ESTA Expires in May 2020 - i130 Pending

[cbro 59]

HI there - my spouse I am petitioning has a current ESTA that expires this May 2020.  My PD is late September and is at Nebraska so not expecting anything until the Fall.  We want to make a trip this summer - and we're looking to get tickets now...  Can we try to renew her ESTA now or do we need to wait?  

[SalishSea 17,829]

23 minutes ago, cbro said:

HI there - my spouse I am petitioning has a current ESTA that expires this May 2020.  My PD is late September and is at Nebraska so not expecting anything until the Fall.  We want to make a trip this summer - and we're looking to get tickets now...  Can we try to renew her ESTA now or do we need to wait?  

You can try to renew it now.  Just make sure that when you travel, your spouse has ample evidence of ties to home.

[cbro 59]

1 hour ago, Jorgedig said:

ample evidence of ties to home.

We visited this past October with no issues... But have heard of some people getting turned away at POE which would be terrible of course... we don't want to ask her employer as she plans to stick around til next bonus period but we will maybe get something to show our kids being in school, and return flights of course but not sure how strong that is.  We'll be the two of us and our two kids travelling together which might help...

[geowrian 22,337]

5 hours ago, cbro said:

and return flights of course but not sure how strong that is

1) That's a requirement of using an ESTA.

2) Nearly every person that has ever overstayed or adjusted status who arrived by plane had a return ticket.

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

Try renew it now but only if the travel dates are post it’s expiry.. ESTA renewal shouldn’t be an issue.. 

[AndyRoo6 97]

13 hours ago, cbro said:

We visited this past October with no issues... But have heard of some people getting turned away at POE which would be terrible of course... we don't want to ask her employer as she plans to stick around til next bonus period but we will maybe get something to show our kids being in school, and return flights of course but not sure how strong that is.  We'll be the two of us and our two kids travelling together which might help...

You should be fine.

 

I had full printed out travel itinerary, letter from employer stating I was full time and had been working since blah blah date and was expected back at work on XXX date and even a letter from our immigration lawyer.

 

I was travelling with my wife. We got there to see a huge line (for non citizens), and my wife simply said to staff that we are a married couple (she is a US citizen). And we went in line together while for US citizens. The whole process took 5 minutes, the lady questioning us was lovely and I did not need a single one of the documents I brought. 

 

So If you are with your partner who is a US citizen then go in the US citizen line with them. But make sure who have as much evidence as you can linking your ties to AUS. At the very least it will make you feel more comfortable to have evidence.

 

You will be fine. Be honest when asked questions and just relax. Don't listen to the horror stories people tell. There are probably details they are not mentioning.

 

 

[Ontarkie 14,222]

~~Moved to Tourist Visas, from Working and Traveling - the OP is asking about ESTA prior to visa approval and entry.~~

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

On 1/2/2020 at 3:00 AM, cbro said:

We visited this past October with no issues... But have heard of some people getting turned away at POE which would be terrible of course... we don't want to ask her employer as she plans to stick around til next bonus period but we will maybe get something to show our kids being in school, and return flights of course but not sure how strong that is.  We'll be the two of us and our two kids travelling together which might help...

Try approved leave application and lease (accomodation) agreements... 

[cbro 59]

On 1/5/2020 at 5:00 AM, Duke & Marie said:

Try approved leave application and lease (accomodation) agreements... 

Yeah we dont really want to ask her employer... and we pay rent to her parents as they own the apartment technically so we dont have a lease handy (we do have something like a home equity line of credit/mortgage on it in OUR names and pay monthly too)  Would some kind of school enrollment proof for our kids be helpful?  Thanks!

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

4 hours ago, cbro said:

Yeah we dont really want to ask her employer... and we pay rent to her parents as they own the apartment technically so we dont have a lease handy (we do have something like a home equity line of credit/mortgage on it in OUR names and pay monthly too)  Would some kind of school enrollment proof for our kids be helpful?  Thanks!

Sorry, but that’s odd. If she is getting leave from her employer, why is it strange to ask the employer to confirm the dates of that? I used to do that all the time when traveling abroad.

 

You can try school enrollment but imo it’s a strange way to try show ties for the whole family, especially if it’s public school and not-big-fees-paid-in-advance private school. (And US public schools don’t ask immigration status when they register kids so that “tie” can break and be remade in the US very simply.)

Edited January 8, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[cbro 59]

17 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Sorry, but that’s odd. If she is getting leave from her employer, why is it strange to ask the employer to confirm the dates of that? I used to do that all the time when traveling abroad.

 

You can try school enrollment but imo it’s a strange way to try show ties for the whole family, especially if it’s public school and not-big-fees-paid-in-advance private school. (And US public schools don’t ask immigration status when they register kids so that “tie” can break and be remade in the US very simply.)

For the job, she's never asked for this before (as we've never really had any concern about being turned away at the border before of course), so we didn't want to make a big fuss as she doesn't want to tell her bosses shes leaving the company until she gets her next bonus, which I'm estimating to be around when she finally gets her interview, early 2021...  I guess we could just say with all the immigration issues in the US etc etc we'd like to ask for this this time just in case.

 

Gotcha on the schools and that makes sense... they are semi-private, and we'd be paying into them - but nothing like some of the debentures people put up here (wow!).

 

TBH we might just bag the trip back this summer and go somewhere else instead with the kids 😉