B2 Visa for boyfriend

[cdneh 3,112]

All he can do is apply on his own merits, be prepared to show strong ties, and give it a punt.

[raven52 233]

It seems you are looking for "a screening visa" to have a trial run or audition, for your potential suitor.

LOL, I hope you come up with something that works, so you can share it here.,.,.,would love to read that.

Good luck on what ever you decide, come back, keep us informed, and create a timeline.,.,if nothing more than country, visa applied for, etc..,.,.

You are very astute, and a "good screening process" might be good for a lot of potential couples!

Great post!

[Pennycat 880]

Excuse me? I'm not looking to "trial run" anyone. Do you usually talk about people like you talk about purchasing consumer goods? He's a person, not some magic nonstick pan with a 90 day return policy that I bought on a late night infomercial.

Additionally, he's not a "potential" anything. He's a current boyfriend. We have an established relationship formed over a long period of time spent together and apart, over several visits. He simply has more time off work than I do this winter. I don't know about you, but it seems logical for the person with more time off to be the one to take a vacation, no?

The rant is that it is absurd that they tell you that you must intend to marry to apply for a K1. But they deny B2s to people who want to visit romantic partners, telling them to apply for a K1. As if it's the most normal thing in the world to sign up to leave everything for a country you've never even visited. It's not. People do it all the time, willingly or because there's no other options. Cool for them but we're not there yet. Maybe someday. Just pointing out that it is a pretty stupid conflict.

Edited November 15, 2014 by CatherineA

[MacUK 983]

You'd be best concentrating on his reasons to leave rather than the trouble you'd be in if he stays. You said he has to go back for his own job and that should be where your efforts are focused.

As far as the COs are concerned EVERY applicant is planning to stay illegally so it's up to them to show all the things they have to go home for.

Your problems if he stays would probably have little bearing on it. I mean no offence but he could marry anyone when he gets to the States to get his greencard and that would have no effect on your job. I know someone (in the UK) doing something similar, their work visa is running out so they are asking friends to marry them just to be able to stay.

His belongings back home mean very little, he can always go back for them later.

I know it seems that a lot of people on here are very negative when it comes to chances of tourist visas being approved, I personally think it's one of the most difficult US visas to get but clearly thousands of people DO get them every day so there is always hope. I've seen cases on here where I and many others have said there's not a chance in hell of them getting approved and they've got the visa, and others that have looked like an easy approval get denied. It can be pot luck sometimes but you should always remember it's all about him and not you.

Concentrate on his job, how long he's been there and all the reasons why he wouldn't abandon it.

Family and social ties that he wouldn't abandon on a whim.

When it comes to you bearing the costs of his trip think how that might look to a suspicious CO. If his job doesn't make him enough money to make the trip then why would he go back to it when he could stay comfortably in the US with your wage?

The circumstances of my previous tourist visa applications are different from yours but one thing is the same. I believe my last denial was mostly due to the fact that during the interview I concentrated more on the reasons why I wanted to go to the US more than adequately convincing the CO of the reasons why I would leave.

But the good news is that if your bf is denied then as long as the denial is just due to the presumption of immigrant intent then it has no bearing whatsoever on any future K1 applications.

[Boiler 43,429]

If he wants to visit why has he not applied for a visitor visa?

Focussing on why he may be refused one seems pointless.

You mentioned you have travelled internationally, millions upon millions visit the US every year.

[Pennycat 880]

Thanks, Mac. Lots of good things to think about. In terms of me bearing the cost....he can pay for the flight and some basic expenses. But we're not going to Disney and Las Vegas. We'll stay local, don't need a hotel and his expenses will be minimal. He lives and works in an economy that's not quite as strong as ours, and just paid for a trip (elsewhere, obviously)...travel and hotels... about a month ago.

Which brings me to Boiler....he is going to apply. Unfortunately, on our last trip together (about a month ago), my purse was stolen and it just happened to contain his passport (usually keep them in the hotel safe...had it out for a car rental). The replacement to get him home was temporary, and not up to the security standards of the US. So he's waiting for his new one. This being Costa Rica, it's taking a while. Hopefully he'll receive it this week. The wait times at the embassy seem to fluctuate between 7 and 10 days.

Do the answer about the visa the same day?

Edited November 15, 2014 by CatherineA

[Boiler 43,429]

Yes

[Pickle 65]

CatherineA, it seems like you have read and knows quite a bit about the process of obtaining a B2 visa and the problems you can run into. Knowledge is usually power, but in your case maybe a little too much. When I applied for a B-2 visa, I did so very naively. I did not know of VJ at that point and did not read up about the visa interview process. I would have been a nervous wreck would I have had all this information! I applied for the visa in a country other than my native country, and I told the CO that I am visiting my boyfriend for 10 days. I answered all questions truthfully and was approved in less than 5 minutes.

Sorry for the whole personal story, but my point is: let your boyfriend apply for the visa, show very strong ties to return, and only answer the questions sweet and short. No need to volunteer more information than what was asked. I truly believe that me not having all this knowledge prior to the interview made the process easier for me. If I started saying "I'm visiting my boyfriend, but we are not going to get married because such and such and blah blah" then that probably would have raised more red flags then just saying "I'm visiting my boyfriend for Christmas." All this being said, it's obviously all up to the specific CO.

[Pennycat 880]

Thanks, Pickle. He's definitely going to go ahead and apply (nothing really to lose except the application fee and a day or two off work--he doesn't live anywhere near San Jose and will probably need to stay overnight). He just needs to wait for his new passport to come in before submitting the paperwork (new passport number etc).

In the end, on the off chance that they actually listen to him and his case (I've long been under the impression that the decision is usually made based on the paperwork well before the applicant interviews), and give him the visa, that will just make our lives *that* much easier for now. And to me, that's worth the $160 to at least try. If not, we'll see what makes the most sense to us and decide on our next steps in January when I go there. For what feels like the eleventy billionth time. Who knew you could get sick of visiting paradise?!

[Pickle 65]

You're welcome! I hope everything goes well with his interview. Can you really get sick of visiting such a beautiful place?!

[Pennycat 880]

Yep, seems like it! Nah, I do love it there and there are far worse places to "need" to visit with such frequency. Plus, I'm able to visit with that frequency--it is quicker and cheaper than flying coast-to-cost within the US, which is also quite lucky (but it's getting harder to convince work to let me go). I will say, that while the primary purpose is to visit, it's also nice to get a real vacation in there, and on that front I'm running out of new things to see/do, especially without busting the budget, and that's a bit frustrating because here it would be so different!

[Pennycat 880]

Thanks, all. Any ideas on what happens if he can't make it to his allotted appointment? Looooong and pretty stupid story, complicated by the fact that he doesn't live anywhere near San Jose. If you're a no-show does that effect future applications for B2 or family-based visas?

[Boiler 43,429]

Auto denial but nothing else of consequence.

[Pennycat 880]

Auto denial but nothing else of consequence.

Which means that in the future the answer to the question "have you ever been denied a US visa" will be yes, and the reason is no-show to interview? How can that not look bad? There's not much we can do at this stage (the choice is basically "keep my job or go to the embassy", how we got here is the stupid story) but I just really don't want this to mess up other things down the road.

[Boiler 43,429]

There are some denials that could impact a future petition. There is a thread going on now where someone forgot to mention an immediate relative in the US.

But not the case here. He can always contact them to tell them he can not make it. Doubt that matters much but no harm and he has done what he can.