Getting A Us Turist Visa For The Girlfriend

[DontMindMe]

If you are just a permanent resident of the US, there is no fiancé visa.
If you are a US citizen, you can apply for a fiancé visa (it should be K-1, if I am not mistaken) , upon the condition that you two must get married in the US within 90 days. Then she could make an adjustment of status and you should file a I-130 petition so that she can get a green card and become a permanent resident of the US (this way she can stay as long as she wants in the US).

For US citizens, the spouse sponsorship process (I-130) takes from 4 months to 12 months, depending on where you file your petition and you luck.

If she just want to go there for less than 90 days as a tourist, then she'd better not mention that she has a US fiancé. USCIS is not exactly the nicer immigration office you can meet. They always search for potentia illegal immigrants and heavily scrutinize anybody who applies for a visa. Tell her to prepare a solid story with good evidence of her intention to coming back after the wedding, proof such as school enrollment and attendance papers, rent contract or family liaisons, etc.

You are mixing things up. K1 people do not file an I-130 at any stage of the process. And those applying for a tourist visa are not actually dealing with USCIS, they are dealing with the Bureau of Consular Affairs under the U.S. Department of State. But don't take my word for it. The official gov't pages are out there with the correct information, so Google away, folks, it's not that hard.

I gave my girlfriend my US tax return as proof that I can afford to pay for the trip, but she said that they didn't ask for proof. The only thing they looked at was her school papers.

This is a great example of what NOT to do. All that would have shown is that she'd have an American who would be willing to assist her financially if she decided to overstay. Be glad they didn't ask to see all her papers, since that's not an idea you want to plant in the consular officer's head. As others have said, this is Argentina and it's really not hard at all for people here compared to other countries. But avoiding a bad idea such as this one won't hurt. The Argentine wants to show reasons he or she will return to Argentina, not reasons they may try to stay in the U.S., like an American partner with money in the bank.

 

[GuilleGee]

The first question they will ask her, is how she got to know your friend who is getting married. A good reply could be that he/she was her roommate in buenos aires.
If she says "through my US boyfriend", I doubt that the word marriage+boyfriend won't ring any bell.

This is REALLY BAD advice. Do not ever lie to a Immigration Officer - these would be ground to being blacklisted forever. When my now-wife first came to visit me in the US, we had only been dating 4-5 months. She presented her documents, her proof of work, a letter from me and my mother inviting to our home. In the end they didn't ask for any of this documentation, and just wanted to talk to her. Once they decided she was genuine, and saw that she had work and school to return to, her tourist visa was granted no problem.

Of course, situations for every individual is different, but it is important to under no circumstances LIE ABOUT ANYTHING.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

Most of these posts are 100% correct. I went through the exact process with my gf / now wife that you are now considering.

1. DO NOT TELL THEM YOU ARE GETTING ENGAGED. If you do they will deny her tourist visa on the spot and will have her apply for a fiancé visa. This is a favorite trick question. If they ask say, "No, but it is going well. I'd like my parents to meet her, etc etc."

2. Once you get married they will immediately cancel her tourist visa. She will need to then apply for a spousal visa and WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO ENTER THE US while this is in process. For us this was 14 months. I was in the US in a new job and she was stuck here in Argentina. It is highly frowned upon to go to the US on a tourist visa and then suddenly get married.

3. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER lie to to US Immigration. You lie once, you are on the sh*t list for life.

4. Do EXACTLY what you say to US Immigration you will do. Arrive on the agreed date. Go only to the agreed places. Leave on the agreed date. This will make it much easier for her to continue to get tourist visas.

5. Hire an immigration lawyer. It will save you tons of headaches and worry.

Good luck!

GS

 

[DontMindMe]

Most of these posts are 100% correct. I went through the exact process with my gf / now wife that you are now considering.

1. DO NOT TELL THEM YOU ARE GETTING ENGAGED. If you do they will deny her tourist visa on the spot and will have her apply for a fiancé visa. This is a favorite trick question. If they ask say, "No, but it is going well. I'd like my parents to meet her, etc etc."

2. Once you get married they will immediately cancel her tourist visa. She will need to then apply for a spousal visa and WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO ENTER THE US while this is in process. For us this was 14 months. I was in the US in a new job and she was stuck here in Argentina. It is highly frowned upon to go to the US on a tourist visa and then suddenly get married.

3. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER lie to to US Immigration. You lie once, you are on the sh*t list for life.

4. Do EXACTLY what you say to US Immigration you will do. Arrive on the agreed date. Go only to the agreed places. Leave on the agreed date. This will make it much easier for her to continue to get tourist visas.

5. Hire an immigration lawyer. It will save you tons of headaches and worry.

Good luck!

GS

Okay, this is the last time I'm going to correct misinformation on this thread. Everyone in general when investigating this stuff should go to official government sites for information FIRST, and then if you are still confused, go to http://www.visajourney.com and search or ask questions there. Everyone on BAExpats seems to think his or her own personal experience is universal for some reason.

#2 is incorrect. Marriage to a U.S. citizen does not get one's tourist visa automatically cancelled. And people with tourist visas often get married and visit the U.S during the spouse visa process. Is there any guarantee that the foreigner will be let in? No, but that's never a guarantee, so you'd better have evidence that you're heading back and will finish the process from abroad. But they do not automatically cancel everyone's tourist visa upon marriage to a USC. There are entire threads of people on Visa Journey who share their point of entry experiences as visitors to the U.S. while still going through the spouse visa or even K1 visa process. Also, you can absolutely go to the U.S. on a tourist visa and get married in Vegas or whatever, as long as the foreign party leaves afterwards without overstaying and applies for the appropriate spouse visa from abroad. Trying to overstay and adjust status is when you risk being banned from the country for life.

#5 (This is a matter of opinion)-- If you're willing to spend thousands of dollars and have a solid recommendation for a good lawyer, knock yourself out. But know that a lawyer can't do anything to speed up the process. Plenty of people go the DIY route and are successful. It's certainly cheaper, you know exactly what's going on with your case at all times because you receive all correspondence directly, and you don't have to worry about your paperwork gathering dust on someone's desk. If you are of reasonable intelligence and can read and write, there is no real need for a lawyer unless you have a complicated case (someone has a nasty criminal record, etc.)

 

[Azagarth]

#2 is incorrect. Marriage to a U.S. citizen does not get one's tourist visa automatically cancelled. And people with tourist visas often get married and visit the U.S during the spouse visa process. Is there any guarantee that the foreigner will be let in? No, but that's never a guarantee, so you'd better have evidence that you're heading back and will finish the process from abroad. But they do not automatically cancel everyone's tourist visa upon marriage to a USC. There are entire threads of people on Visa Journey who share their point of entry experiences as visitors to the U.S. while still going through the spouse visa or even K1 visa process. Also, you can absolutely go to the U.S. on a tourist visa and get married in Vegas or whatever, as long as the foreign party leaves afterwards without overstaying and applies for the appropriate spouse visa from abroad. Trying to overstay and adjust status is when you risk being banned from the country for life.

Well that really is terrible to hear. I was possibly planning to marry her in the states while she was on a tourist visa, though we would come back to Argentina for 3 months after, and then make the permanent move to the states. So from what I am hearing is that if I marry her in the states it will for sure cause issues for her getting a visa to permanently move there? I'm kind of confused now by the various stories.

So if I understand it correctly, correct me if I'm mistaken. Once she gets her tourist visa and we go to the states to visit, if I marry her there and start residency visa, she is going to have big problems. However if we go to the states, get married, and she comes back to Argentina she will be fine. Then I just have to finish her spouse visa and she can come live freely without issues in the states forever?

 

[PhilipDT]

Here's the issue. If, when you guys move to the US, she doesn't already have a residency, she will have to answer the standard CBP "what is the purpose of your visit to the US" question in one of two ways:

1. I'm moving here with my husband in order to live here.

2. I'm here to visit my husband's family / see the sights / [insert touristy activity].

If she answers with the former, CBP likely will tell her that that her non-resident B2 visa doesn't permit that and she could be denied entry. If she answers with the latter, she'll have lied to a CBP agent which is the kind of thing that seriously puts a damper on future visa applications.