Apply for Tourist Visa - Pending IR1/CR1

[kc214 8]

Hi Everyone,

My husband and I (USC) currently live in Costa Rica. We are currently at NVC stage of IR1/CR1 visa but would like to see the possibilities of us going to visit my mom in the US in May. Does anyone know if he can apply for Tourist Visa even though he has a pending application, and if so, is there anything special in the process taht we should consider?

Thanks!!

[Kastrs 723]

He is of course eligible to apply, it is just HIGHLY unlikely he would be granted a tourist visa especially with a pending immigrant visa. If you have the money and time to spare and are not afraid of disappointment, go ahead and apply. A denial will not have a negative impact on your CR1.

[teeak 224]

There is a likely possibility that he will be denied. You have already proved that he intends on immigrating to the US by filing an immigrant petition but, you will need to prove to the CO that he won't just decide to stay and adjust status.

Take as much evidence as you can evidencing that he has strong ties to home (employment letter, school etc.) and that he will definitely be going back to complete the process.

[HFM181818 750]

he can apply, of course, but the odds will be against him getting a B2....because so many people have had the ever popular mind change while picking up their luggage and remained in the US, pending the final processing of the IR1 and then applying for an AOS, preferring to chill out in the US instead of some less desirable country. Since he is planning to immigrate in the not so distant future, he will have a challenging time convincing a CO that he will return to CR...a job in that country does not likely represent a strong financial incentive to return, nor having elderly parents (he's about to leave them soon anyway), nor a car or $11 in the bank, etc....but it will cost only $160 to find out.

[kc214 8]

Hi everyone,

So husband has his interview for B2 on May 10th. We decided that it wouldn't hurt to try. Now I am trying to think of reasons that we could use to prove that he will not just wait it out in the US.

1. Wouldn't that be illegal to go on a tourist visa and not intend to return to home country...I mean it is a tourist visa, so he could say that he doesn't want to do anything illegal and just wants to visit my mom

2. Both my husband and I (USC) have full time jobs and have not planned to move permanently yet. We only want to take 1 week off. Our plans are to move to the US in August or September

3. We are soooo close to finishing the IR-1/CR-1 process. The I-130 has been approved, we have sent all documents to NVC and are just waiting for their approval/ the final embassy interview. So why would he risk doing things the wrong way when shortly he will have his residency.

4. Along those lines, he needs to come back soon for his residency interview in a few months anyway

5. We own vehicles/lease a house in Costa Rica and have 2 cats and all of our belongings.

Let me know what you guys think?

Thanks!

[HFM181818 750]

people (ab)use tourist visas constantly to avoid having to wait for their case to be finished in their own country....he does NOT have to return for his interview; instead, he can apply for the ever popular AOS (mind change) - and because soooooo many people seem afflicted with the 'mind-change-itis' at baggage claim (from numerous countries), COs have become far more circumspect when deciding whether or not to issue a tourist visa to someone who has a pending I-130, as the collective track record of people actually returning to complete the process is so abysmal, and since Congress created a loop hole that appears to allow this mind change (or at least, to cause USCIS to look the other way in most cases), the only way to prevent it is to not provide path for it to happen at all....which is to say, deny B2 visa requests....because, by and large, most everyone from developing countries will attempt to offer the same excuses as to why they will abide by the object of trust they are seeking....but most people's collective situations in their own country are strikingly similar (modest jobs, elderly parents, a favorite car, etc)....so, how to sort out the mind changers from the others? Not easy.....it's much easier to say 'no', since there are no repercussions to any CO by doing so....but few COs want their names on approved tourist visa applications that quickly turned into an AOS...

[KierenHby 899]

#s 2,4,5 are valid reasons. Ignore the naysayers.. take a deep breath and be confident at the interview. Good luck!

Edited May 5, 2016 by KierenHby

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Looks good, OP.

[HFM181818 750]

#4 is meaningless. An AOS in the US cancels out the need for #4.

#2 and #5 will not, by themselves, guarantee visa issuance. If they did, every applicant on the planet would present some document purporting to show that the applicants have a FT job, a car, a lease and a pet, all of which can easily be abandoned and/or shipped to the US (cat).

Cars can be sold, leases terminated.

Thus, it will be the opinion of the CO that matters, relative to how the applicant manages to convince the CO that he (in this case) will not be afflicted with 'mind-change-itis'

[themagician 1]

Lets look at a bigger picture guys.

I am of the opinion that congress knows all these before hand.

There will always be applicants who will somehow, with all the variables stacked against them, be able to convince COs to get a B2 visa and also make it through CBP officers, yet come to US to chill so they can adjust status.

Just like we have numerical limit on who can migrate annually,

we (in my opinion) have some unpublished numbers of those who choose to follow that un-welcomed path

DHS/DOS have the background figures, no doubt and if they choose to make AOS possible on B2 in the first place, then they know what they are doing.

if those depts notice a rise in the numbers and are not comfortable with the development, something will be done.

look at the DV lottery, FB, EB visa for instance, THAT is America saying come and live here, if we see your true color, you can have our citizenship.

[Rants]

At my former place of work, by boss would tell me we need to deliver this paperwork tomorrow, then i would work my a55 off into the night.

only to later figure we could submit it in a week. He only had to get me to do my job and let him worry about the rest.

i think this is what those departments are doing to COs.

Even those coming over to have their kids on medicaid, Congress knows these kids will grow up someday and pay back

bring their parent too who in turn pays back, i tell you, they dont like it, but they sure wont have trouble sleeping over it

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Congress doesn't know anything.

[TBoneTX 45,537]

Congress doesn't know anything.

True. And read again what HFM181818 has written.

[Pennycat 880]

Hi everyone,

So husband has his interview for B2 on May 10th. We decided that it wouldn't hurt to try. Now I am trying to think of reasons that we could use to prove that he will not just wait it out in the US.

1. Wouldn't that be illegal to go on a tourist visa and not intend to return to home country...I mean it is a tourist visa, so he could say that he doesn't want to do anything illegal and just wants to visit my mom

2. Both my husband and I (USC) have full time jobs and have not planned to move permanently yet. We only want to take 1 week off. Our plans are to move to the US in August or September

3. We are soooo close to finishing the IR-1/CR-1 process. The I-130 has been approved, we have sent all documents to NVC and are just waiting for their approval/ the final embassy interview. So why would he risk doing things the wrong way when shortly he will have his residency.

4. Along those lines, he needs to come back soon for his residency interview in a few months anyway

5. We own vehicles/lease a house in Costa Rica and have 2 cats and all of our belongings.

Let me know what you guys think?

Thanks!

You have to think of it along the lines of you know what your plans really are, but the CO doesn't. They basically have to assume that you are intending to abuse the visa and it's up to you to prove that you're not. It's not a particularly great feeling, I know but it's the unfortunate truth, that because liars and cheaters exist, we all have to prove that we're not liars and cheaters. People absolutely, positively do #1, all the time, and lie, cheat and steal (and forge documents, and abandon cats and cars and jobs etc) to get the tourist visa that they'll illegally immigrate on.

That said, it's obviously worth the shot. The worst they can say is no, and in a few months he'll have his spouse visa and green card anyway. I think that if you can show his strong incentive to go back to Costa Rica to wait for the spouse visa, plus a time-sensitive reason why you need/want this visit now, and not when you move in a few months, that could help. Good luck!

[kc214 8]

Sooooo....his B2 visa was approved! He said it was a very intimidating process as the interview took about 30-45 minutes and 2 different people interviewed him.

Note that everyone at the embassy was extremely rude, but Christian kept a friendly face and was always extra polite.

For anyone else that may be going through this, these were the questions:

I wrote my husband's responses to a few of the questions in blue

What's your name?

How old are you?

Do you have children?

Are you married?

What's your wife's name?

Are you going to visit your wife?

Response: No my wife and I both live here in Costa Rica.

Why does your wife live here if she is a USC?

Response: She has lived here for several years and works at XX company.

Where do you work?

Where does your wife work?

What's your wife's name again?

Where was she was born?

Why do you want to live in the US?

Response: Obviously our intentions are to move to the US in the near future, but at this time I am applying for the B2 visa to visit my mother in-law and return in order to complete my residency interview.

Where are you going to visit?

Response: San Francisco

Why not Miami like everyone else?

Response: I am visiting my mother in-law who lives in San Francisco.

5 minutes of CO looking at computer and typing. Calls second officer who ask the same questions.

His final response:

I want you to be completely clear, if you overstay your tourist visa or do not use it for the intended reasons you have mentioned to me today, your residency visa will be denied. Your B2 visa has been approved. *Throws passport in box next to him* You can pick up your passport at post office in 4 days.

I want to thank everyone who took their time to response to my post. We are both extremely happy. I think the key turning point is that I am a USC living with my husband in Costa Rica...that is he was not requesting tourist visa to go visit me. My husband said the officer has a huge smirk on his face when he asked if my husband was going to visit me in the US, but then completely changed once he realized that I live her.

Hope this helps someone else!

Edited May 10, 2016 by kc214

[TBoneTX 45,537]

Thanks for the helpful update with the good news.