Travelling on tourist visa whilst waiting for I-130

[JD2 84]

1 minute ago, Kelhec said:

Yes he had a letter from the attorney stating he was returning to Colombia and they would wait to file later, a document from his university proving he was enrolled and had to return, and a return plane ticket.  It was a very traumatic experience and caused a lot of problems.  We learned it was mainly because he has been here 5 month before in the year so just watch cumulative time.  A good immigration attorney will advise you on this.  Ours never asked how long he had already been in the US this year so despite the fact it would have been under 6 months for the year he was flagged and the CPB officer wasn’t buying that he wasn’t planning to stay despite the evidence the contrary.  He even had the invitation to the wedding reception he was here to attend but nope.

Thank you for the info.  Sorry y'all had to go through that.  Sounds horrible.

[Kokomo 2]

Just sharing my experience. Managed to enter the states today to visit my husband for 82 days! Yayyyy! No fuss whatsoever, the officer asked me basic questions like the purpose of my visit, my husband’s job, where he lives etc very very basic question. They seem to only be interested in my return ticket as well as my ESTA, that’s it. Also, I’m not working at the moment and I live with my parents hence I didn’t even bring any pay stub or my lease etc. I think me being from a ESTA country made a lot of difference. 

[Sarpor4 28]

Hello,

 

my husband (USC) is visiting me in Canada right now. He plans to travel back in December. Myself and my daughter want to visit for Christmas and then return home some time after the new year. 
 

So we will all travel back together in December. 

My daughter is dual so I’m the only one with the Canadian passport. But I have my rental lease agreement, my pay stubs, my car insurance with my address on it, return ticket for Feb 1 because I have to go back to work. 
 

Anything else I should have to bring for the customs agent? 
 

thanks! 

[AnnaCa 63]

2 hours ago, Sarpor4 said:

Hello,

 

my husband (USC) is visiting me in Canada right now. He plans to travel back in December. Myself and my daughter want to visit for Christmas and then return home some time after the new year. 
 

So we will all travel back together in December. 

My daughter is dual so I’m the only one with the Canadian passport. But I have my rental lease agreement, my pay stubs, my car insurance with my address on it, return ticket for Feb 1 because I have to go back to work. 
 

Anything else I should have to bring for the customs agent? 
 

thanks! 

Sounds like you should be good to go 😊

 

If you could provide some sort of contract for your work, or some documentation showing that you have work to return to, it would be even better 😊 

 

I have never had to show anything at the border, but I have heard to agents can be rough so it is better to come “over-prepared” 😅

[mam521 2,113]

4 hours ago, Sarpor4 said:

Hello,

 

my husband (USC) is visiting me in Canada right now. He plans to travel back in December. Myself and my daughter want to visit for Christmas and then return home some time after the new year. 
 

So we will all travel back together in December. 

My daughter is dual so I’m the only one with the Canadian passport. But I have my rental lease agreement, my pay stubs, my car insurance with my address on it, return ticket for Feb 1 because I have to go back to work. 
 

Anything else I should have to bring for the customs agent? 
 

thanks! 

If you can get your employer to give you a letter of employment, that would be even better.  But, you have evidence of sufficient ties to Canada so you shouldn't have any problems.  I traveled to the US a couple of times while my I-130 was pending and as long as I had a return ticket, not much fuss was made.  

[MapleHeart 19]

I have a question about interviews. If you have a tourist visa can your interview be switched to USA instead of your country? Like if you are currently in USA.

[totta 26]

14 hours ago, MapleHeart said:

I have a question about interviews. If you have a tourist visa can your interview be switched to USA instead of your country? Like if you are currently in USA.

I have Same question ! 

Edited December 8, 2021 by totta

[rightsided 4]

14 hours ago, MapleHeart said:

I have a question about interviews. If you have a tourist visa can your interview be switched to USA instead of your country? Like if you are currently in USA.

 

36 minutes ago, totta said:

I have Same question ! 

I'm going to say no. As far as I know, you/your applicant cannot come to the states with an intent to change status, but I may be wrong.

What someone told  me earlier in the thread, is that you/your applicant has to return to their home country to conduct their interview.


 

[Budzmaroo 26]

Hi everyone!

I will be visiting my husband this Jan with our dual citizen daughter. I haven’t had a job ever since I gave birth in July 2020 because there’s no one to take care of our daughter. I do have car ownership payment contract, phone bills and a return ticket after a month of stay. We are currently documentarily qualified at nvc and awaiting for an interview. I don’t have plans of staying in the US for so long. Also, me and my husband have been together since 2008 and I never overstayed in the US. My last visit tho was in 2017. I am just a little anxious that I might be given a hard time at the border and not having enough documents to prove that I am really coming back. Anything else I can bring with me aside from the above mentioned??

[rightsided 4]

12 hours ago, Budzmaroo said:

Hi everyone!

I will be visiting my husband this Jan with our dual citizen daughter. I haven’t had a job ever since I gave birth in July 2020 because there’s no one to take care of our daughter. I do have car ownership payment contract, phone bills and a return ticket after a month of stay. We are currently documentarily qualified at nvc and awaiting for an interview. I don’t have plans of staying in the US for so long. Also, me and my husband have been together since 2008 and I never overstayed in the US. My last visit tho was in 2017. I am just a little anxious that I might be given a hard time at the border and not having enough documents to prove that I am really coming back. Anything else I can bring with me aside from the above mentioned??

Given a hard time at the border? No, I don't think that's the correct way of looking at it. CBPO will ask some questions to determine if what you tell them about your visit makes sense or could you be trying to gain entrance to circumvent the system. If you're coming to visit and visiting IS your intent, you'll have no issues. Answer the questions as you normally would. If you're trying to come and eventually stay by adjusting status, well....

My wife got denied entry because she let it 'slip' (something to the effect of) that she was visiting to stay. Despite me telling her she HAD to go back, she had discussed her desire of not returning to her home country with friends/family, and that was all the evidence they needed to deny her entry.

Her situation is/was similar to yours: no employment for a few years, and no real evidence of intent to return, we were also pending at NVC (now pending an interview) but despite that, I think she would've gotten in if she had not discussed not returning with family/friends, and had not mentioned anything of the sort at CBP gates.


 

Edited December 30, 2021 by rightsided

[Budzmaroo 26]

18 minutes ago, rightsided said:

Given a hard time at the border? No, I don't think that's the correct way of looking at it. CBPO will ask some questions to determine if what you tell them about your visit makes sense or could you be trying to gain entrance to circumvent the system. If you're coming to visit and visiting IS your intent, you'll have no issues. Answer the questions as you normally would. If you're trying to come and eventually stay by adjusting status, well....

My wife got denied entry because she let it 'slip' (something to the effect of) that she was visiting to stay. Despite me telling her she HAD to go back, she had discussed her desire of not returning to her home country with friends/family, and that was all the evidence they needed to deny her entry.

Her situation is/was similar to yours: no employment for a few years, and no real evidence of intent to return, we were also pending at NVC (now pending an interview) but despite that, I think she would've gotten in if she had not discussed not returning with family/friends, and had not mentioned anything of the sort at CBP gates.


 

Does this mean that the cbpo called some family and friends and asked them about it? I really don’t have the intention of cheating the system. My husband who is a medical doctor (apparently has a very toxic work schedule), wants to spend time with me and our daughter. He already took all his 15 days off in a year to see our daughter in July 2021 so there’s really no way of him coming over to Canada. I am scheduled to return after a month of visit because I want to get things situated here first before I get called for an interview in Montreal (interview requirements, my bills and accounts here). My husband actually wanted our USC daughter there for good and I’m the only one coming back if I allow him to. My in laws are there and are willing to take care of our baby so I can do things for myself here in Canada. I don’t have anybody by the way to ask to take care of my daughter here, so we are kind of considering it. I am just not sure if cbpo will be well accepting of it even though our daughter is an American citizen. Even though my conscience is clean, I am still anxious that I will be denied entry. 

[SalishSea 17,970]

On 12/7/2021 at 8:04 PM, MapleHeart said:

I have a question about interviews. If you have a tourist visa can your interview be switched to USA instead of your country? Like if you are currently in USA.

Nope

[JD2 84]

2 minutes ago, Budzmaroo said:

Does this mean that the cbpo called some family and friends and asked them about it? I really don’t have the intention of cheating the system. My husband who is a medical doctor (apparently has a very toxic work schedule), wants to spend time with me and our daughter. He already took all his 15 days off in a year to see our daughter in July 2021 so there’s really no way of him coming over to Canada. I am scheduled to return after a month of visit because I want to get things situated here first before I get called for an interview in Montreal (interview requirements, my bills and accounts here). My husband actually wanted our USC daughter there for good and I’m the only one coming back if I allow him to. My in laws are there and are willing to take care of our baby so I can do things for myself here in Canada. I don’t have anybody by the way to ask to take care of my daughter here, so we are kind of considering it. I am just not sure if cbpo will be well accepting of it even though our daughter is an American citizen. Even though my conscience is clean, I am still anxious that I will be denied entry. 

I think you'll be fine because you're from a wealthy country.  Please let us know how it goes.  My wife wants to visit and I think she'll be fine because she has a career and plenty of ties but I still worry because India isn't 1st world.

[rightsided 4]

1 minute ago, JD2 said:

I think you'll be fine because you're from a wealthy country.  Please let us know how it goes.  My wife wants to visit and I think she'll be fine because she has a career and plenty of ties but I still worry because India isn't 1st world.

My wife is from Japan -- arguably, one of the most highly respected countries in the world and one of the wealthiest in Asia -- and she was denied. "Third-world" doesn't matter. Intent of the visiting party does.

 

[JD2 84]

4 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Nope

 

On 12/7/2021 at 11:04 PM, MapleHeart said:

I have a question about interviews. If you have a tourist visa can your interview be switched to USA instead of your country? Like if you are currently in USA.

 

On 12/8/2021 at 1:05 PM, totta said:

I have Same question ! 

I think you can do "adjustment of status" but it's visa fraud if you come to the US on a B1/B2 with the intent to stay.  It can mess you up down the line.  It's just too risky IMHO