Visiting US after marriage, but before sending I-130

[chr1st1nabelle27 0]

Hello,

When entering the US on a tourism visa, will the border patrol know that the foreigner is married to a US citizen? We have not submitted our IR-1 request yet. If the foreign spouse has documentation that they will go home, will this be an issue if they know?

---

That sums up my question, but here are more details if they help:

My husband came to the US in March with his B1/B2 visa as a tourist. During that trip, we got married and he returned home to his country.

The plan was to submit our I-130, but we put that on hold when he was offered job in the US. His company is currently preparing his L-1 work visa paperwork, and we will figure out the rest later. So far, no visa requests have been submitted for work or marriage.

He will soon be coming to the US a couple of weeks early on his B1/B2 visa for tourism in the east and then a work conference out west (for his current job). We have all of the documentation to show that he's coming for work and that he needs to return home. However, we're still worried that the border patrol might give him a problem if they know he's married.

They might want to know why he's coming early for tourism and ask if he's meeting anyone. He will be honest if asked, but it helps to know what they know.

---

Thanks!

Edited July 1, 2015 by chr1st1nabelle27

[NikLR 13,220]

It depends. Bring proof of ties to home country. Be truthful to the CBP. Be aware they may deny entry. I visited hubs before filing and it was fine. But I'm Canadian.

[katze101 4]

It shouldn't be especially if he has documentation showing that he's returning to his country.

I live in Australia with my Aussie husband and before we started the IR1 process, we came over for several visits. Our first visit (and hubby's first time to the US), we were given a bit of a hard time by the border agent. Basically wanting to know if we were planning on moving there (yep eventually) and wanting to make sure we knew we couldn't move there before he had a green card (yep we knew that). But the only reason he knew my hubby was married to a USC was because I was standing right there. And he let hubby in the country.

Your husband should be honest but don't offer more info than necessary. There's nothing wrong with combining a work trip with a trip for pleasure, especially in a foreign country. I've done that multiple times.

[mallafri76 1,012]

It doesn't say which country your husband is from?! The scrutiny at the border often depends on which country the person is from. High risk country means more scrutiny, VWP usually means less scrutiny...

I've been visiting my husband both before and after we filed our I-130 and haven't had any problems. CBP can't see that you're in the visa process until you submit the DS-260 (actual visa application), which is when your husband will submit his passport number.

I even visited once after submitting the DS-260 and that's the only time the CBP officer at the border has mentioned my visa application. Still no problem. And every time I've come to visit, I've said that I was coming to visit my boyfriend, then fiance, then husband...

Just make sure your husband brings strong ties to his home country. Mortgage/rental agreement for a home, letter from his employer etc. I've been doing that for the last year, since we filed our I-130, but I still haven't been asked to show anything. Better safe than sorry though.