Tourist Visa for Spouse of USC

[Laura in Bolivia 0]

Hi all,

My husband is going to try to get a tourist visa this month and I thought I'd try to get any last minute advice.

There's a bit of backstory...

I'm a USC; I was born and raised in the United States. I moved to Bolivia in May of 2009. I tried to get a tourist visa for my Bolivian boyfriend both in January of 2009 and August of 2011 - both times it was denied. We got engaged at the end of 2011 and began the Fiance Visa process. We were approved in August of 2012 and travelled to the States and got married that month.

After getting married, we stayed in the States for about two months and then returned to Bolivia. We never started any immigration paperwork after getting married as we had decided we wanted to continue living in Bolivia. We've been back in Bolivia for 3 months now.

We have no desire to live in the States in the near future, but we'd like to be able to visit my family in Minnesota. Of course I can go visit whenever I want, as a USC, but my husband is very much a part of the family and I hate not being able to take him with me. My parents love him and he is like a son to them now.

So I'd like to get him a tourist visa so that we can go visit together. More specifically, we want to go for about two months for Christmas 2013.

All that said, I'm afraid our ties to Bolivia just aren't strong enough... We have:

1. Rent contract in both of our names

2. Job contract for me (though my salary isn't terribly impressive)

3. Student certificate for him

4. My residency visas in Bolivia

I'm afraid the biggest strikes are that we don't own anything (a house, etc.) and my husband does not work; he's in his last year of university. I like to think that my residency visas in Bolivia would make a difference - they don't allow me to leave the country for more than three months each year without forfeiting them - but they haven't made an impact in the past.

So my one hope is my husband's fiance visa from last summer. I'm hoping that the fact that he made it to the States and COULD have stayed, but didn't, will tell them something. Has anyone else had success getting a tourist visa on this basis? Just three months ago he was in the U.S. and had every right to become a resident, but chose to return to Bolivia - from my perspective, that's enough proof that he doesn't intend to stay now. But the perspective of consular officials are often quite different from mine

Sorry for the lengthy post. In short - is there any hope? Or is there anything else that could boost our chances a bit?

Edited January 7, 2013 by Laura in Bolivia

[Noah Lot 387]

I think your reasoning is valid....at one time, he had the K1 and could have stayed, but, for whatever the reasons, both of you decided to return to Bolivia...probably if your current situation in Bolivia is strong enough, that should be sufficient, irrespective of what your husband is doing.

[jaycali 415]

I agree with Noah Lot. The fact that your husband arrived in the US on a K-1, and you could have easily adjusted his status, that right there shows strong ties to Bolivia. If his main intent was to immigrate - why on earth would he have went back to Bolivia while on a K-1?

Edited January 8, 2013 by Jay Jay

[Laura in Bolivia 0]

I think your reasoning is valid....at one time, he had the K1 and could have stayed, but, for whatever the reasons, both of you decided to return to Bolivia...probably if your current situation in Bolivia is strong enough, that should be sufficient, irrespective of what your husband is doing.

I agree with Noah Lot. The fact that your husband arrived in the US on a K-1, and you could have easily adjusted his status, that right there shows strong ties to Bolivia. If his main intent was to immigrate - why on earth would he have went back to Bolivia while on a K-1?

Thanks for your posts! I'm relieved to hear that others understand and agree with my logic! Guess now we just depend on prayer and the mood of the CO!

[Noah Lot 387]

The outcome is not determined by the 'mood' of a CO...it depends largely on the perceived credibility of the applicant, nothing else. Those who have had difficulties obtaining tourist visas often have taken great pains to try and paint a picture that was not accurate or had way too many flaws or inconsistencies...so avoid trying to be creative.

[Xanax 349]

Your husband has to prove ties to Bolivia for himself. You cannot get him a tourist visa and his application will be validated on it's / his own merits, your job won't count, though your residency and your rent contract will count

[nikomar 0]

The outcome is not determined by the 'mood' of a CO...it depends largely on the perceived credibility of the applicant, nothing else. Those who have had difficulties obtaining tourist visas often have taken great pains to try and paint a picture that was not accurate or had way too many flaws or inconsistencies...so avoid trying to be creative.

Is that like saying that court verdicts are largely objective, not subjective?

I wonder why lawyers spend so much effort and time trying to get jurors selected or barred from serving on their case depending on whether they think a person may be sympathetic or not to their client.

Try as we might and despite their guidelines to the contrary, I cant help but think that subjective decisions are sometimes made by VOs/COs with regard to the granting of Tourist Visas.

[Noah Lot 387]

the key phrase I used was: "perceived credibility"....and that judgment call is made by a CO...being human, no doubt occasionally being in a 'mood' might color their decision making, but by and large they avoid that sort of influence, if they understand and respect the authority given to them by Congress...most unsuccessful applicants have no idea where they went wrong...many believe that if they just had the right document or coughed up the right answer, they would have gotten a tourist visa...instead, what they likely were unaware of was their inconsistent story and/or answers to questions posed to them which gave the CO a poor impression of their credibility...phony smiles, cheery, bubbly answers, etc, will often backfire...putting on an act will likely backfire...and trying to create a water tight story (that is usually full of holes!) in order to mask one's true intentions will often fail as well. Few of these failed attempts have much to do with the mood of a CO.

Edited January 15, 2013 by Noah Lot

[Laura in Bolivia 0]

I'm so excited that I had to come back and update - we got the Tourist Visa!!!

My husband had the same interviewer that we had for our Fiancé Visa appointment and she remembered him! She gave him a bit of a hard time for returning home when he had a Fiancé Visa, but in the end gave him a Tourist Visa! She is a very nice lady and I will love her forever!

:)

Edited February 7, 2013 by Laura in Bolivia

[raf.luv.leah 5]

Congrats!

[Krikit 1,163]

That is awesome!! Congratulations!!