george adam

Hello everyone.

I'm new to this forum and would be grateful if you could review my situation and advise.

First a little backgroung on my situation.

I'm a USC and I recently married an Indian citizen living in the UK as an HSMP.

My wife's had a visitor visa to visit the US for a while (ie before we got engaged). During her last visit to the U.S., we decided to get married here in the U.S. We were advised that she'd be better off doing consular processing in her home country rather than doing an AOS in the U.S. After our wedding, she went back to her job in the UK and I filed an I-130 for her here. This all happened in the last month or so. To date, I have only received a receipt of my application from the USCIS.

Now my wife needs to come back to the U.S. in January 2009 to take a professional exam. She would go back to her home country after taking the exam just like she's done in the past. But I worry that she may be denied entry because of her pending petition.

Here are the questions I have:

1. Does she need to report to the U.S. Embassy in London about her changed marital status and ask them to review the validity of her current visitor visa?

2. Could her current I-130 be undermined if she tries to enter the country on a visitor visa> She has no intention of lying or misrepresenting her marital status.

3. Her primary reason to come for a short trip is to take her exam. Does she have to voluntarily disclose her marital status or should she wait for a direct question to be asked at the point of entry (i.e. airport)?

Thanks in advance to any one who is willing to provide some guidance here.

Noorah101

No.

No. The I-130 and her visitor's visa are unrelated.

She should never volunteer any information at the POE. She should always wait until asked specifically. She should bring proof that she is only in the USA long enough to take this exam. She should bring proof that she needs to return to the UK after the exam.

Rene

ian-mstm

No.


No.


No. She is allowed to visit the US even though there is an immigrant visa in process.


She should *not* voluntarily disclose anything. She should answer *only* the questions asked and nothing more. If she is asked, "Do you know what time it is?" the only acceptable answers are "yes" or "no".


If she is specifically asked if she is married - she should answer honestly. She should *never* lie to an immigration official... that would initiate a series of very unfortunate events. But, as I said, she is not obligated to volunteer any information not specifically asked for.

Ian

george adam

Thank you so much Ian and Noorah. This is very helpful.

My concern here is that my wife may get turned back at the airport. I'd like to minimize that possibility and hence the follow up questions.

1. Since my wife has a pending I-130, at what point would her application show up on the computers of the immigration officer at the airport? (I filed her application on October 21st and to-date have gotten only confirmation of the receipt from VSC and no approvals.)

2. If the I-130 is going to show up on the immigration officer's computer, isn't it better to address the issue of her USC husband pro-actively rather than waiting for the immigration officer to bring it up in an aggressive manner?

3. How often do you hear people being turned away at the airport in her situation? (If the probability of her getting turned back is significant, then I would not want to put my wife through this.)

I realize that very similar questions have been asked and answered in the past but I wanted my exact situation to be addressed as well. Thanks for your consideration.

Best regards.

ian-mstm

This is *always* the chance she takes. Only a US citizen has the right of entry... everyone else can be turned away.


No one knows for sure, so assume they already know.


No, it isn't.


It happens, but for every one person who is turned away, thousands are allowed to enter. So, it helps to keep things in perspective.


Can it happen - yes. Will it happen - unlikely, but the possibility is not 0%.


Your "exact situation" is quite commonplace. She *IS* allowed to visit the US while an immigrant visa is being processed. As Rene suggests, she should bring proof of her ties to the UK. You want a guarantee... it doesn't exist.

Ian

Labhrais

In point of fact, your wife does not have a pending I-130, YOU do. The I-130 is a petition signed by the USC to establish a relationship to alien relatives. It is the step you take BEFORE the non-USC applies for a immigrant visa.

Unless and until your wife files a DS230 (the form related to the I-130 path), *she* has NOT applied for an immigrant visa.

Ian has given you some excellent advice.