hi everybody,
2 years ago my (now) husband was denied a k-1 visa. yesterday he called the immigration office in mexico city because we are restarting the process so that we can be back at immigration in (hopefully) nov. of 2007, when the 3 year ban will be over. i have been living and working in mexico for the last year, after we got married here in mexico.

when he called, the man told him that he should apply for a tourist visa. is it true that you can get a tourist visa after you have been denied a k-1 visa? my understanding (from cuidad juarez) was that he would not be given any visa until the 3 years expired, but the man assured him that the tourist visa is independent of the k-1 visa denial.

we can prove that we will not stay in the us, as i am working here and have a 2 year contract with my school that wont end until dec. 2007. also my husband is studying here, and its not convienent for him to just drop his studies.

any help would really be appreciated. this has been a really long process for us, and i am looking forward to the day when this will all be done.

although i have not posted very often here, i have read many of your stories.

thanks so much!

cindy

senoritacindy,

Explain more about this 3-year ban. Ban on what? Based on what?

Yodrak

it was a 3 year ban for previous drug use. since then, my husband has been going to a psychologist and will do various blood tests to take to immigration next year.

The same ineligibility applies to tourist visas. My guess is the person who gave you that information from Mexico City was not well-versed in the "classes of aliens ineligible to receive visas".

So the K Visa was denied and what you're in other words saying is that you'll be using a Tourist Visa (if approved) to get married.

No, you freak. That's not what she's saying. Also if you actually read before posting you'd have realised that they are already married.

1. Are they married in the US? No!
2. Are they married in Mexico? Yes!
3. And they married in Mexico b/c? The husband's a crackhead!
4. And his crackhead use resulted in? Denial of a K-1 Visa, along with a 3-year ban!
5. When is her contract over? Dec. '07
6. When is his crackhead 3-year ban over? Nov. '07
7. What they want to do now is? Restart crackhead husband's immigration process.
8. Did crackhead husband see a psychologist 3 years ago? No
9. Will crackhead husband do various blood tests? Yes
10. Do questions 11 and 12 tie into each other? Yes!
11. How so? Do immigration next year!
11. Can K-3 be applied for? No
12. Why? Belongs to the K types of Visas
13. Is there any relationship so far, between any of the above and a tourist visa? No!
14. Coincidence? Yes
15. Are there any other Visas they could marry in the US with, besides a K1 and K3? Yes
16. Name one for example? Tourist Visa
17. Do people normally say visiting the US only and end up staying by marrying? Yes
18. Does it happen often? It is abused
19. Is there a way to make a Tourist Visa's true intentions non-marriage like? Yes
20. How so? Return to home country for a while
21. Is there any relationship then, between OP mentioning tourist visa and all of the above? No
22. Coincidence then? Yes

umm, why would they get married in the US if they are already married??

dmartmar's mission is accuse everybody on vj of fraud because his foreign ex-wife committed one, or at least he thinks so....... After having observed his posts here for a while, I am thinking maybe she entered this marriage with good intentions but only could take so much

dmartmar,

im sorry. i dont know what i did to offend you, but it is my HUSBAND that you are talking about and I LOVE HIM. yes, he had a problem. yes, he is sorry. yes, he is well aware of the consequences of his actions. i did not post in order for YOU to call MY HUSBAND a crackhead, and seeing as how you dont know him, i would just keep my comments to myself. you have no idea what has happened with him. you have, however, ruined my day. thank you.

i posted this message asking for help, not to be criticized.

also, yes, we are legally married in the us because we are legally married in mexico. we are not asking about the tourist visa in order to get married. we are asking about it because we want to go TO VISIT the us, not to stay there. i know the problems that we could have. we have been waiting patiently for the 3 year ban to pass. we are not trying to cheat the immigration process.

thank you.
cindy

SenoritaCindy, don't mind Dmartmar-he's the same way with everyone. Try to be a foreign spouse and mention anything about a green card, and he's all over that, since obviously the green card is all you care about...

ANYWAY, I'm just curious as to the specifics of your case. My husband is dealing with a drug addiction ban also, but ours was incorrectly applied. Javier went for his K-1 interview last November and he told them about 2 things-one was his experimentations with cocaine (like a couple times) as a teenager (it's been like 10 years); the other was in August of last year when he put some cocaine in his mouth to identify it (some guys brought it on to the farm property where he lives and works with his family). Anyway, they considered that last thing a "usage" even though it wasn't, and so we got the 3 year ban until August, 2008. We decided to go ahead and get married in the meantime, and file the I-130 so in the end, he'll get the IR-1 Visa. Maybe at the end of your 3 years, you all could do DCF. One thing you won't be able to do in the meantime is get a tourist, or any other kind of Visa. When you're inelgible for one, you're ineligible for all of them. Anyway, if you care to share, I would love to hear your story. Also, I'm wondering how/where you found out you had to do psych exams/blood tests? We were never told anything like that. My common sense led me to get him started on urine drug tests every 3 months, but so far that's all we've done. (It's a little hard, since he's not actually a drug user, ya know??)

PS-Senorita Cindy, much to you! As another who has been through that, I am very familiar with how devastating it is to have this happen to you, and I applaud you for making the choice to stay with your man...wish that was an option for us, I would do it in a heartbeat!!

I am not accusing anyone of fraud, quite the contrary, I DO WANT both the OP and her husband to be together, be it here, there, anywhere. Knowing they want to do the right thing by going through immigration proceedings is something I applaud even more. My props to them.

But the only thing I would like to know is: given Ks are out of the question by now, what other options could the parties have, if for some extraordinary reason, moving back to the US is necessary ? NO, I AM NOT ASSUMING FRAUD.

I am a realist and do admit that unfortunately, in a situation like this and in order to stay together in the US as a married couple, marrying through the Tourist Visa is their only viable solution. Sometimes life plays dirty tricks on us and out of necessity, things have to be done. No one should be denied the right to love and be happy and I do hope that if it ever comes up to that, things work out for the better. I really do.

But on the other hand, being a realist also means that filling out paperwork for one purpose, then doing something completely different could be a big problem and WOULD NOT be the right thing to do. Agreed?

Difficult situation indeed. I only wish both the best.

The part of that which is incorrect is that their only option would be "marrying through the Tourist Visa." They are already married, and as such, cannot re-marry. You can only be so much married, a marriage in Mexico is considered a marriage in the US. Beyond that, wouldn't DCF be an option for them? Also, if they couldn't think of anything else, the OP could come back to the US, get herself settled and established, and then file the I-130 for him. They have several options available to them...the last thing I would be thinking about in their situation would be immigrating with a tourist Visa...that wouldn't even work for them, as how would he adjust once he was here?

Wrong. When the 3 year ban is over, he will get his visa



Wrong. She never said they want to stay together in the US as a married couple when she asked the question. And they obviously don't need a tourist visa to marry since they are already married.

She simply wanted to know if he might qualify for a tourist visa during the ban period so he might be able to come and visit her instead of her always going there.

Do you really think someone who has been through the devastation of a visa denial and ban would risk everything by getting a tourist visa and trying to use it for something more than a visit? Since he WILL qualify for his visa when the ban is over, I think not.

To expand on this, if they had remained unmarried during the 3 year period, when he returned to Juarez he would have been given his K-1. They hold the case for you for the 3-year period.

hi all,
thanks for all of the posts. heina, thanks for the comfort. you made me feel better.

alright, this is a brief history of what happened to us.

3 years ago yesterday (on my birthday) my husband asked me to marry him. i filed k-1 fiance papers for him in feb. 2004, and we had our appointment in cuidad juarez in nov. of 2004. the papers were denied after the whole drug thing...as many of you have said that have gone through that process, he was sent to a psychologist who told him everything would be fine, and then BAM they hit you at immigration with the denial. i was heartbroken.

i returned to the us where i had been working without my (then) fiance. it was horrible. i wanted to come directly to mexico, but my family helped me decide to finish school first. i went back to school in jan of 2005 and graduated in dec. 2005. we did our legal wedding in may of 2005. in dec. 2005 i moved to mexico, got married in the church, and i am still living here.

now we are looking at redoing our papers. obviously we cannot to a k-1 as fiances because we are married, but what i have understood from here is that we can use the k-1 as married people. also, we are planning on filing the I-130. i think that we will DCF because i am living here and have my income here. also, we cannot file in the us because we have no district that covers mexico.

the whole reason i started the post is because my hubby called immigration with some questions and they asked him why he hasnt filed for a tourist visa. the man assure him that the denial of the last one will not affect this one. i found that fairly doubtful, but i thought that i would ask here because you are all so knowledgeable.

i hope this helps clear up some of the confusion. as someone else said, it would be extremely stupid of us to try and "cheat the system" as someone suggested that we might be doing. we have both suffered plently for the mistakes and are just looking at how we can LEGALLY return to the united states to VISIT until my husband can have his papers, which hopefully will happen in another year.

ugh. 4 years of immigration heartbreak is just too much.

thanks for the support that you have offered me. thanks for reading. if you have any questions or comments, please post. also, i know that some of you have had similiar experiences and my heart really goes out to you because i know how horrible it feels.

thanks,
cindy

Cindy, so one important lesson here unfortunately is you can't trust what the people who work there tell you. Sad, isn't it? Don't waste your time on a tourist visa application because he will not be eligible.

I think DCF would be the best route but I know nothing about the options for this in Mexico. Keep searching and asking questions so you can get the advice you need.

Good luck!

Cindy, sweetie, they'll tell you whatever you want to hear if it means you might put more money into the system. Every time I think about all the WASTED expenses of our K-1 Visa, I get soooooo angry. Because now, like you, we have to proceed as married people, which brings with it a whole new set of expenses...


he was sent to a psychologist who told him everything would be fine, and then BAM they hit you at immigration with the denial. i was heartbroken.

You aren't lying Cindy. The EXACT same thing happened to us. That "psychiatrist" visit is such a joke. Write me a story, draw a picture, waste an hour of your life for me to tell you that everything's going to be fine. I was with him during the psych visit (in the waiting area) but had to leave before his interview since the Consulate, in all their diligence, decided to close for 3 days in a row for Thanksgiving. See our interview was last November, right after my birthday on the 18th. Our stories are so similar, it's almost scary. Well, at least you guys are almost done. We're in this until August, 2008, and even then it's not over, since we have to file Waivers which are now taking like 10 months to process. In the end, from the day I filed our K-1, we will have been in immigration processes for at least 4 years. I thought it was bad the day Javier was deported, but this whole drug addict thing really knocked the wind right out of me. Hang in there!

cindy,

You appear to be confusing petitions and visas, at least using the types interchangeably ("k-1 as married people"? no such thing). Make sure you understand which is which because you could get mis-information if people think you mean one thing when you actually mean something else.

Perhaps you should make a post in the DCF forum to prepare for submitting your I-130 petition.

I cant offer any advice with your situation but I do hope that every thing works out for you.

I don't understand why you keep mentioning a K1, if you were already told a Tourist, nor the whole "immigration next year," if you say you're not going to stay in the US.

What part can't you read? He was denied a K-1. Then they got married. They are currently living in Mexico. When the ban is over they will apply for a spousal visa. They will then return to the US to live happily ever after. IN THE MEANTIME, she simply wanted to know if he might be able to visit the US. The Consulate in Mexico City told her, incorrectly, that he could get a tourist visa for such a visit. End of story.

I think what she meant by "K1 as married couple" is filing I-129 along with I-130....

I used to read I-129/ I-129f as K1 visa................... or anything that start with I-129...

heina,
its so nice to find people that have been through the same thing. i found this website when we were filing our papers the first time, and every time that i check back, the same thing is happening to different people. its just so sad. honestly, it was just so painful when our visa was denied...i didnt post here for a long time...its just recently that i have been back and able to post because it was just such a painful experience for both of us.

it doesnt make me happy that other people know the pain that i have gone through, but it is nice to have people to talk to. somehow it makes it easier knowing that we are not the only people.

i will try to keep you all updated about what is happening with us...hopefully in a little bit more than a year i will have good news to report...ugh! but that seems like such a long time from now! the good thing is that the time goes by quickly.

I would think that if your husband, who will have served his 3 year ban, will be eligible at that time to apply for and receive an immigrant visa , that he could also then be eligible to apply for and receive a tourist visa as well. You were probably told that by the consulate because apparently they feel that your case will take a while to process. So, I agree with what the man at the consulate is telling you.....so far as your husband being eligible for a tourist visa. If he is eligible for an immigrant visa, he should be eligible to apply for the tourist visa too.

They key here is "apply". I have read and known of married couples whose spouses WERE able to obtain a tourist visa during the process. But, I can also say that being able to accomplish such a thing is rare. And I would think that most married spouses would be denied, unless they really make a strong case to the consulate as to why they would need one.

But it IS possible (although difficult) for your husband to obtain a tourist visa even with immigrant intent, as long as you both can convince the consulate he'll return. Not an easy task.......but in my opinion, worth the $100 or so dollars to try.

Although the circumstances between my wife and I , and you and your husband are quite different, the one thing I CAN relate to is being separated from your spouse for years. My wife and I have been separated for nearly 2 years (was not due to any kind of ban though...but student visa regulations).

So I can definately understand what it is like to be separated for so long......and so I really wish you luck in getting back together again. You've both obviously paid your dues.

All nice and fine - but she was asking about getting a tourist visa NOW while he is in the midst of the 3 year ban so that he might be able to go to the US. He is currently ineligible for ANY type of visa. So at this point applying will be a 100% waste of their time and $100. When the ban is over, everything will (should) be different.

Might want to reread my first sentence again. That's what "at that time" generally means...

Got that - but she wasn't asking about the possibility of qualifying for a tourist visa in the future (at that time). She was looking for an option NOW.

I could have misread ...and she could always clear it up when she returns, but it seems to me when she says "4 years of immigration heartbreak is just too much"......that she might have also been looking for an option to visit while the papers are being filed and AFTER the 3 year ban was up, and not just for an option now.

Her case might take a while....and if it does indeed drag on, she should be aware that her husband could apply for and possibly..(although chances are slimmer since they're married) get a tourist visa to visit the USA in the meantime.

I would think her case is more complicated than usual, and it might take longer to process.......so she should know all of her options ahead of time.

If all she wanted was an opportunity for him to visit now, and during the 3 year ban..........than yeah....not much she can do at this point.