JustJimothy

1 hour ago, Mike E said:

Thus is one case ever I would advise port shopping. I would not go  through Dublin or any preclearance airport. I’d fly to the USA with my U.S. citizen spouse  for a morning arrival and have a lawyer at the ready for your spouse to call. 

Great points Mike, that's exactly what we'll do.

6 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

That poster was denied entry in the middle of the pandemic, when there was a rule in place prohibiting entry of tourists who are not immediate relatives of USC/LPR.  There are no such restrictions for tourists anymore.  It is not standard procedure anymore for CBP to ask to see a traveler's marriage certificate to check that they are related to a USC/LPR.

 

In fairness yes, the pandemic was the reason to check it but as Mike said, entering with an intent to immigrate I'd imagine theyre gonna have the same question this time.

12 minutes ago, Mike E said:

And I don’t see why there should be issues since B visa holders can come to USA without being married to U.S. citizens.  It’s after you get your IR-1 that I see the possibility for an issue from CBP.  
 

 CBP has previously made an (erroneous) ruling that your marriage isn’t valid and therefore the basis for your IR-1 is not valid (to CBP). 

We filed it this morning so we're going to find out! I'd like to think there were some conversations had after our event. We kicked up quite a fuss and hopefully it was a chance for them to educate themselves a bit more on zoom weddings and it's legality for immigration. 

If not, it's lawyer up time but I don't even want to think about it 🤮

9 hours ago, Mike E said:

Before Covid ban or after?

It was after, my visa was approved in time for Thanksgiving! 

3 hours ago, Mike E said:

That’s an awful experience. Given CBP disagrees with the the law, USCIS policy manual, and State FAM, I wonder how you will be able to use your IR-1 visa now that CBP has you flagged. But once you find a way in, CBP won’t be able to legally prevent you from entering the U.S., though it can issue an NTA. And you will win in court. The decision from the judge will be your security blanket on subsequent returns to the U.S. 

 

Get global entry after you become an LPR.  

We have travelled there a few times since under the B1/B2 after I got it and had no issues. The embassy were as perplexed as we were and the lady interviewing just said wrong guy on the wrong day! Perfect time to exercise self control and not unload about it 😂

16 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

Was that when there were COVID-related restrictions for tourist entry into the US, before vaccinations were widespread?  No such restrictions for tourists now, other than COVID vaccination which is checked by the airline, not CBP.  CBP won't care anymore how you got married.

 

Yep it was the middle of the pandemic  

We were fully vaccinated and had all the info with us

22 minutes ago, bck86 said:

Can you elaborate on "did something similar to this" and "stopped by CBP and refused entry"? Did you get married in Utah via remote appearance? And you had proof that the marriage was consummated? What was the reason for the refusal of entry, and how did you eventually iron it all out?

Sure, I can elaborate.

We used Webwed to officiate, a zoom wedding basically. My wife and I were in the same physical location in Ireland with our folks on the call with the officiant in Utah.

Everything went great! We got our marriage certificate, with the seal and stuff.

At the time the proclamation to travel to the US was in place because of the pandemic meaning only citizens and/or their spouse could enter.

I was entering using my ESTA/VWP with no intent to immigrate just to visit family.

When going through pre-clearance in Dublin I was called into the back room to wait while they scrutinized us.

After a while he called me to the counter to ask about the wedding.

He said something along the lines of not everyone was physically present at the wedding and we proclaimed that we were.

He retorted by saying the officiant wasn't so not everyone.

He denied me entry saying I'm legally married in Utah but it doesn't work for immigration/CBP and quoted an immigration act partially:

(35) The term "spouse", "wife", or "husband" do not include a spouse, wife, or husband by reason of any marriage ceremony where the contracting parties thereto are not physically present in the presence of each other

Anyone familiar with it might notice the bit that's missing from that. Here it is in full:

(35) The term "spouse", "wife", or "husband" do not include a spouse, wife, or husband by reason of any marriage ceremony where the contracting parties thereto are not physically present in the presence of each other, unless the marriage shall have been consummated.

He never mentioned it nor asked about consummation, how we'd prove it would be another story but he picked and chose what parts to use.

CBP are human and make mistakes like the rest of us, that day we got a dude who made a mistake and revoked my ESTA and my ability to use the VWP. 

To fix it we had to make an appointment to apply for a B1/B2 visa to even visit family. It took us 2 years to iron out.

3 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

Yes, separate I-130 petition for each person.  Your wife should probably file soon, before the fee increases kick in.  You can delay the process indefinitely at NVC stage once you have the I-130 petitions approved.

 

That's a good idea, you've saved me at least $800! 

I guess I could continue with my application and kick the kids one around for a while until they're ready to move.

On 1/17/2023 at 1:53 PM, Mason_Stellar said:

me and my same sex partner intend on getting married online but cannot find the resoruces online (very confusing). Then i stumbled across courtly.com. is that same as a utah online wedding?

 

Can someone give us a step by step guide to marriage online through utah county, please  

My wife and I did something similar to this during the pandemic as we had little other choice, our wedding was cancelled multiple times.

We were both in the same country at the time of the ceremony and we still got stopped by CBP and they refused entry for me!

I've seen cases where nobody had any issues and everything was fine but I had a different experience. 

You're leaving yourself at the mercy of CBP to refuse entry over their interpretation of immigration acts.

It took us two years to iron it all out at the embassy in Ireland to even visit family.

Beware!

3 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

That was true at one time.  When the foreign field offices closed a few years ago, DCF changed.  By the way, job relocation is an exceptional circumstance which has been used successfully. 

We can apply online via https://www.uscis.gov/. Not sure it would expediate it much but at least rules out packs getting lost in the post.

We're not really in any rush with it so I don't think we'd risk anything by trying to finagle it through. My son wants to go to college there and we want to be there a little while before to setup. It puts our goal of the move to be 2025 timewise so it's fine with a regular application. 

I think it may be a separate I-130 application for each person from the bits that I'm readying but I'm not sure.

36 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

It will take about 2 years unless you can convince the local consulate of exceptional circumstances.

Ah! I had previously thought that DCF was open to anyone living abroad, you sent me down a rabbit hole and proved me otherwise.

Thanks for the information, looks like we'll have to do it all via snail mail  

Hi!

My wife(Shari - USC) and I(Irish) are thinking about beginning the process, with the children, to move to the US this year as we heard it can be a lengthy process.

We have a son (7 months) who is already a duel citizen.

I have a son(15) and a daughter(12) from a previous relationship who are flirting with the idea of moving after they finish high school here. 

Shari's folks are willing to be our co-sponsors for the application and the household income is a multiple of the poverty line.

I've been contracting to a US company from Ireland for a few years through an Irish umbrella company, paying tax in Ireland, and they're anxious that I become their W-2 employee once we move over

and they are willing to provide anything I need for the application such as affidavit of guaranteed income etc.

My questions are as follows:

• Can I add my income to the I-864 form in the household income section with the US company stating in an affidavit they have been contracting me and employment once I land?
• If my two kids are on the same application, can they come back an forth every couple of months to finish school here with their green card? They'd be out of the country(US) no more than 4 months continuous or 9 months of the year in total. Our thoughts are to avoid having to get them visas at a later date and ensure they're set up for college when ready.
• I have consent from my kids mother if they choose to come and can have whatever needed in writing, is there form or anything legal that she would need to complete?

Appreciate the attention in advance!

James