Married to US citizen, can I visit US?

[polyanna 0]

Hi, I'm new here, so if this topic has been discussed before, I apologize.

I am married to an American, and we are currently living in Europe. I would like to visit the US, as most of my family lives there, but I do not want to immigrate and do not want to go through that process. Can I just request a tourist visa? My husband of 1 year will stay behind due to to his job, and I will be travelling alone. Thank you.

[trailmix 77]

Hi

Sure you can, being married to a U.S. citizen does not prohibit you from visiting the U.S.

[Darnell 8,478]

Are you a passport holder of a country that participates in the Visa Waiver Program ? If so, is less hassle, but bring proof of ties to your home country WITH YOU, you might need to show them at the Port of Entry.

[SabrinaFrance 8]

Are you a passport holder of a country that participates in the Visa Waiver Program ? If so, is less hassle, but bring proof of ties to your home country WITH YOU, you might need to show them at the Port of Entry.

I believe that when you marry an USC you waive your rights to use the visa waiver program, and that you should apply for a tourist visa if you want to visit the US.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I believe that when you marry an USC you waive your rights to use the visa waiver program, and that you should apply for a tourist visa if you want to visit the US.

I've never heard of this. More importantly, how will they KNOW that I'm suddenly married to a USC? That seems a bit silly to me but stranger things have happened. If you have a link to prove it i'd be interested to read it.

OP - no issue going in on the VWP that i know of. Or applying for a visitors visa. You will need to show strong ties to your home country of course. Best of luck

[polyanna 0]

Hello, all,

Thank you very much for your prompt replies. I am from Eastern Europe, so I will need to obtain a visa before I could visit the US. I have not looked at the visa documents yet, but I am wondering if they ask me about my family. I will have to list my husband as an American citizen and I was wondering if that will automatically flag me as a potential immigrant.

[Darnell 8,478]

since you are applying for a tourist visa, you automatically are tagged for 'intention to immigrate', and it's up to YOU to prove otherwise.

The person that interviews you, makes grand assumption, that you are attempting to immigrate. That person is required to make that assumption, per Federal Guidelines.

IMO, if you have the right 'evidence' in hand, on interview day, to show strong ties to your country, this won't be an issue, as 'that evidence' will overcome the assumption.

Find the Embassy Website for your 'eastern europe' country, read about tourist visas (B-2 ).

Edited May 23, 2010 by Darnell

[JordanP 0]

since you are applying for a tourist visa, you automatically are tagged for 'intention to immigrate', and it's up to YOU to prove otherwise.

The person that interviews you, makes grand assumption, that you are attempting to immigrate. That person is required to make that assumption, per Federal Guidelines.

IMO, if you have the right 'evidence' in hand, on interview day, to show strong ties to your country, this won't be an issue, as 'that evidence' will overcome the assumption.

Find the Embassy Website for your 'eastern europe' country, read about tourist visas (B-2 ).

As some of the others have indicated, you will likely have to show binding ties to your home country which you do not intend to abandon. As you are married to a USC you could (and likely would) be deemed as having immigrant intention, for which you require a certain visa, which you would be able to get. Evidence of ties to your home country would be confirmation of a job you have to return to, ownership of a house or other property, and significant bank accounts or other assets.

You may want to start by contacting the U.S. consulate or embassy in the country you live in. As far as being from a visa waiver country, I've never heard of any law rendering you inadmissable from the program based on marriage to a USC, but I could be wrong. As I Canadian, I frequently travelled to the US to visit family. The issue of whether or not I had a job in Canada to return to came up on nearly every visit. Canada is not a visa waiver country but tourist visas are not required based on other provissions (I think maybe nafta, but I'm not 100%). Start by finding out what is required of a citizen of your country and get proof of those ties ready. It should be a pretty simple process, in any event.

Best of luck!

[trailmix 77]

It's not NAFTA.

But anyway, the fact that you have family in the U.S. might hint at immigrant intent. The thing is, all visitors are considered potential immigrants until they prove otherwise. Now most people don't get asked - because they don't have time to ask every single person to show proof of ties to their home country, but in ALL cases a person should bring proof of ties - married to a U.S. citizen or not.

[Boiler 43,512]

I believe that when you marry an USC you waive your rights to use the visa waiver program, and that you should apply for a tourist visa if you want to visit the US.

Why would you believe that?

[SabrinaFrance 8]

Why would you believe that?

Yeah why would I?!...

Well I dont know, I read it somewhere not long ago, I tried to look for the info again last night, and couldn't find it.

I hope I am wrong!

Sorry for the misinfo.

[MattCali 0]

My wife, A Colombian, applied for a tourist visa to visit the US and was denied. She was told that she actually needed to show more ties than the norm because she had more incentive to stay. It's a load of bull, and the manual says they can't say that, but they do whatever they feel like.

[xelance 31]

My wife, A Colombian, applied for a tourist visa to visit the US and was denied. She was told that she actually needed to show more ties than the norm because she had more incentive to stay. It's a load of bull, and the manual says they can't say that, but they do whatever they feel like.

same with my Colombian wife, but you have to remember, Colombia is not Eastern Europe lol. The OP will probably have no problem with getting a tourist visa, whereas we have to face the fact that our wives will probably never get a tourist visa. Sad but true.

[T and M 1]

As numerous forumites have pointed out, it is not always easy for the spouse of a US citizen to get a tourist visa to visit the US. I recommend you start very early, produce as much evidence as possible that you have strong ties to your home country, and hopefully you will get a 10-year tourist visa. This will permit you to make 90 visits to the US.

Since you do not live in your home country right now, the deck would seem to be stacked against you.

Almost every US citizen I know who is married to a Latin American national has not been able to get a tourist visa for them. I have a friend who has been married to a Mexican citizen for 10 years, and she has never been able to accompany him to the US. One very ambitious friend, who is married to a Bolivian, was able to get a tourist visa for her, namely because they bought a house in Bolivia, have a very successful business, and they were able to prove that his Bolivian wife has absolutely no ties to the United States (other than her USC spouse, of course.) They applied 4 times, at $135 a pop, and only got recently got one.

What kind of evidence do you have to show? Property in your home country is nice, but it has to be worth a lot of money. Otherwise, they would assume that you would be willing to abandon it. Children are good, but you have to be willing to leave them behind as a ransom to prove that you won't stay in the US.

If you have a well-paying job in a non-US country, that also shows that you have no economic reason to stay in the US. If you can get a letter from your boss regarding your vacation days, etc, that would be strong evidence that you are not going to stay in the US.

Are your parents alive? Where do they live? If they live outside the US, you could show this to demonstrate your non-intent to immigrate.

As others have said, everyone who applies for a tourist visa to visit the US is suspected of illegal immigration. Consular officers will quote you the stats, but I think the vast majority of illegal immigrants crossed the border legally on tourist or student visas. They then stayed.

One more thing: ties to the US are huge black marks against you. Your spouse is one, your family is another. I have heard some lawyers advise that you don't mention your family in the US, although the visa forms might require that you do. I certainly would not lie or hide anything if asked. That could get you into more trouble down the line, ie a 5 or 10 year ban from immigrating or visiting the US.

US immigration law does not offer constitutional guarantees, ie innocent until proven guilty. Civil rights begin with US citizenship, unfortunately. Good luck. This can be done, but it is not always as easy as human decency would suggest.

[Marisol73 0]

same with my Colombian wife, but you have to remember, Colombia is not Eastern Europe lol. The OP will probably have no problem with getting a tourist visa, whereas we have to face the fact that our wives will probably never get a tourist visa. Sad but true.

Same here in Mexico. I am the US Citizen and my husband was denied for a tourist visa. We wanted to visit USA before we decide if we will move there. But my husband hasn't been in USA, so I wanted to show him first and stayed a couple of weeks just as tourist and if he likes it, then we will do all the process from here.

Also the tourist visa for my child was denied. They said we should do the Permanent Residence process. I asked them If I just want to go shopping with my husband and child I have to get for them "residence"?? it sounds crazy !.. but they said that yes... they will not issue a tourist visa to them. It was frustrating !