MIL and FIL rejected, what to do?

[Bignoggins 4]

My MIL and FIL (who live in Colombia) was rejected for tourist VISAs. They gave no reason at the consulate. What is the most likely reason they were rejected and how do they improve their chances for the next time? The reason they gave was 1 year birthday for my son. My only thought is their salary is not very high so that may be the reason?

[Nathan2424 8]

No one can say with any certainty other than the officer themselves, but from my research, I would guess...

1. They failed to establish sufficient ties to their country of origin (e.g. Columbia) to an extent that the officer felt with reasonable certainty that they would return. In other words, the officer feels there is a significant risk that they would overstay their visa.
   1. Their financial background & salary would play a major part in this, but usually it can be overcame if they can establish other ties.
2. The officer felt their primary purpose of coming to USA is to provide childcare services, which is a common red flag for grandparents coming over for young children as they tend to overstay, since the need for childcare services doesn't go away quick.

Edited Saturday at 03:17 PM by Nathan2424

[Lil bear 4,636]

19 minutes ago, Bignoggins said:

My MIL and FIL (who live in Colombia) was rejected for tourist VISAs. They gave no reason at the consulate. What is the most likely reason they were rejected and how do they improve their chances for the next time? The reason they gave was 1 year birthday for my son. My only thought is their salary is not very high so that may be the reason?

Lack of strength of  ties /connections to their home country and hence  increased risk of overstaying and adjusting status from in the US. Income would be only a small factor in what the IO considers. 

[JeanneAdil 7,268]

This never makes sense to me

they could not adjust to stay in the US at this point as your spouse is not yet a citizen

 

BUT in our case they denied my MIL  when adil was just a LPR

and approved her when he became a citizen when we could have done the AOS

and we had a I 130 in the process at the time 

 

BTW your timeline is messed up

it shows AOS interview 4/2025 before the marriage 7/2025

 

[Boiler 48,037]

They would have been given a reason for the refusal.

 

Usually it is inability to show non immigrant intent

[TBoneTX 48,054]

Your in-laws might be able to improve their chances if they show a good travel history.

Have them visit another country for a week or long weekend or weekend, then duly return home.

Maybe repeat this a few months later.

This kind of evidence bolsters their claims of their ties to home.

[Scandi 4,335]

Probably because they are considered to have strong ties to the US, since in the US they have a kid and grandchild, they may want to stay. Maybe they weren't able to provide enough evidence of their ties to Colombia that would also help showing non-immigrant intent to the US. 

[smilingstone 760]

20 hours ago, Bignoggins said:

My MIL and FIL (who live in Colombia) was rejected for tourist VISAs. They gave no reason at the consulate. What is the most likely reason they were rejected and how do they improve their chances for the next time? The reason they gave was 1 year birthday for my son. My only thought is their salary is not very high so that may be the reason?

 

They always give a reason. Were your in-laws handed a letter? 

 

If there salary isn't high, how did they say the trip was going to be funded? And how long was the trip going to be for?

 

You've missed out quite important details here.