South Africans visiting for my K1- wedding.

[MarksMate 227]

Hi all.

 

So I just got my K1-Visa and have 3 friends travelling from South Africa for my wedding (South Africa is my place of birth and spent all of my childhood and teenage years there) I have been living in New Zealand for the past 11 years.  Our wedding is on May 20th and I am having 3 friends as bridesmaids in my wedding. So they will be applying for tourist visas and I was wondering what kind of documents they need to take with to their interview? They will be staying at mine and my fiancés house till the night before and night of the wedding where we will all be staying at a hotel near to the venue. After that they will spend 2 days in Vegas and then fly back home to SA. They will be in the US for 10 total days.

 

They have asked for mine and my fiancé's proof of employment. Obviously I am on a brand new K-1 and can't work. But why would the consulate need my fiancés proof of employment?

 

They have asked for receipts of bridesmaids dresses, shoes, rehearsal dinner receipt, hair & makeup receipt (They don't have copies of this as I have paid for these things for them) 

 

Proof of my and his legal status, the only way I can think this would be possible is to send a copy of mine and his passport and I don't want to do that.

 

has anyone done an interview in South Africa for a visitors visa and what kind of questions do they ask and what documents do you need to provide?

 

Thanks.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

I got a total of 4 tourist visas (and an immigrant visa, yay!) in SA, as well as visas for my kids and my husband did a couple too, and we managed to span consulates in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg... so yes I think I can answer

 

this stuff about your bank statements and your legal status and stuff, is a total misconception. What they need to do is show that they have ties to return to SA after. While having a copy of your wedding invitation or something will help show the reason for the trip and why they are staying with you, what they really need to be granted visas is proof of reasons to return home to SA: letters from their companies stating they are taking leave from x date to y date and returning to work after that, copies of title deeds to their properties (or mortgage statements) or copies of lease if renting, etc. if they have husbands they’re leaving at home while they come to the US, even better. It appears that with more people overstaying that visas are getting harder for South Africans to get, so they have to be sure to show the right stuff, which is all about what will make them go back to SA after. 

Edited March 1, 2018 by SusieQQQ

[TNJ17 1,329]

Your life and your fiance’s Life will have no effect on their tourist visas at all. You can sponsor a tourist visa. A tourist visa needs to be “sponsored” by the person applying for it. They need to show proof that they are coming back to their home country and they will not overstay or try to immigrate on a non immigrant visa. They need to show their own proof of employment, financial assets, bank statements, family ties to SA. A wedding invitation might be ok to show so that they know the reason why they’re going to the States but honestly it will have no say in it. It all comes down to them being able to convince on paper, not verbally, that they are going back home. 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

14 minutes ago, TNJ17 said:

. You can sponsor a tourist visa. 

Typo? * can’t

[TNJ17 1,329]

7 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Typo? * can’t

Ha. Totally. This website is weird sometimes. I’d sworn I wrote can’t and it changed. 

[waiting561 5]

7 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

I got a total of 4 tourist visas (and an immigrant visa, yay!) in SA, as well as visas for my kids and my husband did a couple too, and we managed to span consulates in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg... so yes I think I can answer

 

this stuff about your bank statements and your legal status and stuff, is a total misconception. What they need to do is show that they have ties to return to SA after. While having a copy of your wedding invitation or something will help show the reason for the trip and why they are staying with you, what they really need to be granted visas is proof of reasons to return home to SA: letters from their companies stating they are taking leave from x date to y date and returning to work after that, copies of title deeds to their properties (or mortgage statements) or copies of lease if renting, etc. if they have husbands they’re leaving at home while they come to the US, even better. It appears that with more people overstaying that visas are getting harder for South Africans to get, so they have to be sure to show the right stuff, which is all about what will make them go back to SA after. 

So, I can ask some questions...I wanted to ask what do you suggestion I do in this case...My husband is waiting on Police Clearance from SA and Nigerian Embassy..Can he fax or scan copies to me and then he brings in original for interviews? Can I email a scanned copy of my birth certificate for him to also bring? Do you think this is okay?

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

6 hours ago, waiting561 said:

So, I can ask some questions...I wanted to ask what do you suggestion I do in this case...My husband is waiting on Police Clearance from SA and Nigerian Embassy..Can he fax or scan copies to me and then he brings in original for interviews? Can I email a scanned copy of my birth certificate for him to also bring? Do you think this is okay?

I’m not sure what you mean. Not needed for a tourist interview. If it’s an immigrant visa, please don’t hijack this thread!

[Sean and Kristina 24]

Congratulations on your wedding and best of luck with your bridesmaids' visas. My husband is like you: born in South Africa, lived in New Zealand half his life, and then married an American (me). Now he's in the middle of Removal of Conditions for his green card. I'm interested in following your story and the feedback you get as we are trying to help some of his cousins obtain tourist visas to come visit our home in Texas. 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

1 minute ago, Sean and Kristina said:

Congratulations on your wedding and best of luck with your bridesmaids' visas. My husband is like you: born in South Africa, lived in New Zealand half his life, and then married an American (me). Now he's in the middle of Removal of Conditions for his green card. I'm interested in following your story and the feedback you get as we are trying to help some of his cousins obtain tourist visas to come visit our home in Texas. 

There’s not really much you can do to help. The cousins will need to convince the consulate where they interview that they will return back home after their visit, so it’s all about their ties to home- jobs, property, other family, etc. 

[Sean and Kristina 24]

5 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

There’s not really much you can do to help. The cousins will need to convince the consulate where they interview that they will return back home after their visit, so it’s all about their ties to home- jobs, property, other family, etc. 

That's what I've tried to emphasize and I fear that might be a problem. These are his younger cousins (17 and 19-years-old) who still live with their parents, work part-time as waitresses, and aren't enrolled in any school. I've told them they need to do everything they can to prove they have intent to return to SA so the US government doesn't assume they'll try and live with us (and never leave). Perhaps they could have their boss write a letter about their leave/holiday dates even though it would obviously be unpaid? 

Edited March 6, 2018 by Sean and Kristina

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Their boss writing a letter can’t hurt, but because it’s quite informal work it may not help either unfortunately. To be frank they don’t really fit the profile of people being granted visas (i didn’t either on my first try to be honest but I got one anyway, just valid for a year) so they may be lucky, but they should probably be prepared for disappointment too.