Salaam alekum!
Since we have a baby on the way, my husband would love to bring his mother to come visit and/or stay for a while to take care of the baby.

Simo is worried that his mother might not be able to get a visa--his parents are poor, but own their own house. I am pretty certain that his brothers (ages 19-30's) wouldn't be granted a visa, but I would think that his parents would have no problems. I also would like to bring his younger sister over for a while--she's still in high school, so I wonder if they would give her a visa?

I know that many of you have brought family members over to visit--did they have any issues getting a visa?

Hi Carolyn,

I can't speak from personal experience (as we are still waiting for the K-1 visa) but from my experience living in Morocco and talking with families, including my fiancé's, you are right, it should not be an issue. I am quite positive that none of his brothers could get the visa, and it is not even worth trying, his sister also might be difficult, but parents and grandparents, especially ones who have families, houses and/or retirement benefits in Morocco (and presumably speak no English) are not considered flight risks. The first time she gets a visa it might be for just the exact dates of the trip, but if she returns and applies again, she should probably be able to get the 10 year visa, which allows for unlimited travel for 10 years (this is what my fiancé's grandmother has, his Aunt lives in Florida). And you should take comfort knowing that applying for a tourist visa is actually a lot easier than what we are going through! If she is older and hasn't traveled abroad before, you might want to start the process of getting her a Passport.

That's my opinion! Good luck!

The only person in my husband's family who has applied is his 30-year-old, single brother. He was, of course, denied.

Sorry I don't have any experience, but from what I've heard, you shouldn't have difficulty getting a visa for his mother.

I can speak from experience. When we got pregnant for the first time last year, we had my in-laws apply for tourist visas and they both got them with no problems. In fact my FIL didn't even have an FBI background check performed, they picked up their passports together.

My MIL made the trip (I had to escort her; she can only speak Arabic) and going through Immigration at JFK was the easiest I've ever experienced. And she was dressed very traditionally too.

The important thing is to make sure when they go to the interview they have enough evidence of property and income that shows they plan on returning. My SIL living in the US had her first baby last year, so my MIL applied to visit. She was denied because there wasn't enough evidence of property and income to return. The house she lives in is in the kids names not hers. I felt so bad. She has no intentions on staying here, she would be miserable.

Not just that, but my husbands niece also lives here, and also gave birth to her first child. Her mother (my SIL) applied for a visitor visa to come see her first grand child and was also denied, for the same reason.

I don't want to discourage you, but just make sure they have enough proof to take to the interview.