A couple of potentially stupid questions

[Yuriy]

1. Ok. My fiancee has a K1 and is coming to US from Russia. What should she put down on i-94 for 8. Country of residence, Russia or US?

2. On the same form, 11 asks for "City where you boarded." She is flying from St Petersburg to Vienna from there to Washington. Is this asking for origin of the last leg of the flight, the one that takes her to US or the original point of travel. I am guessing the latter, St Petersburg.

3. #15 of 6059B asks her to declare all the goods the non-resident is bringing into US permanently. There is a duty on everything after the first $100. Since she is migrating, she is obviously bringing stuff with her, like clothes, a couple of books, a notebook, etc. Will she really need to declare and pay duty on all that stuff? What would happen if she leaves it blank?

4. Her English is not that good, will the customs call for interpreter right away, wait till they run into problems, or not at all?

Thanks ahead of time to anybody who can shed at least partial light on these important questions

[Bernie31]

1. Ok. My fiancee has a K1 and is coming to US from Russia. What should she put down on i-94 for 8. Country of residence, Russia or US?

Given that she is coming here on a K1, intent to marry US citizen and live here, I'd assume US to be the country of residence. If on a visitors visa and someone wrote US, I'd imagine that they would be sent back by return flight

2. On the same form, 11 asks for "City where you boarded." She is flying from St Petersburg to Vienna from there to Washington. Is this asking for origin of the last leg of the flight, the one that takes her to US or the original point of travel. I am guessing the latter, St Petersburg.

First port of embarkation - St Petersburg

3. #15 of 6059B asks her to declare all the goods the non-resident is bringing into US permanently. There is a duty on everything after the first $100. Since she is migrating, she is obviously bringing stuff with her, like clothes, a couple of books, a notebook, etc. Will she really need to declare and pay duty on all that stuff? What would happen if she leaves it blank?

Only gifts. Her personal effects that she needs to live here with are exempt. My wife and I landed at JFK with 3 big suitcases each. She was coming here on a K3 (same logic applies with K1) to live in this country assuming CR would be attained in the 2 years her K3 is valid for. We were simply waived through as our 'gifts" were less than max allowed.

4. Her English is not that good, will the customs call for interpreter right away, wait till they run into problems, or not at all?

Her first barrier is the visa guys. They will take her to a separate office to process her K1 (envelop etc). I am sure most immigrants struggle as the situation is stressful. It does, even now, overwhelm my parents who speak very good English. Given that the folks manning these places recognize this and will therefore assist with interpreters if their questions are not being answered due to lack of understanding of the language.

Thanks ahead of time to anybody who can shed at least partial light on these important questions

HTH
Udachi!! or as we say here in the US of A - Good luck.

[Yuriy]

Given that she is coming here on a K1, intent to marry US citizen and live here, I'd assume US to be the country of residence.

So far, based on info I am receiving, it seems that you are not correct. She is not a resident of the US yet, though she intends to become one, (in fact, as you probably know, K1 is not an immigrant visa) so the country of residence is Russia.

If on a visitors visa and someone wrote US, I'd imagine that they would be sent back by return flight

I may be really paranoid, but do they actually do that? Send somebody back at customs, because they fill out immigration form incorrectly?

Udachi!! or as we say here in the US of A - Good luck.

Spasibo! ))

[Russell]

My wife (then fiancee) came to the USA as a K-1 last year.

From my memory

1. I used her country of origin as country of residence. (K-1 grants you an entry to the US not residence)

2. On the I-94 we put The city in which we first boarded. I don't think they care about connecting flights.

3. My wife brought similar things. Clothing, a few books, jewelry that she had on her person but none in her bags. We declared the clothing/ books and valued it like it was at a garage sale. My mother tried to guess what a pawnshop would give us for her jewelry. We declared a few small chocolates and coffee cups at full price. They barely glanced at her customs form and waived us through.

4. When I processed, I asked the officer about My Fiancee (now wife) proccessing a K-1 VISA and he said most likely they will just process her. When it was her turn I just walked up and said that I was her fiancee and she does not speak allot of English. My wife was able to answer many of the questions and when she struggled, I did not answer the question but kinda simplified it with english words that I thought she knew. We did not have to go to a seperate room.


That was our experience. I hope your fiancee's trip was as smooth as my wifes.

[Bernie31]

So far, based on info I am receiving, it seems that you are not correct. She is not a resident of the US yet, though she intends to become one, (in fact, as you probably know, K1 is not an immigrant visa) so the country of residence is Russia.

My wife came here on a K3 (spouse non-immigrant) and did write, at my urging with my logic, US as country of residence and encountered no fuss anywhere. It is based on intent. Just like travel visa (also non-immigrant) folks intend to only visit and return and thus for them country of residence cannot be US.