Travelling to America AFTER receiving the K1 Visa

[Cassie n Shameel 0]

Hello Everyone,

Not sure how unique of a question this is, but here goes. Firstly, I have read the many threads explaining how you can still fly to USA to see your significant other while your K1 Visa is being process, provided you can convince the immigration officer/s that you have strong ties back home. I understand that fairly clearly.

My question relates to travelling to the USA after receiving the K1 Visa, but that trip being for holiday purposes only. I'll explain...

My girlfriend and I plan to begin our K1 process in mid-Feb, and if all goes well we calculate I'll be granted the Visa around August/September. Thing is, I would like to spend at least one last Christmas and New Year's with my family in Australia before I make the move over. My sweet girlfriend wants to fly to Australia and spend Xmas/New Year's with me and my family as well as being there for me so I'm not alone on my flight to USA. The problem is, she's afraid of flying alone, so I wondered whether I could fly to USA under the Visa Waiver Program (which I have been using for the past 2 and a half years since we started dating), stay a day or two over there, and then the two of us fly back to Australia to spend Xmas/New Year's with my family before I finally make the move to USA in early-January.

So my question is: Is it possible for me to fly to America under a tourist visa (or more specifically, the Visa Waiver Program) simply to visit my girlfriend (with full intention to return back to Australia).... or is it that once the K1 Visa has been issued, the immigration officials at the airport will know I have been issued a K1 Visa, and will therefore not accept me travelling under the Visa Waiver Program?

I know, a bit confusing, and I apologise for that.

Thanks in advance for any help

- Cassie and Shameel

[wellywench 0]

Hi there!

Once you have your visa issued and you travel to America you need to stay there until your AOS has been sorted out.

[Otto 83]

So my question is: Is it possible for me to fly to America under a tourist visa (or more specifically, the Visa Waiver Program) simply to visit my girlfriend (with full intention to return back to Australia).... or is it that once the K1 Visa has been issued, the immigration officials at the airport will know I have been issued a K1 Visa, and will therefore not accept me travelling under the Visa Waiver Program?

To clarify - your question is really..."Is it possible to fly to US with two visas (K1 and tourist) but choose which one you want to use?"

The answer to that, almost 99.999% of the time is no (the only ones I've seen/read who were successful with this are those coming into the US from Canada and even that's not 100%.) Yes, the airport/POE officers will know a K1 was issued - it will be in the passport.

[payxibka 10,045]

Let's hope VJ member Zyggy comes by as he was a former border post officer.... he ought to know...

[Nanusia & Lukaszek 0]

If you already have the K1 visa in the passport, upon entering the US you will activate it. You won't have a choice to enter on VWP or K1. They see the K1 and enter the I-94 into your passport as of that date. So if you come in for those couple days, you'll activate K1 and have the following choices:

1. Stay, get married and file AOS.

2. Leave and start with a new K1.

[Bforbarree 4]

Hello Everyone,

Not sure how unique of a question this is, but here goes. Firstly, I have read the many threads explaining how you can still fly to USA to see your significant other while your K1 Visa is being process, provided you can convince the immigration officer/s that you have strong ties back home. I understand that fairly clearly.

My question relates to travelling to the USA after receiving the K1 Visa, but that trip being for holiday purposes only. I'll explain...

My girlfriend and I plan to begin our K1 process in mid-Feb, and if all goes well we calculate I'll be granted the Visa around August/September. Thing is, I would like to spend at least one last Christmas and New Year's with my family in Australia before I make the move over. My sweet girlfriend wants to fly to Australia and spend Xmas/New Year's with me and my family as well as being there for me so I'm not alone on my flight to USA. The problem is, she's afraid of flying alone, so I wondered whether I could fly to USA under the Visa Waiver Program (which I have been using for the past 2 and a half years since we started dating), stay a day or two over there, and then the two of us fly back to Australia to spend Xmas/New Year's with my family before I finally make the move to USA in early-January.

So my question is: Is it possible for me to fly to America under a tourist visa (or more specifically, the Visa Waiver Program) simply to visit my girlfriend (with full intention to return back to Australia).... or is it that once the K1 Visa has been issued, the immigration officials at the airport will know I have been issued a K1 Visa, and will therefore not accept me travelling under the Visa Waiver Program?

I know, a bit confusing, and I apologise for that.

Thanks in advance for any help

- Cassie and Shameel

Once you get your petition approved by USCIS you have 4 months to get the visa.

Possible solution....go ahead and petition with USCIS like you plan to (although it might be better timing if you wait until April to send in your application) but do not rush to get get the actual visa, schedule the Embassy interview after you get back to Aust. with your fiancee in Dec/Jan.

[Jeraly 4]

Also you can remain in your country for (I think) six months after the visa is issued. I am delaying mine as I want to move at the end of June so I can be here for my mum's 50th birthday

I just got packet 3 (yay!) and I am due to visit my OH in just under three weeks so I am not going to return it until I get back. Then when I get my visa I am not going to move until the end of June

[Cassie n Shameel 0]

Also you can remain in your country for (I think) six months after the visa is issued. I am delaying mine as I want to move at the end of June so I can be here for my mum's 50th birthday

I just got packet 3 (yay!) and I am due to visit my OH in just under three weeks so I am not going to return it until I get back. Then when I get my visa I am not going to move until the end of June

That's another option my girlfriend and I have just thought about. We're stuck between two timeline's. The first is our original plan of beginning the process in mid-Feb, receiving the visa around Aug/Sept and then me moving over in early Jan '09. The problem with this is I cannot fly to USA to pick her up and fly back to Australia with her.

The second new timeline is simply to wait till around May to begin the process, travel over to California in late December to pick her up and come back to Australia just prior to my interview at the US Embassy in Sydney, Australia.. and then making the move over in mid-Jan. The problem here is the risk that the whole visa process may extend beyond Jan' 09 which we don't want to do.

Any further advice for us in this situation?

[Krikit 1,164]

I did this a few times.... visited the US with a K-1 visa in my passport but not used it. In fact, we specifically asked this question of the Officer at the American Consulate. He said it was not policy, nor mandatory, that it be used when I cross but that it was ultimately up to the Officer at the POE whether they require you to or not. Whenever I was asked about it at the POE, I just told them when I intended to use it.... that I still had a house to sell and a job to resign from. They were fine with it.

[*JG* 2]

Is your girlfriend planning on staying in Australia until you are ready to come to the US? Otherwise, how is she getting back to the US with her fear of flying?

[Cassie n Shameel 0]

Is your girlfriend planning on staying in Australia until you are ready to come to the US? Otherwise, how is she getting back to the US with her fear of flying?

Yes, the reason she wants to come to Australia is so that I do not have to make the flight over to USA alone. I've flown alone between USA and Australia on numerous occasions, but my girlfriend is afraid I'll be very sad because I'll have a lot of family and friends to farewell at Sydney Airport the day I leave.. so she wants to be there for me so I'm not alone for the 13hr flight.

Of course the simplest solution is for me to simply make the flight over to USA on my own (which I'm fully confident I can do eventhough I will feel sad)... but of course convincing my girlfriend of that is not an easy task..

[Cassie n Shameel 0]

Well, after a lengthy talk between my girlfriend and I, we've made the decision that I will fly over to USA to pick her up, and then fly back to Australia together... then attend the interview at the US Embassy in Sydney.. hopefully all goes well and I get the visa that day... and then within 2 weeks make the move to USA for good.

I need a little help in establishing approximately what date to begin our K1 Visa application. Here are some rough dates to work with:

I'm going to have to pick my girfriend up after Christmas '08, so my interview at the US Embassy in Sydney will have to be scheduled some time just prior to or just after New Year's.

So around what month would it be best to begin our K1 process?

[rebeccajo 14]

If timelines stay the way they are now, even if you filed mid February, I don't think you will have your visa in passport by August. Maybe October.

I don't mean to be mean, but I can't believe your girl can't fly by herself! I had never flown in my entire life (not even domestically) and went all the way from Pittsburgh to Donegal, Ireland - by myself. I was 47 years old when I did it. I thought I was gonna die on takeoff when I looked out the window and could see everything below me getting smaller and smaller. I closed the drape right away!

It's soooooo expensive to fly from Oz. That's money you all could use to help build your new life in America....

Just some well-intentioned food for thought.......