Unique situation for B1 tourist visa request.

[geowrian 22,335]

3 minutes ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

Which also means 58 percent were approved with a surprisingly high number of people applying for tourist visas considering the average Colombian makes the equivalent of $6180 dollars per year. The average American makes 10 times that. I would say that this woman is in the top 10 percent of all Colombians as far as wealth and marital income. 

That's one way to look at it. For comparison, Philippines is "only" 24% refusal but either a single young Filipina or one married to a USC getting a new visa is a rare occasion. Specifics matter the most, but country involved is a factor as well.

 

No harm in trying, so long as the fee isn't an issue.

[Tommy Lee Jones 4]

1 minute ago, geowrian said:

That's one way to look at it. For comparison, Philippines is "only" 24% refusal but either a single young Filipina or one married to a USC getting a new visa is a rare occasion. Specifics matter the most, but country involved is a factor as well.

 

No harm in trying, so long as the fee isn't an issue.

So being married and old is an advantage to getting a tourist visa. Hahaha Who would have guessed. 

 

Doesn’t surprise me that woman married to a US citizen who lived in the USA would be denied a tourist visa.

Just seems odd that they would use the fact that  an American lives with his wife in a foreign country against her.  Would they hold it against her if her husband was a foreign national living with her in her country and both of them were applying for a Tourist visa.  

 

I agree specifics do matter the most. 

[geowrian 22,335]

17 minutes ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

So being married and old is an advantage to getting a tourist visa. Hahaha Who would have guessed. 

 

Doesn’t surprise me that woman married to a US citizen who lived in the USA would be denied a tourist visa.

Just seems odd that they would use the fact that  an American lives with his wife in a foreign country against her.  Would they hold it against her if her husband was a foreign national living with her in her country and both of them were applying for a Tourist visa.  

 

I agree specifics do matter the most. 

Having long established ties to an area would be one factor as well. Generally, the elderly are not as easily able to uproot their way of life by immigrating to another country, and there may even be a loss of financial incentives for doing so (like certain government benefits). It absolutely happens, but it would be less common than somebody younger who hasn't established a long, adult life in the area.

 

The issue with a USC spouse is if granted the visa, there would be a means to use it to bypass the legal immigration path. If they were married to a non-US resident, that pathway does not exist. There is less of an ability to misuse the visa...or at least more consequences for doing so.

 

Side story: It's actually not that uncommon for "visa agents" (or applicants directly) in some countries to claim a marriage to a local resident as a means to show a tie to return back home. It does come back to bite them - often severely - later, but it doesn't stop people from trying.

Edited May 1, 2020 by geowrian

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

1 hour ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

Where are the country refusal rates?  worldwide refusal rates aren’t of much interest to me. 

I can look at a countries population and number of approved tourist visas and see that there is a great disparity between countries .....but obviously if you can find the per country refusal rates that would be very helpful as well. 

Um.l posted them for you above and told you what the link was. And someone else posted the actual rate for Colombia. Bit of a waste of time for all us of here if you don’t bother really reading the posts.

[Tommy Lee Jones 4]

13 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Having long established ties to an area would be one factor as well. Generally, the elderly are not as easily able to uproot their way of life by immigrating to another country, and there may even be a loss of financial incentives for doing so (like certain government benefits). It absolutely happens, but it would be less common than somebody younger who hasn't established a long, adult life in the area.

 

The issue with a USC spouse is if granted the visa, there would be a means to use it to bypass the legal immigration path. If they were married to a non-US resident, that pathway does not exist. There is less of an ability to misuse the visa...or at least more consequences for doing so.

 

Side story: It's actually not that uncommon for "visa agents" (or applicants directly) in some countries to claim a marriage to a local resident as a means to show a tie to return back home. It does come back to bite them - often severely - later, but it doesn't stop people from trying.

Interesting....are you aware of any down sides to her apply for an immigrant visa and using it to visa the mother in law and then returning to Colombia to live.

 

What if later on she wants to move with her husband to the USA. Will they hold it against her that she had previously applied for and received an immigrant visa and then never immigrated to the USA. 

[geowrian 22,335]

19 minutes ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

Interesting....are you aware of any down sides to her apply for an immigrant visa and using it to visa the mother in law and then returning to Colombia to live.

 

What if later on she wants to move with her husband to the USA. Will they hold it against her that she had previously applied for and received an immigrant visa and then never immigrated to the USA. 

The obvious downsides are the ~12-16 month wait, the fees, the paperwork and documents necessary, the medical exam, etc.

Also, her spouse must be a financial sponsor using income that will continue upon return to the US (or assets at a 3:1 ratio). They (the sponsor) must also have or show sufficient intent to establish US domicile, which seems like a major hurdle if they only want to visit.

 

That said, it wouldn't be the first time somebody went through that long process, then immediately abandoned the green card (via an I-407) and then applied for a tourist visa. They can be a strong sign that they don't intend to immigrate to the US by voluntarily giving up the option.

And to be clear, she can't just use the green card like super tourist visa or something...a green card is for permanent residency within the US, and has tax consequences and such (like a USC does) even if living abroad.

Edited May 1, 2020 by geowrian

[Diane and Chris 651]

9 hours ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

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

It seems to me that you only want to argue with anyone that tries to offer advice. Guess she will just have to stay home and “just be a housewife.” When you said that, I knew you weren’t serious!   

[SalishSea 16,770]

9 hours ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

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

Fabricating ties like this will not work.

[SalishSea 16,770]

7 hours ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

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.

Uh, to save 12-18 months off the timeframe by avoiding the queue of people already waiting.  Happens all the time.

[SalishSea 16,770]

6 hours ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

So far I haven't heard anything that is better than my suggestion to the woman that she enroll in a College to show more ties to the community. 

Do you really think the IOs at the embassy are not aware that people try to do things like this for the sole purpose of creating "ties"?  

[SalishSea 16,770]

4 hours ago, Tommy Lee Jones said:

Seems to me the odds of approval or denial are influenced by the country you are applying in.

As I noted in the link above. Many more tourist visas being issued in Colombia compared to other parts of the world.

Yes, but.....like Susie said, many of those other countries (Chile, for example), are part of the VWP, so the per capita B refusal rates aren't relevant.

[geowrian 22,335]

10 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Yes, but.....like Susie said, many of those other countries (Chile, for example), are part of the VWP, so the per capita B refusal rates aren't relevant.

Very true. In VWP-eligible countries, the vast majority of people applying for a B visa are those who are not ordinarily eligible for the VWP (i.e. due to past immigration violations, criminal issues, etc.). Same for Canada given their unique visitor privileges.

[SalishSea 16,770]

Just now, geowrian said:

Very true. In VWP-eligible countries, the vast majority of people applying for a B visa are those who are not ordinarily eligible for the VWP (i.e. due to past immigration violations, criminal issues, etc.). Same for Canada given their unique visitor privileges.

Yup, or in the case of consulates like Auckland, many B applicants are not NZ citizens.

[geowrian 22,335]

6 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Yup, or in the case of consulates like Auckland, many B applicants are not NZ citizens.

True, but those stats are by nationality, not consulate. My wife applied in KSA with like a 6% refusal rate, but she would be recorded with Filipinos (in the ~24% refusal rate)

Edited May 1, 2020 by geowrian

[SalishSea 16,770]

28 minutes ago, geowrian said:

True, but those stats are by nationality, not consulate. My wife applied in KSA with like a 6% refusal rate, but she would be recorded with Filipinos (in the ~24% refusal rate)

Ah, good point.