Applying for K1 with a Tourist Visa

[sb25 0]

Hello everyone!

My fiancee is in Venezuela. She has a Toursit Visa which she got in February but she has not traveled with it yet. I just came back from Venezuela last week and we are "unofficially" engaged. We both know we will be married, but it will be formal after she meets my family and I present her with the ring.

What I am wondering is, what should we avoid now that she has the Tourist Visa? I know the last thing I want to do is get married while she is here on a Tourist Visa, correct? Will it mess us up if we apply for a K1 after she comes here and returns to Venezuela? I have heard of people getting married while on a Tourist/Student Visa and things turning out to be a wreck because they were married on something other than a Fiancee Visa. I would like to avoid anything like this.

I sometimes wonder if she should not use the Tourist Visa just so it does negatively affect us. You know, coming here on a Tourist Visa, but applying for a K1 6 months later. I don't know if that is bad or not but one could think that she tried to find a way to stay here while visiting??? Does anyone have any suggestions, or experiences that you could share? Is there anything I should avoid doing? Is there anything would make the process easier or more difficult with the K1 because she already has a Tourist Visa?

Thanks a million!

[chocolaterie 0]

if you haven't applied for a k-1 visa and she's just coming for a visit that should be fine. But if she crosses the border and an immigration officer finds out she has a potential USC fiancee they may deny her and send her back home until she gets a k-1 visa.

also you are right in hearing that if she does make it to the US and you two marry and try to adjust status there may be problems. This is because you two already have the intent to move to the U.S. That's why when you adjust from anything other than an immigrant visa, you might run into problems trying to prove that you did not have intent. I hope that makes sense I've had too much caffeine.

[sb25 0]

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it. We haven't applied for the K-1 yet. She just tried to get a Tourist Visa and got it. I started thinking how things might be if she comes here on a Tourist Visa and then she appears to be immediatley engaged. With the timeline it could look like she came here, decided she liked it, so she got a boyfriend, to stay for good. I don't know what happens in these situations, but with the relations between the US and Venezuela, I really want to avoid any trouble.

[iceyspots 0]

Have her come on the tourist visa, use it to spend some time to get to know her. Then send her back, and then have her come back to the states. Then send her back again, and file for K-1.

[MrMrsKnight 0]

Have her come on the tourist visa, use it to spend some time to get to know her. Then send her back, and then have her come back to the states. Then send her back again, and file for K-1.

Thats a lot of coming and going

She's pretty lucky for getting a tourist visa..... it's hard for anyone from South America to get one now.

If I was in her shoes I'd visit a little before applying(gather a lot of proof of meeting ). It might take a few months before she can do that again and I wouldn't miss the opportunity to get to know my fiance's family!

But in the other hand, I can't wait for this whole process to be over with and the sooner you start it the sooner it's over!

It's all up to you but no, visiting you on a tourist visa before applying won't make it harder for you.

[Miwa 0]

Hello,

I am Miwa's fiancee. I obtained my social visit pass (B1/B2) in May 2005 and my fiance, Miwa, applied for the k-1 visa in August 2005. I travelled once to US in Dec 05 and faced no problems when I entered US. However, they asked to see my return ticket and my occupation at the POE. This are standard questions that I faced even before the k-1 application during June 05 visit.

When I went for my k-1 visa interview, they did ask about my B1/B2 visa and asked about the guy I was staying with during my June visit. Other than that (and that they cancelled that visa when they granted me the K-1 visa), nothing really happened.

Hope this helps.

[sb25 0]

Thanks Everyone!

I feel a bit more at ease now. I think what I will do is just kind of contnue on as normal.

Originally I was thinking we would visit back and forth and then apply for the K-1 then

I began wondering how it could look.

Yeah, we are very fortunate that she got the Tourist Visa. Quite honestly I find it sad when I see someone from South America getting there hopes up for a Tourist Visa because I know it is about a 1% chance.

After I begin the processes I should be able to contribute a bit more, but for now I want to say thanks!

[Kajikit 65]

Don't panic... they're not going to try to make arcane links between visits to the US and getting a K1 visa. In fact the two of you HAVE to have met in person at least once before you can apply for it so somebody's going to be travelling somewhere! If you so choose you could apply for the K1 visa while she is here visiting - there's no law against it and it's what some people choose to do. But she'd still have to make sure she went home in good time for her interview...

[ppboo 0]

I'm travel on B1/B2 tourist visa to visit my fiance and we prepared and sent out I-129F while I'm still in U.S.

I went back to Malaysia the same day we send off the I-129F on 9 Mar 2006 to Vermont Service Center.

My case have been approved and NVC has sent my case to Malaysia US Embassy on 29 Mar 2006.

I'm currently waiting for my Packet 3 from Malaysia US Embassy.

Additional note to my profile is that I have use my B1/B2 visa to visit my fiance for more than 8 times over the last 3 years... for the 1st two of my visit to US, I'm being sent over by my company for training... I did not have any problem on the POE....

Hope this help..