Need visitor visa instead of green card for mother

[Amber824 4]

My husband became a US citizen last year and we are wanting to start the process of having his mother come to the US. She does not want to live here, she wants to visit us yearly. 

I've read about the green card process and filing for the I-130 but I don't think that's the process we need to take.  I've read that filing for just a visitor visa will more than likely get declined because she will have the 'intent of residing' in the US. Which makes no sense to me because if she wanted to live here, it seems like a very simple process by filing the I130 to get her a green card to live here permanently. 

 

She currently lives in Mexico, not married, we can sponsor her but she can also self sponsor if that's what is necessary.

 

Would we have more success filing for permanent residency and then she can go to the embassy in Mexico and exchange for a visitors visa to have for yearly visits?

 

Can anyone share an experience or explain what the steps to getting my husband's mother a visitors visa?

 

TIA!

[gregcrs2 1,777]

You can't sponsor her for a visitor visa.  You cannot change a green card for a visitor visa.  Your husband's mother can apply for a visitor visa online.

[JFH 12,189]

If she's only interested in coming to visit you, then a visitor visa is the right way to proceed. I don't know why you think she will be denied on the basis of "immigration intent". Have you already filed an I-130 petition for her? If not, how can it be claimed she has immigration intent?

 

There is no sponsor for a visitor visa. There is nothing you can do to influence or assist her case. She applies on her own, usung her evidence of ties to Mexico, and the consular officer will either deny or grant her visa.

 

Note that she cannot work at all on a visitor visa. This includes watching your children while you work, for example. 

[JFH 12,189]

*~*~*moved from "bringing family members of USCs" to "tourist visas" as the person in question is planning to visit, not immigrate*~*~*

Edited January 21, 2018 by JFH

[TNJ17 1,329]

She needs to show strong ties to her home country such as a job, properties in her name, bank statements, other children, etc. to be granted a tourist visa. No one can sponsor her for it, it’s something she has to prove herself to be able to based on her life. She needs to show she can fully support herself during her trip and that she has too much going on in her home country to give everything up and stay in the US. Unfortunately for her her son living there will not look good in her application, specially if she has no strong ties to her home country. There is no way of knowing for sure, although you can list on here what she has and people can give you an educated guess, but she just has to apply to know what happens. If she applies for a tourist visa and it gets denied, there technically is no harm for future visas, although unless you change what they didn’t like about the application you’ll always get the same outcome. But if you apply for an immigrant visa or have applied for one for her in the past, she really will have no chance at a tourist visa, because they will see she has immigration intent. 

[Amber824 4]

This makes absolutely NO sense, ZERO.

My husband becomes a US citizen and he can now file a form to GRANT his immediate family to live in the US. Sounds pretty simple and takes a few months to do so, if I'm wrong, whatever. 

 

BUT in our case, we have a family member that would just like to visit from time to time rather than add another permanent resident to this country. I would assume that this country would rather have a visitor than for someone else coming into 'their' country to live. 

 

Sorry but this is absolutely insane and this was the response I was actually expecting because it's all I've read throughout this website and researched online. 

 

What I'll do is file for the i-130 for my MIL, give the USCIS more of my money and go from there. See what happens. At least we'll get a couple of visits from it.

[Amber824 4]

7 hours ago, gregcrs2 said:

You can't sponsor her for a visitor visa.  You cannot change a green card for a visitor visa.  Your husband's mother can apply for a visitor visa online.

 

Show me where it states you can't receive a visitors visa once you receive a green card.

 

I asked for help, not what I can not do....advise me on what I need to do to get my MIL a visitors visa

[Coco8 1,039]

She should at least try to get a visitor visa. 

 

She should say that she has no intention of living in the US.

 

I have seem cases in which parents with no property, retired, etc. got visitor visas. So it is possible. 

 

I totally get what you say. It is dumb to deny visas to parents who could get a green card in a year. They should be able to visit and go back to their home.

 

 

 

[Amber824 4]

11 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

She should at least try to get a visitor visa. 

 

She should say that she has no intention of living in the US.

 

I have seem cases in which parents with no property, retired, etc. got visitor visas. So it is possible. 

 

I totally get what you say. It is dumb to deny visas to parents who could get a green card in a year. They should be able to visit and go back to their home.

 

 

 

Thanks Coco8. That is the first step we will take, hopefully it works and she'll get a visa, if not, we'll come up with a plan B.

 

I found this article, is this something I can do rather than my MIL do this on her own:

 

https://redbus2us.com/process-and-documents-needed-for-parents-visa-to-visit-usa-b2-visa-tourist-visa-sample-documents/

[Coco8 1,039]

1 hour ago, Amber824 said:

Thanks Coco8. That is the first step we will take, hopefully it works and she'll get a visa, if not, we'll come up with a plan B.

 

I found this article, is this something I can do rather than my MIL do this on her own:

 

https://redbus2us.com/process-and-documents-needed-for-parents-visa-to-visit-usa-b2-visa-tourist-visa-sample-documents/

 

No, that sounds pretty weird. It might be old. 

 

She has to apply for the visa on her own. She should take evidence of ties to her country to the interview (e.g. property, job, retirement funds, bank account, etc.). It might not help, but you could have your husband write a short letter saying that he has no intention of filing for a green card for her and that his mother only wants to make short visits to spend time with you and then go back to Mexico. He should not say that he is going to pay for the trip because that would be too much and the idea is that she should have her own funds to pay for the trip (even if you end up paying for it as a gift, I would not mention it, because it would make it as if she depends on you guys which is bad). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Boiler 43,433]

Ifg she wants to visit she applies for a Visitor Visa.

 

If she wants to Immigrate then her son can sponsor her.

 

Two totally different processes.

[Unlockable 7,306]

2 hours ago, Amber824 said:

 

Show me where it states you can't receive a visitors visa once you receive a green card.

 

I asked for help, not what I can not do....advise me on what I need to do to get my MIL a visitors visa

A visitor visa and a immigrant visa are two separate visas with different requirements.

 

It is simple,,,

 

 if she only wants to VISIT the US. She applies for a visitor visa. you do nothing. There is no sponsorship of a visitor visa. It is all on her to apply.

 

if haw wants to LIVE in the US, then you can do something. You will need to petition for her. You will also sponsor her.

 

Simple as that. 

[Unlockable 7,306]

2 hours ago, Amber824 said:

 

 

BUT in our case, we have a family member that would just like to visit from time to time rather than add another permanent resident to this country. I would assume that this country would rather have a visitor than for someone else coming into 'their' country to live. 

 

Sorry but this is absolutely insane and this was the response I was actually expecting because it's all I've read throughout this website and researched online. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Coco8 said:

 

 

I totally get what you say. It is dumb to deny visas to parents who could get a green card in a year. They should be able to visit and go back to their home.

 

 

 

I can tell you from what I have seen there are few reasons people (ab)use visitor visas rather than getting an immigrant visa.

 

Don’t want to deal with US taxes.

Don’t want to deal with domicile requires ( be able to be in and out of the US for extended periods of time.

Don’t want to lose benefits from home country.

Business opportunities

Work opportunities (off the books of course)

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

2 hours ago, Amber824 said:

 

Show me where it states you can't receive a visitors visa once you receive a green card.

 

I asked for help, not what I can not do....advise me on what I need to do to get my MIL a visitors visa

If she gets a green card she will be required to file an annual tax return with the IRS, and would have to formally renounce her permanent residence status to get a visit visa in due course. This is apart from all the costs involved in filing for her and the green card fee. Rather than assuming because of stuff you read on the internet that she won’t get a visit visa, why don’t you start with the logical step of applying for one? It’s $160, way cheaper, and will be granted long before anything happens with the green card petition. To successfully get a visa she will need to show ties to her home country - a job, property, income, family ties etc.

Edited January 22, 2018 by SusieQQQ

[gregcrs2 1,777]

6 hours ago, Amber824 said:

 

Show me where it states you can't receive a visitors visa once you receive a green card.

 

I asked for help, not what I can not do....advise me on what I need to do to get my MIL a visitors visa

What you asked was "Would we have more success filing for permanent residency and then she can go to the embassy in Mexico and exchange for a visitors visa to have for yearly visits?"  What I was trying to explain is that a green card holder cannot apply for a visitor visa because a green card holder is already supposed to reside in the USA.  In order to get a visitor visa, a green card holder would have to relinquish the green card first and then apply for the visitor visa.   And there would still be no guarantee of getting a visitor visa.