Tourist visa justification for girlfriend and effects on future visa apps

[casinoroyale 1]

I’ve been dating my girlfriend from a country that I understand has a somewhat high tourist visa rejection rate (+15%) for a little over a year now, the majority of that long distance (I visit her there every month or two).   We met while I was living in that country and have continued the relationship even as I moved back here for work. It is likely that I will move back down there again in the not so distant future as soon as I find the right job.

 

For now, I really want her to come here and meet my family and see my country during her next vacation for a couple of weeks, as well as to be able to come back on future vacations, so it seems that a tourist visa would make the most sense. The possibility of marriage is a ways away so a fiancée visa wouldn’t make any sense for us at this stage. 

 

As for the tourist visa, though, everything I’ve read says that the odds of her receiving that are low, and it sounds like they would likely be lower if they knew her reason for visiting (to see me, although we would of course travel around too during her visit).

 

She is a second-year university student and lives with her parents, who are middle class in her country, but not wealthy. Besides volunteering the real reason for her visit, we’re sort of at a loss for what she could say as her reason for wanting the visa.  One possibility is that she say that she’s visiting New York because she has always loved the city and wanted to go there, and there’s a big music festival there with some of her favorite artists (most of whom never go to her country), and she would be being honest, because we could plan our trip so that I could actually meet her there.  Another possible reason would be around the fact that she apparently has some cousins living in Florida somewhere, so perhaps she could say she’s going to visit them. And again, I’d be happy to meet her there, in order to fulfill what she states in the interview and make it true.

 

The concern for me here of course is that if she ever wants to apply for a different kind of visa besides tourist, what she says here may impact her in the future. For example, if she is completely transparent and volunteers that she’s going to visit me this time around, then in the near future when she wants to apply for a visa to spend a semester studying in the US (which is a definite possibility), I’m concerned that they may not believe her, because they already know she has a boyfriend here.  On the other hand, if at some point a fiancée visa becomes something we would like to make happen, I’m concerned that they may wonder why, when we tell them our relationship goes back a number of years, did she apply for a tourist visa under the pretext of visiting New York, when obviously she was going to visit her boyfriend.

 

TLDR: What should my girlfriend give as reason for wanting to travel to the US during her tourist visa application, and what effects might what she says have in the future on apps for other kinds of visas?

[Boiler 47,707]

Tell the truth.

 

What is her Country?

[Crazy Cat 44,943]

38 minutes ago, casinoroyale said:

I’ve been dating my girlfriend from a country that I understand has a somewhat high tourist visa rejection rate (+15%) for a little over a year now, the majority of that long distance (I visit her there every month or two).   We met while I was living in that country and have continued the relationship even as I moved back here for work. It is likely that I will move back down there again in the not so distant future as soon as I find the right job.

 

For now, I really want her to come here and meet my family and see my country during her next vacation for a couple of weeks, as well as to be able to come back on future vacations, so it seems that a tourist visa would make the most sense. The possibility of marriage is a ways away so a fiancée visa wouldn’t make any sense for us at this stage. 

 

As for the tourist visa, though, everything I’ve read says that the odds of her receiving that are low, and it sounds like they would likely be lower if they knew her reason for visiting (to see me, although we would of course travel around too during her visit).

 

She is a second-year university student and lives with her parents, who are middle class in her country, but not wealthy. Besides volunteering the real reason for her visit, we’re sort of at a loss for what she could say as her reason for wanting the visa.  One possibility is that she say that she’s visiting New York because she has always loved the city and wanted to go there, and there’s a big music festival there with some of her favorite artists (most of whom never go to her country), and she would be being honest, because we could plan our trip so that I could actually meet her there.  Another possible reason would be around the fact that she apparently has some cousins living in Florida somewhere, so perhaps she could say she’s going to visit them. And again, I’d be happy to meet her there, in order to fulfill what she states in the interview and make it true.

 

The concern for me here of course is that if she ever wants to apply for a different kind of visa besides tourist, what she says here may impact her in the future. For example, if she is completely transparent and volunteers that she’s going to visit me this time around, then in the near future when she wants to apply for a visa to spend a semester studying in the US (which is a definite possibility), I’m concerned that they may not believe her, because they already know she has a boyfriend here.  On the other hand, if at some point a fiancée visa becomes something we would like to make happen, I’m concerned that they may wonder why, when we tell them our relationship goes back a number of years, did she apply for a tourist visa under the pretext of visiting New York, when obviously she was going to visit her boyfriend.

 

TLDR: What should my girlfriend give as reason for wanting to travel to the US during her tourist visa application, and what effects might what she says have in the future on apps for other kinds of visas?

1.  As was stated above, she should always be truthful about the reason for her visits.

2.  She should be prepared to show strong ties back to her country, demonstrating that she will return there after her visit to the US.

3.If, in the future, you decide to obtain a Fiance visa, her previous visits will have no effect.

 

Good Luck.

[mcdull 474]

To be honest, the passport and the applicant's personal finance details matter the most.

 

[Coco8 1,054]

What matters the most is (1) country of origin (2) ties to her country: university student, family status, does she have a job? etc.

 

The reason for visiting has to be the truth (and make sense). The main reason why people get rejected is not because of the why, but because they have weak ties to the country. 

[casinoroyale 1]

15 hours ago, Boiler said:

Tell the truth.

 

What is her Country?

Colombia.  And just to clarify, the intention isn't to lie, but as I understand the boyfriend/girlfriend issue is such a red flag, just to have her not volunteer this information unless it comes up. Of course, I suppose this would only work (and not be a lie of omission) if she had some other legitimate reason for wanting to be in the US besides me, which at the moment I haven't figured out what (if anything) that could be.
 

 

14 hours ago, mcdull said:

To be honest, the passport and the applicant's personal finance details matter the most.

 

Passport meaning, what country they are from? And how do they get personal finance details? Seems like from what I've read that people often bring bank statements and the like to their visa appointment, rarely to have the consular officer actually ask for/see them. Do they have independent access to bank info somehow?

[Unlockable 7,322]

She doesn't have to volunteer the information. But there is a good change the officer will follow up with a more specific question to her relationship with you.

 

There are millions upon millions of people who come through the US border. You don't think they have seen the old "I'm only visiting a friend" instead of boyfriend / girlfriend? 

Many times the officer wants to see strong financial ties and/or the ability to finance the trip themselves.