Contacting US embassy in Paris

[modmodgirl 2]

Hi everyone... my fiance is French and lives in Paris. We are in the middle of the k1 visa process. He just received his first letter to gather documents for the interview, which has NOT been scheduled yet. However, he wants to visit me for my birthday in November and meet my parents for the first time. He went to the embassy to see if he needs any special permission to travel to the US. before the "official Interview". Our worries are if he comes to the US without permission he will be turned back. I faxed the embassy in Paris with no response two weeks ago, and I called the US dept. of state and they said he can come over without the paperwork, but can I take their ( the US dept of state) word for it?

He couldn't get through to anyone there! He called their phone number, paid the 14 euros, and they handed him a bunch of paperwork to fill out to schedule an interview to get permission? Does anyone know if he needs special paperwork.

Thanks so much !

[Chris921 13]

He SHOULD be ok to travel under an ESTA, without a special visa since he is a citizen of a Visa waiver country, therefore if he already has an ESTA then he should be fine, if not just has to apply for and pay for it and he should be OK, as long as he can prove to the border agents that he has strong ties to France )i.e a job, family, house and bills and stuff) I travelled under the ESTA without any trouble!

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/ is where to apply for an ESTA

Edited October 7, 2011 by Chris921

[modmodgirl 2]

Merci! Thank you so much. This is the best reply yet. Finally an answer that helps!

[Lilyena 10]

Merci! Thank you so much. This is the best reply yet. Finally an answer that helps!

Hi there..

I'd say it depends...I am french and I visited my fiancé in the US several times under the visa waiver program, and received our k1 today btw

However, the last two trips i did in february and april (one week and two week) the guys at POE were super nasty and started asking a lot of questions and beeing suspicious and so on. At the time our petition was pending, so i just didnt mention the K1 process at first when i visited in april. But the guy listed all my travels since i met my fiancé and asked me if we were not getting married or what. of course he got suspicious of visa fraud. So i just said we were engaged that i knew i needed a k1 and didnt wanna risk my future with my fiancé also that i was only staying two weeks (he asked why not more) because i had only two weeks vacation and that i was working in france, and he finally let go, but it was my longest interview ever at a POE, and i decided it d be the last time i woud visit under the visa waiver programm because it was honnestly too much stress since people in our situation really do depend on the officer in charge that days attitude.

In your situation since i don't know how many times your fiancé travelled id say if he didnt travel that much that he just dont mention the engagement or whatever (depending how long he wants to stay) and that he brings with him copies of his job contract, pay sips etc..anything showing he has serious reasons to come back and so on. If they get too nosy of course he ll have to say the truth, but normally there is no reason they refuse him the entry just because of the petition, since it is normal to visit in order to prepare the wedding and so on.

Just he needs to bring as many evidences as possible. After his visit i really advice you visit until he comes for the wedding because they really get more and more strict instructions, even my fiance as a USC got harassed at a POE last time. (like why do go so often too france? *moron*)

As for the embassy interview i have no clue, since he should really be fine with ESTA+evidence of ties to France. Maybe they can provide a paper for him to show he s doing the process legally and not going to fraud? But i seriously have a doubt on that.

In any case good luck!