K-1 Travel Help

First, I'll apologize if this has been answered elsewhere. I'm reaching the end of my rope and feeling on the frazzled side at the moment.

My fiancee put in our K1 application on June 6, 2007. It was only this past week she was able to find time out of her busy work schedule to make a phone call to check on our status. It had been 45 days, and according to the USCIS site, we should've at least received our confirmation of receipt within 30.

After her phone call, she reported back to me with dismay that apparently with the increase in applications, a receipt notice is now taking 90 days, and she was tentatively informed that processing is running on average from 6 to 9 months. (Obviously a far cry from the 4 to 6 months we were originally informed of.) On top of this, the RCMP have a message on their site stating that criminal record checks for specific reasons (including foreign visas) are taking in excess of 120 days.

I'm sure some of this could possibly be misinformation of some sort. But for now we're treating this as our time frame.

So, after my long-winded story, I come to the whole point of my posting. The two of us are feeling lonely for each others' company. The sheer volume of time ahead of us is simply making it worse. What are the chances of either of us visiting the other without further delaying things? I know somewhere I've read that my visiting the US during the process could require the FBI to get involved with a check. What about her making her way here to Canada? Any complications in that?

I don't mean to try to be insulting, but we've been burned once already, so I need to ask: is there anywhere I can verify the answers to my questions? (Unfortunately, the lawyer that was "helping" us did a number of things that would've created severe problems with our application if we hadn't carefully compared what he had prepared with the requirements on the USCIS site.)

~J

There is absolutely no issue with her coming to visit you in Canada.

As to you visiting the US, you have an immigrant process in the works, thus you likley can't enter US as a tourist, which forbids having the immigrant intent. The FBI wouldn't get involved, but the border officer would probably stop you.

Like nelsona said, absolutely no problem with her coming to visit you in Canada. I would suggest that as it is the best way to see each other without putting your visa application in a problematic situation.

I wouldn't try to enter the US. They will, as nelsona said, most likely stop you at the border and they might abandon your visa application as you are trying to enter the US on another intent (ie visitor's status)

Have a look at the K1 Fiance Visa forums at Visa Journey. The information you've been getting is a bit jumbled, and you can get more up to date at Visa Journey http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?act=idx

I'm sorry I don't know what current processing times are, but AFAIK, you're probably looking at close to a year before you'll have your interview scheduled. It takes as long as it takes unfortunately. If you live in the eastern half of Canada (Ontario and eastward) it'll take even longer, because the Montreal consulate has a staffing shortage. (US consulate in Montreal processes all family based immigrant and non immigrant K visasfor eastern Canada. Vancouver consulate handles them for Western Canada.)

As for visiting the US while you have a petition in progress, there is no law against it. You *can* visit the US during the process, you will just have to endure a bit of extra scrutiny, and you may be denied entry anyway.

You will need to prove to the POE that you have no immigrant intent. And when you have a petition pending with your name on it, this gets tricky. You may be asked to show ties to Canada. Like a job letter stating you are just on a vacation leave, and you are expected back on a specific date. Copy of your rental/lease/mortgage agreement on your residence, copies of current utility bills or contracts. Stuff to show that you have obligations and responsibilities in Canada that you are not likely to just leave behind.

Still, that is no guarantee that they'll let you in. If you can drive across more the better, because if you're denied entry then you can just drive back home, and the only thing lost is the gas it took to get there. If you're flying though, and if you're denied entry, you lose the money you just paid for your airfare. Airlines will not reimburse you for airfare not used because of immigration issues.

If your girlfriend can get time off from her job to come visit you, and can afford the time off and the trip, this would probably be the least stressful option.

Some people have been grilled to the point of feeling tortured by US POE officials, others have been waived thru with barely a blink. Its a crap shoot really, so if you're a gambler, take your chances. If you're denied entry, it Will Not have a negative affect on your visa application.

Oh, about the RCMP thing. Unless you have a criminal record, you Do Not need the fingerprint certificate, you only need the name and birthdate check, and that should only take 5 days. Depending where you live, you can get it from your local police station, or an RCMP office. Where do you live?

One CAN visit the USA. I did it monthly while my cr-1 was in process and many Canadians on Visajourney.com have as well! One just has to be prepared--have ties to Canada. And yes some have been denied entry, Be honest, never lie! And some have gone into secondary questioning, shown their ties to canada, and allowed to proceed! Like I said. I did it monthly for 6 months, not a problem. Some i\visits were 3-4 days a few were weeks long in duration! And yes I did mention I was going down to see my wife! And when I was coming back from Saskatoon last week through Mineapolis (MSP) the couple in front of me were going through the k1 process (over hear them) and they entered with no problems! They mentioned they had started the process, Customs dude asked when they were getting married, they stated once they had the actual visa, and he asked when she would be retuirning to canada, she gave the date, and that was it! off they went. Best of luck!

As for visiting the US while you have a petition in progress, there is no law against it. You *can* visit the US during the process, you will just have to endure a bit of extra scrutiny, and you may be denied entry anyway.

You will need to prove to the POE that you have no immigrant intent. And when you have a petition pending with your name on it, this gets tricky. You may be asked to show ties to Canada. Like a job letter stating you are just on a vacation leave, and you are expected back on a specific date. Copy of your rental/lease/mortgage agreement on your residence, copies of current utility bills or contracts. Stuff to show that you have obligations and responsibilities in Canada that you are not likely to just leave behind.

I don't see what was so wrong about the advice we gave. Sounds simple to me to be safe. If she can visit you, that would be best. Nothing worse that being denied at the border and having it be a problem for you later on. Plus, going over the border can be strenuous enough without having to prove your ties to Canada. If you don't own a house or rent, for example, it's impossible to really show them that you have a permanent residence. I just think there is always a 50/50 chance of something happening, especially with how tough they are. Also, I think different borders are different. If you are going through a crossing that has a lot of people in it (most crossings from ontario) i think the border guards are pretty rough. Just as a visitor in the past, I have been scrutinized.

As well on VJ there have been people that were denied entry into the USA ( i read at least two cases)They were honest, but still denied! When they went to their Visa interview, 1 of the questions the Consulate interviewer asked (and I was aksed the same) if 1 has ever been denied entry into the USA. They answered YES, and it did not affect their application in anyway! The big thing is to Alwyas tell the truth! Lie and it could cause u big probelms down the rd! Yes the info I'm quotin gis from a forum, but these experiences are from other visa applicants. My Poe was normally Toronto airport, Boston or Newark (at the time no US customs at Halifax, now they are stationed there). And still following the VJ forum, there are many that do travel back and forth while the process is going. Best of luck

I understand what you are saying, Flames. All I know is that there is nothing worse than a POE guard shouting at you and making you feel like an idiot. I find near to nothing worse in my life so far as a guard trying to guilt trip me into saying something about what I am doing that isn't true. It seems the last times I have crossed (came so many times in the last three years before I got married here and applied for AOS in June) they really gave me a hard time. All I was doing was visiting but they really interrogated me, trying to get me to make myself guilty without them coming out and accusing me of stuff.

Ya, there aree some POE jerks,lol All I'm stating is from my experiences and what I have read on a few immigration forums, is that I have read more successes than failures.

lulu's experience illustrates that despite us thinking those CBP officers are idiots, they are trained to catch and trip up liars.

lulu had pretty clearimmigrant intent, which is verboten for tourists, and despite having every intention of leaving US each time she entered (until this last time, eh), there was always a the very high risk that she would attempt to immigrate on that entry, as she as now done.

So their scrutiny on her case, albeit having come up empty, was justified, and shows that they can usually sniff out something fishy.


by the way, I have seen 2 brands of ketchup chips here in US (Herrs and Uncle Ray's) both being much sweeter than the Cdn brands.

as to smarties, maybe the same campaign thatbrought Coffee crisp to US could work for smarties (and maybe for any yellow/gold corn syrup).