I'm in a bit of a pickle...

[mischief 0]

I think we got ourselves in a pickle, and I'm not sure on how to proceed. Any help/advice some of you have will be greatly appreciated!

Story:

My girlfriend (at the time) is from Taiwan, and I am a US citizen. She has been coming to the US on a B1/B2 tourist visa, and when we came back to the US in July 2012, we got ended up getting married (August 2012). I started to look into the procedure for getting her legal while we were both still in the US, and it seemed that the shortest amount of time it would take for the processing of the visa would be around 3 months. She looked online on several Taiwanese blog sites and saw that the processing time here would only take 1 month. So we decided to postpone the filing of the papers until we arrive back in Taiwan in December. Now that we left the states and now in Taiwan, the American Institute in Taiwan (which handles the visas) tells her that they no longer do visas here and we need to mail the I-130 form back to the Chicago lockbox...which they said would take about 6 months! My wife still has the B1/B2 visa, but I believe that the US and Taiwan struck a deal this summer to be in the visa waiver program. I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

My questions:

We were planning to go back to the US in Feb 2013. Will my wife be able to travel with me and be able to file to paperwork/forms when we get back to the US?

I heard that if she goes back to the US with the B1/B2 visa, it would be interpreted as lying to the US immigration being that we are already husband & wife?

[caly 48]

I think we got ourselves in a pickle, and I'm not sure on how to proceed. Any help/advice some of you have will be greatly appreciated!

Story:

My girlfriend (at the time) is from Taiwan, and I am a US citizen. She has been coming to the US on a B1/B2 tourist visa, and when we came back to the US in July 2012, we got ended up getting married (August 2012). I started to look into the procedure for getting her legal while we were both still in the US, and it seemed that the shortest amount of time it would take for the processing of the visa would be around 3 months. She looked online on several Taiwanese blog sites and saw that the processing time here would only take 1 month. So we decided to postpone the filing of the papers until we arrive back in Taiwan in December. Now that we left the states and now in Taiwan, the American Institute in Taiwan (which handles the visas) tells her that they no longer do visas here and we need to mail the I-130 form back to the Chicago lockbox...which they said would take about 6 months! My wife still has the B1/B2 visa, but I believe that the US and Taiwan struck a deal this summer to be in the visa waiver program. I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

My questions:

We were planning to go back to the US in Feb 2013. Will my wife be able to travel with me and be able to file to paperwork/forms when we get back to the US?

I heard that if she goes back to the US with the B1/B2 visa, it would be interpreted as lying to the US immigration being that we are already husband & wife?

Intending to enter the US and then adjust status on the B1/B2 or Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) is immigration fraud.

If you file the I-130 paperwork now to Chicago Lockbox, she can still visit the US on her tourist visa while in the process of obtaining a CR-1 visa.

Please don't commit fraud because you failed to properly research your options before leaving for Taiwan.

Thank you and good luck!

Edited January 21, 2013 by caly

[mischief 0]

Intending to enter the US and then adjust status on the B1/B2 or Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) is immigration fraud.

If you file the I-130 paperwork now to Chicago Lockbox, she can still visit the US on her tourist visa while in the process of obtaining a CR-1 visa.

Please don't commit fraud because you failed to properly research your options before leaving for Taiwan.

Thank you and good luck!

I'm not aiming to commit fraud. I'm just trying to find out exactly what options I have. I just heard from another source that her going into the US would be considered fraud if she went in on a B1/B2 visa.

So you're saying it's safe to go ahead and mail in the I-130 forms now, and while it's processing, she can still enter the US on her B1/B2 visa? Is there a special form I need to fill out to notify them of the intent to travel to the US while it's processing?

[Harpa Timsah 13,261]

She can visit on her B2 visa, she cannot move on her B2 visa. You can file the I-130 forms now and she can come for a visit if she can show strong ties to home. It is not guaranteed. Then she will have to go back to Taiwan to finish the immigration process, then she can move to the US on her spousal visa. Visiting and the spousal visa are separate. She needs to show strong ties to home to be permitted to enter. She has to abide by the rules of her tourist visa, separate from the spousal visa process.

[mischief 0]

She can visit on her B2 visa, she cannot move on her B2 visa. You can file the I-130 forms now and she can come for a visit if she can show strong ties to home. It is not guaranteed. Then she will have to go back to Taiwan to finish the immigration process, then she can move to the US on her spousal visa. Visiting and the spousal visa are separate. She needs to show strong ties to home to be permitted to enter. She has to abide by the rules of her tourist visa, separate from the spousal visa process.

Ahh...I see now. Thank you very much for the explaination! Do you happen to know what it means to "show strong ties to home"? I mean she has her entire family here, and a business here in Taiwan also. Will we need to bring the business license or is there a separate form to fill out? I wouldn't want get to the port of entry just to have her entry denied lol.

[caly 48]

Ahh...I see now. Thank you very much for the explaination! Do you happen to know what it means to "show strong ties to home"? I mean she has her entire family here, and a business here in Taiwan also. Will we need to bring the business license or is there a separate form to fill out? I wouldn't want get to the port of entry just to have her entry denied lol.

Business ownership is good evidence for this, as are home and vehicle ownership. Strong ties are basically things that show she will return to Taiwan when her visit is up because she has responsibilities back home that require her to return home. These is the same type of evidence she used at her tourist visa interview. After you file the I-130 petition, they will send you a NOA-1 (I-797c) notification basically saying that your CR-1 case is pending. Obviously, this can go either way when trying to prove or disprove immigration intent but many people have successfully used it as evidence that they want to do things the legal way and will leave the US when their visit is up.

As always though, it really depends on the CBP person you encounter at port of entry.. No one is guaranteed entry on a tourist visa/VWP. Sometimes they don't really ask you anything at all at POE. In this case, don't ask don't tell applies.

Good luck!

Edited to add: Not a good idea to have her pack her important personal documents (for example, birth certificate, marriage certificate) when she comes to visit even if it is simply to give to you for safe keeping or for later in the process. If found in her luggage, these items (that people usually won't travel with) will seem suspicious and could get her denied entry and sent home at POE.

Edited January 22, 2013 by caly