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milpol · Jul 31, 2007, 02:54 PM

Hi
I am hoping someone else has gone through the same experience as me.

A few months ago I was refused entry into the US as they believed I was there under false pretences. I was travelling back to the states with my partner to visit him for a month and then was returning to the Spain where I have been residing for the past five years. Even though we had just got engaged we had no set any dates or the like for a marriage. The immigration department thought otherwise, so I was un-happily parted from my partner and sent back on the first available flight. My partner and I married in spain and I am still not even allowed to visit him. I DO NOT want to become a US Citizen as I am happy to be a British Citizen. All I would like to do is visit him until all the paperwork has gone through. Then stay with him until he has finished his service in the Military where we will be returning to live in Spain.
The US Government have said they will deny me entry whenever I try to fly over there to see him unless all the relevant paperwork has been completed and accepted.
Has anyone else experienced this problem and is there any other way that the US Immigration law allows spouses to visit their partners before all paperwork is accepted?
I am not marrying for a green card and am very much in love with my husband.

Any help would be greatly appreciated?

A very un-happy woman.:(

pacific nw · Jul 31, 2007, 08:54 PM

Your post is a little confusing. You say you will be getting married in 2 weeks time, yet the heading says "Now Married..."

While there are benefits with none of the responsibilities when you live with someone and are not married, (you can walk out of the relationship at the drop of a hat) the benefit of Citizenship in the US comes with completing ALL of the requirements. And so it should be to my way of thinking. (Yes, my wife is an immigrant. We went through ALL of the steps, (in the proper order) and have never regretted it in 30 years of marriage.

milpol · Aug 1, 2007, 02:17 AM

Thanks, I aprreciate your response. How long did the paperwork take for your wife to get her citizenship?
Also, was she allowed to visit you while the process was taking place?
This is what I am finding difficult, the fact that I cannot be with my husband at all while thigs are being sorted out.

pacific nw · Aug 1, 2007, 10:46 PM

My wife and I married 30 years ago. Until we were married, we courted by travelling between the U.S. and Canada. She had a married couple as friends I could stay with when I visited. We married in Canada. She moved into the US on a Green Card after we married.

It wasn't until I learned much later that she could be deported upon my death that I realized how important it was for her to get her citizenship. (She is Canadian, so being sent back wouldn't be a disaster, but she is more "American" than "Canadian" by personalty. Yes, there is a difference.) Anyway, I talked her into getting her citizenship because of our young children at the time. She had to take classes, learn a little American history and was very proud to stand and take the oath. This has become her country. She DID NOT have to give up her Canadian citizenship. (We visit family in Canada and Britain often.)

This might not apply to you but that is how it happened with us. By the way, I am also quite fond of our British family and British friends.

Lowtax4eva · Aug 2, 2007, 07:55 AM

Yes, that always shocked me too to find out (and see) that upon death of a sponsor the applicant has to leave the country.

Your only choice, as mentionned above is to apply for citizenship, or apply for a visitor's visa at the US consulate in Spain, but as they told you outright they will deny you entry they most likely will not give you even a visitor's visa. However, during the interim while the papers are being processed it could hurt to try.