Can wife visit here on a visitor's visa while I-130 pending?

[mateo 0]

Congrats! Now just change that return flight and spend some time with the family!

M.

[mengo76 0]

Just adding our story to further confuse anyone seeking an answer...

My wife also had a B1 (obtained from London embassy to attend a conference in NYC) from before we were married, valid for 5 years. She used that to enter the US right after we got married in Bangladesh and 3 more times since then (and during one of those stays we flew to Brazil and back, so one more entry). She always traveled armed with a letter from me stating she was visiting from this date to that date, and a letter from her employer stating she was expected to report back to her job on whatever date. Fortunately those were never needed. She always told the officer she was coming to visit her husband, and they were always very sympathetic, and always stamped her for 6 months.

However, now that visa has expired, and because we filed an I-130 even her contacts in the Dhaka embassy have told her that there's no way she will be granted another visa. So we decided not to even try. I had no idea that several people actually had been granted visas even with a pending I-130, but it seems an equal number were strongly assured that they would not be granted visas. So maybe it depends on the embassy, maybe it's just luck.

Now I just became a US citizen and upgraded our application, so hopefully she will have the IR1 in less than a year. She just left the US last week, hopefully I'll be able to spend a couple months in Bangladesh in mid year, and by the beginning of 09 she will be here for good

In summary: applying for the visa seems to be a gamble; at the POE, have documents proving your intent to return (and a return ticket!) and you're probably fine.