jmt111

Is there a law that requires employers in the US to pay “local” or “prevailing” wages? My understanding is an employer could pay whatever he or she wanted, provided it was not less than the minimum wage. If the prevailing wage in the US is $15 per hour for domestic help, would I be unable to pay more or less than that, provided it is not less than my state’s minimum wage of $8 per hour?

On the off chance you are serious, have you tried advertising in Dearborn?

We are not related.

I could find local Arabic-speakers in my home state, but this is problematic for two reasons:

1- Labor in the US is much more expensive than labor in many foreign countries;

2- Laborers in the US likely already speak English, which would make it difficult to speak a foreign language in a home with native English speakers. I have found that generally speaking, the only individuals that speak Arabic (or other foreign languages) with me are those who do not speak any English. It is difficult to find such people in the US.

Part of why I want this specific person is that he speaks Arabic, and I want my children to have an Arabic speaker in the house as I want them to learn this language, which I consider critically important for American security and diplomacy. Would that make any difference?

I would like to hire a Middle Eastern national legally residing in the Arabian Gulf (he does not reside in his home country) to come to the US and work for me in my personal capacity and handle all of my home maintenance and act as a personal assistant, completing my errands, cleaning my home and the like.

I would be his sponsor / employer. He is not a skilled laborer. To my knowledge, he has no university degree.

Would the US government issue an employment visa in such a case? If so, how long would it take? What would be the costs in terms of government and legal fees?

I understand that it is very difficult for Syrians to obtain tourist visas because of the difficulty in proving that they will leave the US after the 6 months of their visa. Does anyone know whether foreign service officers are granting tourist visas anymore? If so, what can possibly prove that a Syrian will return? For example, if a Syrian wants to visit the US to attend a wedding, is there anything that can convince an officer that the Syrian will leave the US afterwards?

Some time ago, I posted on this forum regarding the difficulty of obtaining a visa for Syrian nationals. I got several responses stating that it is very difficult for Syrian nationals to prove that they will leave the US after the expiration of the tourist visa. The implication was therefore that it is very difficult for Syrians to obtain visas. The reason for this is the current Syrian civil war.

Someone cited a web site in which the US government posts the number of Syrians applying for US non-immigrant visas as well as the amount granted and rejected. I cannot now find that web site. Does anyone know anything of the resource or where it is posted online?

Thank you in advance

Can a fiançé visa be issued to a non-US cit. if he never met his US cit. fiançée in person? They only know each other over phone and internet. Also, the non-US cit. has been denied a non-immigrant visitor visa to come to the US to visit her.

But if he applies for a fiancé visa, won't the immigrant visa officer say:

"You just applied for a non-immigrant visa last month. Now you are applying for a fiancé visa. This further proves that you just wanted to go to the US on a visitor visa to get married and circumvent the immigration process. You were trying to defraud the system. Therefore, we will not grant you the fiancé visa."

They have met and have known each other for about a year.

Also, this is not the case of a Syrian living in Syria applying for a visitor visa; it is the case of a Syrian living in a prosperious country and who has roots in that country applying for a visitor visa. As I understand, the fact that he is Syrian should not impact the visa application (it would be different if he were living in Syria).

If the non-US citizen applied for a visitor visa and was denied and then two months later, applies for a fiancé visa, will the former refusal count against his ability to get the fiancé visa?

What if the US citizen came to the non-US citizen's country of residence and got married there. Will the former denial impact the ability to get a spousal immigrant visa?

Thank you All for these helpful replies.

The non-US citizen is Syrian with current residency in Europe. He has not been to the US before but has been granted a non-immigrant (tourist) visa.

The two do not want to live in the foreign country. They want to live in the US. However, if a non-immigrant visa is not granted to the non-US citizen, then the only way to my knowledge to get them married would be for the US citizen to go to the non-US citizen’s country of residence and get married there before then applying for a fiancé visa.

It looks like the non-US citizen could opt for the non-immigrant visa or fiancé visa. How long would the latter take to process?

Why wouldn’t the change of status be permitted? As I understood, if a non-US citizen asks for a non-immigrant visa, comes to the US and gets married to a US citizen, his status can be changes to permanent resident. He will not be forced to the leave the US if he marries a US citizen.

If a US citizen is engaged to a non-US citizen, is there a way to get the non-US citizen to the US to get married? As I understand, there are two options:

- Fiancé visa, which takes a very long time;

- Non-immigrant visa, which is processed in a few weeks.

If the non-US citizen can demonstrate that he intends to come to the US, get married, then return to his country of origin

and apply for an immigrant visa, will the non-immigrant visa be granted?

In the case of a US citizen who wants to marry a non-US citizen, which of these would take less time to get the non-US citizen into the US:

- Get married in the non-US citizen's country and then apply for a spousal immigrant visa (6-12 months);

- Apply for a fiancé visa (is there such a thing?) in order for the fiancé to come to the US to get married (is that how it works?) (??? months).

Please let me know if there are any other suggestions.

Can a person file his application for a spousal immigrant visa with a US Embassy having USCIS offices if he does not live in the country in which the US Embassy having USCIS offices is located?

Sorry for the typo. The immigration attorney told me six months to a year.

The diplomat who told me a few weeks was a high-ranking member of a US Consulate in the Middle East and another lower ranking diplomat gave me similar information. Could they both have been wrong? Here is what I was told:

For an immigrant visa, if the sponsor is an American citizen, the visa petition falls into preference categories that makes the wait shorter. For a spouse or unmarried child under 21, it can take a few weeks.

Visas in the IR [immediate relative - I believe spouse falls into this] categories are not limited in number by Congress, so there is always a visa available and they can be processed quickly.

For an immigrant visa where the sponsor is an American citizen and spouse, does it take a few weeks to get the visa or 6 months to a year? A US diplomat told me a few weeks but an immigration attorney told me six-eight weeks.

This is so difficult! I am just a high school student and have no job, house, car or property in Syria.

Is returning to my Mom and brothers after I visit America enough of "links" and a reason to return to Syria?

In trying to prove that I am not going to immigrate to the US, but am really going as a tourist, can I print out and present a list of colleges in the US that I plan on visiting while there as a tourist in order to prove that the purpose of my trip is not immigration but rather to visit colleges that I want to study in? Will having such a document or general research on US colleges help me meet my burden of proof?

What other kinds of proof does the consular officer accept?

If I apply through the US Embassy in Lebanon, do I have to prove that I will return to Lebanon? Do I have to show sufficient ties to Lebanon?

I am only going to Lebanon to apply for the visa.

To get a tourist visa, the applicant must prove that he will return to his country of origin. What if the country of origin is at war? Will any foreign service officer believe that the applicant wants to return? I don't think so. Are any tourist visas being granted to Syrian citizens?

I tried apply for a tourist visa to the US because my cousin was get married. It was denied and I was told that attending a marriage was not good enough reason. What could be a better reason!!?? IF they would deny that, then what wouldn't they deny? This was one year ago in Syria.

You mean I must select the option for notification for every thread I start?

Dear Harper

I cannot believe these charts. Why would US deny many many more visas from Great Britain (27.3%) than Mexico (12.8%)?

I have set up this forum to send email notifications for replies. One of my thread had many replies but no email notifications. I checked Spam box but did not find messages there. Is VisaJourney.com not sending email notifications of replies? Are my settings not configured correctly?

I am from Aleppo, where the war is not affecting us. It is peaceful here and we have had only a couple of incidents, not like Idlib and Homs. We feel safe and will return.

We have to go to Lebanon, Jordan or Turkey to apply for visas. If the visa officer cannot evaluate my ties to Syria, then why do they even make us travel so far to other countries so they can evaluate our applications? Why don’t they just deny all visas? Indeed, if they are letting us apply in Lebanon, Jordan or Turkey, it must mean that they can evaluate our "ties" to issue some visas to those with “ties.”

I heard that America is now giving visas to more Syrians to help them escape the war, because America wanted to help us but China and Russia would not allow, so now America relaxes visa standards. I heard this from a priest, but I do not know if he is correct. Is it true?

Do you have ideas to convince the officer of my ties to Syria? It seems title to cars, home and job here will not help. What “ties” are they looking for? What evidence can I bring?

Boiler: I think asylum is for people politically or religiously persecuted? If yes, then this does not apply for me. I seek a tourist visa for my daughter to visit American universities.

Hello, I am from Syria.

If I apply to have my whole family come with me (wife and four children) will the consular official become suspicious and not believe I will come back to Syria? Will he think that if we were really going to visit universities I would only take my daughter? The reality is we want to visit universities but also want all the kids to use the summer vacation to see a new country and visit family we have in US and Canada.

If ownership of a home or car will not convince the official, then what will?! Should I show profit statements from my business to prove I have a good source of income in Syria? Should I say my daughter wants to study in America and if we don’t return, she will be in trouble and not be able to get student visa so I will assure we return?

Also, I have set up this forum to send email notifications for replies. This thread had 8 replies but I did not receive a single email notification. The emails are not in my Spam box. Is VisaJourney.com not sending email notifications of replies?

Also, I very much like the name “Noah Lot” as it relates to Noah and his nephew Lot and also means “Know a lot.”

Thank you