Hi everyone,
I know similar questions have been asked before, but I’m hoping to hear from anyone with recent experience given the current climate.
My wife is an Italian citizen living in Italy. We submitted the I-130 petition in October 2024, and it’s still pending. She’s planning to visit me in the U.S. soon using her ESTA. She has strong ties to Italy — a full-time job, an active mortgage, a return flight booked, and no intention of staying in the U.S. permanently during this visit.
We’re aware that having a pending I-130 can raise flags at the port of entry, so we’re trying to be cautious. She does have the ability to work remotely, though again, her job is based in Italy and she fully plans to return home after the visit.
My question is:
Should we be worried about the ESTA entry given the pending petition? Has anyone gone through this recently? And if she’s asked whether she can work remotely, should we be concerned about how that might be interpreted?
For her, this visit is purely a vacation—there are no plans or expectations from her employer for her to work remotely while in the U.S. She typically travels with her work computer, and in the past, she’s entered with it without any issues or second thoughts.
I’m prompted to ask now because of the heightened focus on immigration enforcement in the news. It’s easy to start overthinking things. I recently came across a post about someone bringing a work laptop into the U.S., and although their situation was quite different from ours, it reminded me that there may be considerations we haven’t thought through yet.
Thanks in advance for any advice or stories you’re willing to share.
