Can My Wife Get A Tourist VISA to visit for 3 months before we apply for Immigration VISA.?

Question

Ok I have gone through 2 Immigration Attorneys that just seems to want money and not help too much, but thats not my question. I recently got our of the military. My wife and I got married when I was stationed overseas. She is a Polish National, and our marriage is completely legal and legit. The Military made sure of that.

But we have not seen each other for a very long time, and don't want to wait any longer.

Would we be approved for a Tourist VISA or no. I was told by a few people that the Government would just assume she would claim asylum and deny us.

So what is the real answer?

Answer 1

The problem is from Poland, she has to prove that she can afford to come. Try have her come to Canada or Mexico, and you meet her there, and go to US consulate, get her a visa and bring her back

Answer 2

Persons who intend to immigrate are not eligible for tourist visas.  As your spouse, you must file an application for a spousal visa and wait for her to be approved before she can enter the US.  Don't try to do it any other way.

Answer 3

Unfortunately, they will not let her get a tourist visa. That's how it works with anyone that will be an 'intending immigrant.'

Welcome to the wonderful world of immigration while living apart from your spouse. My husband and I went through this ourselves. He's Canadian and luckily for me Canada let me live there and commute for work in the US the first year we were married. But, I had to establish a home in the US to be able to apply for him. The application process in a basic case where neither people have arrest records is pretty straight forward. If you send the paperwork in right away, she could be living here with a green card in about 6 months. It was only about 5 months from when we started the application process to my husband having his temporary green card..

All we did was file the I-130 and then wait for them to send the rest of the paperwork in order.

After the I-130 you should get a notice within about 12 weeks of it either being approved or a request for more information. We got ours back in 4 weeks. Then, you'll get sent the fee bill for processing the I-864 and your wife will get a 'choice of agent' form that she can fill out so that you get any paperwork mailed to you instead of sent to Poland. That makes it a bit faster if it doesn't have to be mailed to another country. Once they receive the fee bill, they'll send you the I-864. Once you send that back, they'll send you the visa processing fee bill. Once you send them the money for that, they'll send you the DS 230 immigration packet which your wife will fill out part 1 of. Part 2 will be filled out at her immigration interview, more then likely scheduled at an embassy in Poland. I believe Warsaw is the one that processes spouse visas. She will also have to get police clearances for where she has lived since she was 16. She'll have to have a valid passport. I believe that in Poland she may have to contact them once she has assembled that before she will be scheduled for an interview, but, those instructions will be in the immigrant packet. She'll also want to make sure she has her birth certificate, marriage certificate and if she's been married before she'll need proof that marriage is dissolved.

Here are the forms so that you can read through the directions and start assembling your paperwork..

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-130ins...

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-130.pd...

Here is the G325 a that gets filed WITH the I-130.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/g-325a.p...

Yes, they want 4 pages for each of you all of the same thing. Those pages get sent to different departments, so don't just fill out one page for each of you. I believe you also need US style passport photos for each of you, but, that's in the I-130 directions in the first link..

Here are the income requirements for the Affidavit of support..

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-864P.p...

Here is the actual form along with instructions..

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-864.pd...

Here is the DS 230 - this will come in a packet with instructions..

http://www.state.gov/documents/organizat...

The good news is, you can visit her so long as you continue to be employed and maintain a residence in the US. If you're close to Canada, she could always try for a visa to visit Canada and you could visit her there if that would be more convenient for your situation..

Obviously, the faster you get the ball rolling, the sooner she's here.. 6 months isn't really that long in the great big scheme of things. My husband got his green card over a year ago and it already seems like it's been forever since we went through this mess.

Best of luck!  

Answer 4

The chances are almost zero.  She's an intended immigrant and they are not going to admit her as a tourist knowing this.

If they let her in on a tourist visa the first thing the two of you would/could do is concurrently file for immigration and adjustment of status.  She could stay and get her green card.  It's 100% legal to do it this way.

This circumvents the established process and that's why they won't let her come as a tourist.

Unless your wife has a criminal record in Poland or some other legal problem there's no reason to use an attorney to file her immigration papers.

Just file an I-130, I-864 and G-325A with the USCIS.  It will take an hour to fill this out.  The sooner you file the sooner she'll be here.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/m...

Answer 5

Yes - she would be denied a tourist visa because of her intent to immigrate.  

You can try living together in a different country for awhile; if you are a US citizen, resident in another country for 6 months or more, you may qualify for Direct Consular filing, which can be much faster than doing it from inside the US.

Answer 6

I have to agree with Yak rider with one exception.

If they let her in on a tourist visa the first thing the two of you would/could do is concurrently file for immigration and adjustment of status. This is called visa fraud and is punishable by 10 years in prison and the charge also carries a 3 year term of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.