OK, you’ve met that special someone and you can’t wait to bring him/her to the US. So what means are available to you? The system of visas for the US is both abroad and complicated issue. I don’t know/can’t advise on every situation (you need a legal professional when you need legal advice, I am not qualified nor do I furnish legal advice). I can give you the benefit of more than 8 years study, research and personal experience, though.
- Tourist Visa: If you desire to enter the United States for tourism, business, or medical visits, a visitor visa is generally required. A visitor visa is a temporary (nonimmigrant) visa for business (B-1) or for pleasure or medical treatment (B-2). However, if you are from a qualified country, you may be able to visit the U.S. without a visa, through the Visa Waiver Pilot Program. Persons planning to travel to the U.S. for a different purpose, such as students, temporary workers, crewmen, journalists, etc, must apply for a different visa. In particular you do not want to think about getting your friend, fiancee or new wife a Visitor’s visa if the intent is different from the stated purpose. Not only are you highly likely to get “caught’, it is very difficult to obtain these classes of visas for many Filipinos. The penalties for visa fraud are harsh so make sure, if you help someone apply, the purpose is as the law requires. It’s also worth noting that a B1 or B2 visa does not allow any form of work (even volunteer work) or formal courses of study … many people each year trip up on this.
- Fiancee Visa (K-1 or K-2): This is the one many of you are most interested in. It is a nonimmigrant (temporary) visa, issued solely for the purpose of a fiance/fiancee entering the US to marry the US citizen who has sponsored him/her. It’s good for 90 days stay. If the marriage occurs within the 0 day window, the new spouse may apply to adjust to permanent resident status. If not, they must leave the US.
- Spousal Visa (K-3 or K-4): Spouses of U.S. citizens, and the spouse’s children, can come to the United States on nonimmigrant visas (K-3 and K-4) and wait in the United States to complete the immigration process. Before a K-4 visa can be issued to a child, the parent must have a K-3 visa or be in K-3 status.
- All the visas listed so far are “Non-immigrant visas”. That is, the person entering on such a visa must then apply for US naturalization as a separate prices. The CR-1 or IR-1 visas: are immigrant visas .. in other words, a spouse (CR-1) or Immediate Relative of a US citizen.
OK, that’s a road map of US visa, we’ll cover each one in more detail as time permits. If there’s a particular subject you want me to post on, drop a comment or email me at davestarr@gmail.com
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Hi, Philly – Great information on visas! I was married last April in CDO to a very wonderful Filipina and am currently in the process of petitioning for my alien relative (wife) to be with me here in the US and after a few years, we will both return to Mindanao to retire there. I’m trying to plan ahead and could use your expertise in your research and personal experience in doing so as you have “been there – done that”, so as to avoid the pitfalls that can pop up if one isn’t aware of them. I’ll keep an eye
on your column for further information. Thanks! BK
Dave,
I am a bit slow in starting the process for a visa. My wife, kids and I all live in the Philippines and plan to continue doing so. I do plan to start my wife’s visa soon. What visa would you recommend for a Filipina that is only visiting the US for 30 days or so maybe once a year but probably something closer to once every 2-4 years.
Bob, Feyma and kids:
As she is with God now her pain has ended. Let us be thankful for the years you all had with her and her memory live on.
God Bless and let the healing begin.
Mike & Rochelle K.
@Mike K.: H Mike. If I am understanding your question correctly … and feel free to let me know if I am not, I soemtimes read as poorly as I type and spell … you are planning to live full-time or essentially full time in the Philippines, your wife is Filipino and you want a way for her to travel, at will, to the US. Correct?
If so, this is somewhat problematical. There is no automatic way to make this happen. The family-basedvisas you most often hear about are intended for attaining permanent resdency … Green Card and then US citizenship if desired. If the wife gets to the US on a K-3 or other spouse visa, the assumption is she is planning to stay in the US.
A Green Card holder can travel, but frequent trips, treating the Green Card as a milti-entry visa are aganst US law and _any_ cause penalties. I stress the “may” becuase many Filipino spouses have lived and traveled back and forth for years by means of this technical mis-use of the Green Card and suffered no ill-effects. I dobn’t recommend it.
The other way for the spouse to travel is with a simple tourist visa. The US embassay can be very difficult, however’ on these. If they have the suspicion that the Filipino spouse actually intends to enter the US and then stay, they will never issue the visa … and it costs $100 USD to file the application with no refund if not granted. The husband promissing he’ll be responsible, etc., means nothing to the US embassay, you have to remember there are as many as severla hundred thousand Filipino illegals in the US today and guranteed every sngle one of them promised faithfully they wouldn’t overstay. The visa is issued or denied based on the facts surrunding the Filipno, not what her spouse has to say.
As long as the wife meets the guidelines, which basically consit of convincing the consuar officer that there are strong ties t return the wife to the Philippines … property owned here, owning a bausiness here, non-trivial bank accounts or investments, then she likely can get a tourist visa. Tourist visa may be ‘one time’ or, at the embassay discretion, might be issued for 10 years with as many entries as desired. My mining engineer brother-in-law just applied for a visa for a one-time business trip to the US and was pleasantly surprised to see they gavehim a 10 year visa. Each individual’s mileage may vary.
I point out he issues simply because many, in the stuation you describe, are routinely denied.
I’m not a big lawyer fan, I don;’t think the average person needs a lawyer all that often, but in this case you might be smart to have a simple consultation first, before you file anything … I am by no means an expert in this area.
This fellow is particularly expert and trustworthy in this area, he’s helped thousands of Filipinos and he will not blow smoke.
http://www.gurfinkel.com/
Hope this could be of some help, and keep us posted if you make any progress ibn your quest.
@Mike K.: Wrong blog I think, but I echo the sentiments wholeheartedly.
Dave,
Yes that was exactly what I was trying to say. My wife will always live in the Philippines. Thanks for the link and information. I will contact him for additional guidance. Right now we are not sure how to go about it. We do have substantial evidence of a need to return to the Philippines. Maybe showing them the visa pages of my passport with 2 US visits for a week or less (since 2005) will also help convince them we have no plans of staying in the states.
Dave,
Sorry about that. To many things going on at once and I placed my comments in the wrong location. I also apologize to Bob and family.
@Mike K.: Yep, you seem to have a good grasp of what’s needed. How much influence your assurance will have I do not know … from what I have heard, spouses and others are not allowed anywhere near the interview for the tourist visa … they are evaluating the individual applying, but that’s why I feel it _may_ … certainly not a must … be better to invest in legal assistance at the beginning. It doesn’t take many unsuccessful $100 a pop applications to make up for the lawyer’s fee. Not lomg ago I rad about a Filipino fellow who was on his way to the embassy to submit his 13th! tourist visa application … that means he had already invested $1,200 USD in unsuccessful applications. He went to Atty Gurfinkel and it was found he was already qualified for a family-based visa his parents had applied for years ago … lawyers don’t always cost, sometimes they pay. Best of luck.