Entering the US while having a pending visa application (K1)

[Russandol 0]

I have a question concerning entering the US while having a pending visa application (K1).

Here's our situation:

My fiancée's divorce should be finalized in October and we plan on filing on the K1 right after.

My fiancée is also pregnant and due in early December. I don't want to miss the birth and the least possible of my child's first months. We therefore planned that I come to the US in December and stay until the end of February on the visa waiver. Then I return to Germany, have my interview at the embassy (unless the interview happens to be earlier, of course), and come back via the K1. This idea would of course include that I would have to quit my job and apartment before. What we are afraid of, is that without job and apartment, it might happen that I won't be let into the country.

How big is the risk of that? What can we do to lower the risk? How can I still prove that I don't intend to stay yet? Would it help, for example, to keep my apartment through December (to be able to show a valid contract when entering)? Are there differences between different airports or even via Canada?

[YuAndDan 153]

To lower the risk of being bared at the POS, you should have a reason to return home before overstay, that is job, apartment, home, etc...

FAQ: http://www.visajourney.com/faq/k1k2visa-application.html#4.6

[Melian 0]

Russandol's fiancée here.

Do you think it would be adequate if he kept his apartment (and car, and all his stuff...) during the visit here? Keeping the job really would be impossible.

Also, I was wondering - if he flies to Toronto first (I live in upstate NY not far from the border), and then took a train or something into the US, would that improve our chances? If he wasn't allowed into the US, I could still go to Canada myself and meet him there, which certainly beats having him sent all the way back to Germany.

In general, does anyone who has visited under similar conditions have any tips?

Thanks in advance!

[maggieNomar 0]

Showing ties and reasons to return to home country is the best bet for him to be let in.

[KimandRuss 0]

It has everything to do with the officer at POE so it's hard to say if he or she will even ask for ties to home. If they do ask and does not have a job or an apartment he may just face that fate...or as Russ and I call it "das boot" .

Be honest and explain the situation. It's not unfathomable to understand that he would want to be there for some time with you and the baby. And it's also understandable that someone would consider leaving his job and apartment a few months early in order to spend time with his new family before returning home for the last few steps of the K1 process and immigrating.

I'm not sure about the border crossing. You might be best served by asking in the Canadian Regional thread.

good luck