Am I at risk for misrepresentation? (merged)

[clericbeast 12]

Just to clarify also, the thing I have been worried will be seen as misrepresentation is that I told the border officer I couldn’t be in the US for longer than a month due to Universal Credit, and he likely wrote that in the notes, but we extended the trip to over 2 months. I worry that when my immigrant visa is being processed, they will see those notes and assume I lied to gain entry.

[Redro 4,611]

26 minutes ago, clericbeast said:

Just to clarify also, the thing I have been worried will be seen as misrepresentation is that I told the border officer I couldn’t be in the US for longer than a month due to Universal Credit, and he likely wrote that in the notes, but we extended the trip to over 2 months. I worry that when my immigrant visa is being processed, they will see those notes and assume I lied to gain entry.

Situations change... 

But INTENT is established at the border. 

TWO THINGS:

1.) You went back to the UK before the 90 days was over... you did not overstay.

2.You didn't GAIN anything while you were in the US (no immigration benefits) 

There is no misrepresentation (when it comes to the US and your stay there)...

TBH... you could have stayed in the US, married and adjusted with no issue... (yes although my point two is you didn't gain an immigration benefit... it would have been okay to adjust while in the US). 

As you explained, your situation changed and your boyfriend proposed and he offered to support you... so no misrepresentation because to you staying in the US was not an option when you entered. 

 

Read up about fraud and misrep here....

And tell us what you gained? Remember the CBP officer allowed you to stay for up to 90 days... he didn't only give you an authorized stay for the amount of time you said you would be in the country. 

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by ROK2USA

[clericbeast 12]

8 minutes ago, ROK2USA said:

Situations change... 

But INTENT is established at the border. 

TWO THINGS:

1.) You went back to the UK before the 90 days was over... you did not overstay.

2.You didn't GAIN anything while you were in the US (no immigration benefits) 

There is no misrepresentation (when it comes to the US and your stay there)...

TBH... you could have stayed in the US, married and adjusted with no issue... (yes although my point two is you didn't gain an immigration benefit... it would have been okay to adjust while in the US). 

As you explained, your situation changed and your boyfriend proposed and he offered to support you... so no misrepresentation because to you staying in the US was not an option when you entered. 

 

Read up about fraud and misrep here....

And tell us what you gained? Remember the CBP officer allowed you to stay for up to 90 days... he didn't only give you an authorized stay for the amount of time you said you would be in the country. 

 

Oh… that actually makes perfect sense. For a while I was worried that my I-94 might be wrong or hadn’t updated, and that he might have only admitted me until my return flight date in the notes, but he never told me that and the I-94 to this day remains as 28th February 2023 when I check it. I think my brain is finding anything and everything to stress about and assume the worst.

 

Thank you so much for laying it all out so thoroughly and responding so quickly. I truly appreciate it more than you know. I can have a hard time rationalising my worries sometimes, and I hope to hear from a therapist soon to help tackle this way of thinking. You have helped tremendously in the meantime though, so thank you

[Rocio0010 5,579]

Hey there! I read your post last night, but I wanted to wait until  I had some caffeine in my system to reply (my folks at VJ know that I keep saying I have to stop logging in before my morning coffee haha).

 

Please don't take me wrong, I sure do not want to offend you but I can empathize with you as an anxiety- driven person myself. Your brain is picking out on things to worry about. Please, please, find healthier ways to deal with anxiety because this will be your first step with immigration, not the last. The process can in fact be stressful itself, but we tend to make it worse by adding unnecessary stressors. And yes, they are unnecessary because, as @ROK2USA has pointed out, your change of mind does not constitute a material misrepresentation. Let's go to the USCIS policy manual:

 

Willful Misrepresentation

Inadmissibility based on willful misrepresentation requires a finding that a person willfully misrepresented a material fact.^[2] For a person to be inadmissible, the officer must find all of the following elements: 

• The person procured, or sought to procure, a benefit under U.S. immigration laws; --not your case, because you were not seeking any benefit by extending your stay

• The person made a false representation; you were planning to leave when you talked to CBP, so no falseness here

• The false representation was willfully made; again, you did not know your plans were going to change

• The false representation was material; and-- it wasn't material, because if you had stayed and adjusted that would have been fine.

• The false representation was made to a U.S. government official, generally an immigration or consular officer. again, no false representation here.

 

May I also suggest that you use your anxiety in a more productive way? For example, start reading the guides here in VJ and gather the documents needed to build your case, so that everything is ready to go as soon as you obtain your marriage certificate.

[clericbeast 12]

8 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

Hey there! I read your post last night, but I wanted to wait until  I had some caffeine in my system to reply (my folks at VJ know that I keep saying I have to stop logging in before my morning coffee haha).

 

Please don't take me wrong, I sure do not want to offend you but I can empathize with you as an anxiety- driven person myself. Your brain is picking out on things to worry about. Please, please, find healthier ways to deal with anxiety because this will be your first step with immigration, not the last. The process can in fact be stressful itself, but we tend to make it worse by adding unnecessary stressors. And yes, they are unnecessary because, as @ROK2USA has pointed out, your change of mind does not constitute a material misrepresentation. Let's go to the USCIS policy manual:

 

Willful Misrepresentation

Inadmissibility based on willful misrepresentation requires a finding that a person willfully misrepresented a material fact.^[2] For a person to be inadmissible, the officer must find all of the following elements: 

• The person procured, or sought to procure, a benefit under U.S. immigration laws; --not your case, because you were not seeking any benefit by extending your stay

• The person made a false representation; you were planning to leave when you talked to CBP, so no falseness here

• The false representation was willfully made; again, you did not know your plans were going to change

• The false representation was material; and-- it wasn't material, because if you had stayed and adjusted that would have been fine.

• The false representation was made to a U.S. government official, generally an immigration or consular officer. again, no false representation here.

 

May I also suggest that you use your anxiety in a more productive way? For example, start reading the guides here in VJ and gather the documents needed to build your case, so that everything is ready to go as soon as you obtain your marriage certificate.

Hi, thank you for responding! I am not offended at all. Anxiety is an infuriating beast to deal with, and what you mentioned about this only being the first step of many in the immigration process is exactly why I have referred myself back to therapy. I finished less intensive counselling a while back, but I now realise there are some deep-rooted habits and patterns I need to address and learn to cope with, so I re-referred myself for more focused therapy. I thank you for your honesty and have taken no offence!

 

I am actually doing that too, it’s kind of how this worry popped up. I’m in the process of acquiring my police certificate and talking with my doctor about how to acquire my medical file. I will continue to look at the various guides and experiences here for sure. I honestly just wanted some short-term relief in knowing what future prospects were for me regarding my secondary inspection, but I know the issue of my anxiety is still in need of addressing.

 

Thank you so much again for responding and being direct with me

[clericbeast 12]

I hope it’s okay to reopen this thread as it relates directly to it, but I wondered if I was correct in my assumption that I will likely face issues returning to the US as a tourist due to deviating significantly from my initially stated travel plans. Does anyone have any insight?

 

I have a job now, but I still live with my parents. Also still receiving Universal Credit, which is what I mentioned in my secondary inspection last time.

 

Oh, and we’re going for K1 instead of spouse visa now, for a variety of reasons, but we are certain this is the best path for us.

Edited November 18, 2023 by clericbeast
Forgot some info I wanted to add

[pushbrk 12,814]

19 minutes ago, clericbeast said:

I hope it’s okay to reopen this thread as it relates directly to it, but I wondered if I was correct in my assumption that I will likely face issues returning to the US as a tourist due to deviating significantly from my initially stated travel plans. Does anyone have any insight?

 

I have a job now, but I still live with my parents. Also still receiving Universal Credit, which is what I mentioned in my secondary inspection last time.

 

Oh, and we’re going for K1 instead of spouse visa now, for a variety of reasons, but we are certain this is the best path for us.

Deviating from your stated travel plans is only an issue if you overstayed your allowed visit time, or/and are returning too soon.

[Boiler 45,318]

You can reasonably expect another trip to Secondary and that they will have a record of your previous entry and what was said.

[clericbeast 12]

2 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Deviating from your stated travel plans is only an issue if you overstayed your allowed visit time, or/and are returning too soon.

Oh, interesting. I also realise it is entirely up to the CBP agent at the time. Thankfully I did not overstay my I-94, and my last departure from the US was February 12th this year (allowed visit time was up to February 28th)

 

Any advice? In your opinion, should I wait longer to visit again?

 

My fiancé can next visit me in April next year, so I was discussing potentially trying to come see him again before then, if I felt confident enough after my visit to secondary, which was very anxiety inducing for me.

[clericbeast 12]

5 minutes ago, Boiler said:

You can reasonably expect another trip to Secondary and that they will have a record of your previous entry and what was said.

Sounds like a fun time 😭 I will probably not bother then. Wasted flight money could be saved for the upcoming move after K1 instead. Thank you!

 

Do you advise that I bring any evidence to back up what I said in secondary inspection to my K1 interview? Does this stuff come up?

Edited November 18, 2023 by clericbeast
typo

[Boiler 45,318]

Not something likely to come up in a K1

[clericbeast 12]

On 4/25/2023 at 11:56 AM, clericbeast said:

Just to clarify also, the thing I have been worried will be seen as misrepresentation is that I told the border officer I couldn’t be in the US for longer than a month due to Universal Credit, and he likely wrote that in the notes, but we extended the trip to over 2 months. I worry that when my immigrant visa is being processed, they will see those notes and assume I lied to gain entry.

This part is still sticking out to me now that I have returned to this thread. I am less anxious about it now, but still apprehensive. I know the US takes dealings with CBP or any immigration official very seriously, even just the possibility of a lie to gain admission to the US.

 

Misrep seems confusing to me, because how, without the ability to read minds, would they prove a material misrepresentation regarding intent for a previous trip? Aside from obvious, severe cases like outwardly lying on a visa application, or claiming to be single when actually you are married etc.

 

I want to prepare for the worst where I can, so if I were to bring evidence that this was not a material misrepresentation to the interview, would it help my case if they accuse me?

 

My evidence includes: everything I brought into secondary that I listed in my initial post, my correspondence with Universal Credit after my return where I inform them I was out of the country for longer than a month and arrange to repay them, evidence of those repayments, email confirmation/bank statements confirming my return flight was changed to February 12th 2023 on December 12th 2022 which is the day after my fiancé proposed to me, and my initial travel insurance that was valid from December 1st to December 15th, as I gave myself a day extra in case of flight delays.

 

I was also honest about my trip being to spend time with my (at the time) boyfriend before the holidays, because that’s all there was to it, not even tourism really lmao. It wasn’t until my boyfriend became my fiancé that we realised “Am I gonna move to the US after this trip? Is this the last time I will visit the States before a lengthy immigration process? Should we make the most of this trip and spend the holidays together and with his family and his friends that have now become my friends too?” etc. 

 

Would that be sufficient if it pops up in the interview? 

 

As you can probably tell, I am not very familiar with dealing with US officials lmao. Hence why secondary was so scary for me. I know it’s something I will have to get used to for my immigration journey, but I just find misrep to be a grey area, regarding how they prove it and how the applicant disproves it (and if they are even given the chance!) I know CBP treat you as suspect from the start and it is on you to prove otherwise, so I guess I am expecting the COs to be the same and want to prepare for potential suspicion.

 

I would appreciate kindness, but of course, I know how tiresome it can be to deal with anxious people. Trust me, I am currently undergoing the long gruelling journey of managing this better. I’m just looking for info and advice from people with more knowledge than I, as I know the previous responses helped me a lot when I made the initial post. A lot of these worries have only now popped up for me again bc I’m about to send off the petition, so it all feels very real and scary and exciting and just… a lot of emotions, and I don’t want anything to get in the way of this if I can help it.

 

I am also unsure if this thread needs to be moved away from the CR-1 category due to me being a K-1 applicant now. I don’t want to violate any TOS due to yet again changing my mind on something lmao!

[TBoneTX 45,031]

30 minutes ago, clericbeast said:

me being a K-1 applicant now

Moved from the CR-1 main forum to the K-1 main forum.

-------

You're worrying too much, I think.  If you're sent to Secondary, wait to hear what they ask you, and answer only those questions.  Be calm, and emphasize your intent to follow all rules.

[clericbeast 12]

7 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Moved from the CR-1 main forum to the K-1 main forum.

-------

You're worrying too much, I think.  If you're sent to Secondary, wait to hear what they ask you, and answer only those questions.  Be calm, and emphasize your intent to follow all rules.

Thank you for moving the thread! I don’t plan to visit again as a tourist, more just nervous about the secondary visit popping up again at K1 interview

[TBoneTX 45,031]

2 hours ago, clericbeast said:

nervous about the secondary visit popping up again at K1 interview

It should be water under the bridge by then.  Over time, London has been concerned chiefly with the financial status of the petitioner, not about secondary CBP caucuses.