Listing prior visits to USA on DS-160

[ITMFA 241]

Hi there Canada! I received the NVC number today for my K-1 visa petition, so I'm slowly working my way through the DS-160. I freaked out when I saw that they want us to list prior visits to the US because I spent almost 9 years there as a student and then had OPT for a year so I was back and forth a lot. Add to that the fact that I worked on a cruise ship last summer (I'm a musician), and we entered and departed the country once a week for 14 weeks! Do I really have to list every trip for the past 5 years? Don't they have access to the same place where I'll be looking up my dates (the website where you can see your travel history). I know my fellow Canadians probably have similar stories - did you actually list 30-40 trips on your DS-160? Thanks

[sumbunny 563]

My fiance listed his last 5 trips to the US. Not sure if that's right, but that's what we did.

[acidrain 325]

On the DS-260 which I am sure is pretty similar I listed the last 5 trips.

 

I took a trip after I submitted the DS-260 that customs told me to declare at the interview. I did but the interviewer didn't write it down or seem concerned about it.

 

I think generally they are looking at any illegal presence or anything that happened at the border. I had a previous denial I declared and was asked to explain at the interview.

[Ontarkie 13,976]

I grew up on a border so lots of trip over the course of my life. I think the forms changed since I filled them out. I don't remember it asking for only the last 5 yrs.  I wrote in that I had many day trips over the years as living on the border and listed all the ones I knew the dates and rough dates. It was fine. 

 

Put down the dates you know and a note for others you don't. Yes if it asks for the dates you need to list them to the best of your knowledge. 

[pajobra 1,395]

I also only put the last 5 trips on mine as well. I had no issues obviously since I got approved and I am now in the USA adjusting status.

[ITMFA 241]

2 hours ago, pajobra said:

I also only put the last 5 trips on mine as well. I had no issues obviously since I got approved and I am now in the USA adjusting status.

ok thanks! I noticed that you can still add more after 5 trips, so I'm wondering where various people got the idea of putting 5 from...is it perhaps in a list of instructions somewhere that I haven't seen?

[ITMFA 241]

On 7/20/2018 at 11:33 AM, acidrain said:

On the DS-260 which I am sure is pretty similar I listed the last 5 trips.

 

I took a trip after I submitted the DS-260 that customs told me to declare at the interview. I did but the interviewer didn't write it down or seem concerned about it.

 

I think generally they are looking at any illegal presence or anything that happened at the border. I had a previous denial I declared and was asked to explain at the interview.

Thanks for your help! I also have had one mess at the border (involving flying on a one-way ticket with only a few months left of my student visa), but it was a voluntary withdrawal, not a "denial." I've successfully visited the US 3 times since then, so I'm feeling ok about it now, although I expect they'll ask me about it at the interview. 

[acidrain 325]

59 minutes ago, ITMFA said:

Thanks for your help! I also have had one mess at the border (involving flying on a one-way ticket with only a few months left of my student visa), but it was a voluntary withdrawal, not a "denial." I've successfully visited the US 3 times since then, so I'm feeling ok about it now, although I expect they'll ask me about it at the interview. 

My border denial was technically a "withdrawal of admission". However, something triggered a flag so every time I crossed I would get taken aside and questioned. It sounds like this isn't the case for you.

 

During my interview I was asked if I ever had any problems at the border. You just have to share your experience and it should not affect the outcome.

[ITMFA 241]

2 minutes ago, acidrain said:

My border denial was technically a "withdrawal of admission". However, something triggered a flag so every time I crossed I would get taken aside and questioned. It sounds like this isn't the case for you.

 

During my interview I was asked if I ever had any problems at the border. You just have to share your experience and it should not affect the outcome.

Oh yeah I've been questioned about it every time too since then. I've been traveling with a thick file of "ties to canada" evidence, and it's been ok. Looking forward to moving forward with this process and finally living in the US on something more than a student visa-  I was F-1 status for almost 9 years and have filed a US tax return every year since 2008! Thanks for taking the time to reply

[acidrain 325]

1 minute ago, ITMFA said:

Oh yeah I've been questioned about it every time too since then. I've been traveling with a thick file of "ties to canada" evidence, and it's been ok. Looking forward to moving forward with this process and finally living in the US on something more than a student visa-  I was F-1 status for almost 9 years and have filed a US tax return every year since 2008! Thanks for taking the time to reply

My pleasure! Oh that sucks you've had to go through the same dog and pony show. I'm sure you got lots of good stories like I do waiting in secondary. It takes forever as the customs agent goes through your dossier. The good news is once you have a track record they usually let you through no problem. I was nervous about having to get into our set of circumstances at the interview. But it honestly was no problem and uneventful. It's a big relief once you can move to the US and not have to deal with the back and forth and stress at the border. Good luck!

[ITMFA 241]

Just now, acidrain said:

My pleasure! Oh that sucks you've had to go through the same dog and pony show. I'm sure you got lots of good stories like I do waiting in secondary. It takes forever as the customs agent goes through your dossier. The good news is once you have a track record they usually let you through no problem. I was nervous about having to get into our set of circumstances at the interview. But it honestly was no problem and uneventful. It's a big relief once you can move to the US and not have to deal with the back and forth and stress at the border. Good luck!

Thanks! I'll probably have some more questions as I slog my way through the DS-160 and other stuff, but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!