Visiting the US on the VWP while I-130 is pending

[staticfade56 0]

Hello,

My husband is coming in a few weeks from Belgium. I just filed the I-130 on his behalf. His boss is located in NY so when he comes he is visiting me and working at the same time. We do have a lot of information for CBP including paystubs, bank accounts, his current apartment lease in Belgium, a letter from his company saying his is expected to return to work in Belgium, etc.

I am just curious how much money should he be carrying on him...it needs to be US dollars, euros, etc...? Its the first time I'm hearing that this helps so I want to make sure we do everything to prepare.

Thanks a lot!

[jennie ann 15]

Hello,

My husband is coming in a few weeks from Belgium. I just filed the I-130 on his behalf. His boss is located in NY so when he comes he is visiting me and working at the same time. We do have a lot of information for CBP including paystubs, bank accounts, his current apartment lease in Belgium, a letter from his company saying his is expected to return to work in Belgium, etc.

I am just curious how much money should he be carrying on him...it needs to be US dollars, euros, etc...? Its the first time I'm hearing that this helps so I want to make sure we do everything to prepare.

Thanks a lot!

I would think that, especially given all of the other evidence he has, he doesn't need to worry about carrying extra cash on him as long as he can show that he has access to money (like with a debit card) and how much he has/can get.

[JoannaV 174]

Ultimately, you know that visiting is perfectly possible but not guaranteed. I will just list the visits I made :-)

10 days in early April 2009, POE Newark: "visiting boyfriend" Was asked for return ticket, was vaguely interrogated but that was not immigration related it was because the officer wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be murdered by someone I'd never met before!

3 weeks in May 2009, POE Newark: "visiting fiance" Probably had to show return ticket, officer jokingly asked if he could come to the wedding. Might've also asked when wedding was, but I didn't know.

6 weeks in June/July 2009, POE Ottawa: "visiting fiance" Might've been asked for return ticket, don't remember anything else.

3 months August-November, POE Charlotte: "visiting husband" Only female officer and the "worst" experience, which really wasn't that bad. Maybe showed return ticket? She asked what my plans were, I said we were going to apply for a visa, she said that if the visa took a while I should maybe spend longer in the UK between trips else it might cause problems. She didn't specify if she meant problems visiting or problems with the visa, it wasn't clear. I fretted about this for 4 months and made sure my next trip was about the same duration as my stay in the UK.

6 weeks December-January, POE Washington IAD: "visiting husband" Maybe showed return ticket. Officer just sympathised "won't you be glad when this is all over!" so maybe he asked about my plans or maybe he assumed I'd filed.

The immigration process is vague and who knows how long things will take. When I visited in December I thought I might say goodbye to my husband in January and then be apart for months. In fact, I was given an interview date in January (at the beginning when flights are megabucks/non-existent) which I had to postpone till February. Stay strong! And good luck.

[jennie ann 15]

Thanks, Joanna. You are always so helpful!

It relieves me to know that you were able to get through so many times for visits of various durations, and that it was relatively painless. I think they must understand that long distance couples have to visit each other to stay sane! Even though we don't know how long things will take, I am almost 100% certain that even in the very best case scenario, we wouldn't have our interview before April. Given what's going on at TSC, the situation is far from a best case scenario (it's looking up though... they are finally making promises to reach a decision by February 18th on petitions filed in July – only 7 months later!). The only way I can keep my sanity, stop obsessing over every little piece of correspondence people on the CSC-TSC thread get from USCIS, and actually focus on my life and my work is to have my husband here with me.

[anjaxxo 0]

Hi, we have a pending case, too and I just visited my husband in the US, well I am still here :-)

Our case is at NVC right now and we sent the DS-230 and the I-864 out on Monday from the US.

I was only asked for my purpose of visit and I said, I am visiting my family and friends. Then how long I would stay, and I said 10 days. Then she asked me if I have ever been to the US and I told her like 20 times or so. And thats it. No more question, have a nice stay, yeeeehaaa, and I had letters from my companies, from my landlord, also my booked ticket for May, but they didnt want to see anything, lucky me.

[jennie ann 15]

Thanks for sharing, anjaxxo. That's great that you had no problems (and good thing they didn't ask to see your return ticket, since you said you were staying for 10 days!) – I hope everything goes as smoothly for my husband. I'm still not sure about what he should say when they ask for the purpose of this visit: "visiting family" or "visiting my wife." He's worried that if he says "visiting family" and they find out later that he means "wife", it will seem like he was withholding information.

We finally got our I-130 approved last week, and I'm currently waiting for an NVC case number, which we should hopefully have by the time he travels next Thursday (I think it should help us too, being able to show that we are so close to the end at this point). If everything goes as plans, I'll be seeing my husband in less than a week!

Enjoy your visit!

[Amy and Nick 37]

I'll be seeing my husband in less than a week!

:dance:

[utopia2004 2]

Changing your ticket once in the USA will increase the cost by maybe a hundred pounds, but I think it will give him at least an 80% better chance of getting in if he is only booked initially for two weeks.. If he can bring some cash with him also, all the better. I don't know what POE he will be using, but he COULD fly via Dublin and use the USA POE there. If he is turned around, then he has only to fly home from Dublin, and not as much money will be wasted.

I am going to be in the same situation next summer (i will have finished uni) so wont have many ties (which ive had every other time travelling out there), i live with parents, etc.

But isnt this classed as lieing, if they ask how long you intend to stay in the US, and you say 2 weeks- when really intend to stay much longer and change your ticket? becareful with this- if they check anything out and call numbers back home asking how long you are expected to be gone- and they say 2 months for example!

I dont know what to do! i have a part time job and volunteering, plenty of money in the bank- but thats it. School was my strong tie- but that will be gone! Does this sound like enough? Oh and a Cr1 process going through.

I wish we had done the K1 now after hearing how long cr1 is taking, we didnt because it costs more- but after the extra plane flight and lost wages while int he US on another visit- im not sure theres much init!

[utopia2004 2]

My history of flying to the US has been over the last two years:

Visiting my boyfriend: 5 times at various lay overs- (2 months, 3 weeks, (painless), always ask what im doing back home- i say student- stamped and let through.

Visiting my fiance: The Last 3 times- in phillidelphia airport (3 weeks, 2 months, 3 weeks)- Last two visits, including the 2 month stay- i had no issue at all. The first was abit iffy as they wanted to know if my time in the US was more than 6 months- i had to give him the dates and durations.

No one has asked me for ties or bank money, and no secondary as yet. Touch wood! But then i had school as a massive tie when they asked what i did. I will have a job- but i wanted to go for 3 months- its hard to believe my job will let me have that much time. I would have to tell them im employed by my mum- so shes flexable which isnt a great tie.

[jennie ann 15]

I just got a call from my husband in Dublin – he made it through the POE! He said it was surprisingly easy and took about two minutes. He's going to tell me more details later, and I'll share what he says here. Now, I'm just so happy that he is going to be here with me in less than 18 hours!!

[Gosha.Bee 1]

Woo-hoo!! Awesome!

Let us know how it goes later on. I'm very happy for you.

[jennie ann 15]

Thanks, Gosha.Bee!

I just posted some more details about my husband's CBP experience in Dublin on another thread because someone asked me about it, so I thought I'd repost here in case it helps anyone.

It went something like this:

CBP officer: "What the purpose of your trip?"

Husband: "I'm visiting family."

CBP: "Where are you staying?"

H: "I'm staying with my wife."

CBP: "Is your wife a US citizen?"

H: "Yes."

CBP: "What does she do?"

H: "She's a teacher."

CBP: "Do you plan to emigrate to the United States?"

H: "Yes, we're in the middle of the visa process right now."

He also asked what he does, to which my husband replied that he recently graduated and is looking for a job. He then asked to see his return ticket and also asked for my address. After that, he pretty much just stamped his passport, put an expiration date on the entry stamp, and let him through.

Just another note for flying through Dublin: my husband took a Ryanair flight from Leeds to Dublin, and when he checked in at Delta (in Dublin), they asked a few questions that were similar to what the CBP officer asked. They also asked why he was flying from Dublin, and he said that the flight tickets were cheaper (which they were, because I was buying the tickets and the exchange rate is better from USD to the Euro than to the GBP), and they asked when he arrived in Dublin and wanted to see his Ryanair ticket.

Overall, it was very easy (easier than when he visited last year before we got married). He had all of our USCIS correspondence with him as well as a letter of financial support from me and a copy of my bank statement, but they didn't ask to see any of that. I think at this stage in the process, it really shouldn't be too difficult, since it's clear that we're fully invested in the visa process.

[gooseberry 2]

Thanks, Gosha.Bee!

I just posted some more details about my husband's CBP experience in Dublin on another thread because someone asked me about it, so I thought I'd repost here in case it helps anyone.

It went something like this:

CBP officer: "What the purpose of your trip?"

Husband: "I'm visiting family."

CBP: "Where are you staying?"

H: "I'm staying with my wife."

CBP: "Is your wife a US citizen?"

H: "Yes."

CBP: "What does she do?"

H: "She's a teacher."

CBP: "Do you plan to emigrate to the United States?"

H: "Yes, we're in the middle of the visa process right now."

He also asked what he does, to which my husband replied that he recently graduated and is looking for a job. He then asked to see his return ticket and also asked for my address. After that, he pretty much just stamped his passport, put an expiration date on the entry stamp, and let him through.

Just another note for flying through Dublin: my husband took a Ryanair flight from Leeds to Dublin, and when he checked in at Delta (in Dublin), they asked a few questions that were similar to what the CBP officer asked. They also asked why he was flying from Dublin, and he said that the flight tickets were cheaper (which they were, because I was buying the tickets and the exchange rate is better from USD to the Euro than to the GBP), and they asked when he arrived in Dublin and wanted to see his Ryanair ticket.

Overall, it was very easy (easier than when he visited last year before we got married). He had all of our USCIS correspondence with him as well as a letter of financial support from me and a copy of my bank statement, but they didn't ask to see any of that. I think at this stage in the process, it really shouldn't be too difficult, since it's clear that we're fully invested in the visa process.

Hey Jennie Ann, thanks for the info! I was wondering if you could give us a little more info on how long your husband stayed and how long the expiration stamp was for?

Has anyone else had experience going through with a return ticket longer than a month or two? (but obviously no longer than 6 months)? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.

[jennie ann 15]

Hey Jennie Ann, thanks for the info! I was wondering if you could give us a little more info on how long your husband stayed and how long the expiration stamp was for?

Has anyone else had experience going through with a return ticket longer than a month or two? (but obviously no longer than 6 months)? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.

No problem! My husband is actually still here. He was given a stamp and the officer dated it for 90 days after his entry. If you go back through this thread, JoannaV posted her visits, many of them for longer durations.