Tourist visa cancelled by CBP agent. Can we still get a CR1 or K1 Visa?

[Dashinka 24,448]

I would recommend the CR1 as well.

[Daphne . 1,852]

3 hours ago, Lover_Boy said:

CR1 is not a wise choice for the Philippines, I would 100% disagree with you

 

Either way he would have to take a trip to Philippine, and if he did traditional marriage it could be a long stay

 

Utah Marriage has many loopholes as well, like having the marriage not recognized in the Philippines, or if he wants to apply for a residence in Philippines in the future the Online marriage may not work.

 

Best to do K1 and he can just chill out at home and wait for the process to take place. 

They don’t have to get married in the Philippines though? They can pick another country to get married in? 

[SteveInBostonI130 3,416]

For the past 3 years or so, there is no advantage of a K1 over a CR1.

 

K1:  all cons

CR1: all pros

 

The only reason any sane person would do K1 is if that is the only choice:  country is locked down, there is no chance to meet again in the next year, etc.

 

 

[Mike E 11,739]

2 hours ago, Daphne . said:

They don’t have to get married in the Philippines though? They can pick another country to get married in? 

It can be difficult for a citizen of most south east Asian countries to get married in another country:

 

* their passports are weak, reducing the pool of countries in which to marry

 

* of the pool of countries that grant them a visa waiver, it can be difficult to process all the required red tape for two foreigners to marry before the authorized stay expires.

 

I would like to see specific examples of the Philippines government denying CFO to their citizens because a Utah County marriage certificate was presented.

 

 

[Boiler 45,411]

There are certain situations where a K1 is beneficial nothing has been said so far that suggests this is one of them

[JeanneAdil 6,471]

8 hours ago, Lover_Boy said:

CR1 is not a wise choice for the Philippines, I would 100% disagree with you

 

Either way he would have to take a trip to Philippine, and if he did traditional marriage it could be a long stay

 

Utah Marriage has many loopholes as well, like having the marriage not recognized in the Philippines, or if he wants to apply for a residence in Philippines in the future the Online marriage may not work.

 

Best to do K1 and he can just chill out at home and wait for the process to take place. 

but it is recognized by US immigration 

 

they could do a court house ceremony here just to satisfy philippines later

Edited June 17, 2023 by JeanneAdil

[top_secret 2,388]

9 hours ago, Lover_Boy said:

CR1 is not a wise choice for the Philippines, I would 100% disagree with you

 

Either way he would have to take a trip to Philippine, and if he did traditional marriage it could be a long stay

 

Utah Marriage has many loopholes as well, like having the marriage not recognized in the Philippines, or if he wants to apply for a residence in Philippines in the future the Online marriage may not work.

 

Best to do K1 and he can just chill out at home and wait for the process to take place. 

 

CR1 is a very wise choice for the Philippines.  I know.   I have first hand experience with what an awesome choice it was.

 

More or less any way will require at least a short trip by the US person at this point.

 

Utah online marriages heavily tested at this point by both the US Government and the Philippine Government so your statement that online marriages may not be accepted by the philippine government is just plain false.  One simply must register the marriage.  EXACTLY the same as one would need to do with any K1 marriage if they wanted it to be recognized by the Philippine government.

[top_secret 2,388]

1 hour ago, JeanneAdil said:

they could do a court house ceremony here just to satisfy philippines later

Philippines requires an online marriage (or any K1 marriage for that matter) to file a Report of Marriage with the appropriate Philippine Consulate.  That's all there is for it to be recognized in the Philippines. 

[JeanneAdil 6,471]

1 hour ago, top_secret said:

Philippines requires an online marriage (or any K1 marriage for that matter) to file a Report of Marriage with the appropriate Philippine Consulate.  That's all there is for it to be recognized in the Philippines. 

i realize that but for US immigration , it is recognized 

[CFS 14]

Given the tourist visa cancellation, I strongly suggest you get a lawyer so they can guide you through the process. It's pricey but it will give you peace of mind and you have a better chance of avoiding missteps. 

 

Please note that the CR-1 visa process can be very long and that unexpected things can come up at the last moment (e.g. not having the exact version of a particular document at your visa interview can cause a delay, an unexpected DS-5535 security check can cause a delay, medical exams can get prolonged due to sputum testing, etc.). In my humble opinion, it's better to have a clear view about all of this upfront (and a good immigration lawyer can help with this). 

Edited June 19, 2023 by CFS

[Soju 5]

As Many people have mentioned, immigration is not easy process but time consuming with added expense. Patience  will help you get thru and in the end you will have a happy ending. 

 

https://www.boundless.com/immigration-resources/how-is-a-fiance-visa-different-from-a-marriage-based-green-card/#:~:text=A K-1 (fiancé),the noncitizen spouse lives abroad.

I found a page that compares the pros and cons of the K-1 vs. CR-1 visa.  Take it look here.  It's very informative. 

 

 

 

[S@M 22]

Good luck, having just gone thru K-1, that is what I would suggest unless you plan on staying in PHl a fqir amount in the next 2 years.

 

it is a long and tedious process.

 

my fiancee came from Rwanda and once the paperwork make it made it to Rwanda, the process was pretty quick.

 

arrived in US on Oct 10, got married on Nov 5, filed paperwork for AOS, travel and work permit in Dec.  Received work approval in February, did biometrics in April, had aos interview in May, received green card in early June.  Never received travel permit, but niw we don’t need it.

 

what is sad, my mother-in-law in Rwanda applied for tourist visa and was rejected immediatly(no discussion or questions).

 

overall the process was long and the information was very tedious- but certainly worth the effort.

 

good luck

[Zedayn 485]

You can file for K-1 or CR-1 visa even though the tourist visa was cancelled.  The fact the tourist visa was cancelled shouldn't make a difference.  
 

Given that both timelines are about the same it sounds like CR-1 would be the way to go.  K-1 visas used to process much faster and thus was the better choice to bring your gf/fiance to the US.

 

 

[Zedayn 485]

On 6/19/2023 at 8:03 AM, CFS said:

Given the tourist visa cancellation, I strongly suggest you get a lawyer so they can guide you through the process. It's pricey but it will give you peace of mind and you have a better chance of avoiding missteps. 

I wouldn’t recommend a lawyer.  A tourist visa being cancelled is minor.  I had a somewhat more difficult situation and had no issues at all with the process.  
 

Do your research, read the guides here, read the instructions for the various forms, and if there’s something you dont understand, just ask.

[CFS 14]

1 hour ago, Zedayn said:

I wouldn’t recommend a lawyer.  A tourist visa being cancelled is minor.  I had a somewhat more difficult situation and had no issues at all with the process.  
 

Do your research, read the guides here, read the instructions for the various forms, and if there’s something you dont understand, just ask.

Hi Zedayn,

 

I'm glad to hear that your issue was straightforward enough as to not warrant a lawyer!

 

To elaborate a bit further on my response:

• Certainly, not everyone that goes through the CR1 visa process will need a lawyer. Some cases are very straightforward
• That being said, if I could go back in time, I would advise myself to get a lawyer. At the final step (medical exam/visa interview), our visa process was unnecessarily prolonged for 1 year since we lacked a proper "heads up" on a # of topics (listed below):
  • Awareness on proper documentation to be furnished at the visa interview. This includes: 
    • Making sure to bring the *exact* certificate that they need and not other "very similar" certificates (regardless of what's been previously approved for your I-130/DS-260). For instance - although some countries issue 2 versions of a marriage certificate, the Embassy will only accept one specific version (even though you may have uploaded the other version in your I-130 application & this may have been approved)
    • Accidentally bringing copies of documents to the visa interview without the originals (they need to see the original versions, no matter how inconsequential the document may seem)
    • Ensuring any documents that you bring into the visa interview are already uploaded to CEAC (even if they were not originally requested during the DS-260 process)
    • Importantly - making sure to bring new versions of documents such as the CENOMAR/tax returns/W-2s/NBI clearances if the ones you submitted as part of the DS-260 form have already expired by the time of your interview
  • Awareness on the existence of the DS-5535 process for extraordinary background checks (I seriously had no idea that this was a thing until we got the 221G request for this) - this by itself delayed our process by 8 months (and possibly more - jury's still out)
  • Regarding the medical exam - awareness that:
    • Even if you're healthy, the check-ups are not always straightforward. You can be flagged at random to undergo sputum testing (which will delay your case by 2.5 - 3 months at least) or be asked for additional documentation from outside physicians to prove that you are OK if you have underlying medical conditions (technically, this is indicated on the SLEC website but it's not the easiest information to find)
    • It is not straightforward at all to schedule a repeat medical exam in the Philippines (the embassy did not respond to us following 2+ months of inquiries and we only got the answer on how to proceed from a VisaJourney thread!) 
    • Sputum exam scheduling at SLEC in Manila is severely backlogged (it currently takes 1-2 months just to get the appointment and this does *not* include the additional 8-10 weeks of waiting for the bacteria cultures to (hopefully) not grow)

 

I think that in the absence of a lawyer, a lot of the information listed above is 'tribal knowledge" obtained either by 1) reading countless Visa Journey threads (and these may vary highly in terms of their ability to provide accurate information) or 2) going through the process (by the time you know all of this through lived experience, it's too late to go back). 

 

Thus, if I could go back in time, I would have hired a lawyer (with specific experience regarding PHL immigration to the U.S.) so I could have obtained a heads up regarding all of this and saved myself time/surprises/disappointment. For what it's worth, I ended up consulting a few immigration lawyers when the situations above came up (as often the path forward was not immediately clear). 

 

Finally - if I were in the OP's shoes, I would also seek peace of mind regarding the following (again, this is my own personal opinion):

 

• Triple checking that entry denial at the border will not constitute an issue for future immigration petitions (to Zedayn's point, it shouldn't, but I've heard of cases where they start digging into travel histories/statements made to CBP and find things that make applicants inadmissible)
• Knowing how to properly answer questions like "so, how come you (the applicant) could afford to be in the U.S. for months at a time? Don't you (the applicant) have a job?" at the visa interview. I'm bringing this up as 1) it's clear that someone on a tourist visa cannot work in the U.S. and 2) even remote work (for an international company) by non-citizens/permanent residents is highly frowned upon and can be considered as grounds for inadmissibility....so proper caution is required here

 

Of course, I do understand that everyone has his/her own perspective & that lawyers can be expensive. Again, these are just thoughts based on my own personal experience. I personally hope that my situation does not apply to anyone else as it's really been an ordeal to manage all of these delays & the accompanying disappointments. Good luck, OP!

Edited June 20, 2023 by CFS