Wow, lots of info...

[Just Kelley 4]

Hi everyone - newcomer to the site here and my mind is boggled with all of the information/discussion.

A friend of mine wants to visit the USA from his home country, Brazil, to check out universities. He thought summer time would be a great time to travel so he could get in a little sight seeing, too. After reading everything here, it seems like a tourist visa is really difficult to obtain. I told him about how he needs to prove to the interviewer that he will, in fact, be returning to Brazil and he was a little concerned because, after everything I told him I read here, he's not sure he has enough documentation to prove that his visit is only temporary. His family owns property in his city and his work has been to help manage that but it's never been a paycheck kind of thing. He also lives with his family - they are very close. He does own a motorbike and has a bank account plus credit cards in his town. Given the above information, what does he need to do to prove that he is, in fact, returning to Brazil? I think he was planning to visit the USA for a month or so. I'll pass on any tips/words of wisdom and I'm sure they will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any relevant and helpful info!

Oh! Also, is there anything I can do here from the states to help him? No big deal if not but I figured there's no harm in asking.

[Ryan H 3,790]

Oh! Also, is there anything I can do here from the states to help him? No big deal if not but I figured there's no harm in asking.

No

[BlueBonnet 84]

Any paperwork that proves his ties to him home country.

Mortgage or rental agreements and current payments

Utility Bills and phone bills ( I would take 3 months worth with me when I traveled )

A letter from an employer showing vacation dates

A return plane ticket ( thats a biggie )

Just anything that he thinks that he can prove to show that he has to many responsibilities to just up and walk away from.

[Boiler 43,437]

He should apply and see.

[Just Kelley 4]

BlueBonnet, not sure if you read my post or not... as I mentioned, he doesn't have a pay stub or a mortgage. It's a family business and he lives with his mom (his father passed away) so I'm not sure what good bringing utility bills with her name on them would do.. He's a house music fan who wants to study music production and he's really keen on visiting Chicago, the birthplace of house music.He dreams of DJing at the big house music club in his town (evidently, famous DJs from around the world play there).

Boiler, that's his plan, I think. I was just asking for tips on how to convince the interviewers that he'll be coming home - it seems, from what I've read of other people's experiences, to be a pretty subjective process.

[Boiler 43,437]

There is inevitably a small subjective element.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Hi everyone - newcomer to the site here and my mind is boggled with all of the information/discussion.

A friend of mine wants to visit the USA from his home country, Brazil, to check out universities. He thought summer time would be a great time to travel so he could get in a little sight seeing, too. After reading everything here, it seems like a tourist visa is really difficult to obtain. I told him about how he needs to prove to the interviewer that he will, in fact, be returning to Brazil and he was a little concerned because, after everything I told him I read here, he's not sure he has enough documentation to prove that his visit is only temporary. His family owns property in his city and his work has been to help manage that but it's never been a paycheck kind of thing. He also lives with his family - they are very close. He does own a motorbike and has a bank account plus credit cards in his town. Given the above information, what does he need to do to prove that he is, in fact, returning to Brazil? I think he was planning to visit the USA for a month or so. I'll pass on any tips/words of wisdom and I'm sure they will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for any relevant and helpful info!

Oh! Also, is there anything I can do here from the states to help him? No big deal if not but I figured there's no harm in asking.

JK, unfortunately there is nothing you can do to help him, get his visa, for these are granted on the ability of the individual alone. Having said that, here is what I would recommend he do to help him show evidence of the nature and to the purpose of his visit to the US:

1/If he does not have a paycheck, he should be a dependent in his parents' tax returns. If he is past the age of being allowed to be a dependent, tax-wise speaking, he should have his own tax returns. Either will help him prove the source of his income, along with his bank statements.

2/He should have travel plans ready and he should have an airline ticket booked at the time of the interview, just in case. The trick here is that all good fares are non-refundable, so he should find a way by which he can book an airline ticket without losing the entire amount of the ticket in case he needs to cancel it. One easy way is to make the booking close to the date of the interview so it falls within the grace period during which he can cancel the reservation without penalties.

3/He should have all his hotels booked for the duration of his intended stay and they should match his itinerary. If he is staying with you he should be able to furnish the consulate with your full name, address and telephone number.

4/It would help him if by the time of the interview he had already secured and booked some face time with the advisors at the institutions he plans to check out while in the US.

5/He may need to be prepared to discuss the financial aspects of studying in the US. It will not be required at this interview, but he will need to prove he has enough money available to pay for his tuition if/when he comes to apply for a student visa.

6/He needs to have all these documents with him at the time of the interview but he should only produce them if he needs to refer to any of them or if the interviewer asks for any of them.

Wish him good luck!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I don't know why you think it will be hard. Brazil has a very high approval rate, so much so that they are teetering on becoming a Visa Waiver Program country, where people can visit the US with just a passport. Of course, a high approval rate is no guarantee, but I think you might have missed that somewhere.

[Just Kelley 4]

Gegal, that's very helpful info, thanks! Since I'm female and he's male, I wasn't sure if him staying with me would hinder his plans or not but if it's no big deal, then sure, why not save a couple thousand dollars? He has no idea if studying here would be condusive to his plans but checking out schools AND making it a visit to the place where his favourite music style was born just seemed like a great idea to him - which made sense to me - and, hey, there's a lot of cool stuff to see and do in Chicago so why not make a full holiday of it?

I wasn't sure if the bad stories of failed attempts at tourist visas here were typical for everyone who aren't from VWP countries or if this is the place people tend to go to to try to find answers if something goes wrong.

One question: I've read conflicting information at this site - some people have said that it's smart to book the flight prior to the visa interview and others have said that the interviewers sometimes consider that pretty nervy behaviour. What about having him book his appointments with the school advisors but hold off on booking the flight until he's approved? Maybe I'm a cheapskate but to me, the idea of booking a $2000 flight with the possibility of losing half of that money just sets my teeth on edge!

[Just Kelley 4]

I don't know why you think it will be hard. Brazil has a very high approval rate, so much so that they are teetering on becoming a Visa Waiver Program country, where people can visit the US with just a passport. Of course, a high approval rate is no guarantee, but I think you might have missed that somewhere.

Oh I really had no idea, Harpa, LOL! Neither of us knows much about international travel at all (although he did tell me he'd heard on the news that things are moving in that direction). I read some post here about some guy's mother in law who wants to come visit her daughter in the USA and she was rejected even though she has a husband and son in Brazil and has had a job at the same company for more than 30 years so I thought "woah, maybe it's a little more challenging than I thought!"

[JohnR! 5,495]

Gegal, that's very helpful info, thanks! Since I'm female and he's male, I wasn't sure if him staying with me would hinder his plans or not but if it's no big deal, then sure, why not save a couple thousand dollars? He has no idea if studying here would be condusive to his plans but checking out schools AND making it a visit to the place where his favourite music style was born just seemed like a great idea to him - which made sense to me - and, hey, there's a lot of cool stuff to see and do in Chicago so why not make a full holiday of it?

I wasn't sure if the bad stories of failed attempts at tourist visas here were typical for everyone who aren't from VWP countries or if this is the place people tend to go to to try to find answers if something goes wrong.

One question: I've read conflicting information at this site - some people have said that it's smart to book the flight prior to the visa interview and others have said that the interviewers sometimes consider that pretty nervy behaviour. What about having him book his appointments with the school advisors but hold off on booking the flight until he's approved? Maybe I'm a cheapskate but to me, the idea of booking a $2000 flight with the possibility of losing half of that money just sets my teeth on edge!

JK, imho, when dealing with the US consulates abroad, the truth is always the best option. If he is staying with you there should be no problem in disclosing that, unless the two of you are an item in which case it might set off an alarm.

If his plan is to check out universities and schools he should be able to discuss that at some level with the interviewer. It shows preparedness. There is nothing wrong in making a full vacation out of this visit either and there is no reason to keep that from the interviewer. Alas, Chicago is one of my favorite cities!

All the bad visa stories you heard are quite possibly true. It is true however, that in most cases, visas are often denied to those who misrepresent themselves or lie to the interviewer and somehow, these people can sense it.

I mentioned the airline booking - and hello, yiiikes... gambling on 2,000 is steep for anyone - in case he could do it without penalties. Where some see nervy behavior others see confidence. In any case, the airline ticket is not a litmus test.

The most important thing he can do is be honest and truthful with the interviewer.

[Boiler 43,437]

You should not buy a ticket until you have the visa in hand, especially one that is not refundable.

[jaycali 415]

BlueBonnet, not sure if you read my post or not... as I mentioned, he doesn't have a pay stub or a mortgage. It's a family business and he lives with his mom (his father passed away) so I'm not sure what good bringing utility bills with her name on them would do.. He's a house music fan who wants to study music production and he's really keen on visiting Chicago, the birthplace of house music.He dreams of DJing at the big house music club in his town (evidently, famous DJs from around the world play there).Boiler, that's his plan, I think. I was just asking for tips on how to convince the interviewers that he'll be coming home - it seems, from what I've read of other people's experiences, to be a pretty subjective process.

Whether it's difficult or not, aside from ties, usually depends on the country/consulate and how credible his trip sounds to the CO.

I know it seems like a huge hurdle and quite frankly, the amount of paperwork going into a mere tourist visa application can seem a lot. Wording on different websites too can be enough to scare anyone away.

I have no idea how difficult the various consulates in Brazil can be, but as Harpa Timsah said, the approval ratings for Brazil are pretty high. While it is advisable that he brings any and all documentation he can, don't be surprised is he's not asked to show any at all. Again, he may be asked to show everything too.. The problem with any visa application and anything in immigration really is that nothing is guaranteed until the visa is in hand, even then, the CBP (at the airport) has the final say on everything.

I'd just have him focus on his plans (wanting to check out colleges sounds like a legit plan). I would advise him though to have a clear idea of what colleges specifically he's looking at, and where, as this is something that's likely to be asked at the interview.

Like, if they ask him "what colleges are you looking at?" then an asnwer like "I've been looking at UCLA, US and a few others in the LA area" would sound a LOT better than "I don't know. Maybe in LA."

Just my two cents.

Edited May 29, 2012 by jaejayC

[Just Kelley 4]

Really appreciate those suggestions, thanks! There are several colleges for music production in this city so I doubt setting up appointments to visit will be an issue and he's not on any sort of a tight deadline that I'm aware of so taking his time to prepare before setting up his interview shouldn't be any trouble whatsoever.

I love showing my city off to friends and once you get away from the tourist trap areas, it becomes quadruply amazing. I think he'd really enjoy experiencing some of our festivals (we have several to choose from every weekend all summer long) if he can make it here before Labor Day!

I'll pass on the well wishes to him the next time we chat - thanks again for the helpful tips, everyone!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Just FYI, the refusal rate for 2011 was 3.8 %. http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/FY11.pdf