Foreigner studying in Ukraine, applying for a US visa to see girlfriend-PROOF OF FUNDS and other supporting documents

[MrNa 2]

Greetings to everyone. I am a Ugandan , studying currently in Ukraine , 4th year of medical school. I was curious as to what supporting documents i would need to provide , to see my gf , to show that i indeed plan to return to Ukraine. (I have already been granted a Schengen visa in 2016, and a Ukrainian visa, of-course).  I intend to provide , apart from required documents:
--my mother's(in Uganda, who will be paying for my trip) bank statements
--proof of study and that i am a student in the medical university
--residence permit(посвітка in Ukrainian), that shows permanent residence for 6 years
--invitation letter from my gf as well as proof of residence where i will stay during my visit,and proof of her coming to visit Ukraine and Uganda  
QUESTION IS, do i need a letter showing proof that my mother is indeed, my mother and what other supporting documents would you suggest(or advice me not to show)- i was wondering if proof of payment of school fees for the last four years would help. I plan to be as bluntly honest as i was when i applied for a Schengen visa. any and all advice would be welcome and greatly appreciated 

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10 minutes ago, ThatMixedOtaku said:

Greetings to everyone. I am a Ugandan , studying currently in Ukraine , 4th year of medical school. I was curious as to what supporting documents i would need to provide , to see my gf , to show that i indeed plan to return to Ukraine. (I have already been granted a Schengen visa in 2016, and a Ukrainian visa, of-course).  I intend to provide , apart from required documents:
--my mother's(in Uganda, who will be paying for my trip) bank statements Not needed. 
--proof of study and that i am a student in the medical university Good
--residence permit(посвітка in Ukrainian), that shows permanent residence for 6 years Good
--invitation letter from my gf as well as proof of residence where i will stay during my visit,and proof of her coming to visit Ukraine and Uganda  Not needed.
QUESTION IS, do i need a letter showing proof that my mother is indeed, my mother and what other supporting documents would you suggest(or advice me not to show)- No i was wondering if proof of payment of school fees for the last four years would help.Possible but you can have it on hand in case. I plan to be as bluntly honest as i was when i applied for a Schengen visa. any and all advice would be welcome and greatly appreciated

Your mother's bank account is not needed. You have to remember that this is YOUR application for a visa. Not your mother's. 

The CO will want to see proof of why you need to leave the US and go back to Ukraine or Uganda. They don't care much about why you want to visit, therefore Invitation Letters offer no real evidence.

Obviously, students don't have much funds so you explaining that your mother is helping you with the trip is sufficient. But her financial statements and such is not needed.

[MrNa 2]

Thank you so much for the reply and advice. Are there any other documents you would advise me to have in hand, just incase?  And i have read online that having return airtickets also helps your case, would you say that is true ?

9 minutes ago, NuestraUnion said:

Your mother's bank account is not needed. You have to remember that this is YOUR application for a visa. Not your mother's. 

The CO will want to see proof of why you need to leave the US and go back to Ukraine or Uganda. They don't care much about why you want to visit, therefore Invitation Letters offer no real evidence.

Obviously, students don't have much funds so you explaining that your mother is helping you with the trip is sufficient. But her financial statements and such is not needed.

 

[NYCruiser 423]

33 minutes ago, ThatMixedOtaku said:

Greetings to everyone. I am a Ugandan , studying currently in Ukraine , 4th year of medical school. I was curious as to what supporting documents i would need to provide , to see my gf , to show that i indeed plan to return to Ukraine. (I have already been granted a Schengen visa in 2016, and a Ukrainian visa, of-course).  I intend to provide , apart from required documents:
--my mother's(in Uganda, who will be paying for my trip) bank statements
--proof of study and that i am a student in the medical university
--residence permit(посвітка in Ukrainian), that shows permanent residence for 6 years
--invitation letter from my gf as well as proof of residence where i will stay during my visit,and proof of her coming to visit Ukraine and Uganda  
QUESTION IS, do i need a letter showing proof that my mother is indeed, my mother and what other supporting documents would you suggest(or advice me not to show)- i was wondering if proof of payment of school fees for the last four years would help. I plan to be as bluntly honest as i was when i applied for a Schengen visa. any and all advice would be welcome and greatly appreciated 

The question in the Consular Officer's mind is: a) What is compelling you to return to your country or to Ukraine b) Can up support yourself with your own funds.

Schengen Visas tend to be very different from The USA and Canada.

 

Being that your Girl friend is in the USA works against you, her letter of invitation will make it worse. A round trip ticket is absolutely important. Your Medical School letter that you are expected back is more important (translated in English) as they know the culture of Ugandans and Education degrees of this sort are very important.

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3 minutes ago, ThatMixedOtaku said:

Thank you so much for the reply and advice. Are there any other documents you would advise me to have in hand, just incase?  And i have read online that having return airtickets also helps your case, would you say that is true ?

 

Rule #1: Never purchase tickets until after you have the visa in hand. Many times we have seen people try this thinking it will help. What is the officer going to say? "Sir, you don't qualify for a visa but since you already bought tickets I will give it to you anyway."

 

Just have your evidence from your school, travel history if you have a good one, if you own property provide proof of that, and your financials.

[kris&me 572]

Letter of invitaiton would hurt your chances

Rules of thumb are

Need your own money for the trip

need proof you will return

usually need to show you own property ( but this is not even your own country)

need to show plans where you will stay (but as soon as you say with gf,  probably will get a denial as they will assume you come and AOS to stay)

[MrNa 2]

17 minutes ago, NuestraUnion said:

Rule #1: Never purchase tickets until after you have the visa in hand. Many times we have seen people try this thinking it will help. What is the officer going to say? "Sir, you don't qualify for a visa but since you already bought tickets I will give it to you anyway."

 

Just have your evidence from your school, travel history if you have a good one, if you own property provide proof of that, and your financials.

i would say i have a somewhat decent travel history, given that i do study abroad and have been to France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy, but i didnt think that would be as relevant here, good to know it is. 
As financials, i do not pay for my own school fees (parent does) so i am not sure what to provide in that case . I read it's ill-advised to open a special account simply for money you will spend on the trip 

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

31 minutes ago, ThatMixedOtaku said:

Thank you so much for the reply and advice. Are there any other documents you would advise me to have in hand, just incase?  And i have read online that having return airtickets also helps your case, would you say that is true ?

 

 

23 minutes ago, NYCruiser said:

 

Being that your Girl friend is in the USA works against you, her letter of invitation will make it worse. A round trip ticket is absolutely important. Your Medical School letter that you are expected back is more important (translated in English) as they know the culture of Ugandans and Education degrees of this sort are very important.

 

22 minutes ago, NuestraUnion said:

Rule #1: Never purchase tickets until after you have the visa in hand. Many times we have seen people try this thinking it will help. What is the officer going to say? "Sir, you don't qualify for a visa but since you already bought tickets I will give it to you anyway."

 

Just have your evidence from your school, travel history if you have a good one, if you own property provide proof of that, and your financials.

Never buy a ticket before yiu have a visa indeed, the embassies themselves even say this. You’ll absolutely need to have one if /when you’re actually visiting of course,

[MrNa 2]

23 minutes ago, NYCruiser said:

The question in the Consular Officer's mind is: a) What is compelling you to return to your country or to Ukraine b) Can up support yourself with your own funds.

Schengen Visas tend to be very different from The USA and Canada.

 

Being that your Girl friend is in the USA works against you, her letter of invitation will make it worse. A round trip ticket is absolutely important. Your Medical School letter that you are expected back is more important (translated in English) as they know the culture of Ugandans and Education degrees of this sort are very important.

the problem is, i will apply from Ukraine(Kiev) so i doubt they know anything about our culture as East Africans . As a student i obviously do not support myself ,and trip is paid for my mother .

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

Just now, ThatMixedOtaku said:

the problem is, i will apply from Ukraine(Kiev) so i doubt they know anything about our culture as East Africans . As a student i obviously do not support myself ,and trip is paid for my mother .

Both logical observations. Totally normal for a student to be supported by parents of course.

[MrNa 2]

Thanks a lot everyone . So from what i have understood from this thread , i need : 
--Proof of study(letter from school)
--Proof of residence(residence permit card issued to foreign students in Ukraine)
-- And possibly, proof of payment of school fees over the last 4 years 

and anything else will not really help my case , as i cannot provide for myself as a student, and an invitation letter works against me 

[MrNa 2]

19 minutes ago, kris&me said:

Letter of invitaiton would hurt your chances

Rules of thumb are

Need your own money for the trip

need proof you will return

usually need to show you own property ( but this is not even your own country)

need to show plans where you will stay (but as soon as you say with gf,  probably will get a denial as they will assume you come and AOS to stay)

Would you advise me to open a bank account that contains funds solely that intend to spend while in the US ?

[SusieQQQ 11,585]

4 hours ago, ThatMixedOtaku said:

Would you advise me to open a bank account that contains funds solely that intend to spend while in the US ?

No. As you already said it looks suspicious to present a new bank account suddenly open in time for a visa application. Your mom pays your fees, you’ll be staying with someone so cost of vacation will be fairly cheap, etc. just be honest. 

[MrNa 2]

1 hour ago, SusieQQQ said:

No. As you already said it looks suspicious to present a new bank account suddenly open in time for a visa application. Your mom pays your fees, you’ll be staying with someone so cost of vacation will be fairly cheap, etc. just be honest. 

Thanks a lot for the great advice, i greatly appreciate it 

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