Unique situation for B1 tourist visa request.

[Tommy Lee Jones 4]

A 31 year old woman that is a Colombian national and living with her American citizen husband in Colombia would like to apply for a tourist visa for the USA. 

The Colombian woman has a child with the American husband and she would like to go to the USA with her American husband and her US citizen child to meet her mother in law and so the mother in law can get a chance to meet her grand daughter before she dies....the mother in law has congestive heart failure and is not doing well. 

 

Her American husband has lived in Colombia with her for about 2 years and neither one is interested in living in the USA so an immigrant visa isn't really an option because it would be cancelled after about six months of them continuing to live in Colombia. 

 

The woman has extended and immediate family that lives in the USA....An aunt that is now a US citizen and an older sister that is married to a US permanent resident. 

 

The woman has a younger sister that has a US tourist visa....the woman applied the same time her younger sister did about 10 years ago years ago but the woman was denied the tourist visa....no reason given. I think her younger sister was 15 at the time and probably wasn't a candidate for not returning to Colombia. Not sure about the reasoning there. 

 

The woman reapplied for a tourist visa another time about a year or two after the first tourist visa denial and was denied again....no reason given.  After that she married a US resident that was also a Colombian national.  She was married about three years.....her US resident husband applied for an immigrant visa but the relationship wasn't working out so neither one of them bothered to make an appointment at the embassy and the visa just died in the process. She wasn't denied the visa as her and her husband never pursued it to fruition. 

 

She has been married to her American husband for about a year and her two year old baby has a US passport. 

 

She filed a joint tax return with her US husband and has an ITIN .....their joint gross income was about 105 thousand dollars. The woman currently owns a home in her name only that is worth approximately 125 thousand US dollars, a free and clear car worth about 20 grand and approximately the equivalent of 15 K in her savings account. 

 

She is currently unemployed and is just a housewife taking care of her child. 

 

The only advice that I gave her to increase her odds of receiving a tourist visa was to enroll in a College for Vocational School to show ties to the community besides just having her mother, father and younger sister living in Colombia. 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Tommy Lee Jones

[millefleur 5,035]

1 hour ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

The woman reapplied for a tourist visa another time about a year or two after the first tourist visa denial and was denied again....no reason given. 

A reason must've been given. They probably gave her the 214(b) slip, which is lack of strong ties to home country/assumed intent to immigrate to the US.

 

Having a US citizen spouse makes it extremely hard to overcome the suspicion of intent to immigrate. My husband was enrolled in a 6 year medical program (of which he was about 3 years into at the time) and I (USC) had been living abroad for about 4 years at the time, I had a proper work visa and everything. He was denied a tourist visa under 214(b) because of me (his only tie to the US at the time) even though we had no intention at that time to move to the US. 

 

So, it is a very difficult situation. It is possible that the sister was approved because she doesn't have any family who are USC's. Each case is looked at individually, but USC immediate family members are a really tough one to overcome. She can apply again but I'm skeptical that the vocational school enrolment will be the game changer that changes their mind.

[Unlockable 7,306]

Not a unique situation at all. We hear about spouses living in other countries wanting to come over and visit constantly.

 

Enrolling in a college//vocational school is not much of a strong tie. She can simply drop out if she decides to move to the US. All she has to do is apply and see. We have seen people have success who've had extensive travels to other countries. 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

What was the question?

to be honest I don’t think enrolling in a (presumably short term) vocational course will make any difference.
Her history of denial and USC husband and child probably count against her getting a visa, but she won’t know until she tries. Unfortunately it is possible, maybe probable, that the husband will need to take the granddaughter on his own to meet the grandmother. I am sorry to hear about the grandmother’s health issues.

[Tommy Lee Jones 4]

At the time of the denial of the first and second tourist visa the woman and her sister had the same family ties to the USA. Which was one married older sister and an Aunt that had lived there so long she had become a US citizen. 

 

One was approved and one wasn't. I'll take her at her word that no reason was given...since I know other Colombian nationals that are only told denied....with no other information given as to why. 

[Tommy Lee Jones 4]

8 minutes ago, Unlockable said:

Not a unique situation at all. We hear about spouses living in other countries wanting to come over and visit constantly.

 

Enrolling in a college//vocational school is not much of a strong tie. She can simply drop out if she decides to move to the US. All she has to do is apply and see. We have seen people have success who've had extensive travels to other countries. 

Then what is considered a strong tie? Anyone can quit a job as well. 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

2 minutes ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

Then what is considered a strong tie? Anyone can quit a job as well. 

Some jobs are easier quittable than others, and therefore are weaker ties than others. Being a cleaner for example is different than being a senior manager in a big company with a good career locally.

Edited April 30, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[Tommy Lee Jones 4]

19 minutes ago, millefleur said:

 

 

 

Having a US citizen spouse makes it extremely hard to overcome the suspicion of intent to immigrate. My husband was enrolled in a 6 year medical program (of which he was about 3 years into at the time) and I (USC) had been living abroad for about 4 years at the time, I had a proper work visa and everything. He was denied a tourist visa under 214(b) because of me (his only tie to the US at the time) even though we had no intention at that time to move to the US. 

 

So, it is a very difficult situation. It is possible that the sister was approved because she doesn't have any family who are USC's. Each case is looked at individually, but USC immediate family members are a really tough one to overcome. She can apply again but I'm skeptical that the vocational school enrolment will be the game changer that changes their mind.

I don't know what 214(b) is? 

But thinking about it logically ....why would someone that wanted to and could easily immigrate to the US seek a tourist visa if they planned to immigrate to the USA. The husband could easily apply for an immigrant visa if they wanted to live in the USA but they don't. And if she overstayed her on her tourist visa she might never be allowed to immigrate to the USA if in the future she wanted to. 

 

 

[millefleur 5,035]

Just now, Tommy Lee Jones said:

I don't know what 214(b) is? 

But thinking about it logically ....why would someone that wanted to and could easily immigrate to the US seek a tourist visa if they planned to immigrate to the USA. The husband could easily apply for an immigrant visa if they wanted to live in the USA but they don't. And if she overstayed her on her tourist visa she might never be allowed to immigrate to the USA if in the future she wanted to. 

214(b) is the common denial reason for not having strong enough ties to the home country/immigrant intent is suspected.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/visa-denials.html

 

Unfortunately this is just the way it is. In this case (USC spouse), they're not worried about the overstay so much as they're worried about the spouse of a USC adjusting status to immigrate and stay in the US (which is feasible even if the person overstays). The US doesn't have any "private" or "family visit" visas for some reason, so spouses of USC's who live abroad often have a very difficult time finding ways to visit the US. 

[Tommy Lee Jones 4]

15 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Some jobs are easier quittable than others, and therefore are weaker ties than others. Being a cleaner for example is different than being a senior manager in a big company with a good career locally.

That is true....but doesn't everyone that wants to immigrate to the USA have to quit their job no matter what it is. 

 

I think what they must be looking at is someone that doesn't want to leave their home country because they have a good life. Even without a job I think it would be obvious to the US embassy interviewer that this woman is very much in a comfortable position in her life in Colombia. 

[Tommy Lee Jones 4]

16 minutes ago, millefleur said:

 

 

 

Unfortunately this is just the way it is. In this case (USC spouse), they're not worried about the overstay so much as they're worried about the spouse of a USC adjusting status to immigrate and stay in the US (which is feasible even if the person overstays). The US doesn't have any "private" or "family visit" visas for some reason, so spouses of USC's who live abroad often have a very difficult time finding ways to visit the US. 

I think that might be a reasonable reason for the embassy to deny a tourist visa if the husband and wife were living apart and not in the wife's home country. In this case the US citizen husband is a permanent resident of Colombia living with his Colombia wife in Colombia.  

Because if what you say is true then there just isn't any practical way for the spouse of a US citizen to ever visit the the USA under any circumstances. 

 

I could advise the woman to have her husband apply for an immigrant visa and then just come back and live in Colombia and let the visa expire in 6 months. But I don't know what implications that would have on her if she ever wanted to immigrate to the USA in the future....seeing how claiming to want to immigrate to the USA when you don't is lying. 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Tommy Lee Jones

[millefleur 5,035]

4 minutes ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

Because if what you say is true then there just isn't any practical way for the spouse of a US citizen to ever visit the the USA under any circumstances. 

I didn't say that. I just said that there's a really high chance of denial. She can apply again and see what happens. The idea is just to be realistic about the expectations.

 

Also, Colombia had a denial rate of 41.93% for B visas in fiscal year 2019. Just to get an idea of the overall denial rate in her country.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/RefusalRates/FY19.pdf

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

42 minutes ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

I don't know what 214(b) is? 

But thinking about it logically ....why would someone that wanted to and could easily immigrate to the US seek a tourist visa if they planned to immigrate to the USA. The husband could easily apply for an immigrant visa if they wanted to live in the USA but they don't. And if she overstayed her on her tourist visa she might never be allowed to immigrate to the USA if in the future she wanted to. 

 

 

Because you can “jump the queue” to immigrate by “visiting” the US and then applying to adjust status, rather than waiting a year or more for your immigrant visa (which is neither quick nor particularly easy) to be processed and issued. The many who have done this before make it harder for those who genuinely just want to visit. And the law presumes immigrant intent, so the onus is on the applicant to prove otherwise (this is what 214b is). Maybe seems unfair but that’s what the situation is.

 

Also, overstay on a tourist visa has absolutely no negative impact for the spouse of a USC looking to immigrate/adjust as long as there isn’t a ban involved somewhere (in your circumstances highly unlikely)

Edited April 30, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

39 minutes ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

That is true....but doesn't everyone that wants to immigrate to the USA have to quit their job no matter what it is. 

 

I think what they must be looking at is someone that doesn't want to leave their home country because they have a good life. Even without a job I think it would be obvious to the US embassy interviewer that this woman is very much in a comfortable position in her life in Colombia. 

You’re generally not going to just quit a senior job to overstay on a tourist visa though.

And yes about the comfortable life, but that’s easier without the ties to the US that she has. Actually - the husband showing ties to Colombia might help in this particular circumstance to prove that they as a family don’t want to move - though there is no guarantee the visa officer will look at anything presented extraneous to the actual form.

Edited April 30, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[Tommy Lee Jones 4]

1 hour ago, millefleur said:

 

 

 

Having a US citizen spouse makes it extremely hard to overcome the suspicion of intent to immigrate. My husband was enrolled in a 6 year medical program (of which he was about 3 years into at the time) and I (USC) had been living abroad for about 4 years at the time, I had a proper work visa and everything. He was denied a tourist visa under 214(b) because of me (his only tie to the US at the time) even though we had no intention at that time to move to the US. 

 

 

 

I think the main difference between your past situation with your husband and this woman's situation is..... that you had a work visa and probably weren't planning on spending the rest of you life living aboard....while this woman's husband is a permanent resident in Colombia. And I don't know if your husband owned real property in the country you lived in. As this woman owns quite a bit of  property by Colombian standards. 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Tommy Lee Jones