ukmancoll

I think I already know the answers to this question - indeed i have answered them for other people before! I just need some assurance/clarity here.

Shannon is sick with a really bad case of Mono (we call it glandular fever over here?) and it is possible that she may be admitted to hospital.

I didn't originally have any plans to visit the US before the K1 visa was finished, but I really want to get a last minute flight and just fly over there for 5 days or so to be with her.

Now, I know technically I can enter the States - do you think I will be ok to enter? Do they have it on their screens at POE that I have a K1 visa being processed? Shall I just say that I am visiting friends and family (the truth really)?

Any advice on this already well covered topic?!

Thanks friends.

evoal2003

Yes they know of the inpending visa, they will ask you questions, just answer honestly and you will have no problem. I went twice, i took alot of proof of ties to the uk(which was not needed, although i would take it again).

All the best to you both

alan

ukmancoll

Interesting,

I have definetly read about people who have said they are visiting friends, etc. I have never read anything about the POE knowing they are on a K1 visa.

Maybe I read wrong?

miri

I visited the US while my K1 was being processed -- I went via Shannon (Ireland, Aer Lingus) in case there were going to be any immigration issues (not far to be sent home!). However, it was fine -- just ensure you have your return ticket to the UK and -- if possible -- proof of a job, ties etc. to the UK. I had to show my return ticket, but I also volunteered to the immigration official that I was in the K1 process (stoooopid) so I strongly suggest only offering information if asked for it. I had to convince the immigration official that I wasn't going to get married on the sly once I arrived in the US -- I told him that my mum would kill me if I did that and that I had to be back in the UK for a dress fitting in a couple of weeks.

Good luck, and I hope your fiancee gets well soon.

Marlowe66

My husband is a British citizen who entered on a K-1 in August 2004. I'd started the whole process in February 2004 - and he visited me as a tourist at least 5 or 6 times between Feb and August prior to officially entering on the K-1. I think the most recent visit he had before entering was only about 3 weeks prior the date that the embassy issued his visa.

I don't think you'll have a problem.

lele

I *am so happy* that you are so lucky! This is absolute and complete luck.

If my fiancee got within 100 meters of a US Consulate issuing NIV, she would likely be intercepted by police and told to walk the other way. Even after her K1 is approved, if her parents were to walk within 100 meters of a US Consulate before the Green Card is finalized and in her hands, they would be turned away too.

And all people from the UK need to do is show some proof of income and a job? How come that is not all *she* has to do to be able to come and visit while the K1 is processing?

And a wait time of only 6 months from start to finish?

What planet is processing your applications? How come they go so fast?

Could you please share with me who you bribed, so that way in the future we can know who to strangle for making us all wait so long????

Congrats on your having some "special" in-connection to get this all done quickly. At least you can enjoy spending more time with your family, and I wish you fulfillment with it!

ukmancoll

Hey! As much as your post made me smile, do you wanna start your own thread so it doesn't distract from the questions I am asking!

Cheers!

Just Jenney

I wouldn't worry about it -- you've already gotten some good feedback, plus this issue has been covered a million times on the NG.

One more suggestion, though -- see if it's possible for you to get your fiancee's doctor to write a note (preferably on letterhead or a prescription pad) verifying that she is ill and may require hospitalization and have it sent to you. If you tell the POE that you're visiting her because she is sick, this would help back you up. I don't know if it would help, but it can't hurt.

~ Jenney

Just Jenney

I empathize that because your fiancee is Chinese she must go through extra hoops and longer processing times than those coming from other countries, like the UK. I can imagine the long separation must be extremely painful and hard to deal with emotionally.

That being said, do not criticize those fiances/spouses who are coming from countries where there are fewer hurdles and less processing time. Nor should you criticize their USC partners for the same reason. It is not their fault they are from those countries, as much as it's not your fiancee's fault that she is Chinese and not British or Canadian.

Do not accuse them of bribing anyone. Do not accuse them of having "inside connections" which helps them get here faster. Not only is that make you seem ill-informed but also creates negativity where there should be none.

Perhaps your post was meant to be sarcastic, but it didn't come across that way to me.

~ Jenney

scrubbedexpat099

I do not know if there is a definitive answer to whether they have records of the K1 at the POE. My experiance suggests me to believe that they do not, but I maybe wrong and I think the safest bet is to assume that they do.

To lele, it is no different to any other visitor situation, you always need to bear in mind the need to show that you do not have immigration intent, you just have to more cautious because they may know about the K1 which would intimate that you have a future immigration intent. If you look at peoples timelines, 6 months is the norm for at least one service centers, now Nebraska is nearly a year, or was, pot luck where your USC fiancee lives.

All US Embassy's have a security cordon, well all the ones I have gone to or past, wherever they are. Well maybe not Canada.

ukmancoll

I am thinking of flying tomorrow.... plus I want it to be a suprise. She has no idea what I am planning, and I want to see her face when I walk in.

Your idea is a good one, except like I said, I want to leave tomorrow and wouldnt be able to wait for any paperwork to arrive.

I let you know what I decide!

Thanks everyone.

evoal2003

Spot on, as ever jenney!

alan

lele

I thank you for your post.

I have a slew of mixed feelings. In some ways, I am happy that you can be together so easily. I *never* want to feel as though I am being critical of the foreign person, because even if they are from a wealthy nation, they still need to go through hoops.

However, about the USC, I have mixed feelings. I do not want to wade too deeply into politics, but in ways, I feel that any USC who voted for Bush (who implemented the USCIS changes in 2001 which made the bar much higher for middle eastern nations, russia, and china) is a person who made the situation worse, and directly caused us harm. I am not sure if kerry would have made it better, and likely would not have. However, bush already made it far worse. So, in a way, I feel as though many USCs did attack us. Now, that does not mean that they are here in this forum, and for that I am sorry.

This is why I have mixed feelings: people in such forums have been supportive and helpful, yet at the same time, many other USC's, including some in the forums here, have made many racist comments and other comments which have indirectly attacked us (ie. supported Bush) or directly attacked people who marry people from China or other "poorer" or "non-white" nations.

I do not mean to attack anyone, but I want to raise the serious connections between the actions that people take (or inactions on election day) and the end results that they have on our lives.

I wish everyone well!

lele

I agree with this!

The point that I am trying to make though is that "what is required to show non-immigration intent from China" is a much higher burden than to "show non-immigration intent from an EU nation". And *this* is what is unfair. Why is it that from an EU nation, or even a non-vwp nation which is quite well to do, such as South Korea, that the income requirements are lower? Why is it that you can apply 10 times from China, and be approved on the 10th time, not changing any of your submission information, and denied the other 9 times (unless the person just happens not to have a bad hair day on that 10th time)? Why is it that unemployed people or people with small incomes, can travel easily, but that a person with a steady, well paying job, family connections, and property from China is still denied a visa most of the time when applying?

It seems as though the definition of "intent" is a function of the nation that you are applying from, and if this is true, it is not fair.

Marlowe66

ukmancool: Just one word of advice -- if you do indeed decide to fly over here - whatever you do, don't lie. Go to border control, give them your passport - and when they ask why you're coming, say to visit a friend or girlfriend -- which is true. If they do somehow magically know that you're applying for a K-1 - admit it. The advice that people keep giving me and my husband about our immigration issues is always simply, "never lie." I really think you'll be fine.

lele: You'll be quite happy to know that due to the death of my husband's father, he had to exit the country in violation of his K-1 - and we are now split up indefinitely.

We applied for the process just like everyone else, and the only reason it went quickly was because I used wonderful resources like this one to find out what other couples who have been through the K-1 process recommend. I suggest you do the same, and try to not to alienate and offend people who only want to share their advice for the purpose of helping you.