TakeTheSky1138

Hi, I am English and fiancée is American and in the US. We have been separated since the beginning of the pandemic and miss each other terribly.

my question is: does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can travel to the US (legally of course) to see her. Her traveling here to the UK is not an option.

i will travel with an esta and I am aware the ban is not on Britain exactly but on people who have been in the Uk within the last 10 (or 14??) days. I would just like some guidance from someone who has a little more knowledge on the this and how I could safely find my way around the ban.

any help would be much appreciated.

mikelincs

Are you thinking of getting married while you are there, then applying for a change of status?, if so, please remember that it is illegal to travel to the US on an ESTA with the intention of getting married and staying there. It's not illegal to get married on an ESTA but the intention IS illegal, you can get married but must return to the UK and apply for the relevant visa. Some people may well have doen the change of status and stayed successfully, but you do risk getting a lengthy ban if caught.

classicmds

In terms of Covid regs you’d need to spend 14 days in a third country that is not subject to the restrictions - i.e. Mexico. The issue of marriage is of course unrelated to Covid and as previous poster says has complexities of its own. Even with the idea of coming on visa waiver tourist visa, marrying and returning back to UK you will still have to answer a question at immigration as to why you are coming to the US. While it is not illegal to come as a tourist to marry, you will have to tell the border officer that you are visiting the US for this purpose. Naturally the border official will then suspect you are planning to stay, which is illegal. So you will need to think carefully about the evidence you can muster to prove that you intend to return home even though you have married. A return ticket would be a start but you’d probably need more to prove ongoing interests in the UK - perhaps a letter from an employer stating your ongoing contractual obligations.

TakeTheSky1138

The plan is to get married at some point yes but not to adjust status. We are well aware of immigration laws and policies.

steph0scope

Why would he be contemplating this? It’s a bit of a stretch to assume some form of illegal immigration activity is on the cards when all he has done is ask how he can legally visit. Not all of us with love interests here did things that way. In fact, the majority follow the rules and go about things the correct way.

You didn’t even answer his question.

OP, I don’t know why people automatically assume that wanting to visit a fiancé = wanting to immigrate “through the back door”. Even if you were planning to marry on this visit you don’t have to reveal that at the border unless specifically asked.

As someone else has said, who did answer the question you asked, you will need to have a gap of 14 days between leaving the UK and entering the US and that gap must be spent in a country not on the “banned” list. Mexico is a good option.

You are correct, OP, that it’s not because you are British that you can’t enter directly, it’s because you have been in the UK in the 14 days prior to arrival unless you take a 14-day detour through somewhere else. A Canadian living in the UK would face the same issue but a Brit living in Mexico would not. It’s not the nationality that counts but your physical location.

civilservant

One wonders why you don't just meet each other in Mexico and not worry about onward travel to the US. Would be far cheaper than paying to stay there for 14 days and then onward travelling versus Mexico being your destination.

Nutmegger

In fairness this is what the OP said, before he edited his post: "Our plan is to marry next time I am there so we are never in a situation like this again." BE members were just ensuring that he was aware of the rules, so as to safeguard his future. Not everyone has done the research, though the OP later confirmed that he indeed has.

excpomea

Can you even leave the UK for personal travel?
I thought there were restrictions to curtail this.

TakeTheSky1138

Thank you! Very helpful! Mexico does indeed sound like a good option.

Could we perhaps both meet in Mexico, marry there and then travel to the US? Surely since being a uk national with a us spouse exempts me from the ban, I could travel from Mexico to US without waiting the 14 day quarantine?

Apologies for all of the questions but at this point we are getting rather desperate.

civilservant

You could do that, but I think it far more likely in that situation that you would be refused entry since you don’t have a valid visa to live in the US.

Being married to a USC would be a significant aggravating factor against admitting you on the VWP.

Lion in Winter

Definitely sounds like a risky idea.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclope...reen-card.html

TakeTheSky1138

Just to clarify: when I say travel to the US as a married couple, I am not meaning to adjust my status; my plan would be to stay for the 90 days (as I usually do when visiting) then travelling back to the UK and apply for the spousal visa. This is purely to visit her as we have been separated far too long. We are too smart and have been too patient to try anything risky.

civilservant

I didn't think you were. My answer stands. You might well be denied entry.

Like I said before, meet in Mexico. Problem solved on all counts.

tht

I went to a wedding in Turtle bay, it was amazing, we went to a white sand beach where they filmed the Corona add… and we could only by Sol…

https://traveladdicts.net/akumal-sno...g-sea-turtles/

Your plan does not sound great… as others note to claim that exemption you would have to declare you are married to a USC, that could lead to a question like how long have you
been married..… and that sounds like a VW/ESTA denial waiting to happen. It would not be a fun honey moon to get denied and forced to buy a new plain ticket to either Mexico or more likely the UK…. One way tickets are expensive… and none of that would look great when applying for your GC.

destone

It never fails to amaze me how it keeps eluding some that the U.S. is one of the most, if not the most, stringent countries in the world immigration wise.