Having my foreign wife's parents visit.

[SnowColdIce 7]

Hello Everyone!
 

I am currently in the process of bringing my wife under a CR-1 Visa from Russia. I submitted my I-130 this month. I am aware that this will take at least one year to show signs of progress and for her to come.

 

We were discussing the best way for her parents to visit in the US when she does come to live here. I understand there is no process for sponsoring someone to come as a tourist. Does the same apply to family and such? I know some countries (like Russia for example) have an invitation system for "private" visas which are not the same as a tourist one, that way for example I could go to Russia for the sole purpose of visiting my wife with an invitation from her.

 

She is still in Russia as I mentioned before, and won't be moving here until at least early 2025 I assume (please hurry up USCIS), considering that my wife is under CR-1 application:

1- Is the best/only course of action for her parents to apply for B2 visa? If so, is it better to wait for my wife to actually move here before they apply? I ask because I assume the CO would ask why they want to go, and they can say "I want to visit my daughter and son-in-law (and maybe even grandson haha!)" But my wife would not be here yet technically, I guess it can be mentioned that she will be here soon under a CR-1.

2- Or can we get a head start and try to get a multiple-entry Visa for them so that they have it ready for when she comes and they can come to visit at some point later? The reason why we may want to get a head start it's because B2 visa interviews for Russians are held in Warsaw, Poland. And it's difficult to go there as a Russian since they would have to apply to Schengen and go through a 3rd country because Poland doesn't want Russians entering due to the conflict. Also apparently interview appointments are set for many months forward so even if they apply now their interview would be for around Summer.

 

I know I don't have to convince you guys, but my in-laws really don't have any intentions nor care about coming to live here. They just want a way to visit us. They have jobs, own two small properties, and are elderly too so it's not like they want to go and live somewhere new and completely different.

If you all could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. I just want the best way to guarantee a multiple entry visa for them to visit as they please. As I mentioned they are elderly, so it would be less than ideal for them to have to get a visa every time they come and visit for just 2 weeks considering all the hassle they have to go through to get to Poland.

[SalishSea 17,744]

30 minutes ago, SnowColdIce said:

Hello Everyone!
 

I am currently in the process of bringing my wife under a CR-1 Visa from Russia. I submitted my I-130 this month. I am aware that this will take at least one year to show signs of progress and for her to come.

 

We were discussing the best way for her parents to visit in the US when she does come to live here. I understand there is no process for sponsoring someone to come as a tourist. Does the same apply to family and such? I know some countries (like Russia for example) have an invitation system for "private" visas which are not the same as a tourist one, that way for example I could go to Russia for the sole purpose of visiting my wife with an invitation from her.

 

She is still in Russia as I mentioned before, and won't be moving here until at least early 2025 I assume (please hurry up USCIS), considering that my wife is under CR-1 application:

1- Is the best/only course of action for her parents to apply for B2 visa? If so, is it better to wait for my wife to actually move here before they apply? I ask because I assume the CO would ask why they want to go, and they can say "I want to visit my daughter and son-in-law (and maybe even grandson haha!)" But my wife would not be here yet technically, I guess it can be mentioned that she will be here soon under a CR-1.

2- Or can we get a head start and try to get a multiple-entry Visa for them so that they have it ready for when she comes and they can come to visit at some point later? The reason why we may want to get a head start it's because B2 visa interviews for Russians are held in Warsaw, Poland. And it's difficult to go there as a Russian since they would have to apply to Schengen and go through a 3rd country because Poland doesn't want Russians entering due to the conflict. Also apparently interview appointments are set for many months forward so even if they apply now their interview would be for around Summer.

 

I know I don't have to convince you guys, but my in-laws really don't have any intentions nor care about coming to live here. They just want a way to visit us. They have jobs, own two small properties, and are elderly too so it's not like they want to go and live somewhere new and completely different.

If you all could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. I just want the best way to guarantee a multiple entry visa for them to visit as they please. As I mentioned they are elderly, so it would be less than ideal for them to have to get a visa every time they come and visit for just 2 weeks considering all the hassle they have to go through to get to Poland.

There is only one option for them:  B-2 visa.  They apply on their own, and approval is based entirely on their own merits/ties to home.  There is no sponsorship.  They will have to disclose that they have family in the US when it comes time.

 

I'm not sure if Russians are still eligible for 10 year visas, but since there is no functioning US consulate in Russia, they will need to be prepared to travel.

[SnowColdIce 7]

5 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

There is only one option for them:  B-2 visa.  They apply on their own, and approval is based entirely on their own merits/ties to home.  There is no sponsorship.  They will have to disclose that they have family in the US when it comes time.

 

I'm not sure if Russians are still eligible for 10 year visas, but since there is no functioning US consulate in Russia, they will need to be prepared to travel.

I understand. Would it be better for them to apply soon or should we wait until my wife actually arrives to the US? I would like to maximize multiple entry visa for them, even if it's just for 3 years.

[millefleur 5,046]

1 hour ago, SnowColdIce said:

I know some countries (like Russia for example) have an invitation system for "private" visas which are not the same as a tourist one, that way for example I could go to Russia for the sole purpose of visiting my wife with an invitation from her.

Nope, the "private visa" doesn't exist in the US. Theres no invitation or anything you can do to help make it easier sadly.

 

1 hour ago, SalishSea said:

I'm not sure if Russians are still eligible for 10 year visas, but since there is no functioning US consulate in Russia, they will need to be prepared to travel.

Russians were never eligible for 10 year visas. The current longest multi-entry option is a 3 year visa only. 

 

1 hour ago, SnowColdIce said:

The reason why we may want to get a head start it's because B2 visa interviews for Russians are held in Warsaw, Poland.

Not true, technically Russians can apply for a tourist visa at any consulate that will take them. My MIL did her last tourist visa interview in Kazakhstan. I have a thread about this experience in the RUB forum: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/804421-tourist-visa-appointments-for-russians-via-kazakhstan/

 

1 hour ago, SnowColdIce said:

If you all could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. I just want the best way to guarantee a multiple entry visa for them to visit as they please.

If they are approved, they will get the 3 year multi-entry visa by default. The only reason they'd be issued a shorter stay visa is if the US consulate had some hyper specific reason to do so (very unlikely, never heard of it happening to any Russians I know.) Odds are they will be approved and get the 3 year or they'll be rejected.

 

[SnowColdIce 7]

58 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Nope, the "private visa" doesn't exist in the US. Theres no invitation or anything you can do to help make it easier sadly.

Yeah, I noticed. I imagine it's due to the high illegal immigration with people applying for B2 and then staying here.

 

59 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Not true, technically Russians can apply for a tourist visa at any consulate that will take them. My MIL did her last tourist visa interview in Kazakhstan. I have a thread about this experience in the RUB forum: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/804421-tourist-visa-appointments-for-russians-via-kazakhstan/

 

Thanks for this! I already read it and did research based on it. I guess I was under the impression that since some immigrant Visas have to be done in Warsaw then Non-Immigrant Visas would be a similar story.

 

1 hour ago, millefleur said:

If they are approved, they will get the 3 year multi-entry visa by default. The only reason they'd be issued a shorter stay visa is if the US consulate had some hyper specific reason to do so (very unlikely, never heard of it happening to any Russians I know.) Odds are they will be approved and get the 3 year or they'll be rejected.

It sounds like they are reciprocating the same policy for Private Visa of US Citizens to Russia. I assume the 3-year multi-entry means that they can come for up to 6 months per visit with unlimited visits for those 3 years correct?

 

When your MIL applied did she already have tickets purchased to go to the US? Did you have a plan in general?

Per your own opinion, do you think my in-laws should apply now or wait for her daughter to come since they will have to say essentially it's to visit her?

 

How long did it take for you from approval on the interview in Almaty to the passport pick-up date?

[SalishSea 17,744]

52 minutes ago, SnowColdIce said:

Yeah, I noticed. I imagine it's due to the high illegal immigration with people applying for B2 and then staying here.

 

Thanks for this! I already read it and did research based on it. I guess I was under the impression that since some immigrant Visas have to be done in Warsaw then Non-Immigrant Visas would be a similar story.

 

It sounds like they are reciprocating the same policy for Private Visa of US Citizens to Russia. I assume the 3-year multi-entry means that they can come for up to 6 months per visit with unlimited visits for those 3 years correct?

 

When your MIL applied did she already have tickets purchased to go to the US? Did you have a plan in general?

Per your own opinion, do you think my in-laws should apply now or wait for her daughter to come since they will have to say essentially it's to visit her?

 

How long did it take for you from approval on the interview in Almaty to the passport pick-up date?

I assume the 3-year multi-entry means that they can come for up to 6 months per visit with unlimited visits for those 3 years correct?

 

No!!   It means nothing of the kind.   “Unlimited visits” would be an egregious abuse of the B visa, and it would be revoked.  They would likely be sent back on the next flight.  
 

How can they afford to stay for 6 months, if they have jobs and responsibilities back home? 
 

The length of stay will be granted at POE by CBP.   If they did get a 6 month stay, the recommendation is to leave before the date on the I-94, and spend at least a year out before trying to come back.  
 

Please do some reading about this.   If your in-laws plan to use a visitor’s visa to try to live in the U.S., it will be rightly denied or revoked.  Abusing the terms of tourist visas can lead to issues for them later if they want to come back.  If they want to spend more time in the US than for normal vacations, they will need immigrant visas.

Edited December 27, 2023 by SalishSea

[millefleur 5,046]

11 minutes ago, SnowColdIce said:

It sounds like they are reciprocating the same policy for Private Visa of US Citizens to Russia. I assume the 3-year multi-entry means that they can come for up to 6 months per visit with unlimited visits for those 3 years correct?

Length of stay is determined at port of entry by the CBP officer. All the Russians I know have been given a 6 month stay, as that seems standard if the person doesn't raise any red flags (such as visiting too often or appearing like they want to stay permanently.) 

 

13 minutes ago, SnowColdIce said:

When your MIL applied did she already have tickets purchased to go to the US? Did you have a plan in general?

No, we always have her apply months in advance and she usually comes way later, which gives us plenty of time to buy tickets. Also I think this is a plus because it shows there is no desperation to get to the US, so waiting a while before entry seems like a good idea. We had general plans of when we wanted her to come, but we always waited for her to get a visa first. 

 

16 minutes ago, SnowColdIce said:

Per your own opinion, do you think my in-laws should apply now or wait for her daughter to come since they will have to say essentially it's to visit her?

It might be kind of confusing at the interview if they say the reason for visiting to see their daughter, but she isn't even in the US yet. For clarity's sake, might be simpler to have them apply after she gets her immigrant visa and is in the US. You want to avoid as much as possible "looking desperate to get to the US" and them applying before she's even there, it might appear that way. 

 

25 minutes ago, SnowColdIce said:

How long did it take for you from approval on the interview in Almaty to the passport pick-up date?

I don't remember exactly but it wasn't more than a couple of days, 3-4 days max. I think planning for a week in Almaty is safe. 

[SnowColdIce 7]

5 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

I assume the 3-year multi-entry means that they can come for up to 6 months per visit with unlimited visits for those 3 years correct?

 

No!!   It means nothing of the kind.   “Unlimited visits” would be an egregious abuse of the B visa, and it would be revoked.  They would likely be sent back in the next flight.  
 

How can they afford to stay for 6 months, if they have jobs and responsibilities back home? 
 

The length of stay will be granted at POE by CBP.   If they did get a 6 month stay, the recommendation is to leave before the date on the I-94, and spend at least a year out before trying to come back.  
 

Please do some reading about this.   If your in-laws plan to use a visitor’s visa to try to live in the U.S., it will be rightly denied or revoked.  Abusing the intent of tourist visas can lead to issues for them later if they want to come back.  If they want to spend more time in the US than for normal vacations, they will need immigrant visas.

I guess I explained myself incorrectly here. I was just trying to see the terms of the Visa. (in paper)

My in-laws will probably visit only for around 2-3 weeks at a time max since they do have jobs and responsibilities back home. They can probably come back again about 8 months later for a similar timeframe since they do get more vacations in Russia.

The reason I ask for this frequency of coming every 8 months for example is because they will likely want to see their (future) grandson often.

[SalishSea 17,744]

1 minute ago, SnowColdIce said:

I guess I explained myself incorrectly here. I was just trying to see the terms of the Visa. (in paper)

My in-laws will probably visit only for around 2-3 weeks at a time max since they do have jobs and responsibilities back home. They can probably come back again about 8 months later for a similar timeframe since they do get more vacations in Russia.

The reason I ask for this frequency of coming every 8 months for example is because they will likely want to see their (future) grandson often.

Again, they’ll be subject to whatever CBP decides at the airport, in terms of duration.  Visiting once a year or so should be fine.  
 

Also good to know- they’d have no basis to adjust status on that B visa anyway, since it will be years before your wife is eligible to naturalize.

[SnowColdIce 7]

14 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

Again, they’ll be subject to whatever CBP decides at the airport, in terms of duration.  Visiting once a year or so should be fine.  
 

Also good to know- they’d have no basis to adjust status on that B visa anyway, since it will be years before your wife is eligible to naturalize.

Yes I am aware. They have no intention of coming to the US to live at all. They have a humble but comfortable life back in Russia so they have no desire to come to a COMPLETLY different country to basically have to "start from zero".

[SnowColdIce 7]

28 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Length of stay is determined at port of entry by the CBP officer. All the Russians I know have been given a 6 month stay, as that seems standard if the person doesn't raise any red flags (such as visiting too often or appearing like they want to stay permanently.) 

 

What amount of "visiting too often" is a red flag for CBP for 3-year multi-entry visas? I guess coming every year once or twice is fine?

 

28 minutes ago, millefleur said:

No, we always have her apply months in advance and she usually comes way later, which gives us plenty of time to buy tickets. Also I think this is a plus because it shows there is no desperation to get to the US, so waiting a while before entry seems like a good idea. We had general plans of when we wanted her to come, but we always waited for her to get a visa first. 

Yeah, that makes total sense. I just guess that the Application probably asks for a planned date of visit or they might ask for tickets. So maybe at least it seems that you should provide them with an idea of when the person will travel?

 

28 minutes ago, millefleur said:

It might be kind of confusing at the interview if they say the reason for visiting to see their daughter, but she isn't even in the US yet. For clarity's sake, might be simpler to have them apply after she gets her immigrant visa and is in the US. You want to avoid as much as possible "looking desperate to get to the US" and them applying before she's even there, it might appear that way. 

That is a great observation. We will just wait once my wife is here and do it all calmly. I just honestly was expecting this process for B2 Visas to be much slower, but it seems like a normal time would be like 3 months for everything.

 

28 minutes ago, millefleur said:

I don't remember exactly but it wasn't more than a couple of days, 3-4 days max. I think planning for a week in Almaty is safe.

Thank you! That makes it much easier for them as well to be able to request time off work. This adds to your philosophy of doing everything in advance and with calm with no rush.

Edited December 27, 2023 by SnowColdIce

[Dashinka 24,372]

4 hours ago, SnowColdIce said:

What amount of "visiting too often" is a red flag for CBP for 3-year multi-entry visas? I guess coming every year once or twice is fine?

 

Yeah, that makes total sense. I just guess that the Application probably asks for a planned date of visit or they might ask for tickets. So maybe at least it seems that you should provide them with an idea of when the person will travel?

 

That is a great observation. We will just wait once my wife is here and do it all calmly. I just honestly was expecting this process for B2 Visas to be much slower, but it seems like a normal time would be like 3 months for everything.

 

Thank you! That makes it much easier for them as well to be able to request time off work. This adds to your philosophy of doing everything in advance and with calm with no rush.

The general rule of thumb is double the amount of time outside the U.S. than inside, but there is no hard and fast rule.  Some people abuse a B1/ESTA, come for the maximum stay, leave, and come back a short time later expecting another lengthy stay.  Those are usually spouses, or fiancées, but I suspect other family members as well.  You mentioned they would come for only a couple of weeks at a time, that should be fine as long as they are not coming many times in the same year period.

[Boiler 45,313]

10 hours ago, SnowColdIce said:

I understand. Would it be better for them to apply soon or should we wait until my wife actually arrives to the US? I would like to maximize multiple entry visa for them, even if it's just for 3 years.

This seems secondary, with the long wait times thee is a lot to be said for getting it started sooner than later, it seems in this case they have a couple of years , the real downside of starting like now is that they may waste some of the 3 years waiting for the Daughter's case to process.

[millefleur 5,046]

13 hours ago, SnowColdIce said:

Yeah, that makes total sense. I just guess that the Application probably asks for a planned date of visit or they might ask for tickets. So maybe at least it seems that you should provide them with an idea of when the person will travel?

 

Yes, you'll have them provide dates as it's required on the DS-160 but it has no bearing on the decision and you're not required to stick to those dates. I would just have them pick some dates that correspond roughly to their idea of travel, I think the CO's are more looking at how long they will stay than anything else. They won't have to provide any "evidence" backing those dates like accommodation or plane tickets, it's just to give the CO's an idea of your plans and intended stay in the US.

 

My MIL always ended up coming at a different time than she originally put on the DS-160, didn't seem to be an issue as she's had 2 US tourist visas now (with 2 interviews since Russians in Russia aren't eligible for interview waiver renewals.)

 

[Boiler 45,313]

They specifically say not buy tickets etc