Visit while waiting for I130

[Oki_Surf 0]

So before I ask my question I think I should give you some background information....

- Married in Japan 2002

- Applied for greencard in 2005, whole process was expedited and took less than a month because at that time I was active duty military

- Moved to US in 2005 and received 10 year greencard same year

- Daughter born in US

- 2006 discharged from military - moved back to Japan

- 2011 I moved back to US, wife stays in Japan

- 2012 I return to Japan for summer visit

- April 2013 my son in born in Okinawa

- May 2013 reapply for greencard (I130 petition) because since she had been out of the states for over 2 years her greencard was no longer valid

- June 2013 I visit Japan, file for my sons American citiizenship and passport - receive both the same month

- August 2013 I return to US, I leave wife and 2 US citizen children behind in Japan

- Oct 2013 still waiting!!!

So from reading on here it could take up 17 months just to get my I-130 petition approved! That’s nuts!

Anyways, Japan is a VWC so does anyone know if my wife could come stay with my for a awhile while we wait for the I130. I would hate for her to get turned around at the border with both of my kids. That would be a really traumatic event for my whole family – plus a huge waste of money.

But I just don’t think I can wait another 11 months – this is crazy!

[Kaylara 814]

Nope. The VMP is not going to help that. You could apply for a K3 visa. It may or may not be available or worthwhile depending on whom you talk to here. My husband is also from a VWC, and there's a good chance that he'll be turned away at the border if he tries to come for a visit because of his pending I130.

[TBoneTX 47,590]

*** Unanswered duplicate thread removed. ***

[Becky and Les 2]

I'm trying to get my husband over from the UK via the I-130. I asked on VJ a couple weeks ago whether or not it'd be possible for him to visit since Brits don't need to obtain a visa to visit. The general consensus was 'yes he can probably visit' (I've gotten emails from Brits who've gone back and forth a number of times since their I-130 began. However, that is with the clear intent of the spouse going back within a specific amount of time and with significant ties to their home country. For example, if my husband came to visit it would only be for a couple of weeks, and I'd make sure he had copies of the NOA1 (we're stuck in the backlog and are yet to get our NOA2) and such stating that we're in the process and waiting (since Feb) for him to come permanently in a legal manner. I'd also have my husband bring a note from his work saying that he had to return to the UK by X date for work, and a copy of an apartment rental agreement which shows that he still has his place in the UK and therefore intends to return to his home country after the visit. Oh, and he'd obviously have his return ticket to show. We haven't tried yet though so I don't know if he'll get turned away at the boarder. Thing is, you need to make sure that your spouse brings evidence of ties to their home country which indicate that they'll go back at the end of the visit (regardless of how long the visit is...I know that technically Brits can visit the US for 90 days before they need to get a visitor's visa) or they'll definitely deny entry. It's a gamble either way, but if your wife and kids enter on a visitor's visa (but don't actually need to apply for one because of the country they're from), the officials need to be assured that they're not intending to move here before the visa process is complete. If they're in question of whether or not your family is planning on staying, then the officers will deny entry. That's what the general consensus has been for Brits tho...I'd assume it's similar for the Japanese. Do you know anyone from Japan on here who's tried it? Might be worth a search and a PM to find out.

[NikLR 13,234]

Because your wife has very strong ties to the USA, it's possible for her to be turned back at the border, BUT VWP does make it way easier on her than any other way of visiting you in the USA. Most people don't have any trouble visiting from a VWP country. (Look it up in the K1 forum under a stickied thread called "yes you can visit." ) Most people, however, don't have 2 USC children as well.