How do I find out if USCIS doesn't let her in?

[rakkaus 0]

Hey everyone,

Alright, time for another dumb question. My fiancee is coming soon to visit me. We're following the VJ advice about bringing proof of her ties to Finland -- proof that she's registered for courses at her college, a copy of the return ticket, a copy of my receipt for the ticket to visit her this October (since that would be useless if she's here with me)... and a letter from the pastor who will be marrying us once K-1 is approved, confirming that he isn't planning to do the wedding until then.

Anyway, here's my question. Suppose we get a hostile agent who just refuses to let her into the US despite all the evidence. Is there any way for me to find out what happened before she gets back to Finland? Does she at least get a phone call if they turn her around? I don't think her cell would work in the States. My concern is that since she has a short connection (90 minutes), not hearing from her could mean that:

1. She is on her flight and didn't have time to contact me.

2. She was turned around and sent home, and couldn't contact me.

3. She is being grilled by USCIS, and can't contact me to let me know she'll be delayed.

In other words, if I don't see her at baggage claim at the right time, how do I know what to do? I'm sure there's something obvious I'm missing, but I can't think of what it is. Thanks in advance!

[Credzba 0]

One choice would be for you to buy her an american phone chip for her cell phone, mail it to her before her trip.

Then when she lands, before she goes anywhere, she can call you so you know she arrived safely.

After she goes thru customs (or not) she can call you again to let you know what is going on.

That seems an easy solution?

[Dan J 277]

One choice would be for you to buy her an american phone chip for her cell phone, mail it to her before her trip.

Then when she lands, before she goes anywhere, she can call you so you know she arrived safely.

After she goes thru customs (or not) she can call you again to let you know what is going on.

That seems an easy solution?

Thats not a bad idea, get a prepaid SIM card and have it activated, and then send it to her. This is assuming she has a GSM cell phone, which is pretty likely as most of the rest of the world pretty much just uses GSM. US GSM providers are AT&T and T-Mobile.

[Jason-Sasha 1]

Not sure if I'd just offer up information like this letter from the pastor who will marry you later. I wouldn't even mention anything like marriage. I'm not saying lie, but dont cough up more info than is necessary. No?

[rebeccajo 14]

Terminology is everything.

It's not USCIS that will 'let her in'. It's the CBP - Customs and Border Patrol.

Believe me it does make a difference. At the airport, the CBP and TSA people don't share office space nor do they know each others procedures.

They are all under the umbrella of DHS (Dept. of Homeland Security) just as USCIS and DOS are also. But they don't speak each others language.

Edited August 20, 2007 by rebeccajo

[rakkaus 0]

One choice would be for you to buy her an american phone chip for her cell phone, mail it to her before her trip.

Then when she lands, before she goes anywhere, she can call you so you know she arrived safely.

After she goes thru customs (or not) she can call you again to let you know what is going on.

That seems an easy solution?

Thats not a bad idea, get a prepaid SIM card and have it activated, and then send it to her. This is assuming she has a GSM cell phone, which is pretty likely as most of the rest of the world pretty much just uses GSM. US GSM providers are AT&T and T-Mobile.

Ah! Pardon, I use Sprint so I forget that some systems are much more friendly to international travelers.

That's a perfect solution, thanks so much.

RebeccaJo: Sorry! Yep, CBP is what I meant to say. CIS, CBP, M-O-U-S-E...

Jason & Sasha: That's an interesting point. We're going to be honest that we are engaged, so I had thought it might help to have confirmation that our wedding is not scheduled for the imminent future. But this is my first time doing this, so I'm certainly not an expert. It seems like outside the I-129F and its "give them overwhelming amounts of proof" philosophy, the general idea is to say only as much as you have to?

Edited August 20, 2007 by rakkaus

[TracyTN 237]

Terminology is everything.

It's not USCIS that will 'let her in'. It's the CBP - Customs and Border Patrol.

Believe me it does make a difference. At the airport, the CBP and TSA people don't share office space nor do they know each others procedures.

They are all under the umbrella of DHS (Dept. of Homeland Security) just as USCIS and DOS are also. But they don't speak each others language.

[pushbrk 13,915]

One choice would be for you to buy her an american phone chip for her cell phone, mail it to her before her trip.

Then when she lands, before she goes anywhere, she can call you so you know she arrived safely.

After she goes thru customs (or not) she can call you again to let you know what is going on.

That seems an easy solution?

Thats not a bad idea, get a prepaid SIM card and have it activated, and then send it to her. This is assuming she has a GSM cell phone, which is pretty likely as most of the rest of the world pretty much just uses GSM. US GSM providers are AT&T and T-Mobile.

Ah! Pardon, I use Sprint so I forget that some systems are much more friendly to international travelers.

That's a perfect solution, thanks so much.

RebeccaJo: Sorry! Yep, CBP is what I meant to say. CIS, CBP, M-O-U-S-E...

Jason & Sasha: That's an interesting point. We're going to be honest that we are engaged, so I had thought it might help to have confirmation that our wedding is not scheduled for the imminent future. But this is my first time doing this, so I'm certainly not an expert. It seems like outside the I-129F and its "give them overwhelming amounts of proof" philosophy, the general idea is to say only as much as you have to?

Being honest does not require disclosing information not asked for. The letter from the clergyman is not likely to help. They really aren't concerned about you getting married. The concern is that she'll stay instead of going home.

[rakkaus 0]

It seems like outside the I-129F and its "give them overwhelming amounts of proof" philosophy, the general idea is to say only as much as you have to?

Being honest does not require disclosing information not asked for. The letter from the clergyman is not likely to help. They really aren't concerned about you getting married. The concern is that she'll stay instead of going home.

The idea behind the letter was to underscore that our wedding plans were not until the K-1 would be approved, but I get what you're saying. Thanks. Do you think bringing a receipt for my ticket to visit her in October makes sense?

[pushbrk 13,915]

It seems like outside the I-129F and its "give them overwhelming amounts of proof" philosophy, the general idea is to say only as much as you have to?

Being honest does not require disclosing information not asked for. The letter from the clergyman is not likely to help. They really aren't concerned about you getting married. The concern is that she'll stay instead of going home.

The idea behind the letter was to underscore that our wedding plans were not until the K-1 would be approved, but I get what you're saying. Thanks. Do you think bringing a receipt for my ticket to visit her in October makes sense?

It's worth having if needed.

[desert_fox 32]

They woud let her call you.

[cartaverde 12]

Her phone will work there if it's capable of 1900 or 950/1900 mhz. The 3 and 4 band phones work - if it's a 2-band bad luck as the European phones would be 900/1800. Too early to worry for hte that though - if she'll need another phone for the time being, the prepaid plain phones are cheap to get.

I probably would avoid words such as boyfriend, fiance, future spouse, getting married etc while traveling. Hide the engagement ring even. IF she is Finnish, lives in Finland, flies from Finland, AND has not visited too often the US, and has not lived in too many odd countries before, AND has a Finnish sounding name and looks more or less like a Finn, it should go easy. At least she lives there, will be flying from there etc ..

[paulinespens 3]

I was told when plane landed at Atlanta not to use cell phones until we had passed immigration and customs.

[pushbrk 13,915]

Her phone will work there if it's capable of 1900 or 950/1900 mhz. The 3 and 4 band phones work - if it's a 2-band bad luck as the European phones would be 900/1800. Too early to worry for hte that though - if she'll need another phone for the time being, the prepaid plain phones are cheap to get.

I probably would avoid words such as boyfriend, fiance, future spouse, getting married etc while traveling. Hide the engagement ring even. IF she is Finnish, lives in Finland, flies from Finland, AND has not visited too often the US, and has not lived in too many odd countries before, AND has a Finnish sounding name and looks more or less like a Finn, it should go easy. At least she lives there, will be flying from there etc ..

I thought I was being really smart to take my wife a cell phone she could use to call me when she landed. She forgot until after they were in the terminal. Immigration is in the basement, so the phone wouldn't work down there. Best laid plans and all. I knew the plane arrived anyway.

[Magnolia31 0]

I agree with you there! My friend Jenny flies to Atlanta every now and then to see her fiance. The first time she flew over there, the IO/BP agent asked her what her intentions were of coming to the states. She told them, "I'm going to see my boyfriend." That was a HUGE no-no! They turned her right back around. Whenever she flies now, she says she is going to visit her sister.

Her phone will work there if it's capable of 1900 or 950/1900 mhz. The 3 and 4 band phones work - if it's a 2-band bad luck as the European phones would be 900/1800. Too early to worry for hte that though - if she'll need another phone for the time being, the prepaid plain phones are cheap to get.

I probably would avoid words such as boyfriend, fiance, future spouse, getting married etc while traveling. Hide the engagement ring even. IF she is Finnish, lives in Finland, flies from Finland, AND has not visited too often the US, and has not lived in too many odd countries before, AND has a Finnish sounding name and looks more or less like a Finn, it should go easy. At least she lives there, will be flying from there etc ..