I am a permanent resident here (have been here for 6 years); I am graduating from law school next month. My mom is in Russia; she is 58, a widow, but gainfully employed, has two apartments, good income, and my brother with his family. She has already been denied a visa once (4 years ago). What are her chances of getting a visa to come to my graduation, and what can I do to help the process?

I would really appreciate your advice!

What was the reason for denial 4 years ago? Has anything changed in her situation to make that reason go away?
It seems from your information that she should have enough ties back to home to ensure her return, but for that denial.

Elina,

We are still not sure what the reason for the denial four years ago was. I suspect that one of the reasons was that the invitation came from my then-boss, who was not married at the time (and she was a widow). I know we have to demonstrate the "change in the circumstances," and that is hard to do. I can think of (1) greater income she now has; (2) significant other she now has; (3) she is now the only caretaker for her 85-year-old mother (which was not the case before); and (4) she now has the second apartment. I am also getting the letter from the Senator in MI to hopefully persuade the officer. The big problem is that she is a widow, and that she has this denial to overcome.

If anybody has any other advice, it would be greatly appreciated. I am trying to see if there are other avenues I can pursue--some letters, some evidences, some "ties" I could draw officer's attention to.

Also, has anybody purchased airline tickets in advance? Does it help? And can you get a refund if the visa flunks?

Thanks so much!

Actually it's Igor here. (Elina was reading over my shoulder though.)

Sounds like there are quite a few positive changes to improve the circumstances. If I was a betting man I'd say that she's got a good chance of getting a visa now. You understand though that it's just me betting though, your mileage may vary.

As far as I know invitation letters are not required and usually not even looked at. I would skip one altogether. Instead get her something official looking about your graduation. Letters from senators or anything like that probably would not help either, they cannot convince an officer that there are enough ties to go back after the trip. I think that the most effective play would be for your mother to simply say that she is going for a short trip to attend your graduation, have that evidenced in some way, and have all the evidence about her ties. BTW, her being the only caretaker of an 85-year mother is really good, there's nothing better as "ties" then leaving a dependant behind, get some good evidence of that.

Getting tickets in advance does not usually help. Refunding them might not work, it depends on tickets, some are refundable, some only partially, some are not.

--Igor

Igor,

Thanks so much for your tips. And congratulations to you and Elina on your recent marriage. It is a challenging way (we just got done with I-751, removing conditions), but it is well worth it!

Ira

Keep in mind that a denial in the past is really no concern for today. There's nothing to "overcome" so to speak.

Also, your status has changed in the past four years. It could be that now you're presenting a more valid reason to come to the U.S. and that will be the deciding factor.

I replied to the other thread you started. Mash the two answers from there and here, and that's where I stand on this issue!

Thanks, Slim--

I saw your success with the sister--that's wonderful. I filled out all the documents myself; just shipped it out yesterday. We hope to get the interview for the later part of April, so that she would not have to come back to Tomsk before flying out. I am keeping my fingers crossed

Again, thanks for both of your answers.

Another thing you might want to keep in mind is visitor visas can be done at the consulates as well as the embassy. May be a little easier than going to Moscow.