WhoFan63

Thanks Jeff There was 5 minutes of sheer panic at the thought they were going to send me back to Australia... LOL

rachelmz

Hi!
I'm not sure if the OP is still active on this post, but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway.

First I want to say that unlike the others on this forum, I DO understand WHY you need to enter the country, and WHY it's heart-breaking. My fiance lives in Australia and I live in the US. I'm going to be filing for the fiance visa shortly, but our time apart has been beyond painful. He is coming here in a week to visit me for awhile (I've visited him in the past, this will be his first time in America) and staying for nearly 3 months. I was hoping that since the fiance visa takes approximately 5 months to process, he'd be able to come back shortly after he goes home in September while waiting for the fiance visa to process. But, I'm terrified that he will get stopped at the airport if he tries to come back a second time. To me, this is ridiculous. He IS here to visit me, whilst waiting for his visa to complete, which is not illegal. He isn't coming to live or work here, even though that is the eventual goal - it will not be the goal of THAT particular trip. I can't imagine being apart from him again - even if he has to go home for a week or two I would be terribly upset. I hate how our system here is so insane. He would've gotten a visitor visa if it didn't mean taking a trip to SYDNEY for an interview, which is 10+ hours away from him.... I cannot believe that just to visit the US, one needs an interview and it can take several weeks to process. WHY would anyone want to visit? I thought we pride ourselves on being a "melting pot" country that welcomes others. We seem to be one of the least welcoming. When I go to Australia it takes me 5 minutes to get a visa that's good for a year. And I can renew it while there if I want. And I can get a work visa to work there temporarily WHEREVER I WANT (not have to be in some specialty occupation)... and Australian's don't even NEED a visa or anything (VWP thingy) to enter Canada. It's ridiculous....... truly truly crazy. Whatever, my rant is over.

What I was wondering is, did you attempt the re-entry? What happened when you did? Is it safe for him to try it? He is a young Australian. I can't see why he would raise any flags...

(And to the people who said it "isn't heart-breaking" and that they should just deal with being apart... clearly you've never been truly, deeply in love with someone. That's the only way you'd understand...)

civilservant

I consider anyone who says they 'can't be apart from someone even for a week or 2' to be pretty childish to be honest.

The comment about never having been in love just confirmed it.

When I entered on my last VWP trip (already married) I was also nervous about being denied entry, however a clean immigration history and answering questions honestly goes a long way. It is down to the person to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent. That's just the way it is.

The rules are what they are - you can live with them or move to Australia. We have all had too also. A British spouse visa takes 2 weeks,'instead of the year it took us to get an American one. However when in Rome, you do as the Romans.

rachelmz

Believe me, I'd be in Australia in a heart beat if I wasn't so attached to my family here in America. He doesn't have strong ties with his family. I desperately wish I could move there instead - for about 100 different reasons. I just find it unbelievable how America boasts of being the land of opportunity, but you can't even move here unless you're getting married, have family in the US, are a refugee, etc. You can't just move here because you want to. What happened to "free country"...

civilservant

America has to protect itself like everywhere else, because of it's reputation as a land of opportunity' open borders would quickly swamp it. Job creation isn't keeping up with population increase now, let alone coping with an explosion in net migration.

Wolfy

Not reading many other comments can tell you that it raises red flags as you have seen.

I visited in the early days of our relationship within 3 weeks of each trip and later within 2 months and was questioned about many things at the point of entry and felt for sure I was going to get secondary, but I was honest, had property and a job back home and this pacified the officer to the extent of letting me visit. After which I spent more time out of the U.S then in it as opposed to your equal time in both places.

Worst case scenario is you being returned back and unable to use the VWP ever again to which for you to visit would require you to obtain a visa and the circumstances surrounding your past visits could make that hard to near on impossible.

I do not want to instill further heartbreak as my wife know only too well the pain you are going through and would advise you to spend more time out of the U.S than your current habit! Can you both arrange a neutral country in which to meet? or can they not visit you? This what we did on our second year of our relationship, in a six month period we got to be together at least twice before the cycle started again.

It is never easy, but true love will prevail if it is meant to be!

Hang in there, be patient and things will fall into place!

hungryhorace

A marketing fallacy i'm afraid.

Duncan Roberts

Just as an FYI, the majority of posters based on a poll not too long ago here came via marriage. For some it was a 9 month or so visa process plus a long time before that and others the visa process was several years. Others have jobs in different states or counties to their spouses and children so their life is like that ongoing. So basically the majority of people have gone though it for a longer period of time then you have and know exactly what its like and why you kind of sound like a spoiled kid with these comments. The world doesn't revolve around you and a few months here and there are nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Noorah101

The K-1 fiance visa actually takes more like 7 or 8 months in total. The 5 months you refer to is only for the I-129F approval. After that, he still needs to do his part in Australia...get the medical done, apply for the visa, and attend the interview.

It's never a good idea to make back-to-back trips to the USA. General rule of thumb is to spend more time outside the USA than you were just inside. So if he comes to the USA for almost 3 months, he should spend more than 3 months outside the USA before attempting another visit (this is not law, but it's the best policy for a successful visit).

Don't be terrified. If he tries it and is sent back home, it won't count against his K-1 visa application at all. If that happens, you just wait apart for his K-1 to come through, or you meet up in a 3rd country instead. It's really nothing to be terrified about.

If that's the case, then don't risk a visit even this time around. If it's going to be too emotional to say goodbye again, then don't put yourself in that situation. Just wait it out apart, without visiting each other. That eliminates a lot of pain of saying goodbye yet again.

It's interesting that he is OK with flying more than 10+ hours to the USA, but wasn't OK spending 10+ hours to get a visa to visit you? But regardless of that, doesn't he qualify to use the VWP? Why would he need a visitor visa anyway, I believe Australians qualify to use the VWP. If he qualifies to use the VWP, it's probably a blessing that he didn't apply for the B-2 visa, as it probably would have been denied, and that would have also probably prevented him from using the VWP for the next 6 - 12 months.

If one qualifies to use the VWP, one does NOT need an interview. I'm not sure where you're getting that from.

Ummm, well, in your fiance's case, it's because he has a USC fiancee. That's the case for many others as well. People also just want to visit to see in person the sights they've heard about or seen on TV (such as New York City or Disneyland).

Different countries (USA and Australia). You cannot compare them with regard to immigration. Each country has it's own laws and rules.

I thought Australians can use the VWP to visit the USA, as well. Either way, you can't compare Canadian immigration law to US immigration law either. Different country, different immigration rules/laws.

Yes. It is safe for him to try it. Best case scenario, he gets in. Worst case scenario, he doesn't get in. But overall, it's a safe thing to try...especially since he'll eventually have a K-1 visa in hand which will pretty much guarantee him entry in the long run. Being turned away at the POE as a visitor won't affect his K-1 visa.

Simply having a USC love interest can raise red flags.

LOL

Rene

ian-mstm

That's the chance he takes. If you don't want to be terrified, tell him not to travel.


If you think it's insane, it's because you don't fully understand how it works. US immigration law is specifically written to keep non-US citizens out of the US. If people have to jump through hoops, it's because only a US citizen has the right of entry to the US. No one else does... including people who have a visa.


You've been watching too much TV and listening to media hype!


That's a quaint, if naïve, point of view. Delayed gratification is the hallmark of maturity... so those who claim they can't deal with the separation are simply too immature to deal with US immigration. And, while I'm thinking about it, love doesn't even enter the immigration equation.


With respect, these two comments are contradictory. You could move if you wanted to... you simply don't want to.

Ian

Trixie_b

Whoa! Firstly, you have no idea of what people have and have not experienced on these boards. Personally, I was married to a man who went off to an active war zone several times during our relationship. Was it scarey? Yes. Was it heart breaking? no - heart breaking would have been if he never came home.

Someone else said that instant gratification is a sign of immaturity.

I thank you for not judging me (or the other people on these boards) with not loving our spouses because we define "heart breaking" as something more in depth than being separated from our loved ones for a few short months. A true relationship lasts a life time and in the scale of that, a few months apart is a very small price to pay to ensure that moving countries to be with our loved ones is done legally and properly.

Oh and as an aside, a close friend of mine moved away from his family so he could find work to support them. That's a real man and true love that he felt that supporting them from another country was the best way he COULD love them.

Stoutbanana

I think it seems there are no hard and fast rules and there are no guidelines to how often you can stay within the rules laid down.

I applied for an ESTA and travelled to the US for a cruise in Feb '11 and then after meeting my fiancee in August '11 I visited her for 5 weeks in September '11 and returned to the US in November '11 until Feb '12 and spent a couple of weeks in the UK and returned to the US until May'12.
I then spent 6 months in the UK and returned to the US in Nov with my fiancee and had no trouble at JFK POE.

I then returned to the UK in Feb '13 for two weeks.

Feb 28th '13 I returned alone and Chicago POE sent me to secondary and I spent 30 mins being interviewed.

I explained I wasn't working and living off mine and my fiancees money and that she had applied for a fiancee visa.

I had a flight booked back to the UK on the 25th May (which is a return trip to San Diego) and I said I am retired and at 59 and one leg nobody would employ me and that my job was looking after my fiancee, her house and dog when she was away.

He begrudgingly stamped my passport and said 'don't do anything that will become a problem for the visa application'.... not sure what he meant but I was on my way and just made the beginning of boarding.

Then a month ago my Fiancee was sent to Joinville Brazil for two weeks and I went with her and while we were there she was sent to Rio for a week.

After that we had a weeks holiday and yesterday we returned to DFW. She has Global Entry and after she sorted that out she then stood in the very long queue with me for non-US.
The POE asked me 'are you family' and Diana answered 'that's the plan when the USCIS tell us we can get married' He was friendly and chatty and looked on the computer, then took my picture and right hand finger prints, stamped my passport and said' Have fun!' and off we went.
Although I have another 90 days I will have to return to sort the stuff out in the UK but it does seem to me that so long as they think I'm not going to overstay (I have always left a week before I was due to leave) and I'm not working then it seems they are OK with me staying more in the US than the UK.
We have now received the acceptance letter and we are waiting for the paperwork to be sent to the UK.
When it arrives I will have to return to sort everything out or by mid August.