My sister got denied B2 visa - What to do to make sure she gets it next time?

[Nodame 0]

My sister was denied a B2 Visitor visa to attend my wedding at the US Embassy in Rwanda. I am getting married end of April this year, and I have been living in the US for 12+ years. I am a US Permanent Resident, I am well US educated, have a good job, and enough savings to be able to support my whole family if they come visit.

My sister is a medical Doctor with 15+ years experience and is the head of a Hospital department, she is married, and has 2 children. She owns her own house and has enough money in her bank account to support herself as well.

 

I invited her for my wedding and I was planning to have her as my maid of honor. She applied for a visa, just for herself, because she wanted her husband to stay home with the kids. She had her employment letter and she had copies of my Green card with her, she even had both our birth certificates to prove that we are sisters. I gave her a letter of invitation, my bank statements, she even took her own bank statements, and the title and pictures of her house and family - In summary, she had all kinds of supporting documents that proves that she will be well taken care of, and that she definitely is planning on going back to her country and her family after my wedding.

 

During her interview, they did not even look at any of the documents she brought. They only asked her three questions:

- Who do you want to go visit?
Sister answer: My sister

- When was she born?
Sister answer: my birthday

- What is your relationship?
Sister answer: We are sisters

- Sorry, today you have been denied the B2 Visitor Visa. Here is a letter slip with reasons why you were denied.

That was it! They did not look at any paperwork she brought and did not even ask her any other relevant question - not even the reason why she is applying.

 

That letter slip was just a generic letter that says that not enough documentation was provided. But how can they say she failed to provide enough documentation when they did not even look at any document she brought with her?

She is my only sister, and I really wanted her at my wedding as my maid of honor, I don't have any other family member who would be attending my wedding.

 We would like her to apply a second time, but we want to ensure that this time around she has a better chance of getting her visa accepted. 
- I am thinking about personally writing a letter to the US Embassy in my country and explain her  case
- Another option (costly) would be for me to fly to my country, and accompany her to her Visa interview and show my original documents (ID and Green Card) and try to explain to the visa officer in person why it would be important for me to have her on wedding day

Do you think any of the two options above would help? What else do you think we could do? I am at a loss here, and any help on this matter would be very appreciated.

Edited February 11, 2020 by Nodame

[Crazy Cat 44,001]

I'm sorry, Nothing you can do will help her case...nothing.  She can apply again, but she will have to apply on her own merits.  

[beloved_dingo 2,002]

Unfortunately, they are not required to look at any additional documentation. I don't know the specifics for Rwanda, but many African countries are considered "high-fraud" countries (meaning a higher rate of visas are abused to get to the U.S. and stay illegally or adjust status). Visa fraud has the unfortunate side affect of making it much harder for honest people to get visitor visas.

 

There is nothing you can personally do to help her chances. It is her visa application - you cannot sponsor her in any form or fashion and nothing you provide will be given any consideration. Invitation letters are also meaningless. The fact she has a relative in the U.S. will be seen as a negative factor, always. They will likely always assume she may have immigrant intent. 

 

I'm sorry to not have a more positive response, but that's the reality of the situation. 

 

[Nodame 0]

11 minutes ago, beloved_dingo said:

Unfortunately, they are not required to look at any additional documentation. I don't know the specifics for Rwanda, but many African countries are considered "high-fraud" countries (meaning a higher rate of visas are abused to get to the U.S. and stay illegally or adjust status). Visa fraud has the unfortunate side affect of making it much harder for honest people to get visitor visas.

 

There is nothing you can personally do to help her chances. It is her visa application - you cannot sponsor her in any form or fashion and nothing you provide will be given any consideration. Invitation letters are also meaningless. The fact she has a relative in the U.S. will be seen as a negative factor, always. They will likely always assume she may have immigrant intent. 

 

I'm sorry to not have a more positive response, but that's the reality of the situation. 

 

I get it that she has to prove that she is able to fund her own trip - and also has intent to come back. By the way, she wanted to do that, on her own she even had supporting documents as proof with her during the interview. My question is, how can she possibly provide the necessary proofs if they don't even give her a chance, meaning they did not look at any of her documents - they did not even ask her any personal questions?

 

During her DS-160 application (online) there was nowhere where she could even upload any attachments or supporting documents, and that's why she brought them with her during her interview (which they asked her to do).

 

Honestly, I am not sure how they base their refusal - or grant visas for that matter. Is this arbitrary? Perhaps based on the person's name?

[SusieQQQ 11,588]

Rwanda is fairly tough with a 54% refusal rate for B visas but ...,this is an odd one. Your description of your sister (job etc) sounds like someone who they shouldn't even think twice about granting a visa to.
Nothing will guarantee a visa. Normally the advice is if nothing has changed don’t bother trying again, but honestly If you have $160 to spare, this might be one of those rare cases where a second officer can’t understand why the first denied it.  

[Nat&Amy 623]

Your sister filled the online form with the information they need to make a decision. One of the questions is exactly about family in the US. Sadly, as mentioned before, having a relative in the US is not an advantage, not when so many abuse their temporary visas to "visit" family and then, never return.

 

Your sister has strong ties to her home country so she could always try to apply again, but the more you try to attach yourself to her process, the more immigrant intent will be brought up. They are less concerned about why she is going to the US  than why she would leave the US and return to her home country. 

 

ETA: agree with @SusieQQQ above. This is a case where the applicant's profile has all the imaginable ties they could ask for. It's worth trying again.

 

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by Nat&Amy

[Unlockable 7,318]

20 minutes ago, Nodame said:

I get it that she has to prove that she is able to fund her own trip - and also has intent to come back. By the way, she wanted to do that, on her own she even had supporting documents as proof with her during the interview. My question is, how can she possibly provide the necessary proofs if they don't even give her a chance, meaning they did not look at any of her documents - they did not even ask her any personal questions?

 

During her DS-160 application (online) there was nowhere where she could even upload any attachments or supporting documents, and that's why she brought them with her during her interview (which they asked her to do).

 

Honestly, I am not sure how they base their refusal - or grant visas for that matter. Is this arbitrary? Perhaps based on the person's name?

Because reviewing documents is NOT A REQUIREMENT by the interviewing officer.

 

Nobody truly knows how visas are granted. But we do know that having strong ties to the applicant's country gives them a better chance than someone who has no ties.

 

But on thing a lot of foreigners make is assuming that they will be granted a visa. NEVER assume that just because one has a good job or a house or any other evidence of a strong tie that they will get a visa. We have seen plenty of people who've had very good ties but still get denied. Best to do is for her to reapply and for you to have a back-up plan if she isn't able to come. We know this is something you wanted but millions of people get denied visas every year.

[arken 4,198]

 

 

1 hour ago, Nodame said:

- I am thinking about personally writing a letter to the US Embassy in my country and explain her  case

They would just throw that in the trash, so no point of such letter.

 

 

Quote

- Another option (costly) would be for me to fly to my country, and accompany her to her Visa interview and show my original documents (ID and Green Card) and try to explain to the visa officer in person why it would be important for me to have her on wedding day

you won’t be allowed to go inside the embassy to accompany your sister, you will just be waiting outside the embassy gate, so no point doing this as well.

 

Quote

What else do you think we could do?

In general, you can’t do anything. It’s just a luck. 
what your sister can do is try for it again and may be this time she faces less strict CO.

 

How old is your sister btw? That could be a factor.

 

This is what happened in my case, seems related.

My 80 yr old parents ( dad and mom), who have no active income, got the visitor visas. They could’ve stayed here legally thru my petition and not returned back. They came here and returned.

 

Several months later, my brother in late 30s, who is a doctor, has his own clinic, earns loads of money, has a wife and child, was denied a visa when he alone was planning to come for 2 weeks for a medical conference sponsored by a not-for-profit company in California. He couldn’t have stayed here through me legally even if he wanted to stay here.

 

Sometimes you just need to accept it.

Edited February 11, 2020 by arken

[SusieQQQ 11,588]

@Nodame- one question- have you ever been out of status in the US? (I only ask because occasionally this seems to have an impact on a relative’s B visa application)

[Nodame 0]

4 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

@Nodame- one question- have you ever been out of status in the US? (I only ask because occasionally this seems to have an impact on a relative’s B visa application)

@SusieQQQ  :  I have never been out of status, and have been living in the US legally the whole 12 years I have been here - I have had my Green card for 5 years, and in fact I am eligible for Citizenship this year.

[Nodame 0]

11 minutes ago, arken said:

 

 

They would just throw that in the trash, so no point of such letter.

 

 

you won’t be allowed to go inside the embassy to accompany your sister, you will just be waiting outside the embassy gate, so no point doing this as well.

 

In general, you can’t do anything. It’s just a luck. 
what your sister can do is try for it again and may be this time she faces less strict CO.

 

How old is your sister btw? That could be a factor.

 

This is what happened in my case, seems related.

My 80 yr old parents ( dad and mom), who have no active income, got the visitor visas. They could’ve stayed here legally thru my petition and not returned back. They came here and returned.

 

Several months later, my brother in late 30s, who is a doctor, has his own clinic, earns loads of money, has a wife and child, was denied a visa when he alone was planning to come for 2 weeks for a medical conference sponsored by a not-for-profit company in California. He couldn’t have stayed here through me legally even if he wanted to stay here.

 

Sometimes you just need to accept it.

My sister is 41 years old 

[arken 4,198]

5 minutes ago, Nodame said:

My sister is 41 years old 

My bro was 39. Like i said it’s a luck. Nothing to lose other than the fee in applying again, just with the hope that another less strict CO may happen to interview her and may approve it, but nothing there to be done by you. If she gets denied again, you may feel how important she is for you in your wedding, but for them, you will get married in her absence as well. 
 

 

Edited February 11, 2020 by arken

[carmel34 3,712]

2 hours ago, Nodame said:

What else do you think we could do? I am at a loss here, and any help on this matter would be very appreciated.

It really depends on how important it is for your sister to be at your wedding.  I remember having similar discussions with my husband about our wedding in 2018 when we were agonizing over K-1 vs CR-1 and whether to get married in the US or in Brazil.  We knew that his family members in Brazil had little chance of getting a B visa to visit the US for our wedding, so we decided to get married in Brazil so that they could all be there.  Then a year later after he got his CR-1 visa, we had a wedding celebration here in the US with my family.  You could get married in Rwanda so that your sister could be there, then return and have another wedding party in the US.  Just a suggestion, but it worked well for us.  Sometimes you have to be creative to work around these difficult international situations so that everyone can feel like they are a part of important milestones like weddings.

[Nodame 0]

29 minutes ago, carmel34 said:

It really depends on how important it is for your sister to be at your wedding.  I remember having similar discussions with my husband about our wedding in 2018 when we were agonizing over K-1 vs CR-1 and whether to get married in the US or in Brazil.  We knew that his family members in Brazil had little chance of getting a B visa to visit the US for our wedding, so we decided to get married in Brazil so that they could all be there.  Then a year later after he got his CR-1 visa, we had a wedding celebration here in the US with my family.  You could get married in Rwanda so that your sister could be there, then return and have another wedding party in the US.  Just a suggestion, but it worked well for us.  Sometimes you have to be creative to work around these difficult international situations so that everyone can feel like they are a part of important milestones like weddings.

@carmel34: Thanks for the advice - unfortunately, at this stage we cannot change our wedding plans - a lot of money and efforts have already been put in place - and it is not just about my family only, his family also has already made plans - invitations have already been sent, plane tickets bought, hotels booked, etc. - So the wedding has to happen here in the US.

The advice I am looking for here is rather what to do for my sister to have more chance to get the visa the second time she applies.

 

[Unlockable 7,318]

2 hours ago, Nodame said:

@carmel34: Thanks for the advice - unfortunately, at this stage we cannot change our wedding plans - a lot of money and efforts have already been put in place - and it is not just about my family only, his family also has already made plans - invitations have already been sent, plane tickets bought, hotels booked, etc. - So the wedding has to happen here in the US.

The advice I am looking for here is rather what to do for my sister to have more chance to get the visa the second time she applies.

 

The only chance she can do is to apply again and see. From your first post she had sufficient evidence to show strong ties. There is no specific method that can guarantee an approval. Nothing else can be done at this point but apply and hope for the best.