Extension of tourist stay after Filing i-130/i-485

[Rocio0010 5,577]

1 minute ago, ecy_go said:

oh no the immigration didnt ask if i have a bf, coz if he do i will tell him.

Then my understanding is that you should be fine. The problem is if they ask when and how you met. What are you going to say? . Still, for peace of mind I’d consult an attorney.

@Jorgedig @Timona any ideas? 

[ecy_go 0]

2 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

Yep.

 

That doesn’t change the fact that You omitted information. 
Did they ask if you have a boyfriend here? That is the key question

aww so you mean i wouldnt be allowed to be petitioned anymore? 

How could i not be allowed such petition if i go back to my home country and wait? 

i did not inform the immigration at the port of entry here  in my recent visit as he didnt ask me and yeah i didnt tell him too coz im afraid of further scrutinizing. but when i first got my visa back in 2016 i still dont have a bf here  

[ecy_go 0]

2 minutes ago, Rocio0010 said:

Then my understanding is that you should be fine. The problem is if they ask when and how you met. What are you going to say? . Still, for peace of mind I’d consult an attorney.

@Jorgedig @Timona any ideas? 

yeah, we actually met online  on 2017. 

I had my tourist visa on 2016 but then in my recent visit when i have already a bf, i didnt inform him that im going to visit him too aside from my family. 

yeah, will consult an attorney too 

 

Thank you so much for answering.  

[Rocio0010 5,577]

@Adventineany ideas?

[Adventine 3,187]

When I arrived on my tourist visa, CBP asked who I was visiting. I was up front with them that I was visiting my then-fiance. Then plans changed and we decided to get married and adjust status. So my case didn't have issues.

 

The key part of OP's posts is that she was afraid of being asked about her boyfriend. To an outsider looking at her situation, that sounds suspicious. Why be nervous about being asked if there was nothing to hide? But that's just me, an outsider. I can't guess OP's true intentions and CBP already made the call to admit her into the US. 

 

Right now, OP has two options: get married and adjust status, or get married and go home at the end of her authorized stay, and process the spousal visa in the Philippines. Their choice. If they have doubts or if they don't want to disclose everything about their situation on VJ, they are free to ask a lawyer.

 

[Kai G. Llewellyn 829]

38 minutes ago, ecy_go said:

oh no the immigration didnt ask if i have a bf, coz if he do i will tell him.

I don't believe this to be problematic. Misrepresentation has to be wilful and I would think that the onus is on the officer at the PoE to probe further, which they elected not to. I think it is a pretty common occurrence that people come into the US to see 'a friend' and that friend actually being a partner. CBP is well within its rights to ask further into the nature of the friendship. I didn't volunteer information about my relationship to my then boyfriend (later husband) until CBP actually asked me the nature of the relationship. Never had an issue, they never accused me of lying or misrep, nor did I have any issues on my CR-1 process.

 

Now if they explicitly asked if you had a boyfriend in the US and you said 'no' in the full knowledge you were lying, then yes, that would absolutely be a problem.

 

I'm a firm believer in giving the minimum amount of information needed to answer a question posed and allowing the officer to pursue a line of inquiry if they wish. If you tell them your life's story, you're leaving things up to be misinterpreted, or to get some very awkward questions which you could accidentally incriminate yourself to something you didn't/wouldn't do. 

 

Now the rules on misrep regarding Canadian immigration...ohh boy, it's very unforgiving. It doesn't require it to be wilful and it can cover situations where it was something that the applicant didn't know info about and/or the officer didn't bother asking. Any misrepresentation if it would have impacted the application, or impacted a line of inquiry counts. You have to be extremely careful there.

Edited May 3, 2022 by Kai G. Llewellyn

[Chancy 6,233]

11 minutes ago, Kai G. Llewellyn said:

I didn't volunteer information about my relationship to my then boyfriend (later husband) until CBP actually asked me the nature of the relationship. Never had an issue, they never accused me of lying or misrep, nor did I have any issues on my CR-1 process.

 

Same.  When I visited the US before getting my GC, I never volunteered information about my then-boyfriend (now husband), unless asked directly by CBP.  Their first question was usually about purpose of travel, and I usually said "vacation".  Sometimes they asked who I'd be staying with, and when they did, I answered truthfully about my boyfriend.

 

[mushroomspore 3,043]

47 minutes ago, ecy_go said:

yeah, we actually met online  on 2017. 

I had my tourist visa on 2016 but then in my recent visit when i have already a bf, i didnt inform him that im going to visit him too aside from my family. 

yeah, will consult an attorney too 

 

Thank you so much for answering.  

Honestly, no need to consult an attorney. The bottom line is that your plans changed after you entered the USA. That is the only situation where you are allowed to adjust your status from B2 visa. It is only wrong if you planned BEFORE you entered the USA to use the B2 visa to get inside and then adjust your status. Does that make sense? I adjusted from B2 status (not B2 visa because I am Canadian and we don't need B2 visas to enter as a tourist but they stamp our passport with "B2 Visitor"). At the border, they asked who I was visiting and I directly said, "My boyfriend." All they said to me was, "Meh, just remember you are not allowed to work inside the USA unless you get the right visa." They let me in and two months later, my boyfriend and I were talking about our relationship and future. It was kinda crazy because honestly we didn't care about marriage, but we decided to do it 'cause we admitted we were/are totally crazy about each other. We got married and then researched what we had to do for my green card. I didn't know anything about the process; all I knew was that if you are married to a US citizen, you can apply for a green card. I thought I had to go back home too but our research showed that actually, I could stay. So we adjusted my status (without a lawyer BTW...we did everything ourselves). At the interview, they did not ask me or my husband anything about my entry at the border. I'm a citizen now too. You'll be fine. 

Edited May 3, 2022 by mushroomspore

[ecy_go 0]

22 minutes ago, Adventine said:

When I arrived on my tourist visa, CBP asked who I was visiting. I was up front with them that I was visiting my then-fiance. Then plans changed and we decided to get married and adjust status. So my case didn't have issues.

 

The key part of OP's posts is that she was afraid of being asked about her boyfriend. To an outsider looking at her situation, that sounds suspicious. Why be nervous about being asked if there was nothing to hide? But that's just me, an outsider. I can't guess OP's true intentions and CBP already made the call to admit her into the US. 

 

Right now, OP has two options: get married and adjust status, or get married and go home at the end of her authorized stay, and process the spousal visa in the Philippines. Their choice. If they have doubts or if they don't want to disclose everything about their situation on VJ, they are free to ask a lawyer.

 

Thank you for your insights, i have anxiety problems that is why i didnt tell the officer fully as i dont want to be scrutinized or questioned further like i read before that they get into furthere questionning if they will visit their boyfriend so i just tell him about my relatives and did not disclose about my bf, my mistake. 

What you think is better choice for me citing that i didnt fully inform the officer bout my bf here.

 

Thank you so much

 

[ecy_go 0]

28 minutes ago, Kai G. Llewellyn said:

I don't believe this to be problematic. Misrepresentation has to be wilful and I would think that the onus is on the officer at the PoE to probe further, which they elected not to. I think it is a pretty common occurrence that people come into the US to see 'a friend' and that friend actually being a partner. CBP is well within its rights to ask further into the nature of the friendship. I didn't volunteer information about my relationship to my then boyfriend (later husband) until CBP actually asked me the nature of the relationship. Never had an issue, they never accused me of lying or misrep, nor did I have any issues on my CR-1 process.

 

Now if they explicitly asked if you had a boyfriend in the US and you said 'no' in the full knowledge you were lying, then yes, that would absolutely be a problem.

 

I'm a firm believer in giving the minimum amount of information needed to answer a question posed and allowing the officer to pursue a line of inquiry if they wish. If you tell them your life's story, you're leaving things up to be misinterpreted, or to get some very awkward questions which you could accidentally incriminate yourself to something you didn't/wouldn't do. 

 

Now the rules on misrep regarding Canadian immigration...ohh boy, it's very unforgiving. It doesn't require it to be wilful and it can cover situations where it was something that the applicant didn't know info about and/or the officer didn't bother asking. Any misrepresentation if it would have impacted the application, or impacted a line of inquiry counts. You have to be extremely careful there.

Thank you so much Kai, this gives me peace 

[ecy_go 0]

8 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

Honestly, no need to consult an attorney. The bottom line is that your plans changed after you entered the USA. That is the only situation where you are allowed to adjust your status from B2 visa. It is only wrong if you planned BEFORE you entered the USA to use the B2 visa to get inside and then adjust your status. Does that make sense? I adjusted from B2 status (not B2 visa because I am Canadian and we don't need B2 visas to enter as a tourist but they stamp our passport with "B2 Visitor"). At the border, they asked who I was visiting and I directly said, "My boyfriend." All they said to me was, "Meh, just remember you are not allowed to work inside the USA unless you get the right visa." They let me in and two months later, my boyfriend and I were talking about our relationship and future. It was kinda crazy because honestly we didn't care about marriage, but we decided to do it 'cause we admitted we were/are totally crazy about each other. We got married and then researched what we had to do for my green card. I didn't know anything about the process; all I knew was that if you are married to a US citizen, you can apply for a green card. I thought I had to go back home too but our research showed that actually, I could stay. So we adjusted my status (without a lawyer BTW...we did everything ourselves). At the interview, they did not ask me or my husband anything about my entry at the border. I'm a citizen now too. You'll be fine. 

aww Thank youu so much for this. 

I just worry that they might know how the interview went with officer when i come here, and i didnt inform the officer about my bf.

i didnt lie but i didnt say fully that apart from my family i have a bf to visit too

Edited May 3, 2022 by ecy_go

[mushroomspore 3,043]

3 minutes ago, ecy_go said:

aww Thank youu so much for this. 

I just worry that they might know how the interview went with officer when i come here, and i didnt inform the officer about my bf.

i didnt lie but i didnt say fully that apart from my family i have a bf to visit too

So when you cross the border, that is when the customs agent tries to figure out what your "intent" is. In their mind, they are asking themselves, "What visa is this person entering on? Does it seem like this person will violate their visa?". Based on that, they ask you questions like, "Who are you visiting? What will you be doing inside the US? Do you have a return flight?" etc etc. From these questions, the customs agent will decide, "This person's intent is in line with the visa they are entering so I will let them in" OR they decide, "It feels like they will violate their visa so I am denying them." The customs agent let you in. That means they deemed you to not violate your visa and you did not. Intent is determined at the border, not at the green card interview. At the green card interview, they do not ask about intent because that's not their job; their job is to determine if you and your spouse have a real bonafide marriage. 

[Holly&Andreas 38]

2 hours ago, ecy_go said:

Thank you @Rocio0010  for your reply

 

hmm because i am afraid they will ask further question and wont allow entry if i give too much information. We honeslty dont have intentions to get married that time.

what you think i should do or say in my petition if they ask about this? or will they ask about this? 

im having anxiety again lol

Years ago before I got married, my then fiance (now husband) tried to obtain a tourism visa to come spend Christmas with me. We did not (at that time) have intentions for immigration and had not filed a K-1 since our plan was that I would go to his country for a few years. At the visa interview they asked him why he was visiting, and for how long. He told them he was visiting his fiancee for Christmas. They denied his visa and told him to file a K-1 instead, and said he was unable to show sufficient ties to his home country. At the time, I was crushed. I didn't realize they were concerned he'd adjust status and marry here since I didn't even know that was a thing you can do. 

 

Anyway, long story short, if you'd been honest about your intentions when entering, they may have denied you entry. I hope this doesn't come back to haunt you at a later date. Good luck and I hope things work out.

[ecy_go 0]

37 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

So when you cross the border, that is when the customs agent tries to figure out what your "intent" is. In their mind, they are asking themselves, "What visa is this person entering on? Does it seem like this person will violate their visa?". Based on that, they ask you questions like, "Who are you visiting? What will you be doing inside the US? Do you have a return flight?" etc etc. From these questions, the customs agent will decide, "This person's intent is in line with the visa they are entering so I will let them in" OR they decide, "It feels like they will violate their visa so I am denying them." The customs agent let you in. That means they deemed you to not violate your visa and you did not. Intent is determined at the border, not at the green card interview. At the green card interview, they do not ask about intent because that's not their job; their job is to determine if you and your spouse have a real bonafide marriage. 

oh wow! thank you so much mushroomspore, this give me comfort. 

Yeah, my fried told me too as long as you do it in good faith and the marriage is real, it should be fine. well then, when i remember the officer interview it crushed again my spirit lol

i just trust the Lord with whatever that will happen and on our next step.

 

[ecy_go 0]

8 minutes ago, Holly&Andreas said:

Years ago before I got married, my then fiance (now husband) tried to obtain a tourism visa to come spend Christmas with me. We did not (at that time) have intentions for immigration and had not filed a K-1 since our plan was that I would go to his country for a few years. At the visa interview they asked him why he was visiting, and for how long. He told them he was visiting his fiancee for Christmas. They denied his visa and told him to file a K-1 instead, and said he was unable to show sufficient ties to his home country. At the time, I was crushed. I didn't realize they were concerned he'd adjust status and marry here since I didn't even know that was a thing you can do. 

 

Anyway, long story short, if you'd been honest about your intentions when entering, they may have denied you entry. I hope this doesn't come back to haunt you at a later date. Good luck and I hope things work out.

aww so he just applied for K1 VISA? 

thank you on your reply