Opinion of some B2 interview preparation material

[ltkenbo 3]

Let me preface my post by saying, I understand that the primary goal of a B2 visa interview will be for the applicant to overcome the presumption of being an intended immigrant by showing strong ties to their home country and convince the consular officer of their likelihood to return. That being said, I have a couple of other questions.

 

We would like for my mother in law (who lives in Peru) to come visit us. She has never applied for a visa before so we are preparing her for her interview and so I had a couple of other questions.

 

1. If she was granted the visa, we would be funding her trip expenses. Is there any reason for her to bring any proof of this - I understand that "invitation letters" usually do nothing but cause harm as they make the consular officer think the person will have more ties to the US then their home country. Just want to see if there is any reason to give her anything like this, or if we should just completely forget about it.
    
2. Do you think that this specific example would be helpful or hurtful evidence of ties to the ones home country:
   
   My mother in law recently recovered from cancer. Because of this, she has periodic doctor's appointments  she has to attend, including another coming up several months from now. Her doctor and previous treatments while she had cancer were all conducted in Peru, and so she will need to return in a couple of months to attend the next one to verify that she remains cancer free. 
   
   Helpful or hurtful? From one perspective, this is a tie to Peru because she has specific doctor's appointments scheduled (all of which she has attended in the past) that she needs to be present for to make sure she stays healthy and receives good care. From another perspective, this could be interpreted as she wants to come to the US and live here to receive better healthcare and benefits. How do you think this would be interpreted? This would not be her only tie, but if this one is good I would like her to use it, otherwise we'll forget about it.
    
3. Finally, is 2.5 months an acceptable amount of time to visit assuming she is asked how long she plans to visit for?

 

Thanks!

 

[Ben&Zian 4,397]

Amount of time given generally is always up to immigrations when she arrives to the US, granted she gets the visa but couple months does not sound too bad honestly.

 

The invitation letter, some will say it is of no use and even detrimental. I did use an invitation letter for my partner before and he would have actually been approved except for his J-1 homestay rule had not been completed; but with that also he had a good track record of being in the US twice before so that was a positive for him.

 

The doctor appointment, to me does not hold any real weight at all honestly. Like you said, she could be coming to the US to live with you and gain medical and see doctors here. That to me doesn't seem convincing.

 

It is tough sometimes when you are trying to come up with ideas of what these "ties" could be. Does she have other children there? Own a home? Renting? Bills? Things like that all together could show some ties. 

[KierenHby 897]

Why coach her? 

 

Best to have her have a free flowing conversation in her language about why and how long she wants to visit.