Can I visit the US if I haven't received the approval for the I-130?

Lauralema · June 19, 2012

Hello,

I am a Spanish citizen and I got married to my american boyfriend last January in Vegas. After the marriage we moved to Slovakia were we are currently living in and since then we haven't come back to the US.

Although we are not planning to live in the near future in the US I will send the paperwork for the I-130 this week to start the process of getting my permanent residence permit just in case we wanted to live in the US in the future.

Mi concern is that we are planning to visit his family this summer and I'm not sure if I will find any problems at the border to get in, in fact it have never occurred to me that I will have any problem to get to the US once I was married as I have always entered the country by simply applying for the ESTA. Should I bring with me any documents to prove that I'm not staying in the US for good?.

I'm afraid we are not elegible for a DCF as he works for a construction company and the projects normaly don't last more than 6 monts.

Thanks for your help,

Laura

Penguin_ie · June 19, 2012

Yes, you can travel/ visit during the process. Bring some ties to where you are currently living (lease, letter from employer stating when you are expected back etc), just in case you get questioned, but you will probably be waved through as always.

One thing: you do realise that you cannot just petition/ apply for the visa and then use it years down the line, right? The visa process takes 6-10 months, and once you have the visa in your passport, you must use it within 6 months. So if you are not ready to move to the USA permanently within 1.5 years or so, do not apply yet.