Visa Waiver Question

[rhettlewis 0]

Hello

I hope you may be able to assist.

In March 2011, my partner, daughter and myself applied for a B1 visa which was denied by the London Embassy.

Now 13 months on, we are wanting to apply for a visa waiver as qualify as I'm from Australia and my partner and daughter are from the UK.

Before we complete the online visa waiver form, is there anything we should be aware of.

Regards

Rhett Lewis

[Penguin_ie 5,985]

I don;t think that is possible, after a visa denial you must get another visa and can no longer use the VWP.

[DanielMDQ 1]

no, you CAN travel on the VWP after a visa denial, that happened to me and i talked with customs and border protection about it and they told me that if my ESTA is authorized i can go(i actually went to the US twice after my b2 denial on the VWP, and i was in the same situation as you are, wondering if i could travel on the VWP or not after the B2 denial, and i did a long reaserch, and yes, as long as your ESTA is approved after you declare ur denial you can travel)

You just need to complete the ESTA online application and answer YES to the question if you have ever been denied a visa. The application will go into PENDING status, and u'll have to recheck it after some hours.

If it says AUTHORIZATION APPROVED you can travel, MAYBE they will ask you about the visa denial when you arrive in the US, as i said i went twice, the first time nothing was asked, the 2nd time they asked me the reason why i was denied, and i said that the officer thought that being a student wasn't a strong tie and blabla and they let me go in.

Basically you need to complete the ESTA application answering YES to question F which asks you about a previous visa denial, if you receive an approval you're fine to go, if not you will have to get the visa. (some people get a "TRAVEL NOT AUTHORIZED" and then they reapply after some months and they get an approval)

[jaycali 415]

I'd be weary about taking DanielMDQ's advise here. If I remember correctly from a different post, your denied visa was from a previous non-VWP passport, but then you got a VWP country citizenship and filled out ESTA - correct? I don't know if they might make exceptions in those cases, but in general, if you have ever been denied a US visa, you should apply for a B-2 tourist visa rather than using the visa waiver. I think it depends a lot on the circumstances of the visa denial.

That being said, if you fill out ESTA, check the box for having been denied a visa, and still get TRAVEL AUTHORIZED... It doesn't seem like there's any law specifically prohibiting it, and it definitely seems to be a common misconception that you absolutely cannot use the VWP with a previous visa denial. It's definitely worth a shot to fill out ESTA and see what happens. In most cases you get an instant decision. What was your previous visa denied for?

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html#travelertype

"I was denied a visa on a recent visa application, may I use the VWP?

A recent visa denial for any reason could result in denial of an authorization via ESTA, additional questioning at the port of entry, or denial of admission to the United States. Applicants who are uncertain of whether they qualify for VWP travel may choose to apply for a visa. "

Edited April 10, 2012 by jaejayC

[DanielMDQ 1]

Hi JaeJayC, yes, you're right, my visa was denied with a non vWP program passport, but i promise, that i did a LOT of reasearch about it, and it has been discussed in many forums, that if you get your ESTA approved you can go, even if u were denied with the same passport, i actually know a woman from the UK that did it.

Most likely he will be sent to secondary inspection and they will ask him for proof that he's gonna come back home, he should bring proofs of ties to his home country,and all that stuff.

ps: he won't get an instant response because he will answer YES to one of the questions, so it will go to pending status and an officer will review his application, he will have to recheck it

Edited April 10, 2012 by DanielMDQ

[jaycali 415]

Makes sense. Thanks for clearing that up.

When you get authorization pending, there's an actual human looking at it.

Edited April 12, 2012 by jaejayC

[Harsh_77 716]

You can apply for ESTA, if ESTA comes back ok then you are allowed to use VWP