Denied tourist visa at Ghana Embassy WHY

[Bobby+Umit 161]

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

He could of traveled to China or Togo. That will give you some experience.

[What Happened? 4]

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.

Hate to say it but few people are able to obtain a tourist visa from Accra, Ghana to go to the US. I have met more than a few people from Ghana and they have all tried this unsuccessfully. I think it is best that you just go to Ghana to meet him. He will have to wait 6 months before he can apply for another visa of any type.

Good Luck.

[Theone 0]

I agree with the last respond, if you have already filed for K-1 visa for him, that could be why he wasn't given. I have friends that tried to do that but they were denied visas not matter has real the purpose of the visit is. They dont believe he will return after the visit.

Sorry for your pain, trust me i feel u.

Take care.

Did you already file the K-1?

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

[aba anoma 0]

i am not sure if you are going to try petitioning, but if you do... know that it is not a prerequisite to have travel experience. my husband- a ghanaian- received a multiple entry tourist visa in 2007. he had never been out of ghana. his interview was also three minutes, as they just asked him where i was (outside the embassy) and looked through my passport. i lived in ghana for several years and had registered my residency with the embassy. i am certain that he only received the tourist visa because he was married to an american living IN ghana. had i been here already, i am sure he would have been denied. if the visa was denied on the grounds of lack of travel and financial ties, and you can prove the financial ties, it would be a good argument. that said, i have to agree that your contacting the embassy will not really help his case. fair or not, as zee said, once they catch wind of a relationship, they are very unlikely to give out a tourist visa.

best of luck!

[kps518 0]

i am not sure if you are going to try petitioning, but if you do... know that it is not a prerequisite to have travel experience. my husband- a ghanaian- received a multiple entry tourist visa in 2007. he had never been out of ghana. his interview was also three minutes, as they just asked him where i was (outside the embassy) and looked through my passport. i lived in ghana for several years and had registered my residency with the embassy. i am certain that he only received the tourist visa because he was married to an american living IN ghana. had i been here already, i am sure he would have been denied. if the visa was denied on the grounds of lack of travel and financial ties, and you can prove the financial ties, it would be a good argument. that said, i have to agree that your contacting the embassy will not really help his case. fair or not, as zee said, once they catch wind of a relationship, they are very unlikely to give out a tourist visa.

best of luck!

Thank you for your reply and advice. I feel bad now that I indeed did more harm than good by contacting the embassy. Anyway now I do not know if we should just wait 6 months and then try to re-apply for the tourist visa or begin the petition for the fiance visa? Now I am somewhat confused as how we should proceed. I am going to visit Ghana in May since he was denied entry. I am open to living in Ghana to ease the pain of being apart until we are able to complete the petitioning process.

[kps518 0]

i am not sure if you are going to try petitioning, but if you do... know that it is not a prerequisite to have travel experience. my husband- a ghanaian- received a multiple entry tourist visa in 2007. he had never been out of ghana. his interview was also three minutes, as they just asked him where i was (outside the embassy) and looked through my passport. i lived in ghana for several years and had registered my residency with the embassy. i am certain that he only received the tourist visa because he was married to an american living IN ghana. had i been here already, i am sure he would have been denied. if the visa was denied on the grounds of lack of travel and financial ties, and you can prove the financial ties, it would be a good argument. that said, i have to agree that your contacting the embassy will not really help his case. fair or not, as zee said, once they catch wind of a relationship, they are very unlikely to give out a tourist visa.

best of luck!

Thank you for your reply and advice. I feel bad now that I indeed did more harm than good by contacting the embassy. Anyway now I do not know if we should just wait 6 months and then try to re-apply for the tourist visa or begin the petition for the fiance visa? Now I am somewhat confused as how we should proceed. I am going to visit Ghana in May since he was denied entry. I am open to living in Ghana to ease the pain of being apart until we are able to complete the petitioning process.

[kps518 0]

Did you already file the K-1?

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

no have not filed yet.

[christera22 8]

Thats a good thing.Go to Ghana ....get married there , come back and apply for a Cr-1/Ir-1 visa or K3 visa for him ...Easy and good way to go for it. While the process is going on he will easily get a tourist visa to visit you temporarily. I think for now this is the best thing to do ...Others wd surely add something to this.

[Zee Bee 61]

Thats a good thing.Go to Ghana ....get married there , come back and apply for a Cr-1/Ir-1 visa or K3 visa for him ...Easy and good way to go for it. While the process is going on he will easily get a tourist visa to visit you temporarily. I think for now this is the best thing to do ...Others wd surely add something to this.

Not true. Not true. Not true.

In fact, he is more likely to get denied AFTER she has petitioned for him.

Please do not spread false information.

Thank you for your reply and advice. I feel bad now that I indeed did more harm than good by contacting the embassy. Anyway now I do not know if we should just wait 6 months and then try to re-apply for the tourist visa or begin the petition for the fiance visa? Now I am somewhat confused as how we should proceed. I am going to visit Ghana in May since he was denied entry. I am open to living in Ghana to ease the pain of being apart until we are able to complete the petitioning process.

If I were you, I would file the K1 now. Unless you can overcome the reasons for the initial denial of the tourist visa (which I doubt you can) and given that they know that he has a fiancee in the US, I think it would be a waste of time and money to apply again.

Everyone makes mistakes

[attaya_girl 1]

first of all, i am so, so sorry. i know how frustrating that is. before planning on filing the k-1, my family really wanted my fiance to visit the u.s. to meet the whole family and see where i was from, etc (we met while i was in senegal). we tried twice to get the visitor visa, and each time you get turned down it gets harder.

someone below said that after getting denied for this visa, that he would have to wait six months before applying for a visa of any kind? does this include the k-1? my fiance tried to get a visitor visa two months ago, and now i'm worried that this will affect our k-1.....

[Old Dominion 26]

You can petition for his K-1 anytime now. There is no penalty because he has already been denied a tourist visa. I think there is a waiting period before he can apply again for a tourist visa, but anyway he won't get one, so that's irrelevant. If you petition for the K-1, it will take 6-8 months for him to get the visa.

[What Happened? 4]

Thats a good thing.Go to Ghana ....get married there , come back and apply for a Cr-1/Ir-1 visa or K3 visa for him ...Easy and good way to go for it. While the process is going on he will easily get a tourist visa to visit you temporarily. I think for now this is the best thing to do ...Others wd surely add something to this.

If you decide to go to Ghana to meet your SO and decide to marry, PLEASE,PLEASE, PLEASE do not attempt to file for a tourist visa. This is actually seen as visa fraud. If you are planning to file for a K3 or CR1 I'd suggest you do the petition and wait out the process. He should not attempt to visit you on a tourist visa, it could ruin his chances of ever coming to the states if he is suspected of visa fraud. Since after being married his intention will clearly be to be with is wife permanently filing for a tourist visa to visit you while waiting for the K3 process will be a big mistake.

Please make sure you become well informed about the process and the rules. VJ has been an excellent source for me and I can tell you right now as I prepare to begin the process by mailing my petition in this week that VJ has already helped me avoid many mistakes and I always know I can get some good advice. Most people here have already been there or have read of someone who has been in many of the situations presented here in these forums.

I am glad we are able to be resourceful and save ourselves additional grief and headache

I wish you only the very best

[kps518 0]

Thats a good thing.Go to Ghana ....get married there , come back and apply for a Cr-1/Ir-1 visa or K3 visa for him ...Easy and good way to go for it. While the process is going on he will easily get a tourist visa to visit you temporarily. I think for now this is the best thing to do ...Others wd surely add something to this.

Not true. Not true. Not true.

In fact, he is more likely to get denied AFTER she has petitioned for him.

Please do not spread false information.

Thank you for your reply and advice. I feel bad now that I indeed did more harm than good by contacting the embassy. Anyway now I do not know if we should just wait 6 months and then try to re-apply for the tourist visa or begin the petition for the fiance visa? Now I am somewhat confused as how we should proceed. I am going to visit Ghana in May since he was denied entry. I am open to living in Ghana to ease the pain of being apart until we are able to complete the petitioning process.

If I were you, I would file the K1 now. Unless you can overcome the reasons for the initial denial of the tourist visa (which I doubt you can) and given that they know that he has a fiancee in the US, I think it would be a waste of time and money to apply again.

Is the process easier if you marry first and then file for the Cr-1/Ir-1 or K3? Or is it a more straight forward procedure too petition for the fiance visa? He wants to marry and I was hoping he could visit first to meet my family but now I see that is not going to be possible. Sooo I need to know if it is to our advantage to marry in Ghana first and then apply for the other type of visa Cr-1/Ir-1 or K3 or just begin the petition process for the K1????

Everyone makes mistakes

[kps518 0]

first of all, i am so, so sorry. i know how frustrating that is. before planning on filing the k-1, my family really wanted my fiance to visit the u.s. to meet the whole family and see where i was from, etc (we met while i was in senegal). we tried twice to get the visitor visa, and each time you get turned down it gets harder.

someone below said that after getting denied for this visa, that he would have to wait six months before applying for a visa of any kind? does this include the k-1? my fiance tried to get a visitor visa two months ago, and now i'm worried that this will affect our k-1.....

Good questions does the denial of the tourist visa affect the petition for the K1?

Thats a good thing.Go to Ghana ....get married there , come back and apply for a Cr-1/Ir-1 visa or K3 visa for him ...Easy and good way to go for it. While the process is going on he will easily get a tourist visa to visit you temporarily. I think for now this is the best thing to do ...Others wd surely add something to this.

If you decide to go to Ghana to meet your SO and decide to marry, PLEASE,PLEASE, PLEASE do not attempt to file for a tourist visa. This is actually seen as visa fraud. If you are planning to file for a K3 or CR1 I'd suggest you do the petition and wait out the process. He should not attempt to visit you on a tourist visa, it could ruin his chances of ever coming to the states if he is suspected of visa fraud. Since after being married his intention will clearly be to be with is wife permanently filing for a tourist visa to visit you while waiting for the K3 process will be a big mistake.

Please make sure you become well informed about the process and the rules. VJ has been an excellent source for me and I can tell you right now as I prepare to begin the process by mailing my petition in this week that VJ has already helped me avoid many mistakes and I always know I can get some good advice. Most people here have already been there or have read of someone who has been in many of the situations presented here in these forums.

I am glad we are able to be resourceful and save ourselves additional grief and headache

I wish you only the very best

Wooh hoo yes I am soo glad VJ is here. What a help and great encouragement.

[Zee Bee 61]

If you decide to go to Ghana to meet your SO and decide to marry, PLEASE,PLEASE, PLEASE do not attempt to file for a tourist visa. This is actually seen as visa fraud.

Let me make this clear. It is NOT visa fraud to go and get married and apply for a tourist visa.

The fraud comes in when you use a tourist visa for intents other than that which it is issued for. If he used the tourist visa to come to the US with the intent to immigrate, then that would be fraud.

If you are planning to file for a K3 or CR1 I'd suggest you do the petition and wait out the process. He should not attempt to visit you on a tourist visa, it could ruin his chances of ever coming to the states if he is suspected of visa fraud. Since after being married his intention will clearly be to be with is wife permanently filing for a tourist visa to visit you while waiting for the K3 process will be a big mistake.

There are many people who visit the US while an immigration petition is pending. As long as you can show strong ties to your country and prove that you are going to return, there is no reason to be denied entry. Being denied entry does not mean that you will not get the visa. I suggest you search for the thread in the K1 forum titled "yes you can visit".

I know many many people who have managed to visit the US (from Ghana and elsewhere) while an immigration visa is pending. None of them have had any problems.

Please make sure you become well informed about the process and the rules. VJ has been an excellent source for me and I can tell you right now as I prepare to begin the process by mailing my petition in this week that VJ has already helped me avoid many mistakes and I always know I can get some good advice. Most people here have already been there or have read of someone who has been in many of the situations presented here in these forums.

I am glad we are able to be resourceful and save ourselves additional grief and headache

I wish you only the very best

Let me ask everyone to please, please, please make sure that the advice they are giving is 100% correct before posting. This is a stressful process already, besides having to filter through good and bad advice.