sgrand

Hi guys,

I hope you can give me some advice. The basics are: I'm a British citizen, intending to marry a US citizen. I'm in the US at the moment but have to return soon before my I-94W runs out. We won't be able to marry this trip because my divorce isn't through yet.

HOWEVER, my fiancee has a demanding job, three screaming kids and depression, so I want to be in the US as close to full-time as is possible, so that I can help her. I don't need to find work - I just need to be here as much as I can.

So, I assume I should apply for a K-1 when I return to the UK. But getting a K-1 seems to take months. So my first question is, can I enter the USA in the mean time on the VWP?

As I understand it, I can as long as I can convince the immigration officer that I intend to return to my 'permanent residence'. I have no intention of breaking the law, so I'm happy to do that as many times as I need to. My ex-wife (believe it or not) is happy for me to stay at her house while I'm in the UK and that's the mailing address I currently use for credit card bills, etc, but when we split up we sold our old house, so strictly speaking I no longer have a permanent residence in the UK.

What should I do to convince the immigration people that I won't try to stay in the US indefinitely? And what about this "dual intent" lark? Can I *really* visit the US (several times) under the VWP when I already know that I intend to settle eventually?

Any advice gratefully received!

Thanks,
Steve

Rete

You don't apply for the K-1 until your fiancee has filed the I-129F at the appropriate service center and it has been approved and forwarded to the US Consulate in London. She cannot apply for her portion (I-129F) until you have your decree absolute. Until then you are still married to someone and not free to marry her.

ian-mstm

You can't do anything until your divorce is final.


Yes... which is to say, you can try. There is no guarantee of success.


Usually, a letter from an employer and bank statements will do.


Yes. The key is that you don't intend to immigrate on *this* particular trip. Realize though, that any time you try to enter the US you could be refused entry.

I've got to tell you though, this doesn't sound like a situation in which I'd want to willingly find myself!

Ian

sgrand

Yep, I realize that. It'll actually be final a few days after I return, so that's ok.

Hmm, well it's worth a try then. Thanks. Anyone here had any experience of something like this?

I forgot to mention I'm self-employed. But I can furnish similar stuff, so that sounds ok.

That gives me more confidence, thanks. I think I have a legitimate case, so as long as I'm not actually prohibited, even in principle, from entering it gives me hope.

:-) Ah, but you haven't met my fiancee! She's worth it - even the screaming kids!

Thanks for your help, Ian.

- Steve

scrubbedexpat099

You probably are working as defined in US law, without authorisation.

Varies depending on where you file, but many months. Mine was nearly a year, they are a bit faster now.

I did

That is a potential problem if you get quizzed.

But not on that entry.

scrubbedexpat099

Me again, some have made mutiple trips, some have been turned back, basic rule is to at least leave it as long out as you have been in before trying again.

That could be tricky, they are likely to wonder how you can do this, most self employed people I know here manage 1 or 2 weeks a year. More likely to asume you are working in the US.

Remember its for visiting, not living.

sgrand

Thanks David.

I'm not working here - I'm not working at all, just living on savings and the proceeds from my house. I'm an author, so it's a bit hard to say *where* I work anyway.

Good advice, thanks. I suppose I'll have to make lots of short trips, or else my fiancee will have to cope alone for long periods. OTOH, each time I enter I risk being turned back, so the fewer trips the better.

I'd bring my fiancee and her family to England instead, but the children's father has visiting rights and would cause a lot of trouble if we tried to remove the kids.

This is crazy. I'm very frustrated. I'm trying to do the right thing, but it feels like the system is trying to make me dishonest. After all, I'm applying for a fiance visa - surely that's evidence that I intend to stick within the rules? Why would I apply for a K-1 in the first place if I was intending not to return to the UK in the interim?

Perhaps I need to talk to a lawyer.

ian-mstm

It demonstrates that you have immigration intent... and they have no idea what's in your mind. Still, most people don't have a problem of any kind.

Ian

Noorah101

A lawyer won't be able to do anything for you with regards to your visiting on the VWP while the K-1 processes. That is totally up to the POE officer's discretion whether to let you in or on, and each trip you make will be a different experience.

Best Wishes,
Rene

sgrand

Yes, that's one of the things that confuses me. I'm definitely showing dual intent by applying for a K-1 and then trying to enter on the VWP. On the other hand, my embassy's website says it's ok to visit the US on a waiver whilst waiting for a K-1, so it's not clear when and why they might invoke dual intent as a reason to send me home. Perhaps it's just a law they can invoke if they have other reasons to be suspicious.

But filing for a K-1 does seem like an odd thing for a prospective illegal immigrant to choose to do - go through all that hassle of petitions, interviews, drawing attention to oneself - if their intention is just to outstay their I-94W. It seems like it ought to count as evidence that I intend to return to the UK after each visit, because I'm clearly going by the book.

That's certainly the kind of thing I want to hear! Passing through Immigration is a scary thing at the best of times (even after nearly 30 trips), so I'm just trying to get a sense of my chances of being refused. Up until recently I was assuming I could simply keep visiting until we were married and could start the green card process, but I hadn't realised that I'd be unable to extend my stay on a waiver (I made the mistake of buying a useless book about immigration, instead of talking to you guys!). Once I realised I needed a proper visa, the only option seemed to be a K-1, and that's the top of a slippery slope. It'll be awful, perhaps disastrous, if my fiancee and I have to be separated for a year. We've both been through a lot to get to this point, and now all our hopes seem threatened.

fatbrit

The cat only got nine lives! You're probably close to the end of their tolerance level. Get that K1 running as soon as the divorce is through.

Rete

Not at all. You can't imagine the number of people who come here with stories about how they were visiting their fiancee and they are waiting for the I-129F approval so that the foreign fiancee can file for the K-1 but oopps she got pregnant on the last visit so when I came over this time we got married. Now what do I do?

Or you know we love each other so much that we would die if we had to be apart any longer. So we got married. Now what do we do?

It goes on and on. And believe it or not, some of the stories are like yours. She is overwhelmed with stress and pressure and so depressed and can't cope on her own. We had to get married while I was there so that I could take the burden off of her shoulders. Now what do we do?

If we have heard the stories, can you imagine what the USCIS has heard?

sgrand

Thanks Rene. I was wondering about a lawyer in case I'm just getting this all wrong because I've missed something. This is such a minefield.

As I understand it, there's no way I can get married while on an i-94W and remain in the US while they process my green card. So I have to get a proper visa from the UK. I can't get a tourist visa because I now have dual intent (and applying for a tourist visa when I could use a waiver would surely make them ask questions about why). So my only option is a K-1. But that takes months to process, and I don't want to leave my fiancee to cope alone for all that time, nor do I want to lose all the progress I've made with being accepted by her children, so I need to be in the US as much as is humanly possible while I wait. Therefore I'll need to make several long I-94W trips, punctuated by some time in the UK.

Would you say my logic is correct? Have I missed anything that a lawyer might see? I certainly don't want to spend money on lawyers that I could use for plane fares!

fatbrit

You understand erroneously!

sgrand

I do?

This is the kind of thing I read that made me think it:

"Travelers who use the visa waiver program cannot extend their stay beyond 90 days, and they cannot change their visa status."

Doesn't filing for a green card involve changing status?

BTW, when I said I've made 30 trips here, I didn't mean they were all to do with falling in love! ;-) All but about four were for business reasons.