Aussie_Mike

6 hours ago, NatalieC136 said:

No just my Australian birth certificate 

Thank you. That saves money and a lot of time. The forms are long. It seemed a little ridiculous to have a Aussie passport, birth certificate and citizenship certificate.

Did you end up needing the Citizenship Certificate for the IR/CR-1?

Were you asked for this document?

47 minutes ago, Itstyme said:

Do you mind me asking. Is your PD March 12th on the old website/physical paper notification you got in the mail or March 12 on the new website? It seems the dates are different with the new website. 

I had to look it up since I didnt have it on memory. PD is the same between the new website and the letter. Receive date was 11 March. Good luck. 

19 hours ago, Tin & Mark 128 said:

Hi. We just did the same thing. She was denied at the embassy. I thought they were being just spiteful and telling her no. So, I work for an international passenger airline (24 years) here in Houston, Texas. I have access to many departments. I went to the airport early one day and met with a Customs and Immigration officer who told me that since we have a CR1 petition filed (she did not tell them, it came up on their computer) and was denied. I asked him how come! I said, why would that be? When we have paid the fees, sent all the background info, doing all the legal processes, why would we risk her coming here for a one way trip.

 

The short answer he gave me was, because of those before us! There were those who were granted (unknown time line... could be years ago) a visa to come here while a CR1 was in process. What happened he said, is that once here, they filed for an adjustment of status, and came here and got married. I said "we are already married!" He said that the US Gov't does not recognize us as married...yet. So coming over on a tourist visa, even though already married in another country, then come here and get married again, but in the US and file for an adjustment of status. He called it Fast Tracking. So now they will not approve them while a CR1 is in process.

 

Hope this helps you. It is sad that those like my wife and I follow the rules, dot all the i's, cross all the T's, and the ones before have messed it up for the rest of us.

 

T&M

In this case the OP requested for ESTA countries. If you are going to the embassy you are likely requesting a B1/B2 which is required for higher fraud countries, a visit longer than 3 months, or had an ESTA application denied. Many posts on this website will say the same, that rarely is a B1/B2 issued with an ongoing I-130 application. Unfortunately for those without ESTA, regardless of the marriage status, have the higher burden of proof of non-immigration intent at the embassy. 

There are numerous examples on VJ of citizens from ESTA countries visiting during the I-130 application multiple times. 

On 7/11/2018 at 4:59 PM, Trif2018 said:

Hi everyone,

 

I hope your process is going smoothly! I'm an April 2018 filer, and I'm considering going to visit my husband in the US as I wait for my approval.

 

Has anyone gone to visit their husband/wife in the US with an ESTA while waiting for approval? I would go with a return ticket and all, but was wondering whether there are some restrictions to us visiting the US. 

 

Any tips or experiences would be very much appreciate it! 

Every situation is different, but I have been multiple times as a spouse and as fiance for no more than 3 weeks at a time.

Typically I get 3-4 questions, although last time I got more. Answer the question as asked, and no more. Typical questions are purpose of trip (visit family and friends), how long, what is your job, do you plan to work, is your wife a usc, how much money are you carrying (this has more to do with money laundering). I was advised to arrive during normal business hours as the officers are usually more experienced/not on a long shift... 

I have to see an officer every time as I still have a valid L1 visa even I enter on vwp privileges. Although I've never had a problem of course I get nervous. 

NB: I have ample evidence of having a good job to go back based on existing and current visas and 10 years of travel experience with no overstays. Bring copies of things just in case (i130 app, payslip, marriage cert, etc)

Safe travels

I can empathize with the difficulty you now face. There are many on here who are trying to avoid the situation you are in. Your experience is a benchmark, that at least in your situation, it took a year of being in the USA 75% of the time for a denial.

Many of us on here are travelling less, from countries of similar "friendliness", have work, & no overstays, and stress about this possible outcome.

Best of luck

In case you are interested. I-130 Petition Statistics were released about a week ago. This data shown below is for Immediate Relative (IR) only

A few key points

• Petitions received in 3rd Quarter seem to show a return to normal levels, after an increase coincidentally around the US election
• Texas is starting to process are greater portion petitions.
• I-130 approvals are trending upwards, but still remain depressed compared to 2015
• The backload of pending petitions petitions may be evening out, but is high compared to historical trend. 

On legal documents use your legal name.

You give answers which a true for when you applied.

It's never advisable to read too much more than the plain meaning of each question.

Entering the USA is never assured. However by your description and mirroring the comments above your previous entries won't hinder you.

Going off forums here the officer will know you have a case pending for a K1 visa. Officers need to feel comfortable  that you will actually leave. You have to show ties to your permanent residence. Ties may include job, ownership of assets such as car or land, money in a bank etc.

Personally give yourself a couple days to work out the best course of action and see if this conflict blows over. It may not be as bad as it seems.

As a follow up I spoke to an attorney and came up with the following strategy

A) it looks like the CR/I-130 will be the best route.

B) The attorney said it can be more about luck I have issues at the border given my ties, nationality, and departure history. 

C) I have put together a plan for the next 7 months which will see me out of the USA for 1.5 to 2 times more days for each day I was in the USA on my last visit.

D) if I do have issues she said I should withdraw my application and go the B visa option, which she wasn't too concerned being an issue (unless perhaps I have already got a petition under way.

I'll check in again after several entrances and let you know how it goes.

I looked into this option while I was working in the USA on a L1 under the threat of layoff. Lucky for me I kept a job and was reassigned.

Before you get too far down this process I would encourage you to look to see if job postings allow for non-immigrants. For my line of work most jobs said "must have the permanent right to work" discounting H1B, E3, etc.

Thanks for all this feedback. I can see that all of you genuinely want to help and have my best interests at heard. The kindness of strangers is astounding.

My plan is to see an immigration attorney for our K-1/CR-1 strategy, and how that would logistically work in our case and discuss VWP entries in between all that.

Silver lining is that my girlfriend and I will be stronger for the challenges this will throw at us. Even on my time off, and time sent out of the USA, its possible for both of us to fly to Canada for a weekend so we can atleast see each other there too.

9 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I thought your plan was to split your time between your job and the US?

I may not have been clear. I have to be at work in Asia every 4 weeks. My 4 weeks off is mine, I can be wherever, I just want to be with my girlfriend who is a USC as much as possible without breaking any laws.

15 hours ago, caliliving said:

Look, you probably won't have problems your first time...so i wouldnt worry about it until aftee that. Once you visit her things can change, feelings ect.

 

Exactly. Time away and back together makes bonds stronger. We are both feeling that. The ball seems clearly in my court for the next step

I am on my first visit and had no issues. Only weird question was the CBP officer asked me to confirm the last 4 digits of my social. Apparantly my name is common. He also asked if my nominated residence on ESTA is a lease I was maintaining; which it is not - I cancelled my lease on finishing my L1

2 hours ago, mallafri76 said:

The way you explained your work, you can only visit for four weeks at a time, correct? So in my opinion, you shouldn't do more than three visits a year of four weeks each. 

Not quite. My company will my fly me almost anywhere for my time off. I didnt realize this until I started and my original plan was to fly back to my nominated residence in Australia, then pay my own way onto the USA. Which I will most likely do in the future based on feedback here when I do return. Under this circumstance, at the POE, I will have return tickets booked to Australia, and a (business class) return ticket from Australia to my work. It sounds risky, but reasonable to spend some (but perhaps not all) of my time off in the USA every ther month. My gf and I may be able to manage short visits in Europe or Canada when she has vacation time from school.

4 hours ago, Boiler said:

Visitors are required to have a foreign abode and obviously you do not have one.

 

Seen similar situations with people working on oil rigs wanting to spend their of time in the US. Cruise ships etc.

 

You will be able to enter until they say no, as it is down to the PoE everytime you apply nobody can say when that will be or what they would so then, most likely given a warning first, maybe allowed to withdraw your application to enter.

Good feedback and your observation makes sense. I have made plans to have my residential address as my parents. Since leaving my L1 I cancelled my lease in the USA and moved all my accounts back to my parents address. I have renewed my drivers license, enrolled in health insurance, and changed my voting status, and bank accounts all back to this address. My parents are totally onboard with their son spending more time with them.

1 hour ago, Michael2017 said:

I have been in the past years, always 5 months in the USA with ESTA, WW, and will go now again for another 2.5 months in fall.

Never a problem. I know form others who stayed 7-8 months per year. Also no problem. Usually, you will get a warning before you run into trouble.

If you are pulled in a secondary inspection and they warn you, take the note and change your visiting schedule, until then, enjoy!

Wow. Thats remarkable. Did you state you were visiting a significant other, fiance, wife? I saw your comment on taxes and discussed this in advanced with the taxation accountant, kpmg, which managed taxes for all expats residing in the US in my company. They said it would be a concern because of tax treaties in place on the proviso I am paying my appropriate income taxes in Australia ... for this calendar year.

27 minutes ago, mallafri76 said:

It depends on how long your planning on staying each time?!  

 

11 minutes ago, AmyWrites said:

I was just an immigration officer, but no reputable CBP I know would be okay with your plan.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm trying to understand what is a realistic strategy.  Would say 2-3 weeks in the USA followed by 5-6 outside be less alarming?

Spending time in Australia is not a deal breaker. I'm trying to understand what doesn't raise suspicion while also wanting to be with my significant other.

2 hours ago, Trellick said:

 

I was never questioned about how often I was visiting but was asked most times about my job - although I never had to prove it. 

 

Did you state that you were visiting your USC girlfriend or boyfriend/fiance? Thank you for sharing your experience

Just now, Coco8 said:

Also, are you aware that if you do a K1 once you get to the US you might be unable to work for almost 4 months starting from the day you file AOS? You might want to look into a spousal visa instead because it seems your company really needs you and not working for a long time might not work for you. 

 

 

I am semi aware that this could be an issue. As I did see an immigration lawyer several months ago, as my girlfriend and I were planning for this new job. 

I was hoping that expedited/emergency parole would be an option given that job loss would carry significant financial loss (and taxation for the US Govt). I was going to pose this question to VJ community at a later point. I have significant time off accrued with my employer as a secondary measure to manage this risk.

3 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

 

1. I think that it is better to have less entries for longer stays that more entries. That is from the simply reason that less entries mean less encounters with immigration at the POE and less probability of getting someone suspicious. Also, less entries mean you allow for more time between your entries. More time between entries is better. So rather than 6 entries 1-2-3-4-5-6, have 3 entries at times 2-4-6 for example. 

 

2- People that request a B2 when they can travel for VWP get denied. You don't have a good reason for requesting the B2 either because it is not the case that you want to do 1 long trip or something. If they deny B2 than you cannot use VWP for like 6 months or more.

 

3. Immigration attorney usually give dumb guidance. There are a lot of people on VJ that got the wrong advice and now they are paying for the consequences. The issue is that there is no statistical data to base decisions on. Attorneys can say whatever they want but there is no attorney representation at POE, there is total bureaucratic discretion so you have to be careful

 

 

 

Sounds like the best strategy is to decide if we are going to get engaged sooner rather than later.

1 minute ago, cyberfx1024 said:

Have her come see you instead. 

 

It looks like to me that your employer using you for work in a unnamed central asian country but they do not want to pay for a work visa there for you. So that is why the 28 days there and the 28 days out of that country.

Unnamed Country is Kazakhstan where I am on a designated multiple entry work visa. My employer is a global US based energy company and would not risk the reputational loss from visa fraud in the USA or anywhere. My documentation is clear about the nature of my job, its conditions and pay. Nothing about my information I am providing is intending to hide anything. Genuinely a professional engineer who has been employed by this company to work around the world for the last 8 years AND I am getting ready to buy a ring.

Girlfriend is in med school with limited time off

It sounds like at a minimum flying back to Australia and spending some time there on my 28 days off would be helpful in showing that? No?

Does anyone have experience in a similar situation of being denied entry without warning signs ahead of time?

12 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

 

Cut down your travel to 3 visits and see if your girlfriend can visit you in Australia once, maybe she can go during the December holidays.

1. Would shorter stays, of the same frequency (up to 6 in the next 12 months), where I flew in and out from Australia help?
2. Would applying for a B-2 be helpful, carry a reasonable chance of success? 
3. Am I likely to get clear guidance from an immigration attorney, or will their advice be attorney to attorney dependent.

If this were the Shengen arrangement, it would be clearer and an OK strategy <sigh>

1 minute ago, missileman said:

1.  Previous residence in US

2.  Plan for 6 "visits" in next 12 months when not working

3.  Girl Friend in US.

That smells like "residing" in the US between jobs.

It looks that way now, to me.

Thanks. Do you have any thoughts or strategies that could work so that I can continue to visit my girlfriend?

5 minutes ago, missileman said:

Personally, I think you can expect a lot of questions........and I'm curious......why are you concerned about explaining your intent to "visit" frequently?? A reasonable person could think you are actually trying to live in the US.....

You highlight the concern I have and the thoughts/experiences I was hoping to get from the VJ community. While my intent is to visit my girl friend on my time off, and only for a limited period of time until we are ready for engagement. The question then becomes, at what point does it look this way, and what are steps I can take to manage these questions at the border or consulate. Obviously my aim here is to do the right thing and stay within the law.

Thanks Jordan. Can you elaborate on "ties to your home country" Given I legally resided in the USA for the last 3 years, and my new job has me working 50% of the time internationally I am concerned that this may be tough to demonstrate. Thoughts?

I have got proof of Australian private health insurance, Australian drivers license, proof of electoral enrolment. Do you think that is sufficient?