Can foreign spouse visit me in the US during pandemic?

[SpexBass 0]

Hello.

 

I’m an american citizen.

 

My wife and I were married last year in Spain, so our marriage is completely legal in Spain, but not processed in the US.

 

She is currently living and working in London.

 

She is planning to come visit me here in the US for one month during this pandemic with an ESTA.

 

Is she able to board an airplane and cross the US border smoothly since she is the spouse of an American citizen?

 

We are planning to put together all info such as, marriage certificate (in spanish from Spain), proof of one month round trip flight, work contract proving she’s not trying to stay, also, some extensive proof just in case.

 

Has anyone experienced something similar to this?

 

By traveling with an ESTA, is she going to be able to cross the border as a spouse of a US citizen?

[geowrian 22,335]

There's a couple points here...

 

1) She is exempt from the bans as the spouse of a USC. So she is permitted to fly and enter the US.

2) She may be subject to a quarantine.

3) It is advised not to travel at all at this time. DOS has a level 4 advisory worldwide. It's generally just not a wise decision...it can wait (many of us have had to delay travel as well....it's rough but it's just the way things go).

4) There is a risk of not having reliable flights back, depending on how things go. There are so many threads on this website of people who had that happen already.

 

10 minutes ago, SpexBass said:

My wife and I were married last year in Spain, so our marriage is completely legal in Spain, but not processed in the US.

It's (presumably) legal in the US then as well...immigration has just not processed paperwork for a visa based upon the marriage.

Edited May 2, 2020 by geowrian

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

27 minutes ago, geowrian said:

There's a couple points here...

 

1) She is exempt from the bans as the spouse of a USC. So she is permitted to fly and enter the US.

2) She may be subject to a quarantine.

3) It is advised not to travel at all at this time. DOS has a level 4 advisory worldwide. It's generally just not a wise decision...it can wait (many of us have had to delay travel as well....it's rough but it's just the way things go).

4) There is a risk of not having reliable flights back, depending on how things go. There are so many threads on this website of people who had that happen already.

 

It's (presumably) legal in the US then as well...immigration has just not processed paperwork for a visa based upon the marriage.

All that is a potential issue... and then add to that the possibility of her being refused entry if CBP suspects her of wanting to stay and adjust (proof notwithstanding). Wouldn’t be the first on these boards we’ve seen of what was meant to be a temporary visit turning into a permanent one.

Edited May 2, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[geowrian 22,335]

6 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

All that is a potential issue... and then add to that the possibility of her being refused entry if CBP suspects her of wanting to stay and adjust (proof notwithstanding). Wouldn’t be the first on these boards we’ve seen of what was meant to be a temporary visit turning into a permanent one.

Yup, that is always a risk.