Tourist visa denied

[ujones 148]

A relative of mine was invited to inaugurate a function in US end of this year. Had interview day before yday & got denied (214B).. He didn’t provide much documentation showing ties to home country as the agent who applied on his behalf told him to just bring it during interview ... but CO didn’t even ask him anything. When should he provide all the documentation of  his assets & job responsibilities in his home country to prove he do not have any immigration intent ? Is it possible to upload   while applying for visa ? Will it help if he make a cover letter showing why he would want to return to his home country after the purpose of visit ? 

Edited August 28, 2019 by ujones

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Just now, ujones said:

A relative of mine was invited to inaugurate a function in Texas in November. Had interview day before yday & got denied . He didn’t provide much documentation showing ties to home country as the agent who applied on his behalf told him to just bring it during interview ... but CO didn’t even ask him anything. When should he provide all the documentation of  his assets & job responsibilities in his home country to prove he do not have any immigration intent ? Is it possible to upload   while applying for visa ? Will it help if he make a cover letter showing why he would want to return to his home country after the purpose of visit ? 

Not sure why he used an agent but no, you can’t upload anything before and yes, it’s normal to both bring it to the interview and not have it looked at. The answers provided in the DS160 are generally enough for the CO to make a decision. Out of curiosity, what kind of function was your relative asked to inaugurate - some kind of business/conference function, or a family one?

[ujones 148]

3 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Not sure why he used an agent but no, you can’t upload anything before and yes, it’s normal to both bring it to the interview and not have it looked at. The answers provided in the DS160 are generally enough for the CO to make a decision. Out of curiosity, what kind of function was your relative asked to inaugurate - some kind of business/conference function, or a family one?

Business event .. he used an agent to make the process easier as he holds a very busy position. So interview time is the only time he could show all the ties to home country & convince the CO he will return right ? I was thinking may be he could upload all documents prior to that 

Edited August 28, 2019 by ujones

[apple21 953]

Everything the interviewing officer needs to know is on the DS160. Did his answers during the interview match with what's on the DS160? Denials can be caused by inconsistent answers. I'm thinking this because he used an agent.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Yeah, maybe he can try again without an agent, I mean I presume the time giving the agent all the required info is not shorter than the time it will take to just input it into the ds160 himself. And there is nothing else other than that to do before the interview.  That said, having one denial on his record already may make the next interview harder, hopefully he will be able to convince the CO next time.

[HappyAndIKnowIt 24]

Don't they ask what has changed since their last denial ?

[apple21 953]

2 hours ago, HappyAndIKnowIt said:

Don't they ask what has changed since their last denial ?

They don't really have to since they keep a record of your previous application/s. They just have to compare the new ds160 to the old one and they'll see if there are any changes. 

[JeanneAdil 6,220]

there are many areas of business type visas and what needs to be done to qualify

check this site as i don't know if you do this to lecture or as a sales rep

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/BusinessVisa Purpose Listings March 2014 flier.pdf

 

it talks about when you can and can not be paid and for some categories there is a limit to the number of days you can spend here

and often the employer submits the application and supporting evidence

[arken 4,197]

What’s your friend’s age and marital status?

[ujones 148]

18 hours ago, arken said:

What’s your friend’s age and marital status?

He’s in his 50’s & married. 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

37 minutes ago, ujones said:

He’s in his 50’s & married. 

And apparently has some kind of decently responsible job and yet still got denied under 214b? Something is not really adding up here, even given how strict some COs are. This should have been relatively straightforward.  Anything we’re not being told? 

[ujones 148]

9 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

And apparently has some kind of decently responsible job and yet still got denied under 214b? Something is not really adding up here, even given how strict some COs are. This should have been relatively straightforward.  Anything we’re not being told? 

@SusieQQQ, there’s nothing that’s being hidden. He was invited for this event & the DS 160 was filled by a travel agent. So I’m thinking what went wrong is the dates. The date of event printed on invitation & the agent entered on DS 160 was slightly different as the event is a 3 day program but my relative is staying for 3 more days & that was what he entered on DS 160. Other than that there’s nothing we can think of a rejection reason as CO didn’t even ask him anything except his name , annual income & job title.  

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Agents often cause problems sad to say. Personally I don’t know why people use them as it takes as much time to give the agent the info as to enter it directly in the ds160.  

There’s no reason to refuse a visa because the person wants to sightsee /stay a few days after a business trip, I used to do that all the time. I assume the function invitation was all above board and an arms-length business request.

[SalishSea 16,817]

On 8/29/2019 at 8:04 AM, SusieQQQ said:

Personally I don’t know why people use them as it takes as much time to give the agent the info as to enter it directly in the ds160.  

I think it stems from the misconception that using an agent will increase the chance of approval.  Same reason some people use RV/lawyers for straightforward IV petitions.