Has anyone tried to apply for a visitor visa while K1 is pending? I am particularly interested in Russian embassy, and wondering is anyone had this experience before.

Thank you

Are you talking about having her visit the USA? Not a good idea. They are not supposed to allow it and even if she gets the visa she could be turned away at the POE.

If you are talking about visiting Russia, that is not a problem. If my ap stays in limbo for another month or two I am going to move to Russia till it gets through if it ever does.

if by AP you mean Advance Parole then I must ask you if you are aware leaving the US before it is approved that the USCIS considers that abandonment of your AOS paperwork...right?

If you mean something else then I appologize

to the OP, I have heard that you can try but it is highly unlikely that a Russian citizen can qualify for a visitor visa....best of luck to you though.

Almost 100% guaranteed that a Russian citizen would not get a visitor visa while K-1 is processing.

USCs can go there, no problem.

Marc, that is my fault. by ap I meant application. Sorry to have confused the issue. My K-1 application got hung up after NOA-2 at the NVC and was taked for Administrative Review so I am in a big black hole. Insted of being forwarded to the Moscow Embassy it is floating around Washington for some unknown reason. It is frustrating to see someone with the same timeline with thier interview set for 10 days from now and mine may not be for who knows when. I heard of one case that was in A/R (administrative review so I don't confuse anyone) for 8 years.

If I recall correctly this is I think your 3rd K1 petition. The more you file the better the odds are of getting caught in one of these AR holes. I sympathize with you, but I would also suspect that multiple filings might have influenced their decision to "review" you some more; if for nothing else, to make sure this time around you got the right one.

I'm beginning to wonder if our approved paperwork has gotten lost somewhere between the NVC and Moscow! I got this e-mail from the NVC on March 2:

Dear Sir,

The visa petition you mentioned in your inquiry has recently been
forwarded to the US Embassy/Consulate General. Please allow 10-15 business
days for the Embassy/Consulate General to receive the petition

Any further inquiries should be directed to the assigned US Embassy or
Consulate General.

Case Number: MOS2007------
Beneficiary's Name: XXXXXXXXXXXX,EKATERINA
Preference Category: K1
Your Priority Date: 17Nov2006
Foreign State Chargeability: RUSSIA
U.S. Embassy/Consulate: AMERIKANSKOYE POSOL'STVO
KONSYL'SKIY OTDEL, NOVINSKIY BUL'VAR
19/23
121099 G. MOSKVA
RUSSIA

Traveling Applicants:
NAME DOB POB
XXXXXXXXXXXX,EKATERINA --Jun---- RUS

Regards,
National Visa Center
EAC


Then I got this e-mail from the Embassy this morning:

As of today, we have not received the case from NVC and suggest that you contact us in 1-2 weeks for updated info

Sincerely,

Public Liaison Unit
Consular Section
US Embassy, Moscow


I'm not panicing yet or anything like that, but it seems odd that it would take more then 2 weeks to get to Moscow.

I would not panic yet. It does seem to take a couple of weeks. I think they do these things in piles and leave them sit for a while. Give it another week or so and it will likely be there.

Satellite,

No, it is my second K-1. Hopefully I learned from the first one. I am quite sure this time I have a very good gal.

I think if my past K-1 was the problem it would have caught up to me in Vermont not at NVC. They approved my petition in Vermont with a waver for multiple filings within less than two years. (22 months actually). If I had to guess what the snag is I would guess because it is also the second K-1 for my fiancee. I have a feeling her name came up as having been here on a K-1 before and they are looking into the circumstances and making sure she did not overstay her visa which she did not. Other than that I have no idea why it ran into problems but it sure is a pain.

This is a link that you would probably find interesting. It's on the topic that your question is related to.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=32261

Not the same thing MPG. The fiancee visited in June and 3 months later in September they filed the K-1 visa application. Visiting while a K-1 is pending is considered Visa fraud as I understand.

FYI - this is the 2nd K1 filing for my fiancee too. I filed the for the first one in 11/2005, and all went well and it was approved and she got the visa in 06/2006. She came here in 07/2006, but we didn't get married and she went back to Russia after only about 2 weeks. (She had problems with her grandmother's very bad health and other family issues, and her mind just wasn't into getting married at that time.) Then after she got everything straightened out with her family, we filed for a second K1 in 11/2006. It was approved with no problems by CSC and the NVC, and now we wait for an interview date.

I think they look a little more kindly on someone who files again for the same fiancee. Both my first filing and my fiancee's are our second (different) fiancee.

I don't usually talk about why my fiancee's first K-1 did not work out but after they guy got her here, he confided in her that he also liked men and said he hoped she did not mind sharing him with his boyfriend. She said, buy me a ticket back to Russia.

I think it is tough for a woman to be away from her family and if there are health problems to deal with I can easily understand why she wanted to go home. I am sure it will work much better this time and I wish you the best of luck.

Man, you guys could probably get on Springer with this story!

2nd filings for the both of you HAS to be the reason you're in A/R for so long. This was the whole purpose of IMBRA; to protect women from "bad guys" (that do multiple filings because they get the women here then beat/rape/abuse them) and even a little bit to protect guys from "professional marriage broker agents" (that agree to marry a guy, get here, assess his worth, then either take him for a green card and 1/2 his money or jump ship and go back home to land the bigger fish), so your case is probably being delayed thanks to our latest and greatest immigration law.

All joking aside, I think this extra time should really solidify your chances of being approved. If the govt. is going to check and double check your case, the interview should be a snap. They'll already know you have a "real relationship" and whatever reasoning behind the termination of your previous filings was resolved in your current filings. Basically, you both had a crack at this international marriage/immigration/visa process thing already, for whatever reason it didn't work out, and now you're both back at, with the experience from last time and the "choice" to do it again this time.

Hang in there, and good luck!

It's not fraud to visit while a k-1 is pending.....it happens all the time. Although I filed for a Cr-1 and not a k-1....I was able to get a tourist visa for my wife during the process. If the consulate thought it was "fraud"...doubt they would have granted us one.

Not knowing much about how things are done in Russia , because my wife is Turkish, I don't know the particulars of what it's like to get a visa there , but still, with a good argument, and proof etc..., I would imagine the chances are similar to getting one from Turkey. I don't think getting a tourist visa through either country would be easy (especially after an immigrant visa was filed for).

I think it mainly depends on the individual circumstances.

I have never tried it to know first hand but they don't mind if the US citizen visits his/her foreign fiancee but If there is a K-1 pending and the foreign fiancee enters the country on a tourist visa they belive the real object of the trip was to visit the fiancee and not to be a tourist. Therefore it is immigrtion fraud and grounds for denial and banning. I am sure if the case could be established that the purpose of the trip really was as a tourist and that they were not going to visit the fiancee then they would not have a problem.

Never did it to know for sure but that is the word that floated up to my ears.

That's just not correct. It is NOT fraud. Entering on a tourist visa could be for a variety of reasons, one of which could be to visit your fiance or spouse. About the only way a person would be "banned" or face "fraud" charges is if they , at the POE, lied at about their reason for visiting when asked, and misrepresented themselves/gave false information.

It is NOT immigration fraud to visit a spouse on a tourist visa. That's not correct information........and in fact, when I went to the consulate to ask for the tourist visa while our CR-1 was processing, the VERY reason I gave to them for my wife to obtain one, was for her to visit me. They knew full well our intentions and reasons for wanting one.

And they gave it to us...........

Whoever gave you your information in the past...or wherever you go it.......was just plain wrong.

I notice that your visitor visa was granted through somewhere other than Moscow. Please find someone, ANYONE, on VJ or anywhere in the world that visited the U.S. through Moscow while a K-1, K-3, CR-1, etc., was processing.

Standing by......

Okay.....and then in the meantime, you find some article, some document or law etc..... that says that it CAN'T be done......or has never been done before.

Standing by.......

When our paperwork was forwarded it took close to 4 weeks. Funny thing is when I saw that our case had been forwarded I wrote a letter to Elena, they raced to Russia, letter sent US airmail received in 8 days, package sent through immigration process 3 and 1/2 weeks. Basically all the packages go from DC to New Jersey to the AFPO (armed forces post office) and they sit there for awhile until there is enough to fill a crate or package or something and then they go for a plane ride, sit in a special customs area until they are cleared, they go to the embassy where one little 80 year old man carefully reads the name and sorts out which case goes where. The list of transfers is compared to the list of received cases and it is double checked and then the list goes back to washington so USCIS can update their website. Be patient they dont get lost they get wished across the ocean. Good luck everything will be fine

My information was just based on spending way too much time here and reading way to many posts. I won't say I can't be wrong and that is is possible for a fiancee to visit but I am fairly sure I recall one case even where she got the tourist visa and said as she came through customs that the purpose of her trip was to visit her fiancee and she found herself on a plane back home.

My observations for what little value they are totally agree with Slim. I have only seen one case of a fiancee from Russia successfully visit her SO in the USA and in that case it was real nip and tuck at immigration.

You keep missing the point. She wasn't sent back on the plane because she came to "visit" her fiance. She was sent back because she was unable to prove non-immigrant intent. The officer thought she was not here to see her fiance but here to stay forever.

Sorry Satelite, I was aware of that but perhaps just did not word my response very well. You do run that risk anytime you are coming to the USA to visit your fiancee. I highly doubt if you went into the embassy for an interview and said you wanted to visit your fiancee that you would get a visa even if you had family, a job and property because they would fear exactly that. Same thing on immigration. If you are at the POE and say you are visiting your fiancee you may have some problems. I am sure some sail right through. So much of what we deal with in the K-1 process depends on people decisions which are never totally predictable.

Yes, if you apply for a tourist visa and say you always wanted to go to disneyland you may get a visa. Yes, if you are entering and say you are going to disneyland you may get in. Still if they pick up that there is a K-1 pending there is risk.

Did you see this part of the weblink(below) I provided in the earlier post? The fiancee actually admitted to the interviewer at the Moscow consulate they she was going to be visiting her fiance in the USA, that they had been engaged for 2.5 years, that she intended to eventually immigrate to the USA, and that she had future plans to file for a K-1. Regardless of all that....they STILL gave her the tourist visa.

It really just all depends on... 1) Your story, proof of ties, and how well you can convince the consulate that you will return 2) Who interviews you 3) Maybe a little luck/alignment of the stars that day etc...

(bringing a good rabbit's foot along might not hurt either)

I am sure the same holds true when that person arrives in the USA at the POE.



She told me that he asked her if she planned to stay in America. She answered "Yes" Then smiled at him and told him it would not be on this trip. She was going to see what america was like and then we would submit the K-1 visa papers when she returned. He asked how long we had known each other and been engaged (2.5 years) He seemed impressed by it. He then congratulated her and told her that he looked forward to seeing her at the K-1 interview. Whole thing lasted 5 minutes and she was out of there.

Where did that come from?

I remember someone getting a tourist visa on here ONE time. However, that was not while their K-1 was processing, nor was the aforementioned. I honestly don't know if it's against the law (Satellite is the legal guru on this thread) but I do know the law basically says if you're intent is to immigrate, you're not getting a tourist visa. A tourist visa is for "visiting" only. Even a K-1 is not technically an "immigration" visa.

I have yet to see someone (RC) be granted a tourist visa to the U.S. with intent to immigrate, or while another visa is actually processing. I've even heard the green card lottery can mess up chances for a tourist visa because the applicant has previously cited intent to immigrate. That's another visa gray area. Still though, bottom line, I have yet to see one single person on VJ or anywhere else that has been granted a tourist visa while a K-1 is processing.

You are talking about a B-2 visa, which is variously referred to as "tourist" or "visitor".

Off the government web sites:

"Applicants for visitor visas must show that they qualify under the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The presumption under law is that every visitor visa applicant is an intending immigrant."

The Immigration and Nationality Act does not address K-1 pending visits. What the above quote says is that you have to prove you don't plan to stay if you want a B-2. It is harder to convince the consulate that you don't plan to stay if you have a K-1 pending. But if you can, you should get a B-2 visa. Note that (also off embassy web sites) you can be turned back at POE even if you have a valid visa. Again assumption of guilt and the required proof of innocence.