sirrahzil

Hello,

I am a US citizen. My boyfriend is a Brit with an H1-B in process. He has been out of the country for 3 months and so far the application has been returned 3 times (this is a Premium Processing case as well). Is he allowed to come to the States for a visit on the Visa Waiver Program with the work visa pending? The American Embassy told him no, but I cannot find documentation of this anywhere and have seen several cases where people have been allowed in. I know that the final decision is up to the people at the POE, but what is the likelihood of him being denied entry once there? PLEASE HELP!!!!

Ingo Pakleppa

On 28 Apr 2002 19:00:01 GMT, sirrahzil <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Hello,
    >
    >I am a US citizen. My boyfriend is a Brit with an H1-B in process. He has been out
    >of the country for 3 months and so far the application has been returned 3 times
    >(this is a Premium Processing case as well). Is he allowed to come to the States for
    >a visit with the work visa pending? The American Embassy told him no, but I cannot
    >find documentation of this anywhere and have seen several cases where people have
    >been allowed in. I know that the final decision is up to the people at the POE, but
    >what is the likelihood of him being denied entry once there? PLEASE HELP!!!!

Indeed, there is no law against this. I would not recommend it, though.

I had been in a similar situation when I first got my H-1B. This was in 1992, and
things have changed considerably between then and now. But my guess is that this
particular experience would pan out similarly.

I was asked to go to secondary inspection and had to wait an hour or so. Then, an
immigration inspector asked me all kinds of questions, mostly about when I had been
in the US last, how much money I had, and what my travel plans were in the US.
Fortunately, between my credit card and the fact that it has been a almost a year
since my previous trip, they admitted me. However, they only gave me four weeks
instead of the usual six months (I had a tourist visa). In your boyfriend's case, the
fact that he has a girlfriend in the US would be an added complication. And since I
left the US again on time, it never became a problem.

I have to say that I found the INS agents who inspected me at the time were very
friendly and professional, and I think did a very good job.

My advice is not to try it at all. If you do want to try it, be prepared for extra
scrutiny and allow for an extra hour or two at the airport where he arrives in the
US. And if it looks like he won't be admitted, he should ask to withdraw his
application for admission - this means that he'll simply be put on the next flight
back, and there won't be a black mark on his record.

If he does not withdraw his application for admission, he would likely be put into
expedited removal proceedings. That would take a few days at least to go back, and,
worse, he would be banned from the US for a while (I'm not sure what the term for
expedited removal is, it might be one year or five years).

Ingo

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. For reliable advice, please consult
with a professional immigration attorney.

For further information, check the following frequently-requested links.

For many questions, you may find answers at
http://travel.state.gov/visa_services.html (Department of State)

or http://ins.usdoj.gov (INS).

For consular policies and visa reciprocity fees, find your consulate in
http://travel.state.gov/links.html

For visa denial and suggestions what to do about them, see
http://travel.state.gov/visadenials.html

For DOL Online Labor Certification: http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/

For information on affidavit of support for marriage to US citizens (I-864), go to
http://travel.state.gov/i864gen.html and http://travel.state.gov/checklist.html

For information on entering the US as a K-1: http://www.k1poelist.com/

For poverty levels, see http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/poverty/00poverty.htm

For information on H/L/O/P visa extensions at Dept. of State in St. Louis, MO, see
http://travel.state.gov/revals.html

For non-official information, check:

(When using these sites, and any Web sites, please watch out for privacy, as I do not
know all site operators.)

http://www.visalaw.com http://www.shusterman.com http://www.immigration.com
http://members.aol.com/MDUdall http://www.murthy.com/ http://www.richw.org/dualcit/
(dual citizenship FAQ) http://www.ilw.com http://www.srs-usvisa.com
http://www.getusavisa.com http://greencard-lottery.virtualave.net/
http://www.jcvisa.com (H-1B) http://www.h1bresources.com (marriage and fiancee)
http://www.kamya.com/misc/ (marriage and fiancee)
http://www.mindspring.com/~docsteen/...o/visainfo.htm http://www.workpermit.com

This is not an endorsement of any of these Web sites. I am not affiliated with any of
the Web site owners and do not receive nor accept payment in return for listing them,
and typically don't even know them.

(if believe you have a good immigration-related Web site and want your Web site
listed here, please e-mail me).