Hey there,

Kinda a new to this site.. was recommended it by a friend. Kinda need a little bit of help as my heads in a mess and I dont have a clue what to do!

Myself and my other half have been together 2 years now. He lives in America (Louisiana) and I live in England. I'm 20 and he's 21. We have seen each other ect, he came over here for 3 months last year from April-June. He tried coming back again in August but was denied entry as he was trying to come back for 6 months and immigration at Gatwick found a engagment ring on him for me and stated that they didnt believe he was going to leave the country after his stay because he had no job to go back to, he had an engagment ring on him, he was coming for 6 months and I lied to them.. (unaware that he had told them about me) We didnt know that he needed any visa's to come over here as he has a clean criminal record and had no problems last time he came over.. Yes niave I know and we've paid for it.. We havent seen each other since August last year :-(

I'm currently in process of applying for a visa to go over and visit him in the states, I have to apply for a visa to enter the states as a tourist becuase I have a criminal record, which is.. 2 warnings and a conviction of £50 damage which resulted in paying the money and a 3 month referal order. I have a full time job here and all my family are here, as well as the place i live in (rented).
I'm worried that I will have problems at the embassy if I tell them about him and I when I go and get my visa on the 4th April. Should I tell them about us? and explain the situation? or something else? please help!

Sorry to have wrote a novel and im extremely grateful for anyone that replies, really need help here!

Gem

The simple advice is always tell the truth to immigration. If you don't it may well come back to bite you sometime in the future and in a big way.

It could be you will apply at sometime for an immigration visa and this application will be on record. Part of the evidence you have to give for immigration purposes is how long your relationship has been. As you can see lie now and that may come to attention later.

Lansbury is right.....always tell the truth to immigration. Not doing so could cause you big problems with immigration in the future.

I'm actually from Maidstone too but now live in Louisiana.

I hope everything works out for you.

I think you should get into the US okay - if there were going to be issues, I reckon they'd be addressed when you apply for the actual tourist visa. If they grant you that then the borders shouldn't be a problem (hopefully), but yeh I don't know anything about the criminal record stuff. I didn't know you had to do extra things for having a record.

Definately definately agree that you guys need to not lie anymore, totally will come back to bite you in the butt. I think it depends on the border agents sometimes though...we've made like 7 or 8 trips back and forth over the years, no problem at all ever except ONE time with this random guy that grilled me for about 15 minutes, for no real reason that I could tell.

When you're trying to get into the US to visit, I suggest bringing evidence with you of your life in the UK - utility bills for your flat, your rent, salary stubs from your job, stuff like that. Show your ties to back home. You're going into the US and leaving when you're meant to now will help to clean up the previous oopsy.

Yeah Ive been telling him that Im going to tell them the truth about us and everything when I go to the embassy.. He's paranoid cause of him being refused entry to England and is scared I wont be granted a visa because of it as well..

I have to agreee, telling the truth now can actually help you in future. Mentioning your relationship at this stage will serve to back up future claims that your relationship is genuine. We have used the fact that my OH has a visa in the UK based on our relationship to prove to the American authorities that our relationship is genuine. Not mentioning it, or outright lying will only hamper you in the future. Not a good idea.

Don't worry about what happened at Gatwick. I had the same thing happen to a friend of our family at Gatwick and that after they phoned me to check everything was as they were being told and I was sponsoring the visit. At the time I was working alongside immigration officers at Heathrow and the idiot at Gatwick still sent the person back to the US.

The fact your other half got refused entry to the UK shouldn't in anyway effect your visa. Take with you proof of your job, and rent agreement to show you have strong ties to the UK.

I had to apply for a visa due to a criminal record too. One of the questions they asked me was where do you intend to stay and who it is with. Your best bet is to answer truthfully. As other have said, it could come back and bite you in the ### if you lie.

The main reason Im going over there is cause I havent been there yet.. and I know in order to apply for a fiance visa you need to have been there.. But.. is it a wise idea to apply for a fiance visa to get married when I get back? Or would it be better if he applied for a fiance visa? I know its kinda jumping the gun a bit.. But its something we are both thinking about as we have wanted to get married for ages now, its just the problem of I have never been there, because it was always easier for him to come here cause he has a clean record and didnt need a visa till he got denied entry..

I didn't think you needed to have been to the US, I thought it was required you had meet a number of times. The location of such meetings not being so important.

If he wants to start the ball rolling for the fiance visa I don't see that being a problem as things stand now. However I'm no expert of fiance visas as we were married when I got my visa.

I think you need to look into it again... I'm pretty sure there is no restrictions on where you met. If he's visited you in the UK, that is enough.

Check these two pages. They are very useful.
http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1k2visa-I129f.html
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...mp;page=k1guide

There is no requirement on the I129f for the beneficiary to have been present in the US. If that were the case you'd never see anyone with fiance/es from the Philippines/Egypt/Morrocco etc. You simply need to have met in person somewhere in the world within the last 2 years and have evidence that supports that meeting.

There was a VJ member who had been denied entry to the UK but on a subsequent visit was permitted to enter without a visa. I think it may have been Courtney, but would have to search around a bit to verify that.

Also, the K-1 may be the best option for you, but if you guys want to get married soon, have you considered getting married, and then filing a CR-1 (spousal visa) instead? You should read the guides if you are unsure about what that would mean in terms of pro's and con's. The biggest pro for the CR-1 one is of course you get to skip the AOS, the biggest con -you have to wait till you're married to file.

It's something we're going to have to talk about when I'm over there.. What Im not sure about is shall I start applying for a fiance visa as soon as I get back? Or should I wait a while? I just really don't want to mess this up >.<

You don't start the ball rolling it is something the USC has to do. In your case they file the I-129F in the USA, and eventually after more form filling etc you attend the Embassy for a visa interview.

Confused.. I dont know the first thing about fiance visas... I was leaving it till after I got past this one... This ones bad enough.. I know its not even scraping the fiance visa though lol!

The Guides here on VJ are your friend. We followed them to the letter and had a positive outcome. When you are together, you guys should take the time to read through them thoroughly. Good luck!