Stealth

Thanks ahead of time for any respones here.
Situation is thus:

I'm awaiting my oath ceremony for citizenship and shall then apply for K-1 visa for my girlfriend. In the meantime, she is wishing to visit for a holiday... she has a B2 visa which she utilized last time for an extension of stay. This was approved, however we never got the letter or her I94 card back until she had already left the country. We played it safe by having her leave before 180 days... what is the best course of action regarding her I-94 card from last time... should she bring that and her letter, ticket etc with her or can she mail it in?

Thank you so much for any help here... greatly appreciated!

Cheers much!!!

Stephen

Just curious to find out when you applied ? and how long the N400 took to
get through from finger prints to interview ? what city you state you
applied ? did you get a grilling on why you wanted to become a citizen and
what reasons did you give ? did you tell them it's because you wanted to get
married ?

We are in the same boat but we seem to be behind you...

Good luck to you both....

Thanks
Stephen


"Stealth" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Thanks ahead of time for any respones here.
    > Situation is thus:
    > I'm awaiting my oath ceremony for citizenship and shall then apply for
    > K-1 visa for my girlfriend. In the meantime, she is wishing to visit
    > for a holiday... she has a B2 visa which she utilized last time for an
    > extension of stay. This was approved, however we never got the letter
    > or her I94 card back until she had already left the country. We played
    > it safe by having her leave before 180 days... what is the best course
    > of action regarding her I-94 card from last time... should she bring
    > that and her letter, ticket etc with her or can she mail it in?
    > Thank you so much for any help here... greatly appreciated!
    > Cheers much!!!
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Stealth

Greetings Stephen:

Here's a brief rundown of adventures thus far. I'm UK citizen with Green Card... girlfriend is also from the UK and residing there at this time. Prior to my application for Naturalization my girfriend had been over a couple of times on her waiver. Wishing to spend more time together, she then applied for a B2 visa through US Embassy in London which she got no problem. Flew then from
the UK to Amsterdam to Memphis where she was promptly grilled by five INS officers wishing to know her reasons for entry etc... jetlagged, scared, confused etc... they accused her of never having the intent of returning home and accosted her back on board the very plane she had just came off of for a lovely trip home. No extrapolation necessary on the emotional effects of such.
Royally pissed off I decided to pursue matters and ended up firing a salvo of information over to the US Embassy again... after much ado etc... she was re-granted her visa and has since been back twice... though the last time they again gave her hassle.
My citizenship I applied for through Arkansas... sent off Sep 02, fingerprinted Nov, interviewed in January and am awaiting ceremony. Interview was a breeze... they never even asked why I wanted to become a citizen, nor did they mention my girlfriend.
More info. if requested...

Good luck and let me know if I can help.

Cheers,
Stuart

Ingo Pakleppa

If she left the US before the original 180 days, you don't have to worry
at all. She actually could have stayed longer while waiting for the
approval.

It may be a good idea if she brings evidence that she indeed left the
country - either the boarding pass stub from her departure, or frequent
flier records work best. Don't show it to INS (that would only prompt more
questions) unless they ask her about it. Also, don't mail anything. Keep
the extension approval for your records, but that's it.

Since she left the country on time, she can act as if she never applied
for the extension.

Two more notes:

- if she has left the US just recently, don't let her come to the US
again. There should be several months between B-2 trips.

- one thing you can also consider is to not get the K-1 at all, but rather
get married right after your oath on her B-2. You should only do that if
there was plenty of time (60 to 90 days) between her coming to the US and
your wedding. Even then, have an attorney file the paperwork. This kind of
situation generally works out well, but there is a chance INS may accuse
her of immigration fraud.

On Mon, 17 Feb 2003 14:00:42 +0000, Stealth wrote:

    >
    > Thanks ahead of time for any respones here.
    > Situation is thus:
    >
    > I'm awaiting my oath ceremony for citizenship and shall then apply for
    > K-1 visa for my girlfriend. In the meantime, she is wishing to visit
    > for a holiday... she has a B2 visa which she utilized last time for an
    > extension of stay. This was approved, however we never got the letter
    > or her I94 card back until she had already left the country. We played
    > it safe by having her leave before 180 days... what is the best course
    > of action regarding her I-94 card from last time... should she bring
    > that and her letter, ticket etc with her or can she mail it in?
    >
    > Thank you so much for any help here... greatly appreciated!

Ingo Pakleppa

I'm glad she got her visa again. Unfortunately, you complained to the
wrong people. Most people don't realize that consulates do not have much
to do with immigration (in fact, consulates are a different department,
Dept. of State, than INS, which so far was part of Dept. of Justice and in
the future Dept. of Homeland (sic) Security).

Her being denied admission was, unfortunately, justified by immigration
law, and it was a matter of luck that she had fewer problems on later
trips. According to US immigration law (nonsensical as it may be), it is
her job to prove that she is a tourist, not the INS job to prove her
"guilt" of immigration intent. Having a boyfriend in the US is a HUGE red
flag, and having a boyfriend who is a Green Card holder is an even bigger
red flag (because there is no realistic way for GC holder to sponsor a
spouse, the suspicion is very strong that she would be trying to immigrate
illegally).

All that said, don't panic. Once she arrives in the US, she would probably
be admitted again since she has several trips under her belt already. At
worst, she would be on the next plane back (that may be emotionally
devastating, but legally is harmless).

One thing that is important is for her to spend plenty of time outside the
US before returning. I would recommend at least three to six months
between trips in your situation.

On Mon, 17 Feb 2003 20:17:44 +0000, Stealth wrote:

    >
    > Greetings Stephen:
    >
    > Here's a brief rundown of adventures thus far. I'm UK citizen with
    > Green Card... girlfriend is also from the UK and residing there at this
    > time. Prior to my application for Naturalization my girfriend had been
    > over a couple of times on her waiver. Wishing to spend more time
    > together, she then applied for a B2 visa through US Embassy in London
    > which she got no problem. Flew then from
    > the UK to Amsterdam to Memphis where she was promptly grilled by five
    > INS officers wishing to know her reasons for entry etc... jetlagged,
    > scared, confused etc... they accused her of never having the intent of
    > returning home and accosted her back on board the very plane she had
    > just came off of for a lovely trip home. No extrapolation necessary on
    > the emotional effects of such.
    > Royally pissed off I decided to pursue matters and ended up firing a
    > salvo of information over to the US Embassy again... after much ado
    > etc... she was re-granted her visa and has since been back twice...
    > though the last time they again gave her hassle.
    > My citizenship I applied for through Arkansas... sent off Sep 02,
    > fingerprinted Nov, interviewed in January and am awaiting ceremony.
    > Interview was a breeze... they never even asked why I wanted to become
    > a citizen, nor did they mention my girlfriend.
    > More info. if requested...
    >
    > Good luck and let me know if I can help.
    >
    > Cheers,
    > Stuart
    >
    >
    >
    > Originally posted by Stephen
    >> Just curious to find out when you applied ? and how long the
    >> N400 took to
    >> get through from finger prints to interview ? what city you state you
    >> applied ? did you get a grilling on why you wanted to become a
    >> citizen and
    >> what reasons did you give ? did you tell them it's because you
    >> wanted to get
    >> married ?
    >> We are in the same boat but we seem to be behind you...
    >> Good luck to you both....
    >> Thanks
    >> Stephen
    >> "Stealth" wrote in message
    >> news:[email protected]"]news:654869.104549044-
    >> [email protected][/url]...
    >> > Thanks ahead of time for any respones here.
    >> > Situation is thus:
    >> > I'm awaiting my oath ceremony for citizenship and shall then
    >> apply for
    >> > K-1 visa for my girlfriend. In the meantime, she is wishing to
    >> visit
    >> > for a holiday... she has a B2 visa which she utilized last time
    >> for an
    >> > extension of stay. This was approved, however we never got the
    >> letter
    >> > or her I94 card back until she had already left the country. We
    >> played
    >> > it safe by having her leave before 180 days... what is the best
    >> course
    >> > of action regarding her I-94 card from last time... should she
    >> bring
    >> > that and her letter, ticket etc with her or can she mail it
    >> in?
    >> > Thank you so much for any help here... greatly appreciated!
    >> > Cheers much!!!
    >> > --
    >> Posted via http://britishexpats.com/"]http://britishexpats.-
    > com[/url]
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Stealth

Ingo:

Many thanks for your input here... I greatly appreciate your time and experience... I wish you and yours all the very best!

Kind regards,
Stuart.