What to do when visitor visa denied?

[Harsh_77 716]

The problem is that you start out denied and have to convince the CO otherwise. "Tourist Visa is a non-immigrant visa. The hurdle to obtaining a tourist visa is the legal presumption that everybody that applies for it is an intending immigrant who has made a conscious choice to live in the United States."

The embassy in Manila (the one I try to deal with) specifically tells you that submitted additional documents will not help the visa applicant. "The following documents are not considered helpful:

(1) In general, affidavits of financial support will be of little value to an applicant (exception: a student visa application must have an affidavit of financial support). The affidavit of support is a requirement only for immigrant visas. The interviewing officer is less concerned about how the applicant will be supported during his/her stay in the United States than in whether s/he has reasons to return home.

(2) Letters of invitation (except for business travel).

(3) Purchase of airline ticket. This should not be made until a visa has been issued and the applicant is in receipt of the passport with the visa in it.

You are right and whatever embassy has told you is right too.

1. letter of support not required - As most tourist are required to show that they have enough funds on their own that they can afford to take a vacation in US.

2. Letter of invitation does not sway CO decision at all - as anyone applying for tourist visa is planning to go on vacation noone invites one on vacation. If you have family and friends in US and you already have planned something like a cruise or something then it might help as it shows you have legit travel plan.

3. I am not sure why ppl think having flight ticket is enough, you can always cancel the ticket and get a refund or in worst case scenario someone enters US and never returns back and let the flight ticket go unused. Still would be the cheapest way to illegally enter the country .....

[Eric & Jin 10]

You are right and whatever embassy has told you is right too.

1. letter of support not required - As most tourist are required to show that they have enough funds on their own that they can afford to take a vacation in US.

Depends upon the country/embassy/consulate. When I was putting together all the paperwork for my in-laws B-2s, I had noticed a definite upswing in postings over the past year on Chinese immigration forums indicating that the embassy & consulates in China were increasingly requesting an I-134 during B-2 interviews for retirees who wanted to visit family members in the US. Because of this I decided to play it safe and filled out an I-134 for my in-laws just in case one was asked for during their interview. It was a good thing that I did because the VO asked them 6 easy interview questions and then asked them if either I or my wife had filled out an I-134 for them. The VO took a good look at the I-134 and then told them that their visas were approved. They were never asked to show proof of their own funds/finances even though they had documentation with them showing sizable bank account balances, stock & real estate holdings.

[EL & LEE 0]

Depends upon the country/embassy/consulate. When I was putting together all the paperwork for my in-laws B-2s, I had noticed a definite upswing in postings over the past year on Chinese immigration forums indicating that the embassy & consulates in China were increasingly requesting an I-134 during B-2 interviews for retirees who wanted to visit family members in the US. Because of this I decided to play it safe and filled out an I-134 for my in-laws just in case one was asked for during their interview. It was a good thing that I did because the VO asked them 6 easy interview questions and then asked them if either I or my wife had filled out an I-134 for them. The VO took a good look at the I-134 and then told them that their visas were approved. They were never asked to show proof of their own funds/finances even though they had documentation with them showing sizable bank account balances, stock & real estate holdings.

Each consulate is different but i think an important point that everyone missed in the beginning is that the wife has a CR1. That is taken into consideration when you apply for a relatives.

[Snake&Dog 0]

This is written more than 2 years later. After my in-law's refusal, we did go to our Congressman's Office (David Dryer, now retired). He did draft a letter

(it was _not_ boiler plate, and he did mention I was a Caltech scientist of long standing presence in the community and that he said that

I [note: not he, but I, the applicant] felt if their case were given careful scrutiny next time, they would be found qualified to visit. The consulate

replied inside 2 weeks with a nice note inviting my in-laws to reapply and assuring that close attention would be given to their application. Both the

letters were on government letterhead and both mentioned the congressman's name, the consulate chief's name, and my in laws-names.

Soon after our child was born and my mother saw her new granddaughter just before she died.

It took 1 1/2 years to convince my sorely offended father-in-law to agree to reapply. They did and they showed these government letters along with the other documents.

They we immediately approved. We regarded the letters as "backup" in the event that the officer did not look at any documents - it was a letter from their chief

saying that my inlaws' documents would be used for assessment. But this time the officer did look through everything that was handed over.

I will never know if the letters to and from the consulate had any effect, either before or during the interview.

They stayed 2 months in the US and returned to China as promised. My mother-in-law helped with our child, but was not a nanny. We all are nannies.

This year they applied again (by mail) and were approved. They are here and staying 3 months. Find their photo album on stevelord.net

We are not over confident that they will have an easy time each time now. We hear of parents coming each year for years and then suddenly being rejected.

Good luck to all.

A little note here - I found some of the experts who answered me in this forum to be a little ah, severe, in their opinions. I am just saying this to those who are

struggling: don't be put off and discouraged. Do keep trying. We did and it worked (though I don't really know how). It's a fluid game. Best of luck.

[jan22 2,898]

Well, there is no such thing as a 'review' or reconsideration. All that will likely happen is the congressman will write a boilerplate letter that the consulate will answer with their own..part of the problem that you are dealing with is a result of the untold thousands who have obtained visas under false pretenses...using it to work, for example (something that posting a bond cannot prevent). As to the length of the interview, well, the consular staff only ask for documents if they think that such papers will add something (or, as is more likely in many countries, subtract a lot) to the interview...but, there is NO document that automatically qualifies an applicant, NO document that can guarantee that the applicant will depart the US promptly and NO document that can make sure that the visa holder does not work without permission...in short, there is NO document that, when presented, will cause visa issuance.

The consular officials are there to determine intent, something that cannot be proved instantly by presenting some paper. their responses to questions and the way they answer them are the cornerstone of the interview, and is their opportunity to demonstrate or establish their credibility. Many times applicants fail because they answer questions in ways that appear evasive, and evasiveness is associated with not telling the truth (entirely). So who really knows what took place at the interview; you no doubt received an edited version, since you weren't there, and your in-laws will have tried to portray themselves as innocent victims and the consular official as some mean spirited individual....but who has more experience interviewing applicants?? Your in-laws, or the consular official?

Bottom line: they will have to establish their credibility, and they have do this all by themselves...no one else can 'vouch' for them; you cannot guarantee that they will leave the US when they are supposed to nor that they won't work without permission. Who is to blame? All those (as I mentioned before) who used this object of trust, a tourist visa, for some other purpose.

One minor point -- there is a required review of visa decisions done by a senior officer (not sure if it's a law or just an internal regulation -- and, if there is a mis-application of US law, the decision can be overturned. This is done automatically. However, it is hard for the senior officer to say that someone mis-applied 214b, the section of the law that most people are denied under. Since this section of the law requires the interviewing officer to start at "no", it's hard to say the law was mis-apllied when a visa is refused.