Wife's Friend Denied Tourist Visa Twice to Visit US from Thailand

[Seed 0]

Hi everyone! 

My wife has a friend in Thailand that has applied for a Tourist Visa to the US, twice and turned down both times.  It makes no sense at all to me, because she is married to a British business man, they own a home in Thailand, she has a good job selling insurance, and they are far from poor.  She has absolutely no compelling reason to overstay illegally in the US.  She simply just wanted to come here to visit my wife 4-5 days and then go back.  She is one of nicest people you'll ever meet, but for some reason the interviewers had an attitude and treated her rudely each time.

Yet, I've meet other Thai people here (we live in Texas) that have got nothing, but were granted a Visa anyway, and a lot of them have every reason to overstay, in fact a few have actually told my wife they will not go back and just stay here illegally.

I'm just sounding off and wondering if any others have had similar experiences.

Thanks!

 

[Starkilla09 366]

Consular officers adjudicate visa applications on a case by case basis and no 2 applicants are the same. It’s very possible for one to appear as solid genuine applicant but still not make the cut by the consular officer. She could try and make herself a much stronger applicant with sufficient ties and even with all that she could still be denied. Ties would boost chances but it’s not a 100% guarantee.

[geowrian 22,337]

Agreed. The CO looks at the totality of an applicant's circumstances and goes from there. For whatever reason(s) they saw, they felt that she was too large of a risk of overstaying or violating status. Unfortunately, too many of her fellow nationals abused a tourist visa in the past so they are more difficult to get one now (>20% refusal rate last year).

She can wait some time, try to establish more ties to return home, and try again.

[Boiler 45,656]

Probably the British connection.

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

11 hours ago, Seed said:

Hi everyone! 

My wife has a friend in Thailand that has applied for a Tourist Visa to the US, twice and turned down both times.  It makes no sense at all to me, because she is married to a British business man, they own a home in Thailand, she has a good job selling insurance, and they are far from poor.  She has absolutely no compelling reason to overstay illegally in the US.  She simply just wanted to come here to visit my wife 4-5 days and then go back.  She is one of nicest people you'll ever meet, but for some reason the interviewers had an attitude and treated her rudely each time.

Yet, I've meet other Thai people here (we live in Texas) that have got nothing, but were granted a Visa anyway, and a lot of them have every reason to overstay, in fact a few have actually told my wife they will not go back and just stay here illegally.

I'm just sounding off and wondering if any others have had similar experiences.

Thanks!

 

My wife sister (single) around age 28 applied for a Tourist Visa to USA a few months ago.   She is from Philippines been working in Singapore last few years, she applied in Singapore and was denied.  She has traveled to other countries and never overstayed, she is not from poor family, etc.

 

Here is the twist, her other two cousins whom one is male and one if female (both single) and around same age applied for Tourist Visa to come to USA.   There Uncle who was born and raised in the Philippines and was able to join the US Navy in the Philppines while never sitting foot on US Soil and he is now retired. And he hold both a US and Philippines Passport, and lives in Philippines.

 

  He wrote a letter saying he would take care of all their expenses, while they went to USA on a Tourist Visa to see his son graduate from military training. 

 

You hear all the time an invitation and letter of support is a waste of time, in my opinion it was the key to success for a tourist visa.

[geowrian 22,337]

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visitor.html

"Note: Visa applicants must qualify on the basis of the applicant's residence and ties abroad, rather than assurances from U.S. family and friends. A letter of invitation or Affidavit of Support is not needed to apply for a visitor visa. If you choose to bring a letter of invitation or Affidavit of Support to your interview, please remember it is not one of the factors used in determining whether to issue or deny the visa."

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

2 hours ago, Chris Duffy said:

My wife sister (single) around age 28 applied for a Tourist Visa to USA a few months ago.   She is from Philippines been working in Singapore last few years, she applied in Singapore and was denied.  She has traveled to other countries and never overstayed, she is not from poor family, etc.

 

Here is the twist, her other two cousins whom one is male and one if female (both single) and around same age applied for Tourist Visa to come to USA.   There Uncle who was born and raised in the Philippines and was able to join the US Navy in the Philppines while never sitting foot on US Soil and he is now retired. And he hold both a US and Philippines Passport, and lives in Philippines.

 

  He wrote a letter saying he would take care of all their expenses, while they went to USA on a Tourist Visa to see his son graduate from military training. 

 

You hear all the time an invitation and letter of support is a waste of time, in my opinion it was the key to success for a tourist visa.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's not. 

 

The key is to appear credible, and back up the ds160 carrying solid evidence of ties to home. Even that doesn't guarantee anything. 

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

14 hours ago, Seed said:

Hi everyone! 

My wife has a friend in Thailand that has applied for a Tourist Visa to the US, twice and turned down both times.  It makes no sense at all to me, because she is married to a British business man, they own a home in Thailand, she has a good job selling insurance, and they are far from poor.  She has absolutely no compelling reason to overstay illegally in the US.  She simply just wanted to come here to visit my wife 4-5 days and then go back.  She is one of nicest people you'll ever meet, but for some reason the interviewers had an attitude and treated her rudely each time.

Yet, I've meet other Thai people here (we live in Texas) that have got nothing, but were granted a Visa anyway, and a lot of them have every reason to overstay, in fact a few have actually told my wife they will not go back and just stay here illegally.

I'm just sounding off and wondering if any others have had similar experiences.

Thanks!

 

4-5 days? Thailand to the US? 

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

16 minutes ago, WeGuyGal said:

Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's not. 

 

The key is to appear credible, and back up the ds160 carrying solid evidence of ties to home. Even that doesn't guarantee anything. 

Negative

Depends on the country.  I have a buddy from Philippine, He spent 6 months in Australia on a Tourist Visa, and has been to many South Easter Asian countries either surfing or  backpacking.  Has land, has home, has money. Goes to apply for US tourist visa and they asked him what his purpose of trip was and he stated : I want to surf the California shore". 

 

Denied..........

[geowrian 22,337]

2 minutes ago, Chris Duffy said:

Has land, has home, has money.

But not many ties to return home if he can visit Australia for 6 months at a time. The land/home doesn't mean much if he isn't there using it.

But the point is they look at the totality of the circumstances and no 2 applicants are identical. Trying to identify why exactly one gets a visa and another doesn't is a fruitless endeavor.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

30 minutes ago, Chris Duffy said:

Negative

Depends on the country.  I have a buddy from Philippine, He spent 6 months in Australia on a Tourist Visa, and has been to many South Easter Asian countries either surfing or  backpacking.  Has land, has home, has money. Goes to apply for US tourist visa and they asked him what his purpose of trip was and he stated : I want to surf the California shore". 

 

Denied..........

Well, like I said, no guarantees. 

 

Invitation and a letter of support, as you stated, are not keys to success for a tourist visa. 

[pauli 49]

3 hours ago, Chris Duffy said:

Negative

Depends on the country.  I have a buddy from Philippine, He spent 6 months in Australia on a Tourist Visa, and has been to many South Easter Asian countries either surfing or  backpacking.  Has land, has home, has money. Goes to apply for US tourist visa and they asked him what his purpose of trip was and he stated : I want to surf the California shore". 

 

Denied..........

So you think if your buddy had a letter from you inviting him to surf the California shore and stating you'll pay his expenses, then that would have turned the consular officer's judgement?  Anybody can write such a letter - it's just a piece of paper - and COs are smart individuals.

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

There is no right or wrong answer so to say on this matter... it really is kind of an unknown the way they determine approvals in some senses. Strong ties, finances, naturally are all good and helpful. Previous travel history could be important also.

 

I will tell a story from an old friend of mine in the Philippines, where yes it is rather difficult to get a tourist visa for the US, he was denied.. but he literally said there was 20 people in line... first person - approved, second person - denied, third person - approved, fourth person - denied.... and so on like that. He was #16 and denied.. literally it seemed like they were just approving the odd numbers and denying all the evens. Whether that is literally what happened or he was just misreading it and maybe over worried about the whole ordeal I don't know, but there are other stories kind of like that about. No one will ever really know.

[Loren Y 2,755]

It is very difficult to get a tourist visa from Thailand. My fiancee tried to get one of course to no avail, but she was honest about her boyfriend ( me at the time) living here, so I'm sure that was the reason for denial. I just went for the fiancee Visa and had no problems.

[aznhouston 132]

8 hours ago, Chris Duffy said:

My wife sister (single) around age 28 applied for a Tourist Visa to USA a few months ago.   She is from Philippines been working in Singapore last few years, she applied in Singapore and was denied.  She has traveled to other countries and never overstayed, she is not from poor family, etc.

 

Here is the twist, her other two cousins whom one is male and one if female (both single) and around same age applied for Tourist Visa to come to USA.   There Uncle who was born and raised in the Philippines and was able to join the US Navy in the Philppines while never sitting foot on US Soil and he is now retired. And he hold both a US and Philippines Passport, and lives in Philippines.

 

  He wrote a letter saying he would take care of all their expenses, while they went to USA on a Tourist Visa to see his son graduate from military training. 

 

You hear all the time an invitation and letter of support is a waste of time, in my opinion it was the key to success for a tourist visa.

Those letters mean nothing.

They look at the situation as a whole. It's hard to tell because it's very different from one to another. No two cases are the same.