Denied Tourist Visa to the US... What now??

[crazysamurai 0]

Not to rain on your parade chief but any American living anywhere on this planet owes IRS tax on whatever income he/she makes in any country. Having said that, there is no double taxation, which means if you pay tax to Malaysian government, you can claim refund for all those Taxes from IRS. Even then, You must declare all your income and fill out a tax form (1040, 1040EZ or whatever form that applies to you since you also own business) even if you don't actually have to pay a dime to IRS. Oh yeah, don't even get started me on foreign bank account requirements. You must declare all your foreign bank accounts (even the ones where you don't own the accout but you are only death beneficiary) and report the highest balance in a given year to IRS every year. Penalties for failing to do this are severe. You also must report all taxable interest income from all these bank accounts. These requirements (however ridiculous they may be) are precisely the reason, ultra-wealthy Americans are giving their citizenship. I am not arguing about the fairness of it all. I am just trying to make you aware of IRS's reach and preventing you from any future liabilities.

sorry for IRS rant.... but if US embassy denied your spouse once on tourist visa, maybe they are telling you to follow proper process and apply thru spousal visa. Since you visit Malaysia so often, you should look into Direct Consular Filing (DCF) for your spouse, so that once your wife gets a visa interview and passes the interview, she can visit US anytime she pleases, and she won't have to apply for tourist visa every time she enters.

CS

My wife and I were married in Feb 2012. I am a US citizen, she is Malaysian. We live in Malaysia, I am there working, coming and going on a tourist visa there as my spouse visa processes. It's simple there, I just exit and reenter every 90 days with a stamp to my passport.

We just applied for a tourist visa for her, so we can visit my family in the US during Christmas. The embassy denied her! They said she might stay in the US, so we needed to show she had strong ties... to her own country?

I don't understand the problem for the life of me. If she did stay in the US, we'd just apply for the greencard, it would be perfectly legal, she is my wife after all.

We ask what we can show to demonstrate that we have no plans to stay in the US, they said they have no idea...

She does not want a greencard, it would be useless. We have absolutely no plans of living in the US, I'm not excited about going back and starting paying all those ridiculous taxes again. I have a great job in Malaysia, we just started a business together, own property, but the slow-minded embassy staff said non of that was enough to demonstrate "strong ties"...

Any suggestions? I don't know what else to do other than file a lawsuit for discrimination...

Edited December 25, 2012 by crazysamurai

[ladytech 1]

That's what I'm trying to figure out. Maybe someone's done it before?

We submitted proof of my job, our business, the fact that I've been in Malaysia over a year, proof of my application for Permanent Resident in Malaysia, photos of the house, dogs, cats, car.... I don't know what else they would possibly want to see..

And they wouldn't look at any of the evidence. It was just an automatic "No".??? "But you can re-apply as often as you'd like"

The best advice I can give you is she should provide documentation about her own ties to Malaysia. She should be able to prove to the CO that she can support her visit to the US on her own merit, like having a stable good paying job. A good financial standing. Her ties should be her own not depending on your finances. I am now here in the US with a tourist visa. This is my third visit this year and during my last entry when the POE officer asked who lives in the address indicated in my I-94, I simply said "my husband". and he replied by saying "lucky man" :-)and off I go! we also do not intend to do the shortcut as I have a job I cannot just leave. Hope this helps.