well visiting affect the CR1 process?

[luukee 18]

Hey vjers,

I've been reading up about visiting while the petition is in progress and that is ok to visit. My question is that if my wife visits me more than 6 months it will cause issues with our paperwork?

Is this a written rule somewhere?

Also, at the time of sending the petition, my wife was working, but now she's no longer working there anymore, will that also cause an issue with the petition?

Thanks

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

How would she be able to do that legally?

[NikLR 13,220]

Her working doesn't matter for the petition but it may cause more scrutiny if she visits by the CBP. I also do not know how she can legally visit for more than 6 months.

Edited September 6, 2014 by NLR

[luukee 18]

Thanks for the reply guys, I didn't provide enough info. She has a multi entry visa, so for example, if she visits 2 months, then let's say she visits again for 4.5 months. ..

I read in some previous posts, that it's considered she is living in the US if she's visited more than six months. By the way when do they count the six months? Based on the normal calendar? (Jan through dec)?

Nlr, thanks for that tip, she's just helping out the family business at this point, but that does worry me though. She does have plenty of ties to her country though. Such as ownership of property.

[islandbabes 12]

She cannot stay longer than the date stamped in her passport. I stayed 5 month and 3 weeks and came home for interview and had no issues. I just had to return home before 6 mths or I risked over staying.

[islandbabes 12]

She has to be careful about working in the USA though...even helping out can be considered working especially if she gets even a stipend for helping. I have know someone who go caught by that- working while visiting. Didn't go well for her immigration dreams.

[luukee 18]

Thanks Islandbabes for sharing your experience.

What I meant was that she's currently helping out with her family's business in her country. As for the B2 Visa, she's strictly coming here for vacation and for us to do a bit of traveling in the US. No intentions of working at all and definitely no intentions of overstaying.

The reason why I was asking about the use of a multi entry VISA is because she plans to come visit me here for a short period of time, for example maybe a month. She has no intentions of staying long since she will also be going back to home for the family's business, her family and friends. But we wanted to understand the multi entry VISA a bit more and want to make sure it doesn't hurt the CR1 process either.

Does a foreigner receive an I-94 everytime he/she enters the country at the POE? In other words, let's say my wife came here for thanksgiving and Christmas but she is allowed to stay 6 months. But she leaves back to her country after Christmas. (I'm assuming the I-94 is expired as soon as she leaves) Then she comes back in a few months to visit me again - will she be getting a new I-94?, this time maybe they decide to give her only 2 weeks.

In total though, lets say she visited me twice, but is the 6 months that everyone mentions refers to the total amount of time she visited within one year? (from Jan 1st through dec 31st 2014)?

of course, I'm just hopeful she's allowed to come at all - We already started our CR-1 and have every intention to follow the process correctly. but in the meantime, like everyone, I miss my wife. So I'm hoping she can visit, and I will visit her as well.

Thanks again for your help everyone.

[islandbabes 12]

Thanks Islandbabes for sharing your experience.

What I meant was that she's currently helping out with her family's business in her country. As for the B2 Visa, she's strictly coming here for vacation and for us to do a bit of traveling in the US. No intentions of working at all and definitely no intentions of overstaying.

The reason why I was asking about the use of a multi entry VISA is because she plans to come visit me here for a short period of time, for example maybe a month. She has no intentions of staying long since she will also be going back to home for the family's business, her family and friends. But we wanted to understand the multi entry VISA a bit more and want to make sure it doesn't hurt the CR1 process either.

Does a foreigner receive an I-94 everytime he/she enters the country at the POE? In other words, let's say my wife came here for thanksgiving and Christmas but she is allowed to stay 6 months. But she leaves back to her country after Christmas. (I'm assuming the I-94 is expired as soon as she leaves) Then she comes back in a few months to visit me again - will she be getting a new I-94?, this time maybe they decide to give her only 2 weeks.

In total though, lets say she visited me twice, but is the 6 months that everyone mentions refers to the total amount of time she visited within one year? (from Jan 1st through dec 31st 2014)?

of course, I'm just hopeful she's allowed to come at all - We already started our CR-1 and have every intention to follow the process correctly. but in the meantime, like everyone, I miss my wife. So I'm hoping she can visit, and I will visit her as well.

Thanks again for your help everyone.

I have a 10-year (had lol) multiple entry visa. In 2013 I came for 2 weeks in April and then came back for 2.5 mths starting may. I then returned December 25th. I made sure that my total time for the year did not exceed 6 months. Not sure if 6 months is the total for the year but we tried to stay within that boundary.

We used to get physical 1-94 forms but since last year Fall it is all computerized and you no longer get those little white forms where you have to leave the stub when leaving the USA.Your entry and exits are all now fully computerized. And yes, it is a new entry/exit everytime.

[NikLR 13,220]

It depends. The CBP will stamp her visa. But it's generally considered 180 days per 365. The 180 days doesn't just magically reset on New Years Day. Staying longer than 180 days will start to earn overstay and may trigger a ban of 3 years. (That means an expensive waiver and more time for immigration.) I highly suggest being very careful. Not to mention that long stays may not look good to the CBP and run a risk of denied entry. She should never lie about her intentions to the CBP. If her purpose of her visit is to spend time with you, she should say that.

But even a denied entry won't impact her immigration. Our esteemed Saylin was denied entry twice (she is Canadian) and there was no issue at her interview. CBP and USCIS don't share info unless the CBP starts looking deeply. Her passport isn't immediately flagged with immigrant intent.

Edited September 7, 2014 by NLR

[Ryan H 3,796]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Progress Reports to Working & Traveling During US Immigration forum.

[luukee 18]

I have a 10-year (had lol) multiple entry visa. In 2013 I came for 2 weeks in April and then came back for 2.5 mths starting may. I then returned December 25th. I made sure that my total time for the year did not exceed 6 months. Not sure if 6 months is the total for the year but we tried to stay within that boundary.

We used to get physical 1-94 forms but since last year Fall it is all computerized and you no longer get those little white forms where you have to leave the stub when leaving the USA.Your entry and exits are all now fully computerized. And yes, it is a new entry/exit everytime.

very cool islandbabes. Thanks for sharing that - I couldn't find any info on their site about the multiple entries. And thanks for the tip about the I-94. I was reading somewhere though, that if the VISA expires, that they recommend to keep the I-94 in the passport as it represents how long one is legally allowed to stay in the US. Since everything is computerized, can we just print that out online (I see links from their site saying that if you need it you can access it there). Otherwise, they said if you want a paper one upon entry, then you'll have to go through another line or something like that....

[luukee 18]

It depends. The CBP will stamp her visa. But it's generally considered 180 days per 365. The 180 days doesn't just magically reset on New Years Day. Staying longer than 180 days will start to earn overstay and may trigger a ban of 3 years. (That means an expensive waiver and more time for immigration.) I highly suggest being very careful. Not to mention that long stays may not look good to the CBP and run a risk of denied entry. She should never lie about her intentions to the CBP. If her purpose of her visit is to spend time with you, she should say that.

But even a denied entry won't impact her immigration. Our esteemed Saylin was denied entry twice (she is Canadian) and there was no issue at her interview. CBP and USCIS don't share info unless the CBP starts looking deeply. Her passport isn't immediately flagged with immigrant intent.

Thanks for the info NLR. It helps us understand what we are able to do during the process. I don't believe that she will stay here longer than 6 months total, but we'd like to spend some time together and with our families as well.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences

[NikLR 13,220]

Try to remember it's 180 days, not 6 months. Feb, for instance, is shorter, and other months are longer. 180 days or whatever is stamped on her passport (sometimes they do not give you 180 days, but she should leave by that stamped date.)

You're welcome.

[luukee 18]

Try to remember it's 180 days, not 6 months. Feb, for instance, is shorter, and other months are longer. 180 days or whatever is stamped on her passport (sometimes they do not give you 180 days, but she should leave by that stamped date.)

You're welcome.

great tip NLR. We'll make sure to count the days. Will her days as a flight attendant affect this? Since those were the days she entered using her C1D visa?

Thanks again NLR!

[NikLR 13,220]

great tip NLR. We'll make sure to count the days. Will her days as a flight attendant affect this? Since those were the days she entered using her C1D visa?

Thanks again NLR!

I really don't know if those do or not.