Want to bring foreign wife for visit/ultimate immigration. What's the best way?

[gchuva 0]

I am a US citizen married to a Vietnamese national. We are both living in Singapore. Married less than 1 year.

I want to:

1. Have my wife visit the US to meet my family.

2. Get the wheels in motion for her to stay in the US longer term (k-3 visa, etc).

What is the best way to proceed? Should apply for a tourist visa first and then try to extend once we arrive in the US, or get the immigration visa process started from abroad?

Thanks

Edited November 13, 2009 by gchuva

[gchuva 0]

Also, any step by step details about which form to file and when to file it would be helpful.

[Anh map 2,098]

Typically a Viet citizen will have a really tough time getting a tourist visa.

Does she qualify as a Singapore resident? Does she have a good job there that she will be returning to? That would help her in obtaining a tourist visa. For a tourist visa she has to show STRONG ties to home (or place of residence).

Read the Guides here on VJ to learn about your immigration options. (CR1 visa is the best.) If you qualify as a Singapore resident ,and she does as well, you may be able to file at the Singapore embassy which would have to be better than HCMC.

Also do some reading in the Asia: East & Pacific regional forum to get a sense of immigration for Viet citizens. It can be an ordeal due to a history of fraudulent family immigration from Vietnam.

Welcome to VJ

[rsn 135]

I am a US citizen married to a Vietnamese national. We are both living in Singapore. Married less than 1 year.

I want to:

1. Have my wife visit the US to meet my family.

2. Get the wheels in motion for her to stay in the US longer term (k-3 visa, etc).

What is the best way to proceed? Should apply for a tourist visa first and then try to extend once we arrive in the US, or get the immigration visa process started from abroad?

Thanks

As Anh Map stated, it may be difficult for a Vietnamese citizen to obtain a B2 visa. Extending a tourist visa may also be difficult. For more information on extending a tourist visa, see the USCIS non-immigrant services document. A quote from this document:

How long can I stay? Can I extend my stay?

Persons admitted in these categories are normally admitted for no more than 6 months. Your I-94 (not your visa) indicates how long you can stay. If you

were not issued an I-94, click here.

If you were admitted under the Visa Waiver Program (WB or WT), your stay cannot be extended. Otherwise, if you were admitted as a B1 or B2, you can

use Form I-539 to apply for an extension of stay. However, given the limited purpose of status, you will have to clearly demonstrate that the extension of

stay is consistent with the terms and conditions of your status, and that you have definite plans to leave the U.S.

The I-539 page can be found here, and also see the M-752 which contains a summary of what you must do/prove to extend a B2.

[Minya's wife 25]

I am a US citizen married to a Vietnamese national. We are both living in Singapore. Married less than 1 year.

I want to:

1. Have my wife visit the US to meet my family.

2. Get the wheels in motion for her to stay in the US longer term (k-3 visa, etc).

What is the best way to proceed? Should apply for a tourist visa first and then try to extend once we arrive in the US, or get the immigration visa process started from abroad?

Thanks

1. Your wife can try to apply for a tourist visa, to come to meet your family.

2. In order to begin the immigraiton process, you as the US citizen will have to file the I-30 petition for a foreign spouse. If you are living outside the US, you may want to look in to the Consular Filing procedures, if those are available through the US consulate that serves the country you are in. Please check out the Guides here on VJ for more info.

Using a tourist visa, for any other purpose than "tourist" is not allowed. Once a tourist visa is issued, the beneficiary should come and visit only, then return to the home country....immigration is another process and cannot be circumvented through the use of a tourist visa.

[pushbrk 12,979]

I am a US citizen married to a Vietnamese national. We are both living in Singapore. Married less than 1 year.

I want to:

1. Have my wife visit the US to meet my family.

2. Get the wheels in motion for her to stay in the US longer term (k-3 visa, etc).

What is the best way to proceed? Should apply for a tourist visa first and then try to extend once we arrive in the US, or get the immigration visa process started from abroad?

Thanks

1. Your wife can try to apply for a tourist visa, to come to meet your family.

2. In order to begin the immigraiton process, you as the US citizen will have to file the I-30 petition for a foreign spouse. If you are living outside the US, you may want to look in to the Consular Filing procedures, if those are available through the US consulate that serves the country you are in. Please check out the Guides here on VJ for more info.

Using a tourist visa, for any other purpose than "tourist" is not allowed. Once a tourist visa is issued, the beneficiary should come and visit only, then return to the home country....immigration is another process and cannot be circumvented through the use of a tourist visa.

A tourist visa for a Vietnam citizen is generally extremely difficult to obtain. You state there is eventual immigrant intent, which is always assumed until demonstrated otherwise but even more firmly assumed when married to a US Citizen.

How do you decide whether or not to issue a visa?

Section 214(B) of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Act states:

"Every alien shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officer, at the time of application for admission, that he is entitled to a nonimmigrant status..."

To qualify for most nonimmigrant visas, applicants must meet the requirements of U.S. immigration law. Failure to do so will result in a refusal of a visa under Section 214(B). The most frequent basis for such a refusal concerns the requirement that applicants possess a residence abroad he/she has no intention of abandoning. Applicants prove the existence of such residence by demonstrating that they have ties abroad that would compel them to leave the U.S. at the end of the temporary stay. The law places this burden of proof on each individual applicant.

What are strong ties?

Strong ties differ from country to country, city to city, individual to individual. "Ties" are the various aspects of a person's life that bind them to their country or residence: possessions, employment, social and family relationships. Some examples of ties can be a person job and income, a house or apartment, a car, close family relationships, bank accounts, etc. Consular officers are trained to look at each application individually and consider professional, social, cultural and other factors. With younger applicants who may not have had an opportunity to form many ties, consular officers may look at the applicant's specific intentions, family situations and long-range plans and prospects within his or her country of residence. Each case is examined individually and is accorded every consideration under the law.