Denied tourist visa at Ghana Embassy WHY

[kps518 0]

On March 25, 2009 was finally the day that my boyfriend was to have his interview. The wait was torture but the preparation of all the documents were even worst. But yeah the day was here.

Well, Our happiness was short lived unfortunately the interview was cold and impersonal and lasted all of 3 minutes. The supporting documents were never even reviewed by the interviewer and he was glued to the passport just wanted to know why he wanted to go to the United States he replied for a Small Business Summit at the United States Chamber Of Commerce. Which he had all the documents with the confirmation # and receipt, and contact person to confirm everything those documents were never even looked at. He then questioned why he had not travelled to China and Togo seeing the visas that had been granted. He replied because he had this opportunity to become available so he preferred this opportunity. He then abruptly ended the conversation and gave the denial paper with the stamp denied and reasons given being 1. No travel experience 2. No Financial ties to Ghana.

If the interviewer had even taken the time he would have seen the supporting documents for his Business in Ghana, Land Ownership, Rental Property, His current construction contracts. etc...

It is imperative that he is in attendance at this Small Business Summit in Washington DC. What can we do? I called the Consulate and wrote an email explaining our situation. It is so frustrating spending all that time , and money organizing everything and it is barely even looked at.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have been advised to just wait a year and try again, someone else suggested we should get a Lawyer and go back as soon as possible. Time is not on our side. The conference is May 11-May 13.

We were hoping that when he went to the conference he would also be able to meet my family. He has no intentions of staying in the USA at this time. but we felt that this visit would be strong evidence when we began the filing for the Fiance Visa process. We are both heartbroken. For each other and the fact that this Conference would greatly help his business back in Ghana.

[Sylvia_n_Joseph 3]

If a visa is rejected there is a always a wiat period to reapply. I am afraid he will not be getting a visa in time. There is little a lawyer can do. It is vey hard to get visas from Africa. You have to a large number of high value assets. Most of us can't gets our SO's here on temp visas.

[christera22 8]

Its complex . Either i am understanding wrong or you are telling something wrong. Before suggesting let me get a few things clear. So your boyfriend applied for tourist visa for the summit with both the intention of meeting you and attending the summit. So you both thought this both the evidence of physical meet which is a must for K1 visa. Right ?

a) If so then the CO is perfectly right. They look into certain things ... like how many international trips the person has done. In his case it was nill. Plus he had visas and didnt go. So the CO thought he didnt go so that he can go to US.

B) Showing bank accounts, job in Ghana, properties in his name, plocies , life insurance in his name etc etc proves ties to Ghana. Plus they specially want to see something for which he wd return to Ghana. Say for example for married people its wife, it can also be a job, some college course he is attending etc etc.

Now he has no way to show that he has foreign travels but he can always show what I detailed in point B. Without those in B the CO will never allow him . Problem is Co didnt want to see those inspite he had those. When i 1st came in USA i didnt have any foreign travels but i had huge proofs of ties to india and stuff which i showed that i wd come back to india for. Plus talking convincingly is also a big point. I went in a business trip while i was attending a college course. So I had a letter from the college that they know that I am going to US and wd continue my course after coming back. The whole interview has to be very convincing and eye to eye ... he has to speak with lot of straight forwardedness to make the CO believe that he wd indeed come back. So i had to convince the CO that I wd return. BUt then I returned in two months when i had 3 months visa. Next time also when i visited for business i was asked no question and the interview was only 1.5 minutes as once when u come back within the visa time , 2nd time getting the visa is real easy, because its proved that you will come back.

You already said he had a bunch of proofs regarding his ties to Ghana, which the CO didnt want to see. He can also get an emergency letter from the summit organisation. BUt you said you called the Consulate and wrote an email explaining your situation. That was a wrong thing to do as now the consulate knows that apart from the summit his other major reason to go to USa is meeting his fiance. They wont allow it.

Problem is they showed two points

a) No travel experience - He cannot change that ...unless he goes to some other countried for a short visit and then appears to the consulate again.

B) No financial ties : this can be countered with all those things he took for interview.

I wd say here the best thing to do is you visitng him. You wd get a visa to ghana very very easily and with much less effort than him coming to you. You can visit him with your family too , if you feel safe that way. He can try for another interview too, but you have already let the consulate know about your situation ..so that makes it more No. I hope some more senior people here can suggest you better.

Thanks a lot.

[christera22 8]

Plus i agree to Sylvia , due to the high fraud rate, they are highly suspicious about african countries. Another thing you can do is meet him in some foreign country wher he can go for some conference etc. You two can have some good time and keep evidence like photograph together with differnt people in different places, plane tickets, hotel receipts.

Edited March 27, 2009 by christera22

[Dakine 26]

Pretty difficult to get travel experience if they won't let you travel!!

[visacheck 3]

As far as i know, no lawyer can help you right now. A denied tourist visa can not be overturned. Your boyfriend should have reasoned out or volunteered his documents before they stamped his passport because normally before consuls stamp the passports they first tell the applicants that the application is being denied and gives the applicant a chance to convince them. Sometimes consuls dont ask for any document, they base their decision just by looking at previous travels abroad or just by looking at the applicants and how they answer the questions.

In 2001 I was given a business visa to attend a conference in las vegas. In 2004 when i applied again for a tourist visa with my family i was denied but my parents were approved. As soon as i got home i scheduled for another interview appointment, after 1 month i was interviewed again and i was approved with a single entry tourist visa. In 2008 i applied again for a tourist visa and i was given 10 year multiple visa. The consul only asked for my birthday. Between 2001 and 2008 i had about 40+ trips abroad. It really helps to have stamps on passports because it shows that the applicant has the capacity to travel. It doesnt need to be a lot but it really helps.

Instead of paying a lawyer i think it would be better if you just pay and get another interview appointment. Im not sure if you need to wait for 6 months or a year to get another interview but in my case i came back just 1 month after being denied in 2004.

Good Luck!

[kps518 0]

If a visa is rejected there is a always a wiat period to reapply. I am afraid he will not be getting a visa in time. There is little a lawyer can do. It is vey hard to get visas from Africa. You have to a large number of high value assets. Most of us can't gets our SO's here on temp visas.

Thank you for your response. It was very helpful. In reference to large number of high value assets what do you mean I do not understand? And what is SO's? Sorry this is a learning process for me as well.

[Craneman 2]

Pretty difficult to get travel experience if they won't let you travel!!

There are many other Forign countries, the U.S. denying a visa does not stop him from traveling to the other countries.

[payxibka 10,044]

not sure why this is in the AOS forum

Moving

[kps518 0]

Its complex . Either i am understanding wrong or you are telling something wrong. Before suggesting let me get a few things clear. So your boyfriend applied for tourist visa for the summit with both the intention of meeting you and attending the summit. So you both thought this both the evidence of physical meet which is a must for K1 visa. Right ?

a) If so then the CO is perfectly right. They look into certain things ... like how many international trips the person has done. In his case it was nill. Plus he had visas and didnt go. So the CO thought he didnt go so that he can go to US.

B) Showing bank accounts, job in Ghana, properties in his name, plocies , life insurance in his name etc etc proves ties to Ghana. Plus they specially want to see something for which he wd return to Ghana. Say for example for married people its wife, it can also be a job, some college course he is attending etc etc.

Now he has no way to show that he has foreign travels but he can always show what I detailed in point B. Without those in B the CO will never allow him . Problem is Co didnt want to see those inspite he had those. When i 1st came in USA i didnt have any foreign travels but i had huge proofs of ties to india and stuff which i showed that i wd come back to india for. Plus talking convincingly is also a big point. I went in a business trip while i was attending a college course. So I had a letter from the college that they know that I am going to US and wd continue my course after coming back. The whole interview has to be very convincing and eye to eye ... he has to speak with lot of straight forwardedness to make the CO believe that he wd indeed come back. So i had to convince the CO that I wd return. BUt then I returned in two months when i had 3 months visa. Next time also when i visited for business i was asked no question and the interview was only 1.5 minutes as once when u come back within the visa time , 2nd time getting the visa is real easy, because its proved that you will come back.

You already said he had a bunch of proofs regarding his ties to Ghana, which the CO didnt want to see. He can also get an emergency letter from the summit organisation. BUt you said you called the Consulate and wrote an email explaining your situation. That was a wrong thing to do as now the consulate knows that apart from the summit his other major reason to go to USa is meeting his fiance. They wont allow it.

Problem is they showed two points

a) No travel experience - He cannot change that ...unless he goes to some other countried for a short visit and then appears to the consulate again.

B) No financial ties : this can be countered with all those things he took for interview.

I wd say here the best thing to do is you visitng him. You wd get a visa to ghana very very easily and with much less effort than him coming to you. You can visit him with your family too , if you feel safe that way. He can try for another interview too, but you have already let the consulate know about your situation ..so that makes it more No. I hope some more senior people here can suggest you better.

Thanks a lot.

Thanks for your reply. I was in Ghana August 2008 for one month. My family visit Ghana LOL moms scared to fly.

He was sponsored for the Business summit by the company that has partnered with him on his constructions projects in Ghana. They also supplied the Affidavits of support, letters of recommendation, and copies of current and past construction contracts that they had with his company in Ghana. Not quite sure what other documents can be supplied to show strong financial ties besides the one already mentioned. CO never looked at them anyway.

The email I sent to the consulate was in reference to them refusing him a visa and the fact that his was being sponsored by an American company that does business in Ghana with him. Also, the fact that this is a once in a lifetime experience to meet and greet Congressman on Capital Hill and be at the US Chamber of Commerce. Not to mention it would enhance his business in Ghana.

I guess as some point I will just give up the fight and board a airplane to Ghana.

[Zee Bee 61]

Sorry to say this, but the fact that you, his USC girlfriend, contacted the embassy on his behalf is not going to get him a visa.

There are several things that the CO will look at when someone applies for a tourist visa: strong ties to Ghana (business, bank account, houses, etc etc). Your boyfriend has to show that he has NO INTENT TO USE THE TOURIST VISA TO IMMIGRATE.

Are you the one helping him attend the conference (organizing things for him etc)?

Having a USC girfriend, the CO will have not even look at anything else. The potential of using the tourist visa to come and stay (even though that was not your intention) is too great.

Another thing. If he had attended the conferences in China and Togo (I don't think Ghanaians need visas to go to Togo for business) and returned, it would have shown that he has a history of attending such functions and returning. It would have looked good on his record.

All that aside, at this point, I doubt that he is going to be successful in getting the tourist visa because he needs to overcome the reasons for the denial (travel experience and financial ties).

[ForeverAmen 0]

BUt you said you called the Consulate and wrote an email explaining your situation. That was a wrong thing to do as now the consulate knows that apart from the summit his other major reason to go to USa is meeting his fiance.

Sorry for your pain. But I must agree ... having the USA fiance contact them did not help his case. Probably did more harm than good.

Wish you the best.

Edited March 27, 2009 by Boaz

[Old Dominion 26]

Having a fiance in the US is quite often the main reason why people from certain countries cannot obtain tourist visas.

[Sylvia_n_Joseph 3]

Joseph has been denied visitor visas over the year. He actually may try to get one this summer because one of the big Igbo conferences is asking him to make a presentation about the difficulties of taking a throne and balancing modern and acient beliefs. I expect them to turn him down pobably because his title isn't enough ties to the county

[^KK^ 3]

Did you already file the K-1?

I know my SO at the time..got denied once they knew we had already filed.