Visiting Visa While IR1-CR1 Is Pending

[Biabarida 7]

Just wanted to report that my wife, from Spain, entered into the US yesterday for 85 days without any problem. She came prepared with all the documents and they didn't ask her even a single question. POE was Denver International.

[honeymoon22 6]

Hello,

 

My husband is a USC and I am Canadian. We filed our I-130 late March and also received our NOA1 late march. I am hoping to visit him for a month and am wondering what to expect at the POE. Do I need to have a return ticket? We are not 100% on my return date, hence, we wanted to hold off on buying it but is it safer to have one handy in case they ask? I have visited the States 3 times in the past 6 months (before filing the CR1) and have always experienced extremely quick/easy questioning. The officer usually just asks for the purpose of the travel where I respond by saying 'pleasure' and when he/she follows up by asking 'who are you visiting?' I have always responded by family as we were not legally married until March. Now I am wondering if it is still sufficient to simply say 'family' when asked who I am visiting or if I need to specifically disclose that it is my husband?? 

[MissMyHusband 22]

Anyone will tell you that you should never lie to cpb. But once you say that you are married, it is no longer as easy as it was before you were. Also you should have a return ticket.

[Missmatalini 6]

My husband is coming to visit the end of May for my birthday, from Western Canada. 

He's got a return ticket,  this is the first time he's entering the US to visit me, since I just recently moved down to have a more solid domicile. 

 

Really eases my anxiety about him being turned away reading all the success stories. 

[4000mf 33]

9 hours ago, Missmatalini said:

My husband is coming to visit the end of May for my birthday, from Western Canada. 

He's got a return ticket,  this is the first time he's entering the US to visit me, since I just recently moved down to have a more solid domicile. 

 

Really eases my anxiety about him being turned away reading all the success stories. 

I remember being in the same place with my wife (I’m the beneficiary, UK), this forum and this thread helped a lot. I wouldn’t have dared visit twice if it wasn’t for the advice here, but I’ve had no problems at POE since filing. 

[jennylo87 7]

Hi everyone, 

I posted the end of January about my husband's entry into the US with a B1/B2 visa. He entered with myself (the USC), and our daughter who is also a USC. He went though before us, separately, and he had no issues- just the standard questions- what is your purpose of your visit, etc. This was while we were in the NOA 2 stage, we already sent our AOS/Supporting Docs package to NVC. He was admitted for the standard 6-month period, returning the end of July. 

 

Our original flight had return tickets for the end of March (we thought we'd just change them for when he got notification of his visa interview back in Cyprus- we knew this would be before his 6 months was up). We discussed different scenarios and came to conclusion that it would be nice if my husband flew back to Cyprus with our daughter the end of March (the original return ticket), so he can spend Easter with his family, stay three weeks, and fly back to the US, and change the visa interview for July- so, he'd fly back for a summer holiday. I was a little nervous, thinking the officer at the POE might question why he was here for 2 1/2 months, flew back, and now, is seeking re-entry again, on a tourist visa, after being away for three weeks. It just so happened that while my husband was abroad, we were notified of our visa interview for the 11th of May. I was nervous to change it, thinking that if he did get turned around at the POE, at least it would just be another week or so before his interview. But, we decided it would be best to change it to July, as that's when his actual return flight is. So, I rescheduled his visa interview with the embassy for the end of July. I felt confident because he had the confirmation e-mails from the embassy about the interview, return tickets and everything, if questioned.

 

He made it though! He returned with my mother-in-law and daughter yesterday. He said they asked the standard questions again- how long are you staying (he did say until July- his return flight is for the 14th, and his visa interview is the 20th), why are you here, etc. But, they said NOTHING/asked nothing about his previous visit, nothing about why he was here for 2 1/2 months, and he's now coming back. I thought for sure he'd get scrutinized- but absolutely not. I also should mention his POE was JFK and he did say it was absolute chaos. CBP were short people, and my daughter whose 21 months started to cry and get a bit unruly (understandable after a 12 hr flight and another hr on the CBP line)- so the officers let them cut the line from what he said. He got another 6 months, with a return date of October. That will be a moot point by then, as his visa interview is in July, so the next time he re-enters, it will be with a green card

 

I should mention, he has an excellent entry/exit history and is what is considered a low-fraud country. So, I guess that all works in his favor. 

 

 

[KiwiinMaine 51]

I am currently in Hawaii on vacation while

going through the IR1 process, I’ve also previously been a permanent resident but reliquished my conditional green card at expiry when my husband and I moved back to my home country, New Zealand. I thought I’d share my experience since it’s a super positive one

 

I’m an on a ESTA being a NZ citizen, my husband is a USC, he filled out our US customs and immigration declaration since we count as a family. We got to go through the US citizens processing for immigration, it took all of 10 minutes, including the wait. The CBP officer waved an Aloha sign at us to come down to his window, he asked for our passports and 2 questions total:

1. How long are you here for? 

2. To my husband, do you like marmite? Lol

 

He took my fingerprints and then stamped my passport and that was it. Super duper easy and painless! 

[Emma_Aya 9]

Can anyone give me some advice?

 

I  just sent I-130 (CR-1) last month from Japan. I really want to go to the US to see my husband and his family before getting a green card. 

 

Since I had had VISA denial twice (Nov and Dec on 2017), I will not be able to fly by ESTA.

 

Here is my VISA failed situation:

-Applied for I-VISA on Nov 2017 and failed, due to not having a strong tie to my country (section 214(b)).

-Applied for B1/2 on Dec 2017 and failed, due to the same reason.
 
Can I get B2 visa under this situation? Some of the lawyers told me to try ESTA before applying for B2. However, I am worried about it.

 

I am glad if someone gives me some advice.

[Ryan H 3,812]

15 minutes ago, Emma_Aya said:

Can anyone give me some advice?

 

I  just sent I-130 (CR-1) last month from Japan. I really want to go to the US to see my husband and his family before getting a green card. 

 

Since I had had VISA denial twice (Nov and Dec on 2017), I will not be able to fly by ESTA.

 

Here is my VISA failed situation:

-Applied for I-VISA on Nov 2017 and failed, due to not having a strong tie to my country (section 214(b)).

-Applied for B1/2 on Dec 2017 and failed, due to the same reason.
 
Can I get B2 visa under this situation? Some of the lawyers told me to try ESTA before applying for B2. However, I am worried about it.

 

I am glad if someone gives me some advice.

 

Try to obtain ESTA, the worst that will happen is it will say “ESTA not authorized, apply for visa”; should you receive that notification, it will not adversely affect the spousal visa process.

[Emma_Aya 9]

23 minutes ago, Ryan H said:

 

Try to obtain ESTA, the worst that will happen is it will say “ESTA not authorized, apply for visa”; should you receive that notification, it will not adversely affect the spousal visa process.

Thank you for giving me an advice. Ok, I will try...

[ChrisJay11 31]

On 4/11/2018 at 6:57 PM, Biabarida said:

Just wanted to report that my wife, from Spain, entered into the US yesterday for 85 days without any problem. She came prepared with all the documents and they didn't ask her even a single question. POE was Denver International.

Thanks! Planning on my Spanish spouse to visit me in the U.S. for an extended period. Good to know your process went smoothly.

[Missmatalini 6]

Husband successfully cleared customs today in Vancouver - destination Utah. 

 

He had his lease agreement, work letter stating his return date and a return ticket. 

He got pulled into secondary and was stuck waiting there for about 20 minutes. 

 

They were annoyed that he didn't have a the full copy of his immigration paperwork, but they let him through anyway. 

 

Haven't seen him in 2 1/2 months and I get him for a week! 

[TennMike7 8]

So we waited until we got our notification from USCIS that our case was approved and sent to NVC to apply for a tourist visa for my wife. It was basically just showing them that receipt that got her the tourist visa. They didn't have to see anything else after that. She was instantly approved. We bought her tickets and she got her about a week after submitting all the paperwork (AOS and Ds-260). So, she made it through passport control. Port of entry was Atlanta. Only question was if she was bringing any fruit with her. Ironic, because I have thrown away mangos and avocados coming through that same airport about a year and a half ago.

 

So, her passport was marked for November 2018, exactly six months to the day. Is that how long she can stay? I thought it was 2 90 periods? Would we need to renew her tourist visa for another 90 days? I'm confused about them stamping her passport for November.

[Elrona 101]

One more visit report. This time it was by far the hardest and at I thought I will get sent to secondary. London to LAX, alone. Last visit was in March for 3 weeks and before that October to January for three months so I expected that they are not happy on the border to see me again. Questions asked:

• What will you be doing that long?
• Where will you be staying?
• When was the last visit? Why you visited then?
• Job interview, you mean job offer?
• What position it was for?
• What is your job right now?
• When was the visit before last visit and how long you stayed?
• Where is your husband now? How long have you been married?

He then told me I need a proper visa and we should file the paperwork. I told him that we are just in the middle of it and waiting for case number from NVC. He asked if I have any paperwork and I do have my NOA1 with me so I showed him that. To be honest, he stamped my passport already before seeing NOA1 but when I was searching for it.

 

I got the stamp for 3 months and hopefully this was the last time I entered on an ESTA.

[redvines 57]

Went through a few weeks ago, have an ESTA passport and at the POE all entrants with e-passports go through the same line so my USC wife was with me.  Guy at the border was chatty, I advised him right away I had a visa application pending and was planning to return to Australia to finish the process. He seemed happy about that and asked me how long it was taking/looked my case up to see if he could find any progress for me, chatted with my wife about living in Australia.

 

I don't recall being asked any questions other than the date of my return flight. It was the least invasive border crossing into the US I've ever had.