Mother in law tourist visa

[Monica_RO 0]

My mother in law applied for a tourist visa from Bulgaria. She was denied twice, and 3rd time I involved the congressman who sent a letter to the embassy in Sofia and they gave her a visa for one year. I am active duty in the military and she came to support me while giving birth to her only grandson - since I had to go back to work a couple weeks after giving birth - I didn't really had to - I wasn't forced to, but I had to finish a job that was super important.

She stayed 6 months and she just returned back home. Her visa expires in July and she would like to come back the last 2 months before her visa expire since she doesn't know if she will ever get another visa. She wants to come back at the end of May and return to Bulgaria one week before her visa expire in July. I, on the other hand, believe that her coming back will affect her chances to get another visitors visa in the future. They will say - well you almost stayed the whole year there... I would love for her to spend some more time with her grandson, but I do not want to jeopardize her chances to ever coming back here. What are your thoughts? Am I right or wrong? Would her camming back affect her future visas? Thank you!

[aaron2020 11,651]

You are wrong.

Come visit. Leave your money. Go home. That's what is expected.

Don't spend more time in the US than out; don't abuse the visitor visa to de facto live here illegally with brief visits abroad.

If your MIL comes to the US, she will get 6 months. The visa expiration is when she can come to the US. The visa expiration has nothing to do with her visit. It's a used by date to enter the US; not an expiration date as to when she has to leave.

[HFM181818 748]

For how long did she tell the CO that she planned to stay? I doubt 6 months. Likely she claimed 1 or maybe 2....when the CO realizes that somebody fibbed, she will very likely find it difficult to get another B2, congressman or not. And if she tries to return after having spent half a year in the US, CBP may well send her home....and if that happens, she can forget about getting another B2 for quite a while. It is vital that people do what they say, instead saying what they hope someone else wants to hear....because credibility is paramount...I doubt that she told the CO that she was actually coming to the US to provide FREE child care so you could return to work...don't be surprised if things go sideways....a B2 visa is for visiting, not living and/or working in the US (and sorry, but providing free child care so you can avoid paying for it is considered work; it does not matter if she is your mother...there are NO exceptions)....a B2 visa is a privilege, an object of trust, not a game to be played in the hopes that our government folks will be fooled....they (COs) will not be amused to see that she likely told them one thing, but did another....I cannot understand after years of adjudicating visas why people think that whatever an applicant says should later be ignored....I promise you that I did not ignore anything an applicant told me who had been issued a limited validity visa and stayed 6 months 'because that's what they gave me.' Sorry....what did you tell me (or a colleague)? If the applicant said 1 month, but stayed 6, someone lied....and I did not issue visas to those who lied either to me or to a colleague....ever...under any circumstances....I did not care how many letters the applicant brought from some congressman.....congress did not hold sway over me.

[aaron2020 11,651]

After she enters the US, the I-94 determines when she has to leave; the visa expiration has nothing to do with when she has to leave

[HFM181818 748]

while the above statement is true, when it's time to renew her visa, what will matter is what she said, not what CBP did. Yes, in theory, while the visa is still valid, she could board a plane to the US....but that valid visa is merely an object with which to ask permission to be admitted...and applicants who are trying to be 'tourists' in the US for more time than they have spent in their own country are no longer considered tourists, but something else.

[Boiler 43,396]

So she came to provide child care?

[HFM181818 748]

that would be my guess, or else, why stay 6 months? What, to watch TV?