Entered the US from Canada while K-1 pending

[vanee 13]

A common question here is whether beneficiaries can visit their fiancés in the US (or just travel to the US) while their K-1 visa is pending. The usual answer is that yes, we can as long as we have enough evidence to show ties to our country, and the Customs officer we talk to believes that we'll be entering the US only for a visit.

Here's how it happened for me. I bought a plane ticket in December to visit my fiancé for 2 months, leaving on March 13. We mailed our I-129F in February. I'm self-employed and don't have a mortgage or an apartment lease (I rent a suite in a house), so I was concerned about whether I'd have enough evidence of ties to Canada. What I compiled:

To show ties to Vancouver

- A letter from my landlady stating that I'd given her post-dated cheques in December for payment up to and including June and that my suite was still fully furnished with my belongings

- A letter from a company I used to work for stating that I still do occasional work for them and that I'm scheduled for some work in June

- Phone and cable bills in my name going back a few months

- My tenant insurance policy

- An email to my insurance company in which I mentioned that I'd be away for 2 months, and the response

- An email to the cable company asking them to turn off the cable for 2 months, and the response

- Papers showing my travel insurance policy covering me for 2 months

- My return plane and bus tickets

To show that I have some money

- Bank savings account statements showing money coming into my account regularly

- RRSP statements

K-1 related

- Copies of everything (except for the photos) I'd sent my fiancé to include in our I-129F application

- A copy of the NOA1

- My email to the US Vancouver embassy about a K-1 question I had, and their response

My flight was out of Seattle because I'd gotten the ticket on a seat sale, so I took a bus from Vancouver to Seattle. We entered the US via the Pacific Highway border crossing.

After reading all the threads here about entering the US while waiting for the K-1 to be approved, I'd reminded myself many times to just answer the questions and not give extra information. When my turn came, the conversation went something like this:

Q. Where are you going?

A. To Michigan.

Q. What is the purpose of your visit?

A. To visit my guy.

Q. How long have you been engaged?

[Our I-129F hasn't had any action since the NOA1 was sent out, but obviously my name has been entered into the computer system.]

Q. How long have you been married? (Or "When did you get married?" I don't remember exactly what he asked.)

A. We aren't married. We've applied for a K-1 visa, and we're going to get married after it's approved.

Somewhere around this point, the Customs officer told me to get in line for the other Customs officer on duty then. I think that the first guy was fairly new and was told to pass more complex situations on to more senior officers.

The second Customs officer also asked me how long I'd been engaged, which makes me wonder if it's a question that pops up on the computer screen when passports for K-1 applicants are scanned. Both officers spent some time studying the computer screen while talking to me.

He asked to see the I-129F application, and he spent a while looking through it, stopping to read parts of it. He commented that some people include photos, showing that he was familiar with I-129Fs. I said that we had too but that I hadn't brought the photos. He asked me for the dates of when I'd been in the US in the past year (one week last summer and 8 weeks last fall), and he wrote down the dates.

He wanted to see my return ticket, which I produced.

He asked about my work (I'm self-employed and just need a computer for my work, so I can work almost anywhere), how I pay my bills (online), and if I have an apartment lease (just a letter from my landlady).

He asked when we're getting married. I told him that I'll be able to move within a month after the K-1 is approved, and that we'll be getting married shortly after I move to the US.

He then said that I don't have strong ties to Vancouver and that it would be easy for me to just leave. I responded that if we were to get married on this trip, I'd get deported and lose any opportunity to live with my fiancé in the US. I said that I understand the reasons for the K-1 process and that we're doing things legally.

He talked about the amount of time I've spent in the US in the past year. With the 2 months in the fall and another 2 months now, he said, I was almost a resident of the US. I told him that I would probably be going to a conference in the US in July and that I'd been thinking about making that into a 2-3 week trip. I asked if that would be OK. He said that 2-3 weeks should be OK (although no guarantees), but not longer at this stage (because of all the time I've already spent in the US recently).

Finally, he said while the length of time in the US was a lot (or something like that), he believed that I wasn't going to stay in the US on this trip, so he was going to let me through. You can all imagine how relieved I was at that point. He told me that if I want to enter the US again, I should bring all the documentation that I'd brought on this trip.

Afterwards, I kept thinking about what I could've done differently. That was too close. As I said, it was in my mind not to volunteer more information than necessary, but that's for before the K-1 comes up. Once it was out there, I should've said more. I didn't tell him about most of the "ties to Vancouver" evidence I'd brought. It could've helped earlier in the conversation.

I think the amount of detail I had in the I-129F package helped. He looked through it quite a bit, and either he was just curious, or (my guess) he wanted to see that the papers in the envelope were all related to the I-129F and that there was a lot of evidence. If I'd had just the bare minimum in the file, he may have thought that the file was just for show. But I don't know.

Having a regular job and a letter from an employer probably makes border crossings easier. For those who don't have that, I hope something here is useful for you.

Thanks everyone who posted about this topic before. If it weren't for what I read in your posts, I wouldn't have gotten across the border on this trip.

Edited March 16, 2007 by vanee

[Jeremy + Kristy 0]

Great information. I'm going to print it of for my finacée. We live right across the border from each other, and she usually doesn't have any problems, but I think I'm starting to rightfully scare her just enough.

[Amy and Brian 1]

It still amazes me how vastly different people's experiences at the border can be in situations like this.

I've been down to visit Brian several times since we filed our petition (almost a YEAR ago ) and I've really not had any problems. Only one time did the K1 petition itself ever get brought up... the officer I was speaking to called over another officer for some clarification and he did a lot of typing... but he still never asked to see any proof of ties to Canada (I had a letter from my employers with me). Every other time it's been a breeze... they rarely ask me more than a few questions.

Now, every time I travel to the US, it's always been the same way: I fly out of Pearson. Sometimes I wonder if that helps me... maybe they have some record and can see how often I've flown out and therefore also see that I always come back? Who knows!

[Cassie 8]

It sounds like one of the main problems for the OP was not how many times, but length of stay. You are only supposed to be in the US no more than 6 months less a day (I do believe) in a year, hence the border guard making mention of it. Sounds like being prepared helped a lot to convince him.

[vanee 13]

It sounds like one of the main problems for the OP was not how many times, but length of stay. You are only supposed to be in the US no more than 6 months less a day (I do believe) in a year, hence the border guard making mention of it. Sounds like being prepared helped a lot to convince him.

Right. The length of stay was the main concern, and the secondary concern was that I don't have an employer or a rental lease. I wanted to share the story of how being prepared after being forewarned here made the difference.

After I posted the above, I remembered 2 more questions that the border guard asked:

- What nationality is your fiance? [uh, he has to be American to be able to apply for the K-1.]

- What kind of work does he do? [What difference could that make in the decision about whether to let me into the US?]

I just answered the questions, of course. I didn't understand the purpose of those questions, but I did appreciate how polite the border guard was.

[notrepetiteashley 0]

How stressful! It's happened to me (the grilling) on the Canadian side, too. Glad you got through!

[together2love 0]

Well, you got through and that is all the counts now. Have fun with your fiance!

[meauxna 15]

Awesome post! Thanks for sharing your experience in detail

[Mephys 2]

Just a strong belief of mine, is that I dont see how they could get that information just by scanning passport since its required to have a passport ready only when you receive packet 3 from the embassy, and you only write that passport number on the DS-230 that you send back to them after that...thus there is noy way they can relate your passport number to it before that happens.

I think the informations they have is based only on what youve told em in the past. I did go during my K-1 application and I said I was going to see my guy and all they asked was my lenght of stay and the job I do. THey never ever even mentionned the word boyfriend or fiance.

Oh well! I guess some officers are really a pain in the ####### and thats unfortunate

Mephys

[vanee 13]

Just a strong belief of mine, is that I dont see how they could get that information just by scanning passport since its required to have a passport ready only when you receive packet 3 from the embassy, and you only write that passport number on the DS-230 that you send back to them after that...thus there is noy way they can relate your passport number to it before that happens.

I think the informations they have is based only on what youve told em in the past. I did go during my K-1 application and I said I was going to see my guy and all they asked was my lenght of stay and the job I do. THey never ever even mentionned the word boyfriend or fiance.

Oh well! I guess some officers are really a pain in the ####### and thats unfortunate

I was surprised that they had the information about me, but I don't know how else they could have gotten it. I said that I was going to see "my guy." The last time I went to the US, I said that I was going to see "my boyfriend." The border guard looked at the computer screen before asking me how long I'd been engaged.

I sent a copy of my passport with the I-129f, so they could've recorded my passport number and my status in their system.

I don't think this border guard was a pain. Well, it was a pain to have to go through that questioning, but he was courteous, and I think he was just doing his job. I have to like him -- he let me in.

How long was your visit when you went while your K-1 was pending?

[meauxna 15]

I was surprised that they had the information about me, but I don't know how else they could have gotten it. I said that I was going to see "my guy."

Maybe the officer was just fishin'... and came up with the right question...

[vanee 13]

Maybe the officer was just fishin'... and came up with the right question...

Interesting possibility. He also asked me how long we'd been married, and we aren't married and there's nothing to indicate that we might be.

Both of them read what was on their computer screens while talking to me, though, so something might have come up about me.

Has anyone else had a similar experience while their K-1 was pending?

[Flames9_RN 358]

Hard to say what they know and even a retired POE official wouldn't say for sure,lol Sort of on another subject, one would think all LAw enforecement woul dhave a computer that is centrally tied together for ease of passing info, but they do not (according to news articles) so who knows if immigration has centrally located records that POE officials can see if people have a visa in process or not

[CanadaGirl 0]

I applied for a K-3 and crossed the border a few times while it was being processed. I never had a problem except for the last time and I think the reason it was a problem is because I actually crossed the border in a car with my husband and all the other times it was my dad driving me over to Detroit to catch a flight to Florida.

We were held up for close to an hour and asked every question under the sun. It was really scary and to be honest all I brought was a complete copy of my K-3 application/supporting evidence and my passport. I didn’t have any evidence of ties to Canada. I just kept telling them that it would be really dumb to not come back since I’m doing everything legally and should have my visa in a couple months.

We had to be questioned by 4 different officers and then finally the last one said “ok I believe you will come to Canada, have a good trip”

Overall it was a scary experience because I thought they wouldn’t let me into the states and my husband would have to go without me. We did get through though and like I said before….this only happened once in about 8 months.

[meauxna 15]

Maybe the officer was just fishin'... and came up with the right question...

Interesting possibility. He also asked me how long we'd been married, and we aren't married and there's nothing to indicate that we might be.

Both of them read what was on their computer screens while talking to me, though, so something might have come up about me.

I woke up this morning, and the sun came out.

I'm pretty sure they are unrelated events.

It is a fairly standard questioning technique & I have read similar stories.. no links, sorry.

edit to add:

There was a great example that I read very early on in our visa process. An immigration attorney was telling about how he advises his clients to answer questions--that is, answer the question asked, period.

Example:

Q: Do you know what time it is?

A: Yes. (or "No'.)

Not, 'yes, it's 10:30'. Not 'no, I don't have a watch'.

Edited March 20, 2007 by meauxna