Mapping out multiple uses of B1/B2 Visa

[AardSav 0]

I'm an American citizen who is falling pretty hard for a Colombian man. I met him when I was in Colombia in mid-October. I wanted to see him again so invited him to visit me in the states. Unbeknownst to me he already had a visa from when he visited his grandmother elsewhere in the states years ago:

 

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Regular B1/B2 Visa

M for Multiple Entry

 

Issued 3 Dec 2014

Expires 30 Nov 2024

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A stamp shows that he first used it December 23, 2014. I'm not sure how long he stayed on that trip. He then visited me November 8-17, 2019.

 

I have no idea where this relationship is going, but I know I definitely want to spend more time with him to figure that out. I will probably go down there for a week soon to visit. If that goes well, what is my best bet to maximize his time visiting the US while not raising suspicions or endangering the validity of the visa?

 

Theoretically I can use it for a full 90 days as long as I can prove I will be covering his costs and he will return at the end, right? I read somewhere that after that I would have to wait 91 days before he could come back for another 90 days. But at that point would border patrol start to assume he'd be trying to overstay for find work etc? To make it clear, I have absolutely no intention to do that. I have no idea where this relationship is going and whether I'd be comfortable with going the marriage/green card route or anything between that and a casual relationship where I see him very occasionally or never again. I do have the resources to cover the expenses of his stay(s) so I'm trying to understand the limits of how long he can spend here and how long the spans can be under his current visa without making a huge decision like marriage.

 

Guidance appreciated!

[geowrian 22,337]

9 minutes ago, AardSav said:

I have no idea where this relationship is going, but I know I definitely want to spend more time with him to figure that out. I will probably go down there for a week soon to visit. If that goes well, what is my best bet to maximize his time visiting the US while not raising suspicions or endangering the validity of the visa?

The general rule of thumb is to spend more time outside the US as in it. Twice as long is preferred.

 

9 minutes ago, AardSav said:

Theoretically I can use it for a full 90 days as long as I can prove I will be covering his costs and he will return at the end, right? I read somewhere that after that I would have to wait 91 days before he could come back for another 90 days. But at that point would border patrol start to assume he'd be trying to overstay for find work etc?

He will be granted a duration of stay at POE. This could be up to 1 year, but often is up to 6 months. There is no 90 day anything. Just as noted above - spending too much time int he US is what raises suspicion if he is living and/or working in the US or not, which would be a reason for denial of entry.

 

You have no role in the process. You cannot ensure he will return in any form...there is nothing you can do to make sure he gets on a plane home. You can choose to cover his expenses while he is here (and to get here and back), but other than that, anything from you is removed from the immigration process as it is not considered with a tourist visa.

[Boiler 45,670]

Maybe even up the visits, a few weeks each way, take it is turn.

[SalishSea 17,928]

1 hour ago, AardSav said:

Theoretically I can use it for a full 90 days as long as I can prove I will be covering his costs and he will return at the end, right?

You can use it?  As said, there is no sponsorship for B visas.  There is also no way to "prove" anyone will return at the end of a visit.  This is why each entry is subject to inspection at the port of entry.

[Downloader 199]

There is no rules for Visitors visas, they can give him a stay of 6 months or 1 week. Funny part is that even when they authorize 6 months if he stays for that long it will raise suspicions about the ties to his home country which was the basis to approve a Visitors B1/B2 visa. At the end is something that needs to be done very carefully to avoid issues. A person with professional/economic & social/family ties with their home country usually doesn’t go away for months very often, that’s when immigrant “intent” starts floating around the mind of a CBP officer and questions start being asked...if those questions are not answered to his satisfaction he has authority/discretion to deny entry and cancel the visa. 

Be careful planning those visits and let him know about the risks so he knows the risks involved. 

 

Good Luck!

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

There is absolutely no way you can “prove” he will return at the end of his period of stay. CBP may or may not believe him. The more frequently he visits, for periods of time that suggest he has no real ties back home, the riskier it gets that he will be denied entry.

[SalishSea 17,928]

OP, another consideration for CBP at POE in terms of ties to home country is that most people cannot afford to simply "visit" another country for six months or more, unless they are retired or independently wealthy.  

 

The suspicion would be either that he plans to work while here (even online/remotely), or that he plans to marry and adjust status.  Both scenarios constitute visa fraud.

[AardSav 0]

3 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

The suspicion would be either that he plans to work while here (even online/remotely), or that he plans to marry and adjust status.  Both scenarios constitute visa fraud.

 

Big thanks to everyone who replied, I'm learning a lot from each of your posts.

 

Specifically for Jorgedig though: with a potential relationship with this much distance and a border involved, I think it would have to be marriage or nothing, so really the goal is to eventually have a legal process of getting a marriage-based visa, or figure out that we're not a match and that's that. The way I see this ideally happening is that we each visit each other's country 1 or 2 more times and then we make a decision.

 

When you say "adjusting status" to work or marriage would constitute fraud, you mean only if his STATED reason was tourism for THAT visit right? If so, and assuming we successfully visit each other a few times and decide that marriage is the way to go, how do we legally go down the marriage visa path? We'd have to do it down there? Or he could come here on the B1/B2 and do it here? Thanks!

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

17 minutes ago, AardSav said:

 

 

When you say "adjusting status" to work or marriage would constitute fraud, you mean only if his STATED reason was tourism for THAT visit right? If so, and assuming we successfully visit each other a few times and decide that marriage is the way to go, how do we legally go down the marriage visa path? We'd have to do it down there? Or he could come here on the B1/B2 and do it here? Thanks!

Correct. IF you decide marriage is the way to go, at some stage you would get married, there or here, then file a petition for him under a CR1 spouse visa (or get engaged and do a fiancé visa, more complicated, a scenario you can investigate if it comes to that). He will then await processing in his home country until he gets his visa interview. He may enter on a B visa, get married and go back to await processing, but he cannot enter on a B visa with intent to get married and remain here and adjust status.

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

@AardSav You guys can always meet in places other than the US and Columbia. IDK about Colombians but you can freely travel to Mexico or the Caribbean Islands .. this could be an option for you and you don’t have to worry about timing for the B visa. You obviously want to spend more time together before making such a drastic life change 🙂

[JFH 12,190]

The CBP Officer doesn’t know him or you any better than he knows anyone else going through the airport that day. It is your friend’s job to convince the CBP agent, in the small amount of time that he is granted at the desk, that he has no intention of staying, that this is just a leisure visit and that his home remains in Colombia. Now, Bill Gates may be able to afford to leave the office and his home for 90 days to visit a friend, return home for 91 days, and then visit the friend for another 90 days but the average John Doe usually can’t. I’ve yet to find a job that gives that much paid vacation. They are not interested in how much you are paying towards his expenses - they don’t care if you’re giving him a Happy Meal or the best steak each day. They don’t care why he’s here. All they are interested in is “what do you have to go home to?”

[carmel34 3,639]

1 hour ago, JFH said:

They are not interested in how much you are paying towards his expenses

If he visits the US on a B visa and he tells the CBP officer at POE that you are paying for everything, how do you think that the officer will react?  It shows stronger ties to the US (you) than to his home country, and he is likely to be denied entry for immigrant intent.  Officers are very good at asking questions to ascertain intent.  He will need to be completely honest and prepared for a possible denial of entry because he has a love interest in the US who is paying for the trip.  I would suggest that if he is denied entry, that you visit him in Colombia or other countries outside the US during the period of long distance dating while you're figuring things out, if you want to be together long-term.  Good luck!

[Boiler 45,670]

Begs the question why he is not paying his own way?

[AardSav 0]

13 hours ago, Luckycuds said:

@AardSav You guys can always meet in places other than the US and Columbia. IDK about Colombians but you can freely travel to Mexico or the Caribbean Islands .. this could be an option for you and you don’t have to worry about timing for the B visa. You obviously want to spend more time together before making such a drastic life change 🙂

Thank you. I jumped on this site cause my mind started racing to the ultimate situation (cohabitation or marriage), and I don't know if that's even in the cards. I literally had not even thought of spending time in a third country, that's how fast my mind is racing. Yes, now I see that there are many countries in the Americas and Caribbean that Colombians can go to visa-free... so that's another option to think about. And of course I can travel visa-free to Colombia whenever I want. Thank you!

[AardSav 0]

9 hours ago, JFH said:

The CBP Officer doesn’t know him or you any better than he knows anyone else going through the airport that day. It is your friend’s job to convince the CBP agent, in the small amount of time that he is granted at the desk, that he has no intention of staying, that this is just a leisure visit and that his home remains in Colombia. Now, Bill Gates may be able to afford to leave the office and his home for 90 days to visit a friend, return home for 91 days, and then visit the friend for another 90 days but the average John Doe usually can’t. I’ve yet to find a job that gives that much paid vacation. They are not interested in how much you are paying towards his expenses - they don’t care if you’re giving him a Happy Meal or the best steak each day. They don’t care why he’s here. All they are interested in is “what do you have to go home to?”

Thanks, this is the bluntest and most realistic answer to the actual mechanics of this and I needed that. I have a good job and of course I couldn't take off more than 2 weeks at a time at the absolute most, and that would be once a year. He has a lot to go home to as far as family, friends and the culture he loves, but that can't be quantified. The truth is he doesn't have important economic ties right now and that's why this is possibly in the offing at all. And they would notice that, because it's the truth.