beyness

ugh! Just when we thought we were getting somewhere and gaining confidence in this process, I find out once again, that the INS needs people to put their lives on hold because of inflexibility and loads of rules.. I certainly don't feel like I'm in "land of the free, home of the brave" sometimes...

Anyway, the glitch is that if and when Greg gets his K-1 Visa, we're not allowed to take our already planned a year ago and payed fot trip to the Virgin Islands because he's not allowed to leave the country and although the USVI is a territory, it doesn't matter... So, we're thinking of holding off the process a month or so, which means he'll have to fly in to Indianapolis (where the flights are from, unfortunately) on a tourist visa, then back to England, then back again when the vias comes through. And this is all considering Nebraska doesn't all of the sudden become really quick and issue the visa before the trip anyway or schedule the interview the week of the trip! Yikes! I feel like we're both on house arrest with this!

Anyway, if anybody knows different than what I've been told or knows where I can find reliable information regarding this, PLEASE let mw know as Greg's favorite activity in the entire world is snorkelling and diving with tropical fish and I would rather postpone him coming to Indianapolis than tell him he's not allowed to go on this trip....

Thanks.. sorry for the whinging!

Ameriscot

I'm not sure where the marriage fits into this, but once you marry and file for AOS, you can also file for Advance Parole which will allow him to travel outside the US.

If you marry and leave the US without advance parole, then you will have to start the visa process all over again, and it could take up to a year to get the spousal visa.

If the trip to the VI is a pre-marriage holiday, then you may be able to time the K1 visa interview to take place *after* this - there is some flexibility in the process.

beyness

I know about the after marriage thing, but even if I filed the visas tomorrow, I'm not sure we would be able to get the K-1, get married and apply for the tavel permit all in time for Nov. 17th. It would be quite a hassle if we did it all and the time schedule didn't work out... There are no garuntees with the INS after all... I think we'll just hold off sending in the application for a month so it will garuntee he'll be able to come, go, then come in again..

We'll see, thanks for your suggestions...

Ameriscot

If you file the petition, say, 1st August, it will be approved around 1st October. You would then have 4 months - 1st Feb - to attend the interview.

beyness

That is something I did not know... thanks! so, I can file the petition anyway and then he can schedule an interview for after he comes back from the VIs! That's perfect.. thanks very much.

P.S. I assume it will be okay for him to come into the Us on a tourist visa while the visa in in process as long as he has a return ticket to England?

pogo30

Beyness, according to our experience traveling to the US Virgin Islands is not a problem on a K-1 visa. My then finacee and I went from Atlanta to St Thomas, got married, and came back to the mainland without a problem. We found the relevent laws and decided that we would persue our dreams. You can read all about our experiences on our website at www.norbabz.com . Please excuse the lateness of my reply but I hope it can still be of use.

beyness

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, we left the filing for too late, so I don't think Greg will have his K-1 before he comesto the US Nov 1st (he's got a return ticket already anyway). So, we'll just do the trip, then he'll come over in December in his K-1. But that's good to know in case by a miracle it all happens really quickly!

Marjeta

pogo30 <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
    > Beyness, according to our experience traveling to the US Virgin Islands is not a
    > problem on a K-1 visa. My then finacee and I went from Atlanta to St Thomas, got
    > married, and came back to the mainland without a problem. We found the relevent
    > laws and decided that we would persue our dreams. You can read all about our
    > experiences on our website at www.norbabz.com
    > . Please excuse the lateness of my reply but I hope it can still be of use.

If you're going to the US Virgin Islands and never leave US territory you never
left the United States and there for you shouldn't have a problem with the K1. But
if you do leave the US territory, which is something that can happen, especially if
you're on cruise and end up on an island or some place that isn't US, you may have
a problem.

PS: Correct me if I'm wrong but if your fiance is from the UK he doesn't need a
tourist visa because he can travel on visa waiver. This is pretty good, but be
aware that there is a small chance that he is denied entry into the US if the INS
finds out he is in the process of receiving a K1. In this case submitting a
return ticket may not be enough evidence that he intends to return to the UK.
That's what everybody says, but honestly I haven't seen a lot of real life
experience of being denied at the POE on this newsgroup. I travelled to the US 3
times to visit my boyfriend on visa waiver and never had a slightest problem with
the INS. That was before we applied for the K1 visa though. On my personal
opinion the best thing to do at the POE is to give very little info about
yourself, be nice, don't lie and be very stupid when it comes to
visas/immigration matters.

Jay S

I am not a lawyer, but it is my understanding that he is not breaking any rules if he does not leave US territory. I'm pretty sure you can go to the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and any other US governed area without violating your visa. You should look into it more because you may be worrying about nothing.

beyness

Well, goodness, I wish all of this positive news had reached me earlier, then we would have made an attempt to get the application out earlier and he wouldn't have had to do all of this flying in and out and worrying about coming in on a tourist visa waiver in Nov (which is still the plan, because we just got the Notice about a week ago, so I doubt he'll have his K-1 by Nov 1st.)

All I got before were people giving me worst case scenarios. A lawyer from one of the Fiancee Visa websites told me it would be better not to go to the VI on the K-1, so we changed our plans.. well, we'll just play it by ear.. I think he'll be okay.. he's not doing anything wrong or illegal, so he has nothing to lie about and he's very calm, so hopefully, all will work out.

Thanks