Entry Refusal

[sunnyfaw 0]

Hello everyone. I'm new here and i have some issues for which i need advice.My wife and i travelled to the US with our B1/B2 visas in may 2015.We were refused entry and our visas cancelled because the officers at the port of entry found a message on our phone.The message was from a friend who stays in the US explaining to us that the visa we had would not permit us to stay,work or send our children to school in the US. The message was a reply to a question my wife had earlier asked her. All our plea to convince them that we were not going to stay fell on deaf ears even when our children did not travel with us. They cancelled our visa withe code 22 cfr 41.122(h)(3). We re applied for new visa but we were denied. Please advise,do we still have any chance of getting the visa back. Will this situation affect our visa application to Canada? Our children are presently studying in Canada.

[Unlockable 7,315]

Sorry to hear.

 

Technically by law everyone is deem to have immigrant intent when entering the US on a visitor visa and the border agent must treat each visitor visa holder as such. The message in the phone gave the most incriminating evidence for immigrant intent. Nothing you can do about what happen as it is likely noted in your file.

 

You only posted part of the phone message so we can't see in what context it was written. I can see the officer being concerned with someone telling you you can't work or put your kids in school. That is a big no no.

 

If you simply asked your friend what are some of the rules to abide by (which is something you should have known already by being a visa holder) and they replied like that, then it is an unfortunate incident. Still the agent acted accordingly. Better for him or her not to even risk it.

 

But if the conversation entailed you discussing possibly looking for a job and putting your kids in school while in the US, and the friend was advising you against it, then obviously you were not going to be let in. 

 

All in all you have an uphill battle overcoming the immigrant intent for the foreseeable future. Not saying you will never get another visitor visa, but it is best you may want to give it some time before filling again.

Edited March 10, 2018 by NuestraUnion

[yuini 29]

19 minutes ago, sunnyfaw said:

Hello everyone. I'm new here and i have some issues for which i need advice.My wife and i travelled to the US with our B1/B2 visas in may 2015.We were refused entry and our visas cancelled because the officers at the port of entry found a message on our phone.The message was from a friend who stays in the US explaining to us that the visa we had would not permit us to stay,work or send our children to school in the US. The message was a reply to a question my wife had earlier asked her. All our plea to convince them that we were not going to stay fell on deaf ears even when our children did not travel with us. They cancelled our visa withe code 22 cfr 41.122(h)(3). We re applied for new visa but we were denied. Please advise,do we still have any chance of getting the visa back. Will this situation affect our visa application to Canada? Our children are presently studying in Canada.

Move on from now. You should establish that you just want to visit the US. You can go to other countries for vacations so they can see that you have capacity to visit/not overstay in other countries. I think having 5 countries or more entry/exit stamps in your passport helps in tourist visa application as I read in other filipino posts (keep in mind, filipino's have a harder time getting tourist visa because we have general history of overstaying).

 

http://www.therusticnomad.com/us-visa-for-filipinos/

 

 

[Crazy Cat 41,982]

Your chances of ever getting a B2 visa in the future pretty low in my opinion.

 

22 minutes ago, sunnyfaw said:

The message was a reply to a question my wife had earlier asked her.

If the question your wife asked was "Can we work or send our kids to school on a visitor visa", then it really, really appears your intent was to misuse your B visas...if the CBP officer had allowed you to enter, he/she would have been negligent in their duties.....

 

Will it affect visits to Canada?  Possibly.  I have read that US and Canada share information. In what country do you currently reside?

 

 

[Unlockable 7,315]

9 minutes ago, yuini said:

Move on from now. You should establish that you just want to visit the US. You can go to other countries for vacations so they can see that you have capacity to visit/not overstay in other countries. I think having 5 countries or more entry/exit stamps in your passport helps in tourist visa application as I read in other filipino posts (keep in mind, filipino's have a harder time getting tourist visa because we have general history of overstaying).

 

http://www.therusticnomad.com/us-visa-for-filipinos/

 

 

Visiting other countries is a good suggestion, however, there is never a set amount (like 5 or 6 counties) that is determined. The officer will still decide if the applicant has immigrant intent. And if the applicant has a history of overstaying or abusing visas, then they could visit 20 other countries and still get denied.

[Crazy Cat 41,982]

Just now, NuestraUnion said:

Visiting other countries is a good suggestion, however, there is never a set amount (like 5 or 6 counties) that is determined. The officer will still decide if the applicant has immigrant intent. And if the applicant has a history of overstaying or abusing visas, then they could visit 20 other countries and still get denied.

I agree 100%.  In this case, there is direct evidence of contemplating actions contrary to proper use of their visa.  Direct evidence is hard to overcome.  After all, it is on their permanent record....

[yuini 29]

7 minutes ago, NuestraUnion said:

Visiting other countries is a good suggestion, however, there is never a set amount (like 5 or 6 counties) that is determined. The officer will still decide if the applicant has immigrant intent. And if the applicant has a history of overstaying or abusing visas, then they could visit 20 other countries and still get denied.

Yes true, it's just an "i think"  anyway and of course, if you overstay/abuse the system then you have a higher chance of getting rejected even though you have visited 20 countries or more. 

 

How did the immigration officer got a hold of the text message anyway? @sunnyfaw

[JFH 12,190]

Why was the officer looking at your phone anyway? Although that is permitted, it's unusual for a CBP officer to go to such lengths with a tourist. You must have been sent to secondary inspection so I'm wondering what sparked the first officer to send you there in the first place? Something must have been said that made the desk officer think "I'm not happy about this - I'm sending them to secondary to check their phones, etc". It's not a routine procedure. 

 

It does seem strange that your wife asked about work and schooling when you were going on vacation. It's not something that tourists who have no intention of staying usually ask. 

 

Whether Canada will let you in is a question for Canada, not the USA. That is beyond the scope of this forum. If Canada ask you about refusals or cancelled visas you must be honest and tell them everything about your attempts to get into the USA. Although they will see the cancelled visa in your passport anyway. And certainly don't try to get into the USA through the "back door" by thinking you can go to Canada and then slip across. 

[Boiler 45,693]

47 minutes ago, sunnyfaw said:

Hello everyone. I'm new here and i have some issues for which i need advice.My wife and i travelled to the US with our B1/B2 visas in may 2015.We were refused entry and our visas cancelled because the officers at the port of entry found a message on our phone.The message was from a friend who stays in the US explaining to us that the visa we had would not permit us to stay,work or send our children to school in the US. The message was a reply to a question my wife had earlier asked her. All our plea to convince them that we were not going to stay fell on deaf ears even when our children did not travel with us. They cancelled our visa withe code 22 cfr 41.122(h)(3). We re applied for new visa but we were denied. Please advise,do we still have any chance of getting the visa back. Will this situation affect our visa application to Canada? Our children are presently studying in Canada.

Never say never but I would anticipate any application in the near future would be a total waste of money.

 

US and Canada share data so I would expect it will.

[az2014 381]

No genuine tourist would even be asking about staying, working or sending kids to school.

 

Sounds like you were not a genuine tourist and fortunately CBP saw this too and rightly denied you.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

38 minutes ago, JFH said:

Why was the officer looking at your phone anyway? Although that is permitted, it's unusual for a CBP officer to go to such lengths with a tourist. You must have been sent to secondary inspection so I'm wondering what sparked the first officer to send you there in the first place?

Exactly what I thought too - clearly more to this story than related in first post.

[Boiler 45,693]

Always is.

[HappyBunny 22]

Yeah, that is a weird question to ask when you are a tourist. Maybe the first officer overheard a conversation between you both? 🤔 why would he check phones anyway...? 

[TNJ17 1,329]

Yeah, we’re not hearing the whole story here. Something’s up. I would give it 5-10 years before applying again and make sure you change your whole life around. Traveling to other countries can help, but yeah change your life so that it doesn’t look like you’re trying to immigrate on a tourist visa. 

[Roel 7,192]

44 minutes ago, HappyBunny said:

Yeah, that is a weird question to ask when you are a tourist. Maybe the first officer overheard a conversation between you both? 🤔 why would he check phones anyway...? 

They check phones to see if there are many messages or other stuff that would indicate the person is coming to US to work. For example, txt messages between a "tourist" and potential employer or pictures of something that would suggest persons intentions are to immigrate to the US. 

 

So if the officer is suspicious avout something checking the phone usually helps him to find proofs. Same with checking personal laptops. 

Edited March 10, 2018 by Roel