I know it'll take MANY months before our I-130 & K-3 petitions (submitted this month) appears on the adjudicator's desk or begins the security checks.

My question is: if I decide to try stay in the US for 3 months from say, the end of next month, would it be better to consider leaving before the petitions approach the 6th month of waiting? Is it ok if I appear to be in the US temporarily (not even sure if they are going to check...) while they are adjudicating our case?


A second question is: is a USC birth certificate necessary at the consulate interview (for either K-3 or CR-1) or is it enough to have the USC passport copy and/or Naturalization certificate (or both) or is it important to have the birth certificate too?

As long as you don't overstay any allowed time given upon arrival, "being here" will have no consequence. The issue is whether you will be allowed to enter. There's a new thread on this at least once a day. Generally, if you can show sufficient ties to your home country to convince a CBP officer at point of entry that you will return home, you will be allowed to enter but don't bet your life on it because the attempt will be risking the price of your airfare, at minimum.

Thanks, it is good to know that I can be State Side

No intention to overstay of course, nor to immigrate yet!

In fact, why would one be so stupid to file an Immigrant petition and then try to immigrate illegally??? If I wanted to immigrate illegally I would use my VWP without an immigrant application so that my chances of being admitted would be 99.9%!

"At minimum" is a risk I can take.. What at maximum?? I understood it is no risk to be denied entry and that it will not affect your petitions at all! Isn't that so?

It always boggles my mind how to PROVE ties to my country. I do not pay rent, I do not have an employer that can vouch for me, I have bank accounts (can print out statements?), I have a return ticket, I can take copies of our I-130 and I-129-F, I can book a hotel for one day...
WHAT else can help me? Is there any dedicated forum on VJ on entry while waiting?

I was in the States last month (before filing) because I had to give my wife copies of all the documents she needed... that is why I am not very confident about going back so soon yet... but love calls!

I was thinking perhaps to enter from another POE from the opposite coast! ;-) More expensive, but perhaps I can say I am visiting friends...

And my wife won't be in the US the day I land, so...
At POE can they see all the data for the USC spouse when you come in with a I-130/129F pending? How soon can they see that you have one, in fact? If you already got a NOA1, does it mean it is in the system already?

Hi Charisma1, yes, lots of us have asked this question, and I too am not 100% convinced.
There have been people apparently who have been turned away at POE .... as well as being nastily interrogated before being plonked back on a plane at their own expense.
Yet, most seem to get through.
It really depends on the officer that day .... did he get his morning coffee ?? .... did he receive divorce papers that morning from his foreign spouse ??

I've looked around at POE's outside of the U.S. and am looking at risking it through Dublin ..... all Delta flights fom Dublin to the U.S. have POE before leaving Ireland, so you know there and then without a flight across the Atlantic.
However, Delta's flexible flight prices are astronomical.

I've also read on here somewhere that more flights to the US add more FBI checks to your application ..... on the next set of paperwork for NVC, you have to list all your flights to the US, including dates .... I presume that's what they're talking about.
I've racked up nearly 30 years worth of flights .... another reason I'm not too sure about flying there again till this is over as my FBI flight checks will be long enough already.

I've also been led to believe that being turned away at POE is a black mark on your application .... though I'm beginning to think that's rubbish, as I can't see anywhere on the next set of paperwork .... a space for you to fill in to say you've been turned away .... apart from on the next VWP green form. So, you can only be refused once I guess, and then wait out the rest of the journey outside the US.

Yes, this possible refusal of entry due to I-130 pending is silly ..... and I agree, if you wanted to do it illegally, you would've flown in and stayed without applying. But I guess there are just some Immigration Officers who think that once you've applied to emigrate legally ..... you may overnight decide to become a 'fence jumper' and screw it all up.
Or, they must just be plain bored with their jobs and dislike immigrants.

Goodluck with trying to find ties to your home country .... hopefully you'll get someone nice who won't ask for that stuff.

Oh, and yes ..... NOA1 means you're in the system ..... as soon as they scan your passport, they'll know exectly what visa you've applied for and when.
But they'll also see if you've overstayed your VWP or not in the past too .... which if you haven't it could add to you being a trust worthy visitor and not just a naughty impending immigrant

What about when your I-130 has been approved and it is at NVC? Mine arrived there two weeks ago and my husband is coming here for a vist in 2 weeks. He came here before and had no problems. Is it more of an issue to visit when your I-130 has been approved?

Dublin, Ireland??? That would be fantastic!!! No more POE US-side??? Really ???? Can you give me more info on that?
Can you leave with a one way ticket from Delta and a return ticket already purchased from another airline, that you know of?

Yes ..... Dublin has POE for the US, but not on all flights. I called the US Immigration department at Dublin Airport and asked the very nice and friendly American (by the sounds of it there was only one .... the rest were Irish) what flights were under the U.S. POE scheme and he told me Delta.

I was shocked at the ease of contacting them .... as I haven't been able to in the U.S.

I am looking at going on a flight during the working week (monday through friday) incase they're all off at the weekend .... the Irish are wonderful, but their working hours may be a dodgy at weekends I'm thinking.

The U.S. POE is only open in the mornings from 6am till 12pm I do believe, but basically, if you fly Delta to the U.S. on a morning flight out of Dublin you'll clear Immigration in Ireland .... and know that you're through before start the trans atlantic flight.
Make sure it's a direct flight into the U.S. and not one with a changeover outside the U.S.

Take anything you can get your hands on which shows ties to your homeland .... the American Immigration Officer I spoke to in Dublin did stress this to me, but was helpful and friendly.

As far as one way flights ..... I don't know about that .... if you had purely Delta, they'd be able to see your return flight booked on the screen maybe when you check in .... remember you'll get more questions there as well.

I have no idea if you'll get a hard time having return flights with different companies.

And AJS .... as far as flying when a case is at NVC, my personal opinion would be that they would just the same .... you're still an impending immigrant ..... always take as many ties to your homeland that you can and hope for the best.
If they question you, at least you can be honest and say you're approved but still have to return for interview anyway .... who on earth would want to cock it up at that stage is beyond me.

Flying with an intent to immigrate to the U.S. in the future and proof of it on the screen is going to be dodgy, whatever way you look at it , but hopefully you guys will get someone with a heart that day when going though POE.

Goodluck, and do let us all know if you get through if you decide to fly.

you think POE is closed Saturdays? Hope not!

American Airlines would suite me MUCH better... but I think I can use Delta if they accept my Skyteam miles! ;-)

What can be considered STRONG ties to your country? I am self employed and do not rent a house...
But I do have bank accounts in 3 European countries... What a stronger tie than money? ;-) Would that be ok to show that one has bank accounts here in Europe?

Saturdays, I was just presuming that being 'fun' Ireland, everything may not be as 'on the ball' as during the week, hence I'd do it during the week.
Just my preference, so to make myself feel more secure with going through POE in Ireland.

I don't know about American Airlines apart from there being a couple of people on here in the past who got caught out flying with them through Dublin, and ended up going through POE Stateside.
Me, personally, I wouldn't risk it, as the Immigration Officer was specific about Delta.

Strong ties, to me ? Well, if you're self employed, then you'll have business cards and business bank accounts. I agree that there is no stronger tie than money.
However, it is a 'tick box' scenario isn't it really .... so, you could even type up a letter using your company letterhead, stating you have to be back for work on a certain date, and get one of your managers to sign it .... just a thought obviously.
Plus, you have to live 'somewhere', and there surely is paperwork appertaining to that ??
Utility bills at least ??
And don't forget that all important return flight.

Kip, I'll book my flight with Delta: I think it is the cheapest too for my route! I'll try to risk the weekend though, unless I find evidence that it's best to stick to weekdays in the next couple of days..

I'll line up some irrefutable evidence, in case they ask me: I think well stuffed EU bank accounts tell a clear story about the fact that I cannot be a liability to them! I doubt I can write my own employment letter, so I ll take with me a copy of my company's papers.. I'll also carry a copy of I-130 and I-129F probably, altough the fact that I filed recently surely doesn't play in my part (they might think I cannot bear the waiting, but I hope they read it as: I know how it works, I have nothing to hide and I do want to play by the rules!)

Does anyone know what EXACTLY they can see once they scan your passport/name? The name of your spouse? The whole I-130 data? If you have any other internal flight in the US booked?