USC living abroad with non-USC wife

[speedster 21]

Hey all!

Just wondering if anyone had recent experiences with themselves being a USC living abroad with their non-USC spouse with obtaining a tourist visa. We feel like we have enough stuff here to show that I/we don't want to move to the USA. Also we've traveled to different countries, will that count for something?

 

My non-USC spouse primarily has family in the USA, She used to be TPS and actually arrived in the USA illegally but within 6 months of her arrival she was given TPS (She was also a minor at the time). Not sure if that bit matters but hoping to hear your comments and what are our chances with applying for the tourist visa?

Edited May 27, 2020 by speedster

[Crazy Cat 39,622]

I remember only a few who have had success.  Personally, I think you wife's success is very unlikely, since every applicant is presumed to already have immigrant intent.  Her history and family connections in the US are important factors........although she is free to apply....just my humble opinion.

Edited May 27, 2020 by Lucky Cat

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

Agree with luckycat ... I don’t think it will be easy ...but until you try you won’t know 
 

travel to other countries doesn’t count unless the unlikely circumstance of she also has a lot of family there and a history of living there/applying for status/etc (it’s not the same situation as a tourist with no ties anywhere else who just likes traveling), especially having had a brief skim of your post history where it seems your preferred route had been to stay and adjust if that had been possible. Possibly the best chance of getting the tourist visa is that (if I understood correctly) you left before she would go out of status, but it’s tenuous (especially if she’d legally be able to adjust from a b visa on another entry)

[speedster 21]

18 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

Agree with luckycat ... I don’t think it will be easy ...but until you try you won’t know 
 

travel to other countries doesn’t count unless the unlikely circumstance of she also has a lot of family there and a history of living there/applying for status/etc (it’s not the same situation as a tourist with no ties anywhere else who just likes traveling), especially having had a brief skim of your post history where it seems your preferred route had been to stay and adjust if that had been possible. Possibly the best chance of getting the tourist visa is that (if I understood correctly) you left before she would go out of status, but it’s tenuous (especially if she’d legally be able to adjust from a b visa on another entry)

 

Yeah I'd figure it'd be hard, but it was near impossible to adjust status because of her situation, one of her family members is actually doing the hardship route with having to go back to their home embassy, and they're on year 5 right now. For us, rather than worry and be stuck in the USA immigration system, she said she rather just leave, which is what we did. But with the b visa all you can do is hope

 

On the bright side, if we ever wanted to move back for any reason we can just adjust status with the lockbox I-130

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

4 hours ago, speedster said:

On the bright side, if we ever wanted to move back for any reason we can just adjust status with the lockbox I-130

If by this you mean she just needs to re-enter on a different visa and she can adjust, then this is a negative for getting a B visa.

[Crazy Cat 39,622]

 

4 hours ago, speedster said:

On the bright side, if we ever wanted to move back for any reason we can just adjust status with the lockbox I-130

What does this mean?

[speedster 21]

1 hour ago, SusieQQQ said:

If by this you mean she just needs to re-enter on a different visa and she can adjust, then this is a negative for getting a B visa.

 

No no no, not aos with a b visa, I'm talking about applying I-130 abroad of course, if we want to come back

[Crazy Cat 39,622]

7 minutes ago, speedster said:

 

No no no, not aos with a b visa, I'm talking about applying I-130 abroad of course, if we want to come back

That would not include any form of adjustment of status.........that would be consular processing of an immigrant visa.

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

28 minutes ago, speedster said:

 

No no no, not aos with a b visa, I'm talking about applying I-130 abroad of course, if we want to come back

Then there is no adjusting involved. Applying abroad gives you a visa.

the actual question was whether there was any impediment to her adjusting now. If not, it’s a negative for her case. 

Edited May 28, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[speedster 21]

On 5/28/2020 at 11:30 AM, SusieQQQ said:

Then there is no adjusting involved. Applying abroad gives you a visa.

the actual question was whether there was any impediment to her adjusting now. If not, it’s a negative for her case. 

Yeah we wondered if her status previously would affect the circumstance of her getting a visitor b visa. But reading around everything matters, so i guess we'll apply and find out i guess, Also interview dates aren't being taken for visitor visas anyways.

[home_visit 2]

I was in a similar situation as you, I was working and living abroad and only wanted my partner to return home to meet my family.  In three attempts I tried to use my links abroad (i.e. my employment) as an advantage for my partner, to show that we have no intention of staying in the US.  My partner told me they usually ignored the letter from me and my employer, but on the third attempt she succeeded.  In this third attempt we were living in a third country, i.e. she had become and expat herself and not a local, that may have been a factor.

 

Basically if you have $160 to spend then it's worth trying but it is usually a disappointment. 

[speedster 21]

Because of COVID we of course couldn't apply for the visitor visa and also because of procrastination but we live in the Netherlands and finally have her visitor B1/2 appointment tomorrow. Hopefully, she gets accepted as she hasn't seen any family for 3 years.

 

Edit: She also hasn't changed to her married name since we need to go to her home country to do that (and well again COVID prevented that). If she gets her B1/2 visa with her maiden name, and she gets a new passport with her married name, does the visa become void and she has to start from square 1?

Edited October 20, 2022 by speedster

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

5 hours ago, speedster said:

Because of COVID we of course couldn't apply for the visitor visa and also because of procrastination but we live in the Netherlands and finally have her visitor B1/2 appointment tomorrow. Hopefully, she gets accepted as she hasn't seen any family for 3 years.

 

Edit: She also hasn't changed to her married name since we need to go to her home country to do that (and well again COVID prevented that). If she gets her B1/2 visa with her maiden name, and she gets a new passport with her married name, does the visa become void and she has to start from square 1?

It’s not void but she’ll need to travel with her old passport with visa, new passport with new name, and marriage certificate to show change of name. It’s just easier (under normal circumstances) to get a new visa to match the new passport name.

[speedster 21]

11 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

It’s not void but she’ll need to travel with her old passport with visa, new passport with new name, and marriage certificate to show change of name. It’s just easier (under normal circumstances) to get a new visa to match the new passport name.

She got accepted! But okay sweet. I wonder if it'll be fine if we use the US visa the first time with the new name/new passport. Or should we enter with the maiden name/original passport first to give an entry on that passport?

[SalishSea 16,878]

On 9/18/2020 at 9:22 AM, home_visit said:

I was in a similar situation as you, I was working and living abroad and only wanted my partner to return home to meet my family.  In three attempts I tried to use my links abroad (i.e. my employment) as an advantage for my partner, to show that we have no intention of staying in the US.  My partner told me they usually ignored the letter from me and my employer, but on the third attempt she succeeded.  In this third attempt we were living in a third country, i.e. she had become and expat herself and not a local, that may have been a factor.

 

Basically if you have $160 to spend then it's worth trying but it is usually a disappointment. 

You can thank all the maaaaannnnnnnny people (lots are on VJ) who contribute to the statistics that drive the B visa denial policies.