what NOT to say during border check

[johnsnow1234 3]

Hello, I have a question on what NOT to say during border check. Some background:

 

We live in Japan. Me (US citizen) applied for a I-130 for my wife (non-US citizen). My two US citizen kids are moving to the US to go to school and will stay with my family until I-130 clears for wife. I have a very high paying job here so no immediate plans to move until the whole I-130 thing is done, and even then I may not move.  However, wife is worried about the kids being without dad and mom, so she wants to go visit kids/help them adjust (she retired early so has a lot of time) using her ESTA.  Wife has no intent of cheating through AOS etc., especially since she has a ton in assets back home and has no desire to live in the US. (I'm not trying to sound snobby, just giving some background facts.)

 

Wife has an ESTA and is planning on spending maybe 60 days in the US, 60 days back in Japan, and so forth, during a single school year (and not doing this for more than a year).  She isn't worried about being denied entry, but I am.  I would appreciate advice on what not to say if asked the following questions:

 

1. Purpose of visit

-Can she say she's here to visit family, or that kids are going to attend school while living with family and she is there to help them get settled in? Or leave out the "living with family" part?

-Or should she just ambiguously say she is visiting friends and family?

(basically I don't want her to offer up any more information that could trigger any red flags)

 

2. Duration of stay

-Assume she can just say the date she will leave the US?

 

3. Where will you be staying

-Should she say (and stay) at a hotel? Or is it OK to say she is staying with family/friends?

 

4. Do you intend to return to Japan?

-US citizen husband is still living in and working in a high-paying job in Japan

-She has a multi-million dollar home in her name at home, where we live, along with a ton in financial assets, etc.

-All of her family is in Japan, except US citizen student kids

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

[OldUser 9,854]

1 hour ago, johnsnow1234 said:

Me (US citizen) applied for a I-130 for my wife (non-US citizen).

 

1 hour ago, johnsnow1234 said:

Wife has no intent of cheating through AOS etc., especially since she has a ton in assets back home and has no desire to live in the US.

Why did you apply for I-130 for your wife if she has no desire to live in the US? I-130 leads to immigrant visa and permanent residency. Permanent residency is for living in the US. How will your marriage work if you live thousand miles apart?

[OldUser 9,854]

1 hour ago, johnsnow1234 said:

3. Where will you be staying

-Should she say (and stay) at a hotel? Or is it OK to say she is staying with family/friends?

Is she staying at a hotel? If not, she'd be lying to officials. It's a bad idea to lie.

[OldUser 9,854]

1 hour ago, johnsnow1234 said:

4. Do you intend to return to Japan?

-US citizen husband is still living in and working in a high-paying job in Japan

How is he going to be proving US domicile? Immigrant visa is for reunification, e.g. US citizen lives or has strong intent to live in the US and foreign spouse also intends to live in the US with the spouse. That's the purpose of filing for immigrant visa. US citizen living overseas can become an obstacle to obtaining immigrant visa down in the process.

[johnsnow1234 3]

After I-130 is approved, I can quit job and move to the US. I know I-130 and the process takes a long time so I have no plans to move yet.  I already have a couple homes there so that's not an issue.  

 

30 minutes ago, OldUser said:

Is she staying at a hotel? If not, she'd be lying to officials. It's a bad idea to lie.

 

Not saying we are going to lie. What I meant is, if staying with in-laws is problematic or would look suspicious from an immigration risk perspective, we can just get her a hotel or AirBNB for 2 months.

 

Edited 16 hours ago by johnsnow1234

[Dashinka 25,839]

6 minutes ago, johnsnow1234 said:

After I-130 is approved, I can quit job and move to the US. I know I-130 and the process takes a long time so I have no plans to move yet.  I already have a couple homes there so that's not an issue.  

 

 

Not saying we are going to lie. What I meant is, if staying with in-laws is problematic or would look suspicious from an immigration risk perspective, we can just get her a hotel or AirBNB for 2 months.

 

Shouldn't be an issue staying with in-laws.  The main thing she wants to avoid is mentioning or referencing anything that could be considered work.  Visiting her children and staying at the in-laws for a month or two should not be an issue.

 

Good Luck!

[smilingstone 586]

You've already stated your wife has no intention of living in the US, so this whole process seems a little redundant... 

 

The answer to your question is simple. You tell the truth. Nobody here is going to coach you into providing answers that will "please" CBP. 

[Daphne . 2,060]

No such thing as “what not to say”. She just needs to answer CBP’s questions truthfully. 

[S2N 288]

There’s no lying or redundancy here — they’ve filed an I-130, which is a form you can file at any time for a relative you wish to sponsor in the future. It has no expiration date and can be kept alive indefinitely at NVC until such a time as OP and his spouse are ready to get an immigrant visa.

 

This is incredibly smart to do since fees and speed of processing can change. There is no fraud and no lying. OP is asking about how to manages frequent ESTA entries as a spouse with a pending I-130 and before a visa has been issued.

 

OP — so long as she’s on ESTA she can visit under the same terms as B1/B2. Entry is at discretion. It’s recommend to spend double the time outside the U.S. as inside, so that’d look like 30-45 day trips then 60-90 day returns.

[johnsnow1234 3]

15 minutes ago, smilingstone said:

You've already stated your wife has no intention of living in the US, so this whole process seems a little redundant... 

 

The answer to your question is simple. You tell the truth. Nobody here is going to coach you into providing answers that will "please" CBP. 

 

Sorry if I'm not clear - just want to make sure she doesn't phrase/say things wrong since English is not her native language. 

 

"I'm here to be with my US citizen kids", or "I want to help them with school" obviously sounds off to me! Instead, I was hoping for some advice/guidance as to how to accurately convey her situation to immigration if asked.  Something like "I'm visiting to help my kids get settled into their new school" is truthful, but then so is "I'm here to visit family." So which is she supposed to say as a non-native speaker?   Sorry if this sounds weird.

 

My wife definitely does not want to live in the US. Neither do I. But our kids have to go to school there, so we are going through the I-130 process so we don't have to live the rest of our lives on a continent away from our children, and can eventually move there once the process is complete. 

Edited 16 hours ago by johnsnow1234

[johnsnow1234 3]

56 minutes ago, OldUser said:

How is he going to be proving US domicile? Immigrant visa is for reunification, e.g. US citizen lives or has strong intent to live in the US and foreign spouse also intends to live in the US with the spouse. That's the purpose of filing for immigrant visa. US citizen living overseas can become an obstacle to obtaining immigrant visa down in the process.

 

Sorry I wasn't clear in my OP. I assume I-130 process will take another year or two, so I'm still plugging away at my job here in Japan.  Obviously once the I-130 process wraps up and green card becomes available, I'll have to quit and move with the wife. I'm looking into possibilities where I can spend a significant amount of time here in Japan (splitting time but with majority in the US), while wife stays permanately in the US. If that's not doable, then I'll have to sever all ties to Japan obviously.

Edited 16 hours ago by johnsnow1234

[Bethie 115]

2 hours ago, johnsnow1234 said:

Hello, I have a question on what NOT to say during border check. Some background:

 

We live in Japan. Me (US citizen) applied for a I-130 for my wife (non-US citizen). My two US citizen kids are moving to the US to go to school and will stay with my family until I-130 clears for wife. I have a very high paying job here so no immediate plans to move until the whole I-130 thing is done, and even then I may not move.  However, wife is worried about the kids being without dad and mom, so she wants to go visit kids/help them adjust (she retired early so has a lot of time) using her ESTA.  Wife has no intent of cheating through AOS etc., especially since she has a ton in assets back home and has no desire to live in the US. (I'm not trying to sound snobby, just giving some background facts.)

 

Wife has an ESTA and is planning on spending maybe 60 days in the US, 60 days back in Japan, and so forth, during a single school year (and not doing this for more than a year).  She isn't worried about being denied entry, but I am.  I would appreciate advice on what not to say if asked the following questions:

 

1. Purpose of visit

-Can she say she's here to visit family, or that kids are going to attend school while living with family and she is there to help them get settled in? Or leave out the "living with family" part?

-Or should she just ambiguously say she is visiting friends and family?

(basically I don't want her to offer up any more information that could trigger any red flags)

 

2. Duration of stay

-Assume she can just say the date she will leave the US?

 

3. Where will you be staying

-Should she say (and stay) at a hotel? Or is it OK to say she is staying with family/friends?

 

4. Do you intend to return to Japan?

-US citizen husband is still living in and working in a high-paying job in Japan

-She has a multi-million dollar home in her name at home, where we live, along with a ton in financial assets, etc.

-All of her family is in Japan, except US citizen student kids

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

Only 1 answer:  DO NOT LIE.  PERIOD!

[johnsnow1234 3]

9 minutes ago, Bethie said:

Only 1 answer:  DO NOT LIE.  PERIOD!

 

Of course, we have no intention of lying. If she gets denied entry, she gets denied entry - we can bring the kids back here and send them to school elsewhere.  My question is more about "how" to respond truthfully.  She is not a native English speaker and extremely introverted/shy (typical Japanese woman lol) so I thought it would be a good idea to practice/memorize her responses in advance.

 

So for example, if she is asked for her purpose of visit, she could truthfully respond as follows:

 

"To visit family" (because of her language barrier she would prefer her to say less, but then I don't want her to sound vague/like she is hiding something)

"To be with my children"

"To visit my children who go to school here"

"To help my children settle into school."

"My US citizen children live with their grandparents and go to school here so I am visiting to be with them for a few months but my US citizen husband lives and works in Japan and I plan to leave in 2 months" (is she unnecessarily saying too much detail?)

 

I just want to make sure she doesn't unintentionally trigger any red-flags in her responses.

 

 

 

Edited 16 hours ago by johnsnow1234

[smilingstone 586]

28 minutes ago, johnsnow1234 said:

My wife definitely does not want to live in the US. Neither do I. But our kids have to go to school there, so we are going through the I-130 process so we don't have to live the rest of our lives on a continent away from our children, and can eventually move there once the process is complete. 

 

Huh? This makes no sense. 

 

BTW, your plan of her doing 60 days in US and 60 days in Japan on an ESTA will raise serious red flags with CPB. You're already planning her travel so she will be living part time in US on a tourist visa, which is not what it's for. 

[S2N 288]

2 minutes ago, smilingstone said:

Huh? This makes no sens

You can file an I-130 and let it sit at NVC indefinitely. It makes a ton of sense in OP’s circumstances. They don’t want to move to the U.S., but realize they will eventually likely want to reunite with their kids.

 

He’s filing the I-130 now so that when the time might come in the future, it takes 3-6 months for his wife to move instead of 18-24. It’s perfectly legal and a great strategy in this case.