TOURIST VISA DENIED! HELP!

[Noah Lot 387]

Could I possibly be an Au Pare for my friends family?

so now all of a sudden your elderly parents can do without you for a year (or more) as an au pair??? how is that possible? Why would you suddenly change your proposed visit (lengthen it) just to gain access to the US? something is now very wrong with this picture...and I take back my initial assumption that you had no other motive in your quest for a tourist visa...but now...'engaged'....what does that mean LEGALLY in Russia? Zippo...nada....nothing....if you don't wind up marrying your alleged fiance, is the KGB going to come to your house and arrest you? (no)...yet you now want to leave said fiancee and change diapers for a year.....hmmmmmm....

How do you suggest she prove this?

realistically, she cannot....one cannot legitimately change short term employment to long term without committing fraud...

[Tygrys 143]

so now all of a sudden your elderly parents can do without you for a year (or more) as an au pair??? how is that possible? Why would you suddenly change your proposed visit (lengthen it) just to gain access to the US? something is now very wrong with this picture...and I take back my initial assumption that you had no other motive in your quest for a tourist visa...but now...'engaged'....what does that mean LEGALLY in Russia? Zippo...nada....nothing....if you don't wind up marrying your alleged fiance, is the KGB going to come to your house and arrest you? (no)...yet you now want to leave said fiancee and change diapers for a year.....hmmmmmm....

realistically, she cannot....one cannot legitimately change short term employment to long term without committing fraud...

C'mon, Noah. We know she is desperate to just to get here under any pretense, but this is kinda personal attack. Cool down!

@OP: There is NO legal way for you to enter US this summer. Period.

[Katovasiya 0]

so now all of a sudden your elderly parents can do without you for a year (or more) as an au pair??? how is that possible? Why would you suddenly change your proposed visit (lengthen it) just to gain access to the US? something is now very wrong with this picture...and I take back my initial assumption that you had no other motive in your quest for a tourist visa...but now...'engaged'....what does that mean LEGALLY in Russia? Zippo...nada....nothing....if you don't wind up marrying your alleged fiance, is the KGB going to come to your house and arrest you? (no)...yet you now want to leave said fiancee and change diapers for a year.....hmmmmmm....

realistically, she cannot....one cannot legitimately change short term employment to long term without committing fraud...

I read that you can be an Au Pare for three months, and I was just hoping to spend the summer there. My Fiance would watch over my parents until I returned. I haven't had much time to travel in my life. I've only ever been to the UK for a week, and spent a few weeks during a summer in Ukraine with my relatives. The only motive for a visa is to travel and experience the world.

[Tygrys 143]

I read that you can be an Au Pare for three months, and I was just hoping to spend the summer there. My Fiance would watch over my parents until I returned. I haven't had much time to travel in my life. I've only ever been to the UK for a week, and spent a few weeks during a summer in Ukraine with my relatives. The only motive for a visa is to travel and experience the world.

I am really sorry, but as stated before... there is no legal way for you to get here this summer.

Additionally, I think to be an Au Pair you need to do it through some established agency. It will take time, even if you get through their screening.

[Noah Lot 387]

I read that you can be an Au Pare for three months, and I was just hoping to spend the summer there. My Fiance would watch over my parents until I returned. I haven't had much time to travel in my life. I've only ever been to the UK for a week, and spent a few weeks during a summer in Ukraine with my relatives. The only motive for a visa is to travel and experience the world.

we are to believe that your alleged fiance will spend inordinate amounts of his time caring for your parents for several months???? Is he a registered nurse? Why such strong desire to 'visit' the US and leave your elderly parents dependent on someone who is not even a family member nor medical professional?

No wonder the VO denied your application.....I believe there is something missing from the story presented earlier....

C'mon, Noah. We know she is desperate to just to get here under any pretense, but this is kinda personal attack. Cool down!

@OP: There is NO legal way for you to enter US this summer. Period.

Yet even you believe that there is more than meets the eye....personal attack? how? I am not the one scrambling to get a visa.....her story has changed over the last several hours.....what does that say?

[Tygrys 143]

Yet even you believe that there is more than meets the eye....personal attack? how? I am not the one scrambling to get a visa.....her story has changed over the last several hours.....what does that say?

Of course, she is desperate to get here by summer no matter what. Changing the story will not help at all, it's still a big NO. We're already told the OP that there are laws here which cannot be bent just to satisfy her desire to enter.

She might not understand exactly why not, since I guess things are dealt with slightly differenty in Russia and she has no prior experience with the US government agencies.

Nothing wrong with exploring other possibilities to get US visa, as long as the process is legal. You unnecesarily mix her parents and boyfriend/fiancee into that discussion doesn't help and IS personal.

[cerebus407 16]

Au Pairs work on J1 visas not tourist visas. They are still subject to the "intending immigrant" requirement though. So a recent tourist visa refusal would be a negative.

[sachinky 464]

To work as an au pair you would require a J1 visa. You may not undertake ANY form of employment on a B-2.

The chances to secure a US tourist visa for an average 21 year old single Russian girl in a short term job are not very high. Or for that matter, any other part of the developing world. Being "engaged" has no legal standing. An Indian friend of mine just got her tourist visa to Spain rejected on the insufficient ties ground and would NOT listen to me when I tried to explain it to her. She just kept saying "but I am engaged."

Edited April 14, 2012 by sachinky

[Operator 1,925]

OP- applying again so soon for a different visa category will likely only confirm the VO's original decision. Not a good idea to collect a bunch of visa denials.

As an alternative maybe meet your friend in a third country that is more free with tourist visas.

When my wife originally applied for a tourist visa to the US in China she had visas for 5 other countries with entries and exits in her passport. I'm certain that was a positive factor in the VO's decision to approve a tourist visa for a 26 year old un-married Chinese woman.

[bigdog 376]

You will have to wait to reapply, especially if you are engaged to USC? "Strong Ties" are the key.

[yachachiq12 43]

You will have to wait to reapply, especially if you are engaged to USC? "Strong Ties" are the key.

She didn't say she was engaged to a USC. It sounds like she's engaged to someone from her own country, as he will stay behind to care for her parents while she travels abroad.

[rika60607 215]

Consider your home country ties carefully:

A job that can let go of you for 2 months and that you probably do not intend on keeping because you are also a student?

School from which you already took a one year break and only so far completed two years?

Fiance?

Half the apartment of which the other half is probably your parent's?

Aging parents, who must be no more than 60 years old now, at least your Mom?

Money that can be easily transferred?

None of it looks very serious.

If you want a better chance at tourist visa, re-apply for the next summer, and meanwhile get married and go back to school.

I am a 21 year old female from St. Petersburg, Russia.I went to the embassy and the man seemed so nice, but then I was denied for having a lack of ties to my country. However, I don't understand what else I may have! I was going for 2 months to visit a friend whom had traveled to my country a couple years earlier. I own half of an apartment, have had my job for 8 months, have 125,000 rubles in my bank account, plan on continuing education in the fall (I have 2 more years of school), and am engaged. To top it off is my parents are old and I am the only child to take care of them. Here are the questions they asked me and my answers:

What is the purpose of visit? Visiting a friend

How long have you known her and did you meet here? I have known her for almost three years and we met here.

He then asked for my traveling passport and when he saw a previous visa to the UK, he inquired about it. I replied "I went to London to stay with my mother's friend. I would like to go to America as well to help with my English."

He asked what my company did, I replied that it was a crewing agency.

He asked how long I worked there, I said I started September first.

I then also mentioned that I am a student, but have taken a gap year. He asked how long I have left and I told hi 2 years and then one for my Magistrate.

Then he asked the name of the school, which I told him.

He then told me to wait, and then left. He returned with a document of refusal for my visa and said "Im sorry, but at the moment we cannot give you a visa." He tried to comfort me by saying that many young girls don't receive visas and that SOME day I may get one. He then said that I couldn't prove my my ties were strong enough and then the interview was over.

Can someone help me out? I don't know what went wrong! I'm hoping to be in the US around the 6th of June.

[XPRSURSLF 0]

have 125,000 rubles in my bank account, plan on continuing education in the fall (I have 2 more years

Can anyone tell me what is the minimum amount required for visit visa? I was told that you need atleast 10k or 15k. Is that true?

[P+J 47]

The U.S. embassy would not care if you're married or not. It is near impossible for a girl your age to receive a United States tourist visa. My fiance and I researched this idea thoroughly for months. Ukraine is even more strict than Russia regarding the tourist visas. Nevertheless, all applicants from FSU countries require substantial evidence to refute the possibility of intent to immigrate. You would need multiple properties that you own and a very high salary. However, at your age it might not still be enough to convince the officers. It's unfortunate, but I would save your money and let go of the idea. I wish it was different, but my fiance and I discovered that it's a near impossible task (They often deny applicants even when they satisfy the requirements).

[jaycali 415]

Can anyone tell me what is the minimum amount required for visit visa? I was told that you need atleast 10k or 15k. Is that true?

There is no minimum. As much as you realistically would need for your stay is what you need.

Basically, if you plan to visit for a week, they might be ok with $1,000 whereas if you plan to stay for 6 months you'd need substantially more. However, there is no minimum requirement.