Bogru

I just been told that i'm only allowed to travel to the US 3 month
a year on my tourist visa. Is that true?
So if i go there for 3 month minus the days i already been to the US,
i'm not allowed back before next year?

Thanks

Noorah101

Who told you?

I see by your previous posts that you're from Europe. Does this mean you will be using the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) when you travel? Or do you actually have a B tourist visa?

If you use the VWP, you can stay up to 90 days at one time. There is no limit on the number of times you can visit per year, but the more you visit, the more you'll get questioned at the POE.

If you're using the B tourist visa, you are limited to the amount of time they allow you at the POE on that trip. You might be restricted to the amount of time you can spend in the USA in one year.

Rene

Bogru

Hi Rene,

Thanks for your reply.
Yes i'm from Europe and just travel on my passport (sorry i don't know what POE and VWP is) I go there alot and everytime i get a 3 month admission stamp, so i thought that i was allowed to stay there for 3 month and then go back to Europe for a week, and then go back to the US for another 3 month.
I got this information from a attorney. The same attorney told me (this is what i was asking in my other post) that it is legal for me to work in the US for my company back in Europe as long as i get paid in Europe in European money.

Thanks

Noorah101

POE = Point of Entry (the city you first land in, in the USA)
VWP = Visa Waiver Program, this is what you use to travel on your passport only, without a visa.

You are allowed to stay 90 days (not 3 months) each time you visit. You can visit as many times as you want in one year, but the more you visit, the more you will be questioned when you enter the USA, and eventually they could deny you entry. The best policy is to spend as much time outside the USA as inside. For example, if you spend 90 days in, spend more than 90 days back in Europe, then try for another 90 days in the USA. Only one week back home in Europe is going to cause problems for you in the long run.

The attorney is mistaken in 2 things: 1) you can only stay 90 days, not 3 months (there is a few days difference there; and 2) it is not true you are limited to only "3 months" visit per year. You can visit more, if you are allowed in at the POE.

I don't know the policy on working in the USA under the conditions you mentioned in your other post.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Bogru

Sorry... he did write 90 days, i was just assuming that its the same (i know its not)

Will i have the same problem at the POE if i only stay in the US for like 45 days at the time (instead of 90 days), and then come back to Europe for a week or two and then going back to the US for 45 days?
I just wanna be with my fiancée and as long as it legal for me to do work for my company back home i'm not doing anything illegal, and i always have a return ticket. I mean could they have anything agains that at the immigration?

Thanks a lot Rene.

Noorah101

It's all up to the officer at the POE. It could become a problem if you visit the USA too often, yes. Staying home in Europe for only 1 or 2 weeks in between long visits to the USA could be a problem, eventually. Your best policy would be to stay outside the USA longer than you stay inside the USA. For example, stay 45 days in the USA, then stay 90 days in Europe, then try for another 45 days in the USA. But even if you keep doing this, it will eventually be a problem. The VWP is meant for short visits to the USA for a holiday, not for spending long-term time with your American fiancee.

You can keep trying it as much as you wish, you might be let in a few more times and then denied. It all depends on the officer at the POE, how often you've been visiting the USA lately (it sounds like a lot, to me), and depends on how much proof you can show to your ties back in Europe.

Visiting too often is not illegal, but if it becomes TOO much, the officer at the POE will deny you entry eventually.

Rene

Noorah101

Bogru,

I was wondering if you've decided which visa route to pursue. Sounds like you'd be better off starting the K-1 fiancee visa process now, that way you can perhaps take just one more 90-day trip to the USA, and then have your K-1 visa for the next time and you won't have to worry about going back and forth.

Rene

Bogru

To be honest, all this is very confusing to me.
The attorney don't recomend that we go for the I-129F visa, because
i will have to stay outside the US until the Visa is issued, wich can
take up to 6-9 month.

We just wanna be together as fast as possible, and i can keep working
for my job back home even when i move to the US, so we got
everything ready, we just need to get me there.

I don't think we will continue with the attorney, because it will cost
us between $5.000 - 7.000 and thats a lot of money.
So i really appreciative your help, and will defently look at the K1 Visa.

Noorah101

I think you need a new lawyer. You do NOT have to stay outside the USA until the K-1 visa is issued. You can visit the USA on the VWP just as you've always done, while the K-1 is in process. Just bring plenty of proof of your ties to your country.

In my opinion, the fastest visa for you right now is the K-1. That's because your USC fiancee can file the I-129F petition NOW (assuming you've seen each other in person recently...sounds like you have). If you wait to do the spouse visa, you'll have to wait until you see each other again, get married, and then file the I-130. Your fiancee can file the I-129F now, for the fiancee route, and get the ball rolling immediately. Yes, it will take 6 to 9 months to finish the process, but you can get it started now, even without you there in the USA!

I don't blame you. It's a lot of money, and it sounds like your lawyer doesn't really know the process.

As for being allowed to work right away in the USA, both the K-1 and the IV allow you to work upon entry to the USA. I still am not convinced you are OK to work (even for your European company) on the VWP.

Rene

Bogru

Will you recomend a attorney, or is it possible to do it without?
(It would be nice to save the money)

So it is legal for me to visit my fiancée in the US while waiting for the
I-129 visa to be issued?

So after the I-129 visa is issued, we will fill out the K1 visa, is that correct?

Yes we see each other twice a month. I go ther almost once a month and she visit me almost once a month.
so yes i have been to the US a lot of times, and i have never been questioned at the POE, other than what i'm doing there (visiting my girlfriend i tell them) and when i'm going back. A couple of times they have ask me what i do for living, but thats it.

Tell me, if it should happend that i one day was denied entrance (if i've been there to many times) What will happen then? Will it be harder for me to go there again another time, and will it have any influence on our visa progress?

Thanks a lot for your time Rene, your been really helpfull :-)

Noorah101

It is possible to do on your own, without an attorney, but it takes a lot of research and attention to detail, and you have to be aware of the whole process and what it involves. If you feel more confident with an attorney, try looking here: www.ailalawyer.com, for one in your fiancee's area.

Not quite. Yes, it's legal for you to visit your fiancee in the USA while you wait for the K-1 visa process. the I-129F is only the starting petition which your fiancee fills out in the USA. That is not the visa. Once the I-129F is approved over in the USA, then you will receive the K-1 visa applications in your home country. You will fill those out, get a medical done, and attend an interview in your home country. Then you'll get the K-1 visa in your passport and can move to the USA permanently. You will also need to get a police report from your home country and any country you lived in longer than 6 months after the age of 16.

Coming to the USA once a month on the VWP is a LOT. You've been lucky so far. I would expect anytime now for you to get questioned a lot more.

If you get turned around at the POE, you will take the next flight home. Yes, it will be harder for you to come here again on the VWP. But it won't have any negative affects on the K-1 visa process.

Best Wishes,
Rene

Noorah101

You can read more about the K-1 process here: http://britishexpats.com/wiki/K1

And here: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/usc...0045f3d6a1RCRD

Rene

Bogru

Thanks Rene, your been very helpfull.
I will read about the K1 Visa.
I'm going back next month for 40 days, so maybe
this is the time they will question me... but i got
nothing to hide, i just don't hope they send me back
home again.

Will it be any help if my fiancée is there to answer
their questions?

Thank you

Noorah101

If you are questioned, they will take you to secondary (a separate area), but still near your initial entrance. You can have your fiance waiting as close as possible to the area, but she probably won't be allowed that close to the gate area. You can let them know she is waiting in the main airport area, and if the officer wants to, he can ask her to come in.

Just answer their questions honestly as you have been doing, and hope for the best.

Rene

Eric S.

Just to reinforce what Rene has been telling you. The whole idea of the VWP
is to come to the US to "visit". If you are spending a lot of time in the
US, the officer at the POE might start the get suspicious that you are
living in the US. If you can't convince him/her to the contrary, you will
get denied entrance. Unfortunately, there are no strict rules on how much
time you are allowed to spend. It's pretty much up to the POE officer.

- Eric S.


"Bogru" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
>
>> You can read more about the K-1 process here:
>> http://britishexpats.com/wiki/K1
>>
>> And here: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/usc...em.5af9bb9591-
>> 9f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid9c0194d3e88d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a-
>> 1RCRD&vgnextchannelO719c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3 d6a1RCRD
>>
>> Rene
>
> Thanks Rene, your been very helpfull.
> I will read about the K1 Visa.
> I'm going back next month for 40 days, so maybe
> this is the time they will question me... but i got
> nothing to hide, i just don't hope they send me back
> home again.
>
> Will it be any help if my fianc�?f�?©e is there to answer
> their questions?
>
> Thank you
>
> --