Traveling on ESTA to U.S. with USC Spouse while CR1 Is at NVC

[zyscobry 0]

Hey all,

 

I will try to be as detailed as possible, but if more information is needed, do ask.

 

Our I-130 petition was approved early May. Since then, we have been submitting documents to the NVC. The only remaining documents are those relating to the Affidavit of Support. We're deliberately holding off on sending these in because of a trip to the U.S. (mid-July till end of August) that was planned before the I-130 was approved. To be clear, the USC is domiciled in the U.S., but we'll be travelling back to the U.S. together because we're in the Netherlands right now (foreign spouse is from the Netherlands and male). 

 

I (Dutch spouse) just finished my Master's and will not seek employment in my home country because - if all goes well - I will be moving to the U.S. around the end of September. However, that leaves me with few concrete ties to my home country. I live in my parental home, do not own property (house/apartment/car) and I am no longer a student, making it difficult to prove to CBP that I intend to go back home. 

 

However, we were thinking:

1. I have a perfect history of compliance with the terms of my ESTA (with trips going back to December 2021). Trips were sometimes a week long, but also as long as a month and a half. 
2. We are going through immigration the legal way. This is especially obvious since our case is already at NVC. We won't have an interview date by the time of entry, but in order to successfully complete the immigration process, I would need to fly back to my home country to attend the medical exam and the interview at the U.S. Consulate General in Frankfurt. Which I absolutely intend to do. 
3. I have a return ticket that was booked and paid for before the I-130 was approved. 

 

But we are not sure whether this will be sufficient. For that reason, we are asking for your advice.

 

Thank you in advance. 

[appleblossom 4,386]

Just now, zyscobry said:

Hey all,

 

I will try to be as detailed as possible, but if more information is needed, do ask.

 

Our I-130 petition was approved early May. Since then, we have been submitting documents to the NVC. The only remaining documents are those relating to the Affidavit of Support. We're deliberately holding off on sending these in because of a trip to the U.S. (mid-July till end of August) that was planned before the I-130 was approved. To be clear, the USC is domiciled in the U.S., but we'll be travelling back to the U.S. together because we're in the Netherlands right now (foreign spouse is from the Netherlands and male). 

 

I (Dutch spouse) just finished my Master's and will not seek employment in my home country because - if all goes well - I will be moving to the U.S. around the end of September. However, that leaves me with few concrete ties to my home country. I live in my parental home, do not own property (house/apartment/car) and I am no longer a student, making it difficult to prove to CBP that I intend to go back home. 

 

However, we were thinking:

1. I have a perfect history of compliance with the terms of my ESTA (with trips going back to December 2021). Trips were sometimes a week long, but also as long as a month and a half. 
2. We are going through immigration the legal way. This is especially obvious since our case is already at NVC. We won't have an interview date by the time of entry, but in order to successfully complete the immigration process, I would need to fly back to my home country to attend the medical exam and the interview at the U.S. Consulate General in Frankfurt. Which I absolutely intend to do. 
3. I have a return ticket that was booked and paid for before the I-130 was approved. 

 

But we are not sure whether this will be sufficient. For that reason, we are asking for your advice.

 

Thank you in advance. 

 

No guarantees of course, but I can't see why it should be an issue at all, plenty of people visit whilst their petitions/visas are being processed. But why are you holding off sending the rest of your docs? I can't see any reason to delay, and if you want to move in September you should get them in asap.

Edited June 27 by appleblossom

[zyscobry 0]

4 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

No guarantees of course, but I can't see why it should be an issue at all, plenty of people visit whilst their petitions/visas are being processed. But why are you holding off sending the rest of your docs? I can't see any reason to delay, and if you want to move in September you should get them in asap.

 

Thank you for your reply. According to what we know about U.S. Consulate General Frankfurt, submitting financial docs in July would be fine for an interview date in September. Making the big move a little later wouldn't be an issue, though.

 

The reason we are holding off on sending the docs is because of the trip - I haven't seen my spouse's family since January and submitting the docs now would mean I'd probably have to change my plane ticket - on very short notice - in order to get back to my home country for the medical exam and the interview on time. To us, that seems quite chaotic. We would much prefer I can go on the trip like normal, come back home comfortably, have the medical, and then the interview.

 

I traveled to the U.S. whilst our I-130 was pending before (December 2024-January 2025), which went fine. However, I was a student then, which I am not anymore now. Hence the worry of not having strong enough ties. But if you're saying that's not an issue, then I'm glad! 

[appleblossom 4,386]

Just now, zyscobry said:

 

Thank you for your reply. According to what we know about U.S. Consulate General Frankfurt, submitting financial docs in July would be fine for an interview date in September. Making the big move a little later wouldn't be an issue, though.

 

The reason we are holding off on sending the docs is because of the trip - I haven't seen my spouse's family since January and submitting the docs now would mean I'd probably have to change my plane ticket - on very short notice - in order to get back to my home country for the medical exam and the interview on time. To us, that seems quite chaotic. We would much prefer I can go on the trip like normal, come back home comfortably, have the medical, and then the interview.

 

I traveled to the U.S. whilst our I-130 was pending before (December 2024-January 2025), which went fine. However, I was a student then, which I am not anymore now. Hence the worry of not having strong enough ties. But if you're saying that's not an issue, then I'm glad! 

 

I'm not saying it will definitely not be an issue, who knows with the current administration! But I don't see any obvious reason to worry about it. 

 

Fair enough, that makes sense and I understand now. I'd be surprised if you got an interview before Sept though anyway even if you submitted now, it'll take 2 weeks to be DQ'ed, and then it's usually around 6-8 weeks before the interview even at the quickest consulates. You could always reschedule the interview too rather than reschedule your flight if for any reason it was sooner. 

 

But if you don't want to risk it and are happy to move in Oct/Nov then holding off is a good idea. 

 

Best of luck. 

 

Edited June 27 by appleblossom

[S2N 295]

Since you’ve been here before use MPC and it’ll minimize your chances of questions (not as much as global entry, but still they ask less.)

 

My husband just landed in the U.S. from Chile this AM on an ESTA and they only asked him why he was hear and how long he was staying, no request for documents etc. even in the normal line.

 

CBP really is trying to automate things as much as possible for VWP countries to minimize judgement calls by frontline officers (cuts both ways…) if you’re a VWP national, don’t have anything flagging in their automated checks after the API is submitted, and don’t proactively volunteer anything stupid (you are not required to tell them you aren’t getting a job unless they ask, for example), you should be fine.

 

My husband is from the highest denied entry VWP program country and they’ve not once mentioned the I-130 we have pending to him. VWP and no criminal record or vacations to unfriendly countries counts for a lot.

Edited June 27 by S2N

[Boiler 47,447]

Many visit, very very rare for their to be an issue under normal circumstances.

 

We have a mega thread on the subject.

[zyscobry 0]

On 6/27/2025 at 11:09 PM, S2N said:

Since you’ve been here before use MPC and it’ll minimize your chances of questions (not as much as global entry, but still they ask less.)

 

My husband just landed in the U.S. from Chile this AM on an ESTA and they only asked him why he was hear and how long he was staying, no request for documents etc. even in the normal line.

 

CBP really is trying to automate things as much as possible for VWP countries to minimize judgement calls by frontline officers (cuts both ways…) if you’re a VWP national, don’t have anything flagging in their automated checks after the API is submitted, and don’t proactively volunteer anything stupid (you are not required to tell them you aren’t getting a job unless they ask, for example), you should be fine.

 

My husband is from the highest denied entry VWP program country and they’ve not once mentioned the I-130 we have pending to him. VWP and no criminal record or vacations to unfriendly countries counts for a lot.

 

Thank you for making us aware of MPC. I've applied and been conditionally accepted for Global Entry but somehow didn't know about MPC. I'll use this when at our PoE in July. 

[zyscobry 0]

On 6/28/2025 at 3:28 AM, Boiler said:

Many visit, very very rare for their to be an issue under normal circumstances.

 

We have a mega thread on the subject.

 

Thank you. The issue is not visiting while the visa application is pending, but rather proving ties to my home country, for the reasons I mentioned in my second main paragraph. 

[Lil bear 4,519]

9 minutes ago, zyscobry said:

 

Thank you. The issue is not visiting while the visa application is pending, but rather proving ties to my home country, for the reasons I mentioned in my second main paragraph. 

As stated. Use MPC. No entry is guaranteed but there are way bigger issues than questioning  someone  in your situation. 

[S2N 295]

So much of this is pre-screening. They already know who they want to talk to.

 

Most airlines begin sharing passport data with CBP to verify ESTA status 72 hours before. If there’s a big issue that prevents VWP eligibility, they will cancel it in this time period. From the example I know: Chile recently started sharing more data with CBP so CBP is currently in the process of cancelling improperly granted ESTAs. They do it at the airport before the plane takes off and you aren’t permitted boarding even if you’ve already checked in.

 

Once the plane is in the air the airline sends the final passenger list to CBP. During that time CBP reviews the results of automated checks requiring human intervention, and check for individuals with permission to get on the plane who might not be admissible but who didn’t flag with conclusive proof in the ESTA checks or who have a visa so don’t go through those checks.
 

They also tend to have a pretty strong focus on the customs portion: there was a story the published recently about catching someone trying to smuggle in $183k of luxury French goods who didn’t realize the French shared the VAT reimbursement receipts with CBP.

 

By the time you’re at the airport they have a list of the people they want to talk to and the conversation they have with you is doing surface level risk assessment to see if you admit to a red flag the screening missed because you weren’t on any list.

 

If you use one of the automated or semi-automated entries (GE or MPC) that minimizes questions as a lot of the data is already loaded into the system without human interaction so there’s less time to ask questions while typing.

 

If you have an ESTA and are allowed to enter the plane there’s a low risk of being denied entry. If you successfully use MPC, it’s lowered, and GE makes that even lower since they’ve already done extensive vetting before.

 

None of that guarantees anything, the person I mentioned above with $183k of undeclared goods was caught by the GE program. But if you aren’t breaking any laws it really is unlikely you will be flagged by any of the pre-entry systems, which means it’s likely you will be admitted.

[Boiler 47,447]

4 hours ago, zyscobry said:

 

Thank you. The issue is not visiting while the visa application is pending, but rather proving ties to my home country, for the reasons I mentioned in my second main paragraph. 

 

How have you proved them in the past?

[zyscobry 0]

On 6/29/2025 at 9:05 PM, S2N said:

So much of this is pre-screening. They already know who they want to talk to.

 

Most airlines begin sharing passport data with CBP to verify ESTA status 72 hours before. If there’s a big issue that prevents VWP eligibility, they will cancel it in this time period. From the example I know: Chile recently started sharing more data with CBP so CBP is currently in the process of cancelling improperly granted ESTAs. They do it at the airport before the plane takes off and you aren’t permitted boarding even if you’ve already checked in.

 

Once the plane is in the air the airline sends the final passenger list to CBP. During that time CBP reviews the results of automated checks requiring human intervention, and check for individuals with permission to get on the plane who might not be admissible but who didn’t flag with conclusive proof in the ESTA checks or who have a visa so don’t go through those checks.
 

They also tend to have a pretty strong focus on the customs portion: there was a story the published recently about catching someone trying to smuggle in $183k of luxury French goods who didn’t realize the French shared the VAT reimbursement receipts with CBP.

 

By the time you’re at the airport they have a list of the people they want to talk to and the conversation they have with you is doing surface level risk assessment to see if you admit to a red flag the screening missed because you weren’t on any list.

 

If you use one of the automated or semi-automated entries (GE or MPC) that minimizes questions as a lot of the data is already loaded into the system without human interaction so there’s less time to ask questions while typing.

 

If you have an ESTA and are allowed to enter the plane there’s a low risk of being denied entry. If you successfully use MPC, it’s lowered, and GE makes that even lower since they’ve already done extensive vetting before.

 

None of that guarantees anything, the person I mentioned above with $183k of undeclared goods was caught by the GE program. But if you aren’t breaking any laws it really is unlikely you will be flagged by any of the pre-entry systems, which means it’s likely you will be admitted.

 

Thank you very much for this extensive information. This really puts us at ease. We'll do MPC. Then after that, GE interview (I've been conditionally approved already). We should be good! 

 

On 6/29/2025 at 9:24 PM, Boiler said:

 

How have you proved them in the past?

 

For the question "What do you do for work?" I have always said I'm a student. After that, I've been asked what I study, where, &c. That's always (I feel) been important for proving I will go back to my home country to continue my studies. But I've graduated now, so that's not applicable anymore. And we've always had return tickets, never one way. But from what I can tell from the other comments, we should be good. 

[S2N 295]

8 minutes ago, zyscobry said:

Then after that, GE interview (I've been conditionally approved already)

If you’ve been conditionally approved see if they offer GE interview on arrival at the airport you’re flying into. That way you kill two birds with one stone. GE is awesome. Beats even the European eGates on efficiency once you have the interview 

 

Edit to add link to enrollment on arrival: Enrollment on Arrival

Edited July 1 by S2N