I let them know he was hoping they would ask him some questions.  The officer even spoke a little French.  My son loved it!  Very official-like.

 

My husband and I were married on one of his weekend visits.  On his return trip he let the Canadian officer know that he was married.  The officer asked, "Where is your wife?"  Back in New York.  "Do you have anything in the trunk." No.  "Please pull over."  After a quick check, he was on his way. 

 

He came back to the States for the first time since we were married last weekend.  "Where are you headed?"  To visit my wife for the weekend.  "Have a nice day."  We filed our I130 while he was visiting.  His drive back early in the morning for work was pretty much the same.

 

I'll share our experiences crossing once we get confirmation that our i130 has been received.

 

Cheers!

[Gabrielejjn 20]

Went to see my husband on 9th January, had work letter prepared, travel insurance, noa1 letter, read about a thousand stories, and... guy at customs didn't even say hello, nor wrote a date on stamp

[RJD 2]

Hoping for some advice on a couple of points.

 

1. I have been to the US twice in the time i've been waiting for my CR1 visa. I have been asked to state the last 5 visits to the US with exact dates - will the last 2 visits cause me any issues when i interview?

2. I work for a UK based online business and have been asked to travel to Atlanta for a week on business travel. Is this a problem if I am in the middle of the CR1 visa process?

 

Hope someone can help.

 

Many Thanks

[oloyede777 10]

9 minutes ago, RJD said:

Hoping for some advice on a couple of points.

 

1. I have been to the US twice in the time i've been waiting for my CR1 visa. I have been asked to state the last 5 visits to the US with exact dates - will the last 2 visits cause me any issues when i interview?

2. I work for a UK based online business and have been asked to travel to Atlanta for a week on business travel. Is this a problem if I am in the middle of the CR1 visa process?

 

Hope someone can help.

 

Many Thanks

1. I believe not stating your last 2 visits will cause issues. Because they have you in record. 

2. There's a difference between work related travel and CR1. Nothing like that will affect your CR1 process.

[RJD 2]

4 minutes ago, oloyede777 said:

1. I believe not stating your last 2 visits will cause issues. Because they have you in record. 

2. There's a difference between work related travel and CR1. Nothing like that will affect your CR1 process.

Thanks oloyede777. I will certainly state the last 2 visits on my application but i just hope it doesn't go against me in the interview stage... as for point 2. that's reassuring as i have read business travel is fine on an esta (UK citizen). Would there be any problems if i was to travel to the US again after submitting the documents regarding my last 5 visits... If i was travel after submitting the evidence then technically my last 5 visits would be different when i come to the interview stage.

 

Thanks

[acidrain 325]

1 minute ago, RJD said:

Thanks oloyede777. I will certainly state the last 2 visits on my application but i just hope it doesn't go against me in the interview stage... as for point 2. that's reassuring as i have read business travel is fine on an esta (UK citizen). Would there be any problems if i was to travel to the US again after submitting the documents regarding my last 5 visits... If i was travel after submitting the evidence then technically my last 5 visits would be different when i come to the interview stage.

 

Thanks

As long as you did not stay more than the time you are permitted there won't be any issues. It will in fact work for you at the interview stage because it shows you made the effort to visit your spouse. Coming from a low fraud country if a person is not visiting their spouse for the entire process the interviewer may wonder what kind of relationship it is (just my opinion). I have made 4 visits during the process and I declared all of them. I was told at the border if you travel after you submitted the DS 260 to declare any trips after at the interview stage so they can update your information.

[RJD 2]

1 minute ago, acidrain said:

As long as you did not stay more than the time you are permitted there won't be any issues. It will in fact work for you at the interview stage because it shows you made the effort to visit your spouse. Coming from a low fraud country if a person is not visiting their spouse for the entire process the interviewer may wonder what kind of relationship it is (just my opinion). I have made 4 visits during the process and I declared all of them. I was told at the border if you travel after you submitted the DS 260 to declare any trips after at the interview stage so they can update your information.

Great to hear. I was also of the belief that more travel within the allowed time should come across well - you just never know with these things though. Will ensure i inform the interviewer of any travel between now and the interview - appreciate the quick feedback.

[oloyede777 10]

5 minutes ago, acidrain said:

As long as you did not stay more than the time you are permitted there won't be any issues. It will in fact work for you at the interview stage because it shows you made the effort to visit your spouse. Coming from a low fraud country if a person is not visiting their spouse for the entire process the interviewer may wonder what kind of relationship it is (just my opinion). I have made 4 visits during the process and I declared all of them. I was told at the border if you travel after you submitted the DS 260 to declare any trips after at the interview stage so they can update your information.

That's really true. My wife visited me in Nigeria 5 times in 14 months during our CR1 process. That tells a lot and also build the fact that we can't but to be together also its expensive and risky travelling. I took her travel documents with me for the interview  (though it wasn't necessary ).

[Commando 13]

Yes you can visit with a good prove of return

[Mr_B 3]

For those who want a little extra reassurance, it's useful to check the list of border preclearance airports and book a 2-leg flight through one of those, instead of flying across the Ocean directly and going through immigration in a US airport. 

As a EU citizen in an IR1 process and book all my US trips through Dublin, for now. In the unlikely event of being refused entry because of the ongoing immigration process, I can just walk out of the airport in Ireland and figure out how to get back on a short flight without too much stress.

[Elrona 101]

Does anyone have experience with staying on ESTA max 90 days and then re-visiting again for a shorter period of time before staying out of US for 90 days?

 

I stayed in US from middle of October 2017 until 11th of January 2018. I initially planned to return for a month in May, so I stayed max time available. Circumstances have changed though so I need to return to USA from 19th of March until 9th of April and I am afraid they might not like it on the border. Reasons why I go back earlier are: I will take part of a job interview (it is allowed on ESTA, I won't get paid it is just 2-day job interview and even if I get the job, the start date would be in December 2018).

 

Reason why I stay so long and not just those two days I need for the interview is that I will travel from sea level country to Summit County in Colorado, and I just need time to get used to altitude again  As the job interview requires physical exercises, I need to be ok with altitude or otherwise I would fail within first hour  Also my husband (USC, lives in CO) has 30th birthday coming up and we would love to celebrate it together. And last thing, it would be holida. I would love to ski proper powder as Colorado had really bad start of the winter and my plan to ski a lot off-piste in December and January, didn't really work out and I didn't visit any other ski resorts that I wanted to.

 

What I have to back up my intent to return:

- previous visits to USA (almost 90 day visit in Oct 2017-Jan 2018 (this visit was done after filing I-130), 1-month visit in May 2017, ~3 week visit in Jan/Feb 2017). I have had no problems entering USA before and I have not overstayed on my ESTA

- work commitments back at home (I work for two employers. One contract will end just before I come to USA, but other one is continuing) including set up dates to have business meetings after my return from USA

- another trip in Europe that I already have bought tickets for and for what I need to return. I will probably also have second trip in Europe planned before I fly to USA.

- paperwork showing that me and my husband have started I-130 process and that I intend to do everything legally

- I don't know if that really matters but I work winter season in New Zealand and I will need to return to Estonia to send my passport away for getting the visa. And as New Zealand and USA change information about denying entry, overstaying etc I have no intention of trying to stay in USA illegally, as that would also mess up my visits to New Zealand.

 

If I had known, I will need to come back in end of March, I had left earlier in January but oh well... Can't change it. Any advice what other paperwork I could get to support my intent to return or how bad it is I will not have stayed out of US for 90 days?

[Boiler 45,767]

Certainly high risk and nobody on here will be the one deciding.

 

I assume your jobs are part time/temp, can not work out how you could otherwise spend so much time on holiday.

 

December start date in Summit, something temp in the ski or tourism  industry?

 

I live not that far from Breckenridge, a bit higher, and wondering what you will be doing that you need to acclimatise for, something pretty physical.

 

Snow has been pretty #######, due a bit of a dump on Saturday.

[CM&KV 72]

So I'm typing this as I'm trying to help my husband with a missed flight. France had a delay of nearly 4 hours their afternoon, my morning due to a winter storm. His 2nd plane landed just 15 mins after his 3rd plane left the airport. They ended up giving him a hotel voucher and a new plane ticket.

 

Travel history for him with just the Russia Passport, the Ukrainian passport has at least 4 other trips to the USA on it dated before 2015.

 J1(He was married to someone else during this time, they didn’t want to follow on a J2) from May 2015 till Nov 2016.

 B1 (Company sponsored visa, good for one year with Annotation B in lieu of H, and in the middle of a divorce from now ex-wife) May 2017 till Nov 2017. His divorce was finalized near the start of his trip, and got married to me near the end of his trip. 

B1, same visa, someone from the American company is requesting only him here from the Russian company, that person knows we are in the middle of CR-1. Date of POE is Feb 9th 2018 and was granted 6 months just now. He had in his hands were the Letter from the guy explaining why he needs him here, etickets for his return home (dated for Apr but the company will extend him to the end of July), and our NOA1, and if he had listened to me, the papers for the house we bought in Russia last year, any loans, and his children birth certificates, letter of employment etc.  All they asked was “Where is going” and “What brings him there” Nothing about our CR-1 or the fact that he has had recently left the USA. Honestly I was a nervous wreck all day, and thank goodness I didn't take the day off.

 

He also has a strong travel history of returning back to Russia over the span of ten years, has also traveled to other counties on the Ukrainian passport. This time it sounded like the CBP knew what his note on the visa was, unlike his visit in May 2017 which he was taken to secondary for questioning and he thought he was going to be sent back to Russia, and then a Superior told the officer to let him go and stamp the visa.

 

Luckily his business trips have been in the same city I live and work, we will be spending half the time in the company bought hotel room, (My name will be added to the registration for more proof of bonafide marriage or at least face to face time, etc) And the other half at the apartment I live in. (Wont be adding his name now since the aparment manager says to just wait till he has a greencard to add him to the least.)

Btw if anyone was wondering, the I-94 website updated after he told me the good news, I checked his status ten minutes after this planed and it was from his last trip, so I think it updates automatic. 

 

 

Even thought he is 3 time zones away from me, it feels like Christmas.

Edited February 10, 2018 by CM&KV