Tero

Hi,

I am the beneficiary currently waiting for NOA2 in Australia. My fiancee was very keen for me to visit her in the US.

I don't believe that entering the US while your K1 is processing is impossible, but being knocked back at the border would be devastating.

I sent an inquiry asking this same question to US Customs and Border Protection and this was their response:

"Thank you for submitting your question to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Information Center. I am pleased to provide you with a response.

To answer your question, I would not advise that you attempt to enter the U.S. with your pending K-1 visa. It's extremely risky. If the CBP Officer suspects that you are a risk to enter permanently without completing the proper immigration procedures, he or she could deny you entry which would then effectively bar you from entering the U.S. This is a common occurrence and I honestly wouldn't recommend that you attempt to do so since you've gotten so far in the visa application process.

Feel free to contact us at (877) CBP-5511 or online at www.cbp.gov if you have any further questions."

I don't want to dampen your spirits, but it's very important to know the reality.

All the best with your journey (and thank God for Skype!)

Thanks a bunch for this response. I was getting my hopes up reading through the previous posts with doubts, but this posts confirms my doubt. Thanks again.

We we're denied a K-1 visa too and I refiled for a spousal visa. Still waiting for my NOA2. If you already have a child or children, you should make them aware so they can tell you what to do and how to go about it. My friend's wife was told at her interview to go do a DNA test for the child and the petitioner. They were delayed another 3 months. So, prepare in advance.

Hi, my name is Tamika and I live in Lansdale, Pa. I married my husband Julius on October 21st of this year. My husband lives in Nigeria and is not working. I am a graduate student seeking my master's in Theology. I am a devout Christian and have asked God for my spouse and he answered my prayers. Julius and I are very happy and will be even happier once this visa process is complete. I recieved my NOA1 mid December dated 12/14. I would love to meet some of you online. Thank you for the opportunity. Grace and peace to you and yours.

Congrats on your wedding and welcome to the waiting process. Most of us are in a similar boat as you, and we would be riding on this wait journey together. If you ever need some help in this visa process, do not hesitate to ask as there are people willing to share their experiences and offer some advice. Good luck

I just want to correct some incorrect information.

When someone applies for a visitor's visa and are denied entry because they are assumed to have immigrant intent it will have no impact upon a K-1 visa or a CR-1 visa. You ARE expected to have immigrant intent for a K-1 and a CR-1 visa, so the reason for the visitor's visa denial no longer exists. You have to prove the validity of your relationship to qualify for both the K-1 and the CR-1 visas but I am going to work on the assumption that if you are on this forum it is because you have a relationship.

Having a denied student visa application depends upon the reasons for the denials to determine whether it would impact a K-1 or a CR-1 visa. If the reason for denial was lack of acceptance at an educational facility, or insufficient funds or issues like that, then again, the denial of a student visa application should have no impact on a K-1 or a CR-1 visa. The only caveat here is if there are a number of repeated visa attempts and denials. This could be a red flag, as mentioned in the above posts, that the beneficiary is more interested in getting to the US than is involved in a real relationship. If this is the case and the relationship is real, then be prepared to provide extensive proof of the validity of the relationship to overcome any possible hesitation or suspicion on the part of the Consulate.

Now, it is not necessarily a good piece of advice to say 'get married simply/quickly' because a married beneficiary provides a better relationship case than an engaged beneficiary. For many Western countries a quick and informal marriage ceremony is not a problem to obtaining a CR-1 visa. For other countries, especially third word countries or ones with a strong national religious or cultural identity, a simple or quick marriage is not acceptable. You need to follow the customs dictated by that culture or that religion or that country which may include things such as betrothal ceremonies, family gift exchanges, public receptions for a specified number of people, religious and civil recognition of the marriage and satisfying cultural 'norms' (eg, age differences, status differences, etc.). There have been more situations than I like to remember where a couple has married quickly and by-passed the cultural norms for that society only to find their marriage deemed as fraud and for immigration purposes because they did not 'follow the rules'.

So, please everyone, be careful with what advice you offer. You can speak about your own personal experiences and what worked for you in your situation but do not assume that what works for you will work for everyone else, and advising others to take a course of action without being aware of all of the other circumstances involved may have very unhappy repercussions.

...All that bank of knowledge and experience, no wonder you are the "zookeeper"

I do want to immigrate to the US to be with my fiancé

and i dont want to get married in my country,simply because all my family live in the US. dad, mom, and sister. and his family too. thats why it makes more senese to want to marry there

You can take a chance on the K-1 visa if that is what you really want, but for the IR1/CR1 visa, you don't need to throw a huge wedding in your country. You can just do a simple court wedding alone which would not require nearly as much money or involve many people. Have some close relatives or friends be your witnesses, get your marriage certificate and when you eventually travel, you can throw a much bigger wedding as you like. You have already made 3 unsuccessful tries, and they probably see some desperation from you. Who knows? they might deny your K-1 just for the suspicion that it is for immigration purpose only. A marriage backed up with tonns of evidence might convince them. Which ever you decide, good luck.

Hi VJ,

I have a question,,,do you think that previous denials would affect my K-1 visa?? I've been denied 3 times for 2 kinds of visas ( 2 times for a student visa and 1 time tourist visa)

Please share your experience or opinion about this issue. we haven'e file the petition yet, and I'm so stressed out about it

If they follow the trend of your history, they might be convinced you just want to get to the United states by any means necessary. If your were denied because they thought you would not return, they might be inclined to deny a k1, as there have been cases denied because the COs were convinced the k1 was filed solely for immigration purposes. Going by your history, the best way is to get married in your country first, and then have the petitioner file a spousal visa for you. Would not be good to file a K1 only to be denied for the same reason after all the wait.

I am trying to see the status on the USCIS webpage but after logging in it only shows "Internal Server Error". This has been the case for several days now...

Does anybody have the same issues?

Yes, I have the same issue. I called and navigated my way through the automated service to speak with a rep. I gave the rep my number, filing date and bla bla. They confirmed my status but told me that their server has been doing that and that I'd have to call whenever I need a case status update.

this is why i asked.DOS wouldnt be able to answer that,would they?

For my case, I only dealt with the embassy involved. The best place to contact for "receipt" is not the place that sent your documents. NVC/DOS may be able to tell you when they sent your package to the embassy but cannot tell you when delivery would be confirmed (they don't use express mails). It's one thing for the mail to arrive at the embassy, it is another thing for them to log it in where its progress can be tracked from there, and have an answer for your inquiry. The best place to contact for receipt is the embassy involved (the receiver) not the sender.

we just received our case number on the 13th along with noa 2.and im guessing our case is in the embassy already.how can i make sure that the embassy has received our case

Try sending the embassy an email with your name, beneficiary and case number. You might have to wait a couple of weeks for them to receive and log it in before they can confirm receipt.

I am pretty sure the USCIS is aware that people over the 5-month mark are upset and starting to get impatient. I'm not quite sure if a massive attack on the phone lines would make the immigration workers speed up their pace. It is quite understandable the reason for impatience, but for the sake of your own well being, try taking your mind off it for a while (as long as you can). If your congressman is already on it, and a request had already been put in concerning your case, just try and chill. If not for anything, do it for your health and sanity's sake.

Maybe we all should just physically go to Vermont and protest one weekend.

That is going to be good ...I can tell!

Those time frames they give you are a joke, apparently nothing they tell you is legally binding when it comes to a time frame. Take a look at my time line, they will just tell you its extended processing. Looks like my waiting is going to take almost 2 years or more

Wow! Who did you offend?!

You can call you service provider or the blackberry customer service for directions as well.

You are right. Patience is no longer an option. Action is the option.

It is true that they won't do anything if you are even one day short of the five months. But on the exact day that their five months is up, call them. Ask to speak to an immigration officer. Don't settle for a mere clerk who will read from some bureaucratic BS sheet and then hang up on you. Call your Congress Member and both Senators. Tell them that you expect action, as you are a United States citizen with rights and expect those rights to be respected.

Stand up for what you are entitled to because that is the only way you will get it.

I like your passion! I wish you were my congressperson!

Ok my 5 months will be up 12/12/2010 and still N0A2. So you know i'm hella mad. So what happen now? I called the customer service # on 12/06/2010, they are no help at all. They just say you have to wait til your 5months is up then to call them back. I was wondering any VJ member know what they gonna do when i call them back on Monday after my 5 months is up. Tell me, i have to wait longer?

I went to my senator office on 12/09/2010 for help. they seem to very friendly and willing to help, but i havent heard anything from them yet either. I figure they probaby need a little more time with it. But i'm gonna give them a call too monday to see what up.

This waiting stuff is really B.S., I believe we waited long enough, if they cant keep there deadlines they should atleast tell us something. Give us some kind of information.

Sorry peeps, You know i'm hella mad. Just wanted to vent.

It's ok to vent, we feel your pain! Those of us waiting till our five months mark are already losing hope!

Thay have send me a letter stating that they have still not received my DS230

You should call them again and talk to a representative so they can tell you if it was their error or your's and what needs to be done.

I am confussed and very sad now. My husband was interviewed and was denied on November 29th, 2010. He received a white sheet of paper and this is what it said. The Foreign Service of the United States of America saying the following.... Dear Visa Applicant: We are returnign your visa petition the the Department of Homeland Security office where it was approved with our recommendation that the petitiion be reveiwed for possible revocation. Any further inquires should be directed to that office. The reasons are as follows: **Marriage appears to be for immigration purposes only.** Sincerely,Chief, Immigrant Visa Unit

I need further advise as to what to do, who to call or who to notify before our case is sent back. Any assistance will be greately appreciated.

Sorry to hear about the denial, I've been there and I feel your pain. First of, can you please let us know what questions they asked him and what his response was that lead to the suspicion/denial? Depending on the questions and and answers, you might be able or not, to appeal it. If it was a matter of submitting enough evidence, you might stand a chance. I believe calling the Lagos consulate for this is impossible. The only way to reach them is by email and since they have made their verdict, they'll just keep replying your email stating that your case is closed (But still email them and defend yourself). Contact your senate reps (all of them) and explain your situation to them. You would have to explain the reason for the denial and what lead to it so that your reps would know how to talk to them. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that your senate reps would change their mind, but it is worth trying. Good luck.

This post couldn't have come at a better time...now hopefully the people who have been posting rude comments read it!

You can bet they will read or have already read. They know we know them, so they cannot make comments on this post. Hope they not just read but also learn and adjust as expected. We can watch their comments on other posts and see if they've changed.

Congratulations and Welcome back!

Great news. Have a safe trip!

not sure that you've ever been treated badly like some who are posting here have been... when i first came to VJ and posted for help, i was told "i'll be praying you dont get your visa" and a variety of other slings and arrows from someone feeling that we are taking up time ahead of them and they didnt feel we had the right to a visa. one person who treated me badly had been waiting impatiently for their NOA1 (for a whole week ). NOW it's funny and i realize she was a freaking spazoid idiot (and when she comes out of the woodwork she's still an azz), but at that time it was very hurtful. NOW i would respond to someone like that with "take a chill pill honey cause you have another 5 months to sit" but at that time i just was not accustomed to the rudeness... i dont normally interact with strangers on net, not for many years, and had forgotten how people think they are annonymous so can behave as rudely as they wish.

i used to participate in forums about 10yrs ago, but as the masses discovered them it went from intelligent discussion to rudeness, namecalling, and not worth the time to wade through the garbage. one particular forum it really ticked me off to see it lost and one particular woman was ruining it for everyone... so i gave her a taste of what a computer geek can do. people are NOT "annonymous" unless they know how to use servers and proxies properly, and she was just a newbie internet user with false sense of power and security behind her little computer screen she got a nice shock when i sent her a PM telling her to chill and explaining to her she is NOT annonymous and here is proof... then i listed her phone number, home address, as well as the fact her home had been on the market for 5yrs and my opinion that it was much over-priced for what it was (no land, split level, by the railroad tracks, and a busy intersection... price she was asking was more along the lines of homes over here which are custom homes, with land, best school district) and that she might get more offers if she didnt have all that junk out front.

you see, just by coincidence (and i LMAO at this!) she only lived a few miles away, on my way into town, and i had actually seen her place many times LOL! anyway, when she got the PM she immediately chilled. so sometimes when you treat people in return kindly and they still act like a big 'hole, perhaps they need reminded of the thigs they knew even as a kindergartner:

play fair, say sorry when you hurt someone....

http://www.heartwarmingstories.net/everything.htm

You're correct! Hope people learn to be nice even if they are "anonymous"

i just dont get why people let the bitter ones,the high and mighty get to them,what bootcamp has got to do with getting our priorities straight?some people,just take things too seriously,get too sensitive,and let small things get to them.

This was your quote "completely disagree,this is the internet,the words mean what you want them to mean.this process is cold,COs and USCIS employees are heartless and dont care about your emotional attachment,just like most of the members,if you cant handle E-outspoken people,then you most likely wont be able to handle the hardship you go through during this process"....the reason it sounded like a bootcamp.

I'm sure you know we all have different personalties, and though one might be able to easily rebound from despair, does not mean some others can pull it off just as easy. Sure you understand that different predicaments with different sense of urgencies, with different emotions can cause some degree of depression. When someone is depressed, the best way to reach out to them is not by being harsh ...be sympathetic. I understand some could be extra sensitive, but do your own part with class. You know that being outspoken is so much different from being rude. You have been outspoken and direct, yet not rude.

Great to hear another success story. Big congrats to you and your beloved! Cheers!

Thank you Tero, an excellent post and on a topic I also feel is very important.

Visa Journey is supposed to be an experiential site where we can assist and support each other as we go through the various immigration processes. Assistance and support can be as straightforward as providing the necessary information to a specific question or as comprehensive as compassionate sharing when things go wrong.

Even if a question has been asked on this site a hundred times, it still deserves to be treated with respect, as does the poster. There are ways of saying kindly 'that information has been posted before . . you can find it in the Guides' rather than lambasting someone because they didn't check there first. There are also kind ways of offering advice about how to proceed in tricky circumstances. Judgmental, insulting and insensitive comments do not help, even if the poster is obviously unaware of legal liabilities of their question or the information they seek.

Some people do seem to feel that because they have been through the process and answered the questions before that it gives them some sort of right to dump on those who are now going through the process. Some personalities are very blunt but you can be blunt without being hurtful. If someone cannot offer something useful in a respectful and polite way then it is better for them not to participate in the conversation.

For those of you new to Visa Journey, there are Terms of Service that all members are supposed to follow and by signing up as a member on this site, you agree to abide by them. If anyone feels that someone is being abusive, insulting, unnecessarily judgmental or mean-spirited, please use the 'report' button that you will find at the bottom left of every post and state the problem. The moderators will take a look and see if the TOS have indeed been violated and if a warning posted in a thread will help get things back on track. We don't 'patrol' the forums, so unless we stumble upon something ourselves we don't know about it unless someone has reported it.

Again, Tero, thank you for an excellent post.

We all appreciate the support Kathryn.

completely disagree,this is the internet,the words mean what you want them to mean.this process is cold,COs and USCIS employees are heartless and dont care about your emotional attachment,just like most of the members,if you cant handle E-outspoken people,then you most likely wont be able to handle the hardship you go through during this process.

I respect the honest disagreement. Read your post once again in response to the OP and others that support it. You have completely disagreed but did that in a mature way. You gave it out straight without insulting/commanding/belittling anyone. That is what we are talking about....it's ok to disagree! While you are at it, this is not a boot-camp. You also said "this is the internet" like what you can't say face to face is right to say on here. I am sure this site was intended to help not bash. That said, If you want to give me water because I'm thirsty, why splash it on my face? If you want to feed me because I'm hungry, why toss it on the ground for me when you wouldn't do that to your dog?