my fiances mother wants to come to our wedding. were on a k1 that just got approved. an agency told me that theres a special invite for her to come to the wedding. is this true or will she just have to apply for a regular vacation visa? shes in mexico btw.

Never trust an agency.

Regular vacation Visa.

yea i thought so thanks boiler.

Yeah, the agency lied to you or misinformed you for lack of a better word.

The only thing you can do is write her an invitation letter so she can show the CO when she goes for a tourist visa. Other than that, there is nothing you or she can do.

Diana

do you think it makes a difference that my fiance is still in her home country? she will be coming in july and we will be getting married in august but her mother will probably apply in may.

I really don't think it would make a difference. These COs make their decisions to grant tourist visas on how they may feel that day. It's a total gamble, she might go with no evidence and get approved or she might go with all the evidence in the world and not get approved. You never know what might happen.

Diana

and it has been reported that the "letter of invitation" from a USC has very little if any impact... The applicant must still overcome the presumption of immigrant intent.

I wouldn't even try the letter. To get her tourist visa she will have to show proof she will return to her home country and there is little risk of staying in the US. She needs to show property, bank statements, a letter from her employer, etc. And remember the Visa is only half, you have to prove the same at the POE. Unfortunately USCIS and the State Department are 2 seperate entities in the US government so they both get a chance to approve or deny a visitor.
My mother-in-law has always had her B1 visa and keeps it renewed but the difficulty is CBP at the POE. Luckily she lives near the border so if one agent denies her I-94 she just goes to another POE. You have to learn what type of person will approve or deny you. She would never immigrate here because she has her medical covered in her home country and she is past retirement age. All her other children and grand children live there and they have their own homes and good income.
Maybe someday they will just put a gps tracking device on all non immigrant visitors so if they overstay then they can find them instead of denying them entry when they want to visit family.

Well, that's what's a gray area really. My cousins came to this country with tourist visas and the only reason why the CO granted them was because of the invitation letter and the I-134 my parents had sent them. So it doesn't hurt to bring it. But I do have another cousin who took all that with him and the CO didn't even want to interview him or look at the paperwork he had. He was flat out denied. The whole process is so strange.

Diana

The invitation letter is good to show the purpose of the trip, but what is really important is that the applicant is able to prove:
1. Enough ties to his/her home country.
2. He/she has enough to money to afford traveling.

I agree with Gabby&Talbert, the POE experience is not always a very pleasant one when traveling on a tourist visa.

They should make the USC responsible for returning the immigrant, if they don't they go to jail or they pay a big fine or something. In Mexico if you drive into the country very far they charge you a big deposit and if you don't return you don't get your money back. Even if a GPS tracking device was required for non immigrants it would be fine and then our family wouldn't have to go through a humiliating interview and be rejected.

Yes I agree, they should find a way to solve the problem instead of stopping people from visiting/traveling.

They are visitors not immigrants.

But just thinkit through in practice, what would I be supposed to do, kidnapp the person? How would I find them in the first place.

Mexico deposit is I believe to do with a potential import of the vehicle, not the driver.

But the problem is that many people who do come as visitors forget to go home, without serios enforcement, unlikely, nothing will change.

What about tracking devices? Implant a chip in all visitors or all non citizens?

Or just bar code us, on our forehead so it can be easily scanned.

Bar coding is old school technology, implanted microchips is the future. All your information with a quick scan. No more identity theft or illegal workers. Require all employers to buy a scanner, all police, all banks, all retailers. No more credit cards or cash needed either.

thanks for the replies everyone. guess the mom will just have to apply on her own. i hope she doesnt get turned back at houston p.o.e

Just thought I would add my two cents to the discussion. I would think the letter of invite would be great to bring but I agree the biggest thing to have at the interview is proof of ties to the country.

In the case of my fiance, when he applied for a tourist visa he brought a huge folder of evidence that included a letter from his boss, bank statements, pay stubs, a letter from a lawyer discussing his affiliation with a local business, etc. etc. Basically we thought he had more than enough evidence of ties to the country.....we also had letters from my parents saying they would assist him financially on his trip. DID THEY LOOK AT THE FOLDER? NO.

They took one look at him and basically within 5 minutes he was denied. It is pretty hard to get a tourist visa from what is considered to be a more "developing country". In Costa Rica for example, where my fiance is from, about 85 % of the people who apply for tourist visas are denied.

Good luck getting your mother-in-law to be to the US. I am facing the same issue but I think we will just have to end up doing two completly different ceremonies...one here in the US and one abroad.

In 2006, only 24.1% of Costa Rican B visas overall were denied. This is the rate that includes those who were originally denied, and overcame the denial (adjusted visa denial rate).

http://travel.state.gov/pdf/CombinedRefusalRate.pdf