Search the Community

Hey, as the title says. I have a flight booked to visit my partner for April as it is her 30th birthday and I want to be there for it. However we are in the NVC stage and when I visit my interview will probably be booked already, planning to hopefully have it done end of May or June. Any advice would be appreciated, is it ok to still visit at this stage?

Hi all, My husband and I we really need some help on how to proceed on my immigration papers. I entered the US on ESTA back in March (I'm an Italian citizen) my husband (US citizen) and I we got married in April in the US I was supposed to leave the US but at the end we decided to do adjustment of status. But at the end of August my mom got sick and I needed to go back to Italy before I got the travel document. We still have the I-130 form pending we sent them a letter explaining the situation and that we wanted to proceed with consular processing we really hope that they would take it into consideration. Since we have been apart for a long time and even just visit him it would help our marriage. Is it worth trying to get inside the US? Would they deny me entry for sure? Is there a small chance of them letting me in? Technically I never overstayed my ESTA if we take into consideration the time that I was in the process because once we submitted the papers my status is changed right? If not I never overstayed more than 180 days so I'm also not banned "technically" Is it worth trying? Is it better not to? Is there something that I could tell them? Is there an airport that's easier? Thank you all for answering

Hello everyone, So as I wrote in the title of this thread, I got a divorce and left the USA in late 2019 to return my home country. I am returning as a tourist to visit NY with my sister in April 2024, now I have no desire of course to remain, but my question rose regards of the ESTA visa since I am an Italian citizen and ESTA was already approved online, just wondering can I just go ahead and use that to enter normally the States, or do I need to bring any extra documentation because of the fact I was a permanent resident once? How does it work? Thank you to anyone who will reply.

Hi all, Long time no post. I wasn't sure which forum to post this in, apologies if this is incorrect. The situation is my mother-in-law sent in her ESTA, it took forever to process and came back denied. She's visited us multiple times on the VWP to 3 different states, with no problem until 2020. She came to visit that March, a week later they locked down and she could not leave before the 3 months ran out. I helped her file two extensions with the local immigration office. The extensions were approved both times and she could finally book a flight home in July. She was here a total of 5 months. Nobody gave her any grief about the overstay since she had papers to cover that. My questions are: Is she on a ban list now despite going through everything with immigration for that overstay? Would she even be approved for a visitor visa if she applied to visit next year? I'm assuming this will affect possible immigration applications in the future? Thanks for any help!

Im sorry if this is a long complicated post but I find myself in a bit of a situation. My wife and I have visited the US once before 2 years ago. She was on esta and I am a citizen. When filling out the esta 2 questions stood out. This is because my wife has an encounter with the police when she was still a juvenile. Long story short she was hanging out with friends and a classmates parent thought it was suspicious and that drugs were involved and she called the police. She was never arrested but had to visit the police station in the coming day and was questioned. She never admitted guilt and no marijuana was found. She got a letter stating the charges were dropped and that no action would be taken. He two questions that concern us now are: 1. Have you ever been arrested or convicted for a crime that resulted in serious damage to property, or serious harm to another person or government authority? To this we answered no because it seems like a minor crime and doesn’t fall under any of these categories. Additionally from our research possession convictions aren’t a CIMT. 2. Have you ever violated any law related to possessing, using, or distributing illegal drugs? To this we also answered no because she never violated any law. We are now concerned because we would like to get an IR-1 visa and come live in the US. It seems like from the situation we described above she is not inadmissible because she was a juvenile, not convinced, no admission of guilt, and no evidence. However we are aware we must disclose this to the embassy when we apply for the visa. Our main concern is that we misinterpreted the ESTA questions that we answered on her previous visit. From looking online there are mixed opinions to when you must click yes to the first question. We are worried that we unintentionally misrepresented on her ESTA and because of this she will be permanently banned from the US if we apply for an IR-1 visa. Does anyone have any insight into this issue?

Hello everyone. I’m on here to ask for advice from people who have experience with the adjustment of status while in the US. I am Spanish and my wife is from the US. We met online two years ago and met over a year ago in person and have been visiting each other since, meeting each other’s family and friends. We got engaged in new years 2022 and decided to get married in Spain to file for the CR1 visa. we found out we were expecting a baby in early February and decided to get married sooner in Spain to start the visa process. However because of work and Spanish bureaucracy we decided it was easier to get married in the US with intent to going back together to Spain. once we were in the US and married, we had several medical visits about the baby and it was taking a huge toll on both on us the massive immigration challenge we had ahead and did not want to raise the child in two countries while waiting for the visa. She suggested we explore the AoS route but I’m worried the government might think we were committing visa fraud. In our defense we had already paid for the health insurance for her in Spain and were looking at apartments to rent together there. Is our case viable? Are we doing anything wrong? thank you in advance for your help.

I'm stuck in a job that's crushing my spirit and pays me next to nothing, and i finally have enough money to afford a two way ticket and an esta application. I really want to just drop everything and visit my partner in the US for two months with an ESTA. he suggested we could get married during my stay. Would this be okay ? We're just wondering if it's a possibility to be able to apply and be together sooner. Thank you for replies.

Hi all, apologies if this question has been asked previously - I couldn't seem to find any information on it. My fiancé and I are planning on getting married in June. She is a US citizen and I am a UK citizen. I will be on an ESTA. I was just wondering if there are any rules/recommendations about getting married and then me staying with her for a couple of months. I am not planning to stay permanently, but I have an opportunity to stay for a couple of months. So my question is can we file the petition whilst I am there and can I then stay there for a couple months after filing? Or will I have to be in the UK to file the petition? Thanks!!

Hi everybody :) My husband (26, who is a USC) an I (24, Danish) filed for i-130 back in July 2022. We have been married since November 1st 2021. Last time I was in the US was from July to September 2022. I am currently planning a trip to see my husband in the US in March, because it will be one year since his father passed away, and my husband and his family are having a small memorial. I am only planning on staying for about 2 weeks, because I’m worried the customs officer will be suspicious if I stay for longer, while my i-130 is pending. I didn’t really think it would be a problem to enter the US when it’s only for a short period of time and I do have a good reason to go, but now after doing some research, it looks like you need a LOT of ties to your home country, otherwise you can get denied entry. The problem is, that I basically have no strong ties to Denmark. I’m currently unemployed, staying with my parents so I own no property etc… Another thing is, I’ve previously gotten two extensions on my ESTA while visiting the US back in the beginning of covid. (First time was because my flights kept getting cancelled when I tried to go back home to Denmark, second time I got really sick and was unable to board my flight and leave the US. I have proof of both, and will bring them, if I go to the US.) I’m afraid that the extensions will also be a problem when I try to enter the US… Of course I will leave the US after my short stay, and would never try to commit visa fraud. But I am afraid that it looks like I would, with my i-130 pending and no strong ties to Denmark. So my question is: Do you think I’ll be able to enter the US? If I only stay for about 2 weeks and of course bring my return ticket? Or would it be too risky/is the chance that I’ll get denied too big? I know that it’s completely up to the border control officer to decide, so none of you can tell me exactly what will happen- but what is your guys experiences with traveling on ESTA while waiting for a visa, with no strong ties to your home country? And is a memorial a good enough reason to go? I so badly want to be there for my husband during this time. I’m also planning on going to the US in May, for my sister in law’s wedding. If I do end up going in March, will it then be harder to enter again in May, even if that is also just for a short stay? Thanks!!

Hello, My wife and I filed our I-130 in August 2022 through consular processing as we are both in Korea. Our service center is Vermont. We are planning on a vacation to Hawaii, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles end of Feb/first week of March. Our trip will be for about 6-8 weeks. We will be entering together and heading back to Korea together once the trip is over. I have a business in Korea and am paying rent for an apartment. My question is what would happen if our I-130 were to be approved while we were in the US? Would there be no problem? I have heard of some cases where USCIS would automatically change it to AOS and we would have to wait for the 485 to be approved and we would not be allowed to return overseas? Thanks in advance

Me and my partner are looking for the best way to proceed. I'm from Italy, he's USC. Since the waiting time is almost the same, we're leaning to get married and proceed with a CR-1 visa, more than picking the K1 path. Our concern about this is the traveling while the I-130 is pending. What are the chances of a tourist visa getting denied because of this? Would this be a problem only with a pending I-130 or also with a pending I-129F? I know for this purpose there's the K3 visa, but the waiting time is the same so there's no point. We are willing to wait for the whole procedure to go through, but not being able to see each other in the meantime would be crazy. Thank you for the help!

Hello everyone, Me and my partner filed for K1 Visa in October 2022 and never heard back. We never received our NOA1 and they never cashed in the payment, even though we have confirmation that they received our I-129F application. Now I'm planning to visit him in the States in April (using my ESTA) and he wants me to stay, get married and file for AOS. I've read that it might work but I'm also worried since we have already previously filed for K1. But since we never heard back we might not even be "in the system"? Thank you all for any advice you might have for us!!!

Has anyone experienced difficulties extending their ESTA while their K-1 visa application is pending? Have you experienced trouble at the POE, entering with your ESTA while a K-1 visa application was pending? Obviously I'm trying to do everything the legal way but I'm afraid they'll deny me entry when I try to enter the country with my ESTA while awaiting my K-1 visa, thinking I'll secretly try to get married to my boyfriend while visiting him. I'm currently weighing the pros and cons of the K-1 and CR-1 visas because my boyfriend and I are unsure about which process will be most suitable for us. The waiting time isn't the problem honestly, but travel restrictions while applications are pending is a very big scare for both of us.

Hi guys this is going to be a long post so bare with me. I came to the US on the 27th of October this year. I am German. My boyfriend and I are long distance. My flight back home would’ve been the 17th November.(I am from Germany) We decided that we wanted to get married because we didn’t want to be separated again. We heard that filing for AOS May be an option. I had no intent staying here because I have two sick parents in Germany and bills to pay. (I am unemployed but I still have important appointments that I now have to cancel in Germany) I am very anxious person that’s why I’m asking so much. Which documents do I need every website tells me that I need different documents. Which evidence do we need? Can we file I-130 and I-485 together or do we have to wait for I-130 approved because I don’t have a an alien number. Can we still file for I-485 even if we’re married less than 2 years? How do we file I-485 concurrently if I do not have an alien number, and it says we have to attach a copy of the form I-767 but we don’t have the copy if we don’t file for I-130 first If we have to file I-130 separate how am I protected from deportation if I’m out of status Do we need an immigration lawyer? I don’t want to make any mistakes and it will be denied because of making mistakes Do I have to do the medical right away or can I do it a few days or weeks after my initial application because I want to file before the 24th of January so I’m not out of status Another thing regarding the medical I heard you should never disclose that you smoked (even if it was once) or are smoking cannabis even if it’s legal in that state because you can fail your medical because of that, is that true? What if you fail your medical in general can you get another one or will your application be denied, and if it’s denied do you have to go back to your origin country? Also on my ESTA I answered the drug question with no (if I would’ve ticked yes my ESTA would’ve been denied) even tho I did Cannabis a few times in my life so I don’t want to put yes on the drug question of AOS application when I said no on my ESTA because I don’t want them to think why did she say no on ESTA but not on the AOS Application I am currently taking 3 medications for my depression could it effect my medical negatively Another question regarding the medical I have mental health problems and I self h4rmed in the past. Would it make me inadmissible for a green card because in the USCIS Rules it says no mental illness that could cause harm to you or others. It caused harm to myself. But not anymore. How long does it take to assemble the package? I want to file before my I-94 runs out on the 24th of January. I know people can overstay their ESTA as a spouse of an US Citizen and it can be forgiven but I don’t want to overstay because I’m scared I could be deported (I’ve heard one horror story here on visa journey where a person got deported even tho she was in the process of filling but hasn’t got his/her NOA1 yet) What if we fill out everything before the 24th of January and I send it before the 24 January but it will arrive after the 24th January then I’m out of status and have overstayed but on my application it will say that I have not overstayed. Do you get what I’m saying? I just don’t want to get in trouble I was also put into secondary when I arrived here in the US could this affect my application? If I need to overstay because we can not file before the 24 January do we also have to send that one waiver of inadmissibility What if the AOS from ESTA doesn’t work out will I get a ban? I’ve also read many different stories about it being legal or illegal even from lawyers When we get married and I decide to take my boyfriends name, on my passport and id has still my old name how does ist affect the AOS filing? Is it shady that we’re getting married so quick? In January we are together one year but we saw each other 3 times in that year and have tons of photos etc together and we wanted to get married sometime and we decided to do it now Sorry for rambling so much. I am just so scared that my bf and I have to be separated again or that something will happen and I need to go back to Germany. Thanks for reading and thanks for your answers in advance.

Hi all, Husband USC, Me UKC Since me and my husband have started this process and he has gone home, and found himself again, but now he wants to split from me and stay friends. Obv, I'm heartbroken but I'm not going to beg him to stay, because I think his long distance work has caused him to be too tired to continue with this. That being said, I overstayed my ESTA in 2017, by less than 180 days. Regardless I know I'll never be able to get an esta again. We haven't received NOA2 yet and I have yet to have that conversation with him about what happens then. I don't think he will pay NVC or go ahead. I would like to visit at some point so I can collect my belongings if it's really over, but I don't have strong tie to the UK with being married to a USC. I had cut all ties here knowing I was following him. So all I have is a job, I live in my parents spare room and no car finance or mortgage etc I just pay rent to my mum. Will I be able to obtain a visit visa from the embassy or will I have to wait for the NVC stage to expire?? Thanks in advance. X

Hello! I am a dual US/UK citizen by birth, wanting to move my UK citizen husband to the US. I have two questions. 1. I have received an offer of employment in the US which would require me to relocate in 12 weeks. We are almost ready to file our I-130 (see question 2), but would like to expedite this once submitted along with filing a CR1 with DFC in London. Does anybody have advice on how we could go about this? I have also seen different resources in different places, some saying that this is a legitimate reason to expedite a visa and some saying it is not. 2. My husband and I have a trip planned to the US in December for which he will need to get an ESTA. On the I-130 USCIS online form under Beneficiary's Immigration Information / Beneficiary Class of Admission, I have submitted the details for his last ESTA he obtained to visit the United States under class of admission B2 - Temporary Visit for Pleasure. Will this be a problem / will I need to update his application when he gets his ESTA for our trip in December? Many thanks, B

Hello everyone, my situation: i came to the US on an esta about 6 weeks ago to visit my boyfriend (usc) of a few months (long distance). I originally planned on staying here with him for 8 weeks to spend time with him. As my departure date came closer my boyfriend proposed to me and we decided we want to get married while I’m here as we both are really in love and both can’t imagine going back to long distance again. We didn’t plan on going this route when I originally came in but we both realized we don’t want to live without each other. I’ve read that we could get married and then file for AOS. My fiancé is a USC. Now my questions: 1. when is the best time to actually marry? After the 90 days or before? I read online that getting married within the 90 days would be suspicious and that there is a 90 day rule in place? There is many contradicting information on the actual best time to get married while on an esta 2. at Port of Entry I got admitted into the country on an esta for 8 weeks ( my originally intended time of stay ) - now if we get married on day 43, and file for AOS on day 95 - will I be subject to deportation in the meantime because then technically I’m in the country illegal for the time being between marriage and filing AOS? 3. as i originally came into the country for pleasure but in a relationship with my boyfriend at the time obviously already, how can I proof at the interview that yes we have been together, but didn’t plan on actually getting married when I came Into the country but later on just realized we didn’t want to live without each other any longer? There’s no significant change of life circumstances, we just decided to get married while I was here. Will that be a problem / red flag? 4. my fiancé was married before and has been legally divorced for 1 1/2 years now. His ex wife was from germany too and he unter went the same procedure 7 years ago already. Will that be a red flag or give us any problems? We won’t have any problems proving that our marriage is bonafide as we really love each other and had been in a relationship for months now. I guess my fiancé just likes Germans 😃😃 lol. what do you guys think? Is there anything we can do wrong ? We are not married yet and I just want to make sure we’re doing everything right and not making any major mistakes . Thank you for your help!

First I wanted to mention how glad I am to have found a forum of this kind, I hope I can get some help I’ll share some details of my situation to give you some context but there’s more to the story I was in the US with a J1 visa for 2.5 years until April 2021, then I entered on ESTA permit Sep-Dec 2021 and April-June 2022, both times I stayed less than 90 days On Aug 29th after an extensive interview I got denied entry I was advised by the CBP agent to apply for a B2 visa but I don’t want to go into this process on my own and risk making any mistakes, therefore I’m seeking professional help I was wondering if anyone knows of any reliable attorney who deals with non common visa applicants situations thank you!

Hi everyone. So I was in the US from December until March, we got married, I filed an i-130 and left the country. I came back to the US on the 19th June only intending to stay for a week as our bridal party was on the 25th so this was the reason I was coming. However I decided to stay a little longer as it feels so good to be back with my wife and our cats. Unexpectedly my wife’s car broke down and it’s costing just shy of $2000 to fix and we are already in a sticky place financially. My wife also suffers a lot with her mental health and I really don’t want to have to leave her while she is this fragile. I don’t work back in the UK and I have just enough saved for a flight home which will cost roughly the same as an AOS. Does anyone know if this would be possible? I had no intentions to stay when I first came and I got inspected by an officer who let me through. Another reason I’m worried is I have to come back in November for our main wedding party and scared if I leave I won’t have the funds to get back. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thank you

Hi everyone, I would have never thought that by now I would still be posting on here, but here I am. I applied for AOS from ESTA in August 2020, marriage based, got an RFE for i944 form, then submitted it and my case status is "waiting to schedule for an interview" since March 2021. I got EAD and AP, but can't work as my field is aviation and nobody wants to employ someone without a GC (need to be able to fly in and out of the country freely and they don't trust AP). I live in Sacramento and my field office seems to be still NBC. I applied for an expedite request yesterday, but I have very little hope that it's actually going to be accepted. So, now, based on these info, what do you think I should expect? Is there any hope that I'll actually get an interview soon? Or is it possible that they lost my case or something like that? What can I possibly do to get things moving? I feel really sad and discouraged to be honest. My husband and I have two little daughters (USC) and I really need to work (other fields are not an option for many reasons that would take too long to disclose on here), not to mention that it's very emotionally draining to be in this limbo for so long, almost without any rights and with the fear of rejection/denial/deportation... My husband and I would like to buy a house, develop our careers, put down roots, build our life together... But none of that is possible untill I finally get a GC. I don't know what to do or think. Does anybody have some insight for me or maybe someone can share their story if they had a similar experience? I would really appreciate it Thank you

Hello, Back in March of 2022 my now wife visited me on an ESTA for 89 days and during that time we got married without any previous plans to do so. She returned to Sweden and we sent in our application for a CR1 visa, however over the last few days we have found that some are able to travel to the US again on an ESTA while the application is processing. We want to avoid doing anything that will cause issues in the future with our application process so I just had a few questions. Any answers or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Would her visiting me for a few weeks on an ESTA while our application is pending put up any red flags with immigration? What would be a good form of proof that she does in fact intend to return to her home country again other than a return ticket? Thanks!

Hi all, I am 29 years old male with a full time job (Technical Engineer for Local Government) in UK London, I have visited the USA twice within the last year (under 2 weeks), the last time I travelled was in mid May 2022 for 10 days and both times I have them I was visiting friends and family, I’m getting a little worried that it is becoming suspicious. I have scheduled another visit last August for 9 days to spend time with her (almost running out of vacation days from work) lol Should I just tell them I am visiting my girlfriend for an X amount of days/weeks? Am I allowed to visit my girlfriend on n ESTA? Does anyone think this will be a problem? I would like to hear some of your past experiences.

I hope this is the correct forum to ask the question and get some advice! I recently moved back to the us after living abroad for six years, I have been in a relationship with my Korean boyfriend and lived together for the past 3 years. I recently moved back to the us and he came with me on an esta vida to visit. Originally, our plan was to just have him visit and then we would do the k-1 fiance visa application, but after the controversy with roe v Wade, I didn't want to risk how it could affect same sex marriage. So we decided to get married before he leaves in two weeks. Is this fine and what kind of issues could this path to marriage/green card cause? Does anyone have any advice on the steps we should take or have experience in a similar situation? Thank you for any advice!

Hi everyone! This might be a stupid question, so I apologize in advance. So my husband will be visiting the U.S. this summer for two weeks and we are looking at flights. They are all crazy expensive bcuz of fuel costs, so we are thinking about booking each flight on different airlines to save some money. He would have an inbound flight to US on one airline and a return flight booked with another airline. Does it matter if his return flight is on a different airline for his ESTA? or it doesn't matter as long as you have the return flight (regardless of the airline)? We have a pending I-130 so we will make sure he has evidence of intent to return to Korea (job, travel insurance, etc.). Thank you in advance!