Can my spouse visit the U.S. while waiting for her I-130 to be viewed/processed?

[msohyun 1]

Hello all.

 

We are currently waiting for USCIS to view/process the I-130, we only have the NOA1 (Received).

 

Question is: Is she allowed to travel to the U.S. for like a month without being suspected of overstaying her visa? She plans on buying a round trip ticket and all that. She wants to come here, but we are worried that the feds will think she is trying to stay here early and overstay her 3 month visa.

Thanks

[waitin4mylove 44]

Its ok for her to travel with a pending I130. 

My husband came to the US once before it approved. 

I was like you, worried and stressed out thinking that they might deny him entry and put him on the next flight back to his country. But the advice I got from VJ was that he should travel with proof of ties back to his homeland eg. An employment letter, lease  etc and of course to have a return ticket. 

 

He had to go back to work so he could only spend 2 weeks.

 

What he brought along with him was an employment letter, his child's birth certificate, a copy of his NOA1 that would indicate that we are going through the process legally and I even got him traveler's insurance that covered the duration of his stay in the US. 

 

He didnt have to show those things when he got to JFK but at least he was prepared.

 

He was asked:

What's the purpose of travel? 

Who are you visiting? 

Am I a Permanent resident or US citizen? 

Whats the duration of your stay?

 

I've heard that he could be sent to secondary at this point but thankfully that didn't happen. 

 

It is important to note that she should not lie about who she is coming to visit. Just be honest and have proof that she'll be returning home because of her obligations.

 

Its completely up to CBP officer to grant her entry so anything can happen but just sharing our experience. 

 

You can do a general search in Visa Journey if you haven't already or click below and read experience of other people.

 

All the best!

 

Edited November 5, 2017 by waitin4mylove

[pushbrk 12,083]

1 hour ago, msohyun said:

Hello all.

 

We are currently waiting for USCIS to view/process the I-130, we only have the NOA1 (Received).

 

Question is: Is she allowed to travel to the U.S. for like a month without being suspected of overstaying her visa? She plans on buying a round trip ticket and all that. She wants to come here, but we are worried that the feds will think she is trying to stay here early and overstay her 3 month visa.

Thanks

Check out the pinned thread at the top of the forum on the exact topic.

[OlgaP 1]

We did that. I filled in for travel visa during NVC part of the process. It is possible and most likely you will get that 3 months travel visa, it doesn't interfere with I-130 petition.

[JFH 12,189]

Do you mean she will be traveling under the VWP? I did exactly that twice during the wait for the I-130 to be approved. 

 

I was questioned more intensively than usual on one of those visits but I strongly believe it was a case of the officer having a bad day as the questions he asked and the actions he threatened to take were nonsensical. The next time I visited I breezed through CBP. 

 

Note that a requirement for using the VWP is a round-trip ticket. Without that, she cannot use the VWP. Note also that no entry into the country is ever guaranteed except for USCs. So no one can guarantee she will be able to visit but statistically speaking she should have no problem, assuming she is generally admissible. 

[msohyun 1]

7 hours ago, pushbrk said:

Check out the pinned thread at the top of the forum on the exact topic.

Thank you. I did take a look at the thread. I will use this from now on. And thanks to everyone who took the time to reply