Very quick question that I'm sure someone here could answer

[Neo16521 0]

First off I am so glad I found this forum.  You guys are the best.  Huuuuuuuuuge load of info everywhere.  Thank you guys in advance!!!

 

Anyway, for my super quick question;

 

After marrying abroad, and getting through the I-130 interview my fiance in her country must wait for the spousal visa to be granted.  During this wait time for her to receive the visa is it possible at all for her to come visit me for a bit in the US on a tourist visa?

 

I'm guessing no otherwise more people would be doing that and just staying in the US and that also it would red flag immigration at the airport.

 

All answers will be appreciated.  My sincerest apologies of this question has been asked before, but I wouldn't think it'd be common.

[Chancy 6,241]

30 minutes ago, Neo16521 said:

After marrying abroad, and getting through the I-130 interview my fiance in her country must wait for the spousal visa to be granted.  During this wait time for her to receive the visa is it possible at all for her to come visit me for a bit in the US on a tourist visa?

 

Did the embassy/consulate not keep your wife's passport after the interview?  If they did, then your wife will need to ask for her passport back if she must travel.  Hopefully, the consulate did not cancel her existing tourist visa.  Since the consulate cannot issue a visa without a passport, the spouse visa case will be put on hold pending the return of the passport.  Are you both ok with that delay in visa processing?

 

Anyway, to answer your question -- yes, it is possible to visit even after the visa interview, assuming the traveler has a valid tourist visa.  I know of one VJ member (with ESTA) who did this.  But, remember that entry is subject to CBP inspection, so there is always the risk of being denied entry.  Is there an issue with your wife's spouse visa processing that you're both willing to risk this when you are this close to the finish line?

 

[Neo16521 0]

Ahh sorry I should have been a little more clear.  We're not married yet.  This is more of when we get to that part in the future.
 

Wow!  So interesting! so tourist visas are allowed while waiting?  For some reason I'd think they would be frowned upon.  I mean if it would put us in some type of risk then we wouldn't do it, but figured why not while all that waiting happens if we have the means for it.

[Chancy 6,241]

5 minutes ago, Neo16521 said:

so tourist visas are allowed while waiting?

 

Check this pinned thread for more info and testimonies from other VJ members --

 

 

[Lil bear 4,189]

29 minutes ago, Neo16521 said:

Ahh sorry I should have been a little more clear.  We're not married yet.  This is more of when we get to that part in the future.
 

Wow!  So interesting! so tourist visas are allowed while waiting?  For some reason I'd think they would be frowned upon.  I mean if it would put us in some type of risk then we wouldn't do it, but figured why not while all that waiting happens if we have the means for it.

If she holds a visitor visa issued prior to the I130 application being submitted .. or is eligible to enter the US using  the VWP.. that is more likely to be a successful entry attempt than applying for B1/2 visa after starting the spousal immigration process. Less likely to have the visitor visa application approved with a preexisting  immigration application .. but travelling on VWP or an already held visitor visa is fine .. still subject to CBP decision on entry ..

[Neo16521 0]

Thank you all for your answers!!!  Very much appreciated!

[P0907 127]

Your spouse should be able to enter as a tourist, however must be ready to prove that they intend to go back home after their visit is over. 

[pushbrk 12,876]

11 hours ago, Neo16521 said:

Thank you all for your answers!!!  Very much appreciated!

Please show your appreciation by completing your profile and then later, keeping your timeline up to date.  You don't even mention which country, so none of your answers are country specific.  To YOUR question, you need country specific answers.

[Neo16521 0]

2 hours ago, pushbrk said:

Please show your appreciation by completing your profile and then later, keeping your timeline up to date.  You don't even mention which country, so none of your answers are country specific.  To YOUR question, you need country specific answers.

Will do right now!  I'm in the US and she's in Namibia.

[pushbrk 12,876]

21 hours ago, Neo16521 said:

Will do right now!  I'm in the US and she's in Namibia.

Makes a big difference.  Unless she already has a B1B2 visa, she's unlikely to get one.

[pushbrk 12,876]

21 hours ago, Neo16521 said:

Will do right now!  I'm in the US and she's in Namibia.

Quite often, whether a couple meets online or in person, it seems natural to think in terms of visiting each other. When the foreigner is a citizen of Canada or one of the Visa Waiver Program countries, (sometimes referred to as ESTA.) this is pretty easy to arrange, because neither the US Citizen or foreign loved one needs a visa to visit the other in their home country.

For countries not a part of the program, the foreigner always needs to apply for a visitor visa and in many cases the US Citizen does too. Pretty much any country will grant a visitor visa to a US Citizen without a criminal record. However, to the surprise of many, it’s not so easy for foreigners who need a visa to visit the USA, to actually obtain one.

US Immigration law includes what seems to many to amount to a “Catch 22”. First, people with immigrant intent are not eligible for visitor visas to the USA. In and of itself, that stipulation doesn’t seem like much of a hurdle, but the law also requires those making the visa issue decision (US Consular Officials) to presume all applicants have immigrant intent, until shown fully sufficient evidence to the contrary.

Before discussing what constitutes evidence of no immigrant intent, it’s important to note that being married or engaged to a US Citizen, makes it virtually impossible to overcome the assumption that the applicant’s “intent” actually is to live in the USA with their US Citizen loved one, even if the intent is not yet fully formed, or is nothing more than a maybe for sometime in the future.

To overcome the required presumption of immigrant intent, Consular Officials are looking for evidence of strong ties to the applicant’s home country, that would all but compel them to return home after their allowed visits. US Visitor visas are issued for multiple visits over a period of years, usually ten years, so even the evidence of possible future immigrant intent is enough to have the visa denied.

The folks who have a pretty easy time showing ties to their home country, are those who have one or more of the following.

• A well paying job, that requires travel to the USA for legitimate business purposes
• Significant personal assets such as real estate investments beyond the family home
• Business ownership with financial statements showing plenty of profit and business value
• A high ranking government job
• Academic Professionals coming to Professional Conferences

Along with one or more of the above, it can help to some extent, to be applying for a visa only for themselves, leaving spouse, children or both, behind in the home country. Just leaving spouse, and/or children behind is not enough. If it were, many crossing the border to work illegally in the USA, so they can send money back their families would qualify for visitor visas, and simply overstay, instead of climbing a fence or swimming a river, etc.

 

Unfortunately, Consular Officials tend to err on the side of caution, resulting in many legitimate applications by people who can afford to visit and have no intention of overstaying their visas, being denied visas.

Even when the couple is permanently living abroad in the foreign spouse’s home country, and just want to be able to visit family together as spouse’s often do, they get denied. One justification for this is that, it is quite possible that within the time period the visa is valid for US entry, circumstances often change, that alter the couple’s intent. Examples would be health issues that the couple decides are better dealt with in the USA. This could be anything from issues related to the US Citizen aging, or one of them being pregnant, or having a child who will soon be of school age, etc.

Consular Officials also know that many applicants will lie about their intentions, in order to circumvent the long, tedious and relatively expensive routes to legal immigration. Once in the USA as a visitor, the foreigner married to a US Citizen is allowed to simply apply to adjust their status to Lawful Permanent Resident, based on their marriage to the US Citizen. 

I often get questions from couples living abroad who “just want to visit the USA together” and truly have no immigrant intent, where the foreign spouse has been denied a visitor visa. For some, I ultimately conclude that they don’t have a successful path available to them. For those where the US Citizen has been employed long term in the foreign spouse’s country, jointly owns a home there and has made their life abroad for several years, I’m able to guide them in showing the US Citizen’s ties to the foreigner’s home country, to the degree they can be successful in obtaining the desired visa.