F-1 Visa Questions

[YozhikandBulochka 3]

So here is the situation. Girlfriend is applying to Graduate school and hopefully receive F-1 visa but problem is she is currently pregnant. Her interview for the visa will be post birth about 2 months after, and I will be filing for the child as far as citizenship is concerned based on the guidelines of child born abroad by US citizen father.

Hypothetically speaking -

If she gets accepted, and she gets the F1 visa.

What are the chances that she will be stopped at port of entry if she comes with child who will be a citizen at the time? I know its at the discretion of the port authority but I wanted to know if anybody has had experience with this. Please if any info is needed to assess the situation feel free to ask. Thanks

Yozhik

[canadian_wife 1,795]

What country is your girlfriend from? This will make the answers to your questions easier

Good luck

[YozhikandBulochka 3]

Russia

[canadian_wife 1,795]

Honestly, regardless of where your girlfriend is from, I see it as quite a challenge issuing a non-immigrant visa to a pregnant woman whose child's father is a US citizen

Should you petition for a K-1 visa?

Good luck

[YozhikandBulochka 3]

She wont be pregnant at the time of interview. child will be born.

[canadian_wife 1,795]

So another question, what ties will she bring to the interview to show her intent to return to Russia once her non-immigrant visa is finished?

how will she answer the questions regarding children or 'family' in the US?

But to answer your question directly, a visa allows you to apply for entry to the US, it does not guarentee it. If the CBP think your GF has immigrant intent, is using a non-immigrant visa for immigrant purposes, or questions ANYTHING regarding her visa or her son, yes she can be denied entry

You can always call the POE you plan on crossing through to ask her 'chances' of gaining entrance

Good luck

[YozhikandBulochka 3]

Yeah I thought so...who knew falling in love with a person that is not from your country could be such a hassle. Thanks for the information.

To Everybody else, please feel free to put your input on the situation. I really welcome every and all comments. Thank you

Yozhik

[canadian_wife 1,795]

To increase her chances, increase her ties

What are her ties to Russia that she will HAVE to produce at the interview...I had to show ties and I'm from a very country with liberal travel and visa issuances to the US

Good luck

[Little_My 464]

I might be playing devil's advocate here a bit, but..

F1 visa is a Non-immigrant visa. A condition of that visa is, essentially, non-immigrant intent. That means that a person who applies for an F1 visa has, at the time of applying for that visa, no intention whatsoever to actually immigrate to the United States, but plans to return back to his/her home country once studies are finished.

You guys obviously plan for her to immigrate to the US - there is no "non-immigrant intent" here.

If she applied for an F1 visa, there is a chance she would get it (though I think it is pretty slim..), but I believe this could be later on interpreted as visa fraud, since she at the time of applying already was pregnant / had given birth to a baby whose father is a USC, and was coming to this country with that baby.

When I applied for my F1, I was already dating my husband, who back then was a boyfriend. He is a USC. This was an additional challenge for the process of getting the F1 visa. I do think that her having a baby with a USC, and planning to come here With that baby, to live With the USC father, would make it very hard to convince anyone that she is not in fact planning to immigrate.

[YozhikandBulochka 3]

Yeah, It looks like its not gonna be easy at all. I wish that falling in love with a person that is not from the same country as you wouldnt lead to such difficulty. I guess thats the price I pay.

Yozhik

[Little_My 464]

Here's my question - she is having your baby. Is there a reason you two don't want to just get married? it would be a lot easier for you to get her a LPR status through that, and then once she had her green card, she could do whatever she wanted here - work or go to school.

[canadian_wife 1,795]

Here's my question - she is having your baby. Is there a reason you two don't want to just get married? it would be a lot easier for you to get her a LPR status through that, and then once she had her green card, she could do whatever she wanted here - work or go to school.

And cheaper grad school too

Since I've asked twice and you avoided each time, I'm going to assume she doesn't have any ties to Russia. if that is the case, she won't be issued an F-1 visa anyway

Good luck

[YozhikandBulochka 3]

Sorry I didnt mean to ignore your question. yeah she has plenty of ties, family, work, loan that she has taken for school. Cant think of any other ones at the moment.

As for marriage, I was hoping to wait cause I pictured an actually wedding not a court house appearance...but It looks like thats what it will have to come to.

[Little_My 464]

I can understand that.. but in reality, I think her chances of getting a non-immigrant visa without lying (which neither of you should even consider) are slim to none, to be honest. I felt the same way about the wedding business - we were going to have our big wedding in July, in Finland. And I hated the thought of having to get married on paper at city hall before that.

However, that is what we ended up doing - and it was great. City hall was lot of fun, it was a great NYC experience, and it doesn't take away from our July wedding like I originally feared. We didn't broadcast it either, so not everyone knows we are already legally married. We are doing the wedding in July as if we weren't, church, vows, reception, whole nine yards.

Marriage is by far your best shot. And, as pointed out by Canadian_wife, much cheaper than grad school. Im not sure if you guys really want to take on $25,000-$40,000 annual tuition bills with a new baby in the house.. especially considering that if she moves here and lives here for a while, she could get a state resident rate for tuition, i.e. much cheaper.

You two need to decide what you want to do based on your situation - but to me, marriage seems like your best shot. Maybe your only shot.

[YozhikandBulochka 3]

Thanks Mrs.Finland. I really appreciate the sincerity in your post. So I guess how do I go about this then? Any Ideas? just want to plan ahead so that I know what to expect.