Poland Visitor Visa

[iLoveAPolishGirl 0]

Anastasia,

Actually the gov't is selling those flats for $1 at least where my fiance lives! With legal fees my fiance tells me the total comes to ~$200...$300. She thinks her mother's is currently valued at ~$45..$55K. Not a bad investment Her cousin is about to buy hers soon.

Anyway, there are many success stories here of people crossing while awaiting a K-1 so we'll cross our fingers

Richard,

I have no idea what your chances maybe, but best of luck to you and yours!

dvc

[Richard-Joanna 1]

Thank you everyone for your input. I received a copy of the letter sent to the Embassy on my SO's behalf yesterday. I am hopeful that the Embassy just looks at the documents. FYI, my SO paid 250,000 zl for her flat that has a value today of near 500,000 zl so this is not insignificant by any means. If my SO is denied and since I will be going to the Embassy with my SO, I won't leave until I escalate the denial up a level or two... at least that is my intention.

I think also, that this letter will help give my SO confidence and I am hopeful that this confidence will also help her with an approval or at least help her stand up to the CO (bully) that wouldn't even allow her to speak at her first interview.

I leave in two days... wooohoooooooo we have been apart three months... toooooooooooo long.

Richard

[Anastassia 0]

Richard,

good luck and please keep us posted because although I don't need tourist visas to USA any more, I am veeeryy curious about the results of your intervention.

I totally agree there is no reason to deny visa somebody who will go to USA to live very soon, but as I said: I believe it's a kind of lottery drawing they practise there.

Ana

[GiGii 4]

Richard,

You seem like most USC's that the embassy sees, a bit too "I'm American, so this is the way it should go". In reality you have little/nothing to say when you get there. It's her interview, not yours. Heck even for K1s they dont always want to see the USC even if he/she is present, much less for a tourist visa.

I wish you the best of luck, but know that the I'm American so hear me roar thing, or threating to call congressmen etc doesn't do much there. Have her prepared with ties, a smile on her face, and tell her not to be a push over but to try to get her word in between a COs, cause they are sure quick to say "no ties, NEXT" without showing any of her proof.

Let us know how it works.

[Richard-Joanna 1]

Thanks again people... I'll keep you posted...

GiGi... point well taken about the hear me roar thing... I will tone it down... or try too at least in the beginning

As a business man, I would like to think that I am a bit more tactful... but one never knows

Richard

[GiGii 4]

Thanks again people... I'll keep you posted...

GiGi... point well taken about the hear me roar thing... I will tone it down... or try too at least in the beginning

As a business man, I would like to think that I am a bit more tactful... but one never knows

Richard

Good luck and have fun in Poland! And just my last 2cents, its not just that your are trying to be tactful, many times the COs are just plain rude & treat people like they are #######, thinking that them "allowing" the visa will just open up the gates to the world and freedom. Seems like old communistic views.

[pilot's girl 0]

I might be a little bit too late with this, but here are my two cents.

First of all, I hope everything works fine for you and your SO gets her tourist visa.

Now, let me share my story. My first visa was J-1. After I came back to Poland we decided to get married. Thinking ahead I applied for B1 BEFORE we applied for K1. Like a month before to be exact. I got B1 without problems. Then we filed K1. When I came to US on my B1 (while awaiting K1) I experienced very heavy harassment at the PHL airport. They treated me like I was Bin Laden or somebody. I had a bag full of proof of ties to Poland and was very honest about my K1 application. I told them I only came to spend Christmas with my fiance and his family. The guy at the secondary inspection was very intimidating and said he didn't want to look at any of my evidence because I could have made it all up. He bombarded me with questions, cross-examining everything I said. I really thought he would send me back to Poland. After about 20 minutes they let me go. It was a horrible experience. So, be prepared for that too, even if your fiance does get her tourist visa.

Having gone through Warsaw Embassy several times, I'd say that it might help greatly if you go to the interview with her. It's a lot easier to intimidate someone at a foreign embassy, but they won't try their usual tricks when you're with her. Thus being said, she might still get denied. Good luck to you and hope you can get the visa.

[iLoveAPolishGirl 0]

Wow, I just hate hearing of such rude experiences at POE!! There is no excuse for any officer to treat people like that... and it is against stated US policy. Anyone experiencing such rude behavior should report the officer to the CBP ... instructions on how to do so (and the stated code of policy) is on the website.

Anyway, Renata just arrived here, passing thru customs at JFK. This was her first trip after submission of the I-129F and her third trip this year. Fortunately, she had the exact OPPOSITE experience as pilot's girl describes on all three trips... and this one was perhaps the easiest of the three (if that's possible ) ... just two quick questions and a "Have a wonderful holiday"

I hope you have a wonderful trip to Poland Richard and best of luck with Joanna's interview!

dvc

Edited April 10, 2009 by iLoveAPolishGirl

[Richard-Joanna 1]

Thank you for your input on your POE. I am curious what time frame this was? I also hate hearing these kinds of stories. Personally I have traveled the globe in my line of work and have never encountered such incident. I have had some POE that took time and had questions, but they were always polite and professional to me. It really bothers me that our American hospitality gets thrown out the window sometimes.

I am writing from Szczecin after a POE in Amsterdam... not even a question

Richard

[pilot's girl 0]

It happened in December 2004, in Philadelphia, which seems to be notorious for that sort of behavior. I wish I had been more assertive then and knew that I had a right to complain about that officer. But it's long in the past, and I don't worry about it anymore. I crossed American border many times, on different visas, and that experience never repeated itself. When I was entering on my actual K1 visa, in Chicago, everything went smoothly, except for the fact that the officer scribbled illegibly in my passport the visa code and I ended up as U-1 in the system, which means "victim of a certain crime"... mostly human trafficking.. haha Lots of red tape because of that!

[Richard-Joanna 1]

U1, now that sounds like it could have been a nightmare! YUCK

Richard

[pilot's girl 0]

The problem was that for some reason the government agencies don't communicate with each other (what a surprise) and at the same time I was on 3 different visas according to different agencies... Social Security had B1, USCIS had U1 AND K1 at the same time depending which document they were looking at. It was the biggest pain in the butt to straighten that out. And then a lovely lady at SS office told me that I should be getting another SSN because my "old" one was part of the J1 visa... *sigh* But that's a different story. Sorry for hijacking the thread!

[Richard-Joanna 1]

I don't mind you hijacking... These thoughts are helpful since many people i am sure will go through similar things.

We are in Warsaw at the Polonia Palace Hotel a few blocks away from the Embassy. I had my business meeting today and tomorrow at 8am we try for Joanna's tourist visa....

Richard

[Richard-Joanna 1]

We are back from the US Embassy in Warsaw with good news... Joanna was given a 1 year multi-entry visa. I was told that I could enter the Embassy but I had to sit in the waiting area when she was called for her interview. There were 4 COs doing interviews. Three seemed very nice from over hearing their conversations with the people before us and one was very stern and declining about 50% of the people. Joanna was nervous so I tried to reassure her and I told her that although I could not go to the window with her, that I would stand right behind her. When her number was called, the CO looked at her papers and asked who this Richard was. Joanna turned around, looked at me and said "He is my Fiance and he is standing right there." pointing at me. The CO invited me to the window. At first he said to Joanna "SOooooo you are back again." He went on to say that he could not issue her a visa under 214 as she was intending to immigrate. I explained that we had filed a K1 and that she would not immigrate under the tourist visa and that we would wait until the K1 was issued... after a bit of chit chat and a little sales pitch on my part he looked up our case (k1) but the system was down. He made a phone call and tried a few other systems on his computer. He was finally able to see "PENDING"... more idle chit chat about when we filed for the K1 and stuff.... More sales pitch about wanting her to see the schools that her children would attend and meet with the teachers (which by the way was all true) he said that he would issue her a 1 year multi entry visa, both tourist and business visas! He cautioned her not to overstay what the DHS officer at the POE said she could stay... reassured her that the children would adapt fine to America and in a few years would not want Kielbasa and only eat Taco Bell He gave Joanna his business card and said if you have any problem at the border to have the DHS call him! He also said that he put very good notes in the computer system so that she would hopefully never have any issues with the POE.

Conclusion... what started out to be a NO not only turned into a yes, but went way beyond helpful. Which only goes to show me, just how subjective this whole process really is. Having said that... I am very grateful to have this CO and not the one that was turning people down left and right.

Its funny, he kept saying that it is highly unusual to have someone accompany someone for a visa and even more extraordinary that this person would be allowed to accompany and speak at the interview... and that normally there is no way for a pending K1 to get a tourist visa. but he did it anyway...

Thank you Jesus!

Richard

[GiGii 4]

Congrats! Perserverence paid off!