Hi all:

I have a question and I know that this has probably been asked elsewehere. Please forgive me for asking again.

We would like to invite his mother to come from Nigeria. We recently had a little baby girl and we really would like for her to visit us before she gets too big. We would like for the others to come too and we know that will be asking too much from the US Embassy. In any case, We definitely would like for Mamo to come see the baby and care for her as she so desires. This is her first and her only grandchild right now and it would be a joy for her to be here.

If you all have had success in bringing someone from Nigeria or any other country for a visit, please let us know and provide us the steps that we would need to take to get the paperwork done.

I pray that this will be done. I so look forward to seeing her here in the States before we visit Nigeria again.

Thanks in advance for your help.

God Bless!!

LadyLove2006

Here is what I have done to get my parents a tourist visa (from Ghana):

They need to fill out the DS-156 (online) and pay the fee (now $131). And they made the appointment online.

I sent them an invitation letter to take with them to the interview.

Passport photos, proof of ties and their bank statements (to show how they were going to support themselves here since I was a college student).

I think that was it. They got 5 year visas and each time they have come they have been allowed a 6 month stay...no problems

ETA: You might want to check out Coming to America.

Congrats again LadyLove2006 on your new bundle of joy and thanks for asking this question.

I am inviting 9 relatives from Nigeria to my wedding and was told to do the same thing that Zee did with the letterof invitation. I was also told to send a copy of my wedding invitation and an a tentative reservation at a hotel. My point is, that you might want to enquire into sending a biirth annoncement.

Thanks Zee I now Nigeria and Ghana are sooo very different, but, it is good to see that with proof of strong ties people can still get tourist visas.

We_Destiny, I agree. I had sort of given up on the idea of my SO's mother ever coming to visit because it seems almost impossible to get tourist visas these days. This has restored some faith and I will discuss it with my SO tonight.

Zee, thanks for posting. What kind of proof of ties did your parents use?

My parents got letters from their employers. They also own a business but I am not sure if they used that information. They also brought their bank statements and copies of mine and my sisters passports (to verify our signatures and to prove we were USCs). I sent an invitiation letter (asking the CO to grant my parents a visa so that they could come and how long it had been since I had seen them) and a copy of my college transcript.

okay, so you basically kinda showed proof on both end, right? I'm already writing a list of things we can try to compile.

Most definitely.

I hope I am not raining on anyones parade but I did the same thing for my wedding and everyone was denied even my husband as he was still my fiance at the time!!! Thats why we ended up gettin married in Nigeria as I knew nothing about the immigration process asthe time. In Nigeria It is easier to get a visa for parents than for wedding party members. They will loiok at the persons age, occupation, financial situation, family ties, marriage status, among other things. What they have to prove is not that they will behave here but that they are doing well enough there or strong enough connections to not want to stay here illegally. So an unmarried cousin with no job or children will most likely be denied. Whereby a Grandma with a husband, grandchildren and a home will more than likely want to be home whith them after a visit here.

Good points.

Felshen

Thanks for that and no you are not raining on our parade.

We gave all that thought when we included them on the guest list, they are all atleast 40+, married with children, have good jobs and or work for themselves and can prove very strong ties to their home country and most of them have travelled out of Nigeria to other countries and returned. I have prepared my So that all of them will probably not be able to get visa, but, we have too try.

Girl please, we are trying to do our own thing here and prosper, at this point we most definitely do not need anyone trying to stay and live with us.

Your psot was very much appreciated

thank you,

Everything I've read in this thread is very good. The only thing I can add is that when we were planning to go to the US after we were married, I called the US embassy in my husband's country and spoke to the Consular Officer. This may not be possible in Nigeria. My husband comes from the much smaller country next door to Nigeria;) The US embassy there is probably not as busy as the one in Nigeria. On the phone I explained our situation and why my husband would be applying for a B-2 visa and not an immigrant visa. He basically assured me that since my husband had a way to immigrate legally, as long as he brought some evidence of ties to the country, he would not be considered a risk to immigrate illegally and would be granted the visa.

I also wrote a letter to the Consular Officer for my husband to bring with him to his interview with the same explanation as I had given over the phone. I don't know if any of this helped, but I tend to think it did. Of course, as I say, the embassy is probably a lot smaller and therefore more personable than the one in Nigeria. But you could also try sending a letter, in addition to the invitation, explaining that you hope to invite a lot of family members over in the future and you would not jeopardize their visa chances by helping your mother-in-law to immigrate illegally.

Good luck.

Those were some great tips. I didn't think it was raining on our parade either. Just another perpective of looking at things.




ROFL at that. I know that's right!

Hi All:

Thanks for the helpful information. We are certainly going to begin the process and I will let you know when she will be arriving. Have to speak positive in this situation. It would mean a lot to all of us to see her here.

Love you guys.

LadyLove2006