mconfes

I hope that's not the case about the gender issue but I can see how it could be true.

I'm starting to learn that this is indeed a 50-50 chance process and that it's pretty much up to the person you talk to ON THAT DAY. If they get a good vibe from you or are in a good mood - lucky you. Here's some recent correspondence from the Indonesian Embassy:

Thank you for your inquiry to the Consular Section of the United States Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia regarding the refusal of your friend.

Embassy records indicate that she applied for a nonimmigrant visa, and was found ineligible for a visa under the provisions of Section 214(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This section of law stipulates that all applicants must demonstrate to the satisfaction of a consular officer that they have a residence outside the United States which they do not intend to abandon and that their ties to another country are strong enough to compel them to depart the United States after a temporary stay. Further, the law stipulates that applicants must show they will abide by their nonimmigrant status while in the United States.

During the interview, the interviewing officer was not convinced that her ties to Indonesia were strong enough to overcome the statutory presumption of intending immigration contained in Section 214(B) of the INA. The adjudicating consular officer was therefore required, by law, to refuse their applications under that section of the law.

I have reviewed the officer’s notes and have determined that the visa application was adjudicated according to visa law and regulation.

To be frank, there is not a large amount of importance placed on a letter of support for a tourist visa. Although some applicants submit a sponsorship letter from a person in the United States, sponsorship is not required to apply for a nonimmigrant visa. Visa applicants must qualify for the visa according to their own circumstances, not on the basis of a sponsor’s assurance. Please also understand that certain documents are not required to be shown, but if an officer wants to see supporting documents they will ask for them. Sometimes a decision is made just by reviewing the application form and simply speaking with the applicant.

As is the case worldwide, to qualify for a visitor visa, applicants must have compelling ties that would require them to return home after a visit to the US. Applicants normally do this by demonstrating that they have ties abroad that would compel them to leave the U.S. at the end of a temporary stay. The law places this burden of proof on the applicant. Strong ties differ from country to country, city to city, and individual to individual. Our consular officers are aware of this diversity. During the visa interview, they look at each application individually and consider professional, social, cultural and other factors. Each case is examined individually and is accorded every consideration under law. It is not up to the applicant to orally “convince” the officer they will come back. The officers must look at the facts (not necessarily documents) regarding an applicant’s ties and determine if they are strong enough.

When making a determination of ties, consular officers examine many aspects of an application, including applicant’s family, social, professional, financial, and other ties to their country of residence. Some examples of ties can be a job, a house, a family, or a bank account. However, these are only a few examples of ties, and having these alone does not make one qualified. Ties are the various aspects of applicants’ life that bind the applicant to their country of residence: their possessions, employment, social and family relationships. We also examine the ties that applicants have to the United States. If we are not convinced that applicants have sufficient reason to return to Indonesia following their stay in the United States, they are unable to overcome the statutory presumption of intending immigration contained in Section 214(B) of the INA. Section 214(B) imposes on most nonimmigrant visa applicants the presumption of immigrant intent and places the burden of overcoming this presumption solely on the applicant, by having strong enough ties.

Again, it is important to remember that it is the applicant alone who must establish eligibility for a visa. Additionally, even if a relative or friend is paying for an applicant’s entire trip, they must be able to demonstrate they have sufficient funds to afford the trip entirely on their own. This is part of showing strong economic ties to Indonesia.

Each applicant is responsible for bringing any relevant documents to the interview with them. One more note: If an applicant is not qualified, it is possible a letter of support may not be examined. If they are not qualified on their own, showing a letter of support will not change that decision, and each interview is kept to the minimum amount of time it takes to make the decision.

This does not prohibit her from applying for a visa in the future. However, unless she can demonstrate to the consular officer during the interview that her ties to Indonesia have been significantly strengthened, it is unlikely that she will qualify for a visa. This is not done simply by bringing more documents. Put another way, the applicant must have a significant change in their inherent situation, thereby increasing the strength of his or her ties.

Wow, 4 responses in 5 minutes. You guys are great. Thanks.

So that makes sense about her being a single woman. I'm sure there are several reasons for the embassy to object to that. So, does anyone have some good examples of what she should use on her application to convince the embassy that she WILL return to Indonesia and not stay in the US?

Thanks for confirming what I read. So, now the real question becomes: What are the qualifications to be approved for a tourist visa? Does anyone have a link to a good site that outlines everthing very cleary and easily?

Thanks in advance.

My immigrant wife applied for AOS in June and was thankfully approved. Now we'd like to invite her best friend (Anna) to come and visit the US. How do we start the process? Her friend applied at the Jakarta, Indonesia embassy for a tourist US tourist visa and was denied due to "lack of qualification". Anna is 30, from a good family, with a good job and good financial standing. I don't understand why she didn't get the visa.

Here are a few questions:

1. I've read that there's not much we can do from the US to bring a non-relative to the US. Is that true? If not, where do we start? What do we need to show to get her approved?

2. Would it help us to get an attorney?

Any help on this is much appreciated.

Thanks.

Good to hear. I called USCIS customer service and they told me that I can get the stamp by doing exactly that. Good news!! Thanks for your help.

I wonder exactly what kind of need we need to show in order to get the stamp? I can show them our iteneraries for my entire extended family.

Either way, my wife has decided to just go regardless of if she receives the card or stamp. Since we've already been approved there's no way they would reverse that decision and retract the GC.

I'm planning to be out of the country for two weeks and my wife will be gone for two months. If we have to, I'll just FedEx her GC to her overseas. Sounds sort of scary doesn't it.

I'm just hoping the card arrives in 2 weeks just like so many times I've seen it here on VJ. Come on USCIS and Chicago USPS - don't fail me now!!

Ok, we had our interview today and were approved. Yeah!!

However, we asked for the I-551 stamp but the IO said that IOs don't stamp anymore - "that's downstairs" - referring to the InfoPass people. I asked the InfoPass person after our interview and she said that we need the approval letter/notice and she would stamp the Passport with the I-551.

I called the IO later that day and she said she would mail the approval letter the same day. We don't want to wait for the GC to show up because that could be 3 weeks or more and we need to travel outside the US ASAP. We need the stamp.

Question: Has anyone ever taken their AOS Approval Notice to an INFOPASS appointment and had their passport stamped with the I-551? Is it really that easy?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks.

Just wanted to give an update on our case.

We had our interview today in Chicago. Longest part was the wait. Didn't see an officer until 45 minutes past our appointment time. The Officer was nice, no big deal at all.

Interview Questions:

Are you working now?'

Married before?

Latest pay stub?

Are you a terrorist?

Have you been arrested?

First time applying for immigration?

Ever been deported?

SUPER SIMPLE!!! No personal questions, no request for evidence of a bonafide marriage (probably helped that we had our daughter with us).

She approved us on the spot - name check already cleared. She said the card would take 2 weeks.

I called her later and asked her to send us an approval letter. She is sending out today. We're going to try and make an INFOPASS appt. and get the passport stamped with a I-551 so we can make travel plans and not wait on the card.

HOORAY!!!

Thank you Visa Journey and members. This was the single greatest resource for information during the entire process!!

Hi, guys. Just wanted to let you all know the great news: my husband got his GC approved on the spot at the interview on May 20! :dance: The interview officer was this short, friendly, funny guy (from Ukraine) who told us "good job!" that we got the proper document for birth certificate from Turkey -- apparently the majority of applicants show up with the wrong document and then get delayed. (We did get delayed sending our application to begin with, this special document took two extra months!)

What was this "special document"? When my wife came to the US as an F-1 student she used a birthcertificate that was translated and signed by a translator. This was enough to get her I-90 and Visa. We have our interview date and never received an RFE. Do you think they'd ask for a different birth certificate by now if ours was not good enough?

Good info, folks. I agree, we don't plan on booking ANY travel until after the interview. I'm praying to God that everything goes well and we get the I-551 stamp.

It will be such a huge relief once this is all over! Then we can finally move on with our normal lives!

Good luck to all.

from the time of our interview, it took a little over 2 months before i got the GC. that was because we got an RFE during the interview and the necessary docs need to be sent.

Thanks for the info everyone. I'll call USCIS and ask them about the name check.

IsPiKiKaY...what type of RFE if you don't mind me asking? Were you missing a document or what? Hope that's not too personal.

Thanks. That's good to hear. Anyone else care to chime in?

Hello all...

We're moving along nicely in the AOS process (see signature for timeline). The biggest step awaits us at our interview in June.

Question:

1. If everything goes well at the interview (which it should - papers in order, married for 3 years with a child and tons of evidence) should we assume that we'll be approved?

2. I know that there's a name check, etc. That said, what is the average time from the interview to actually receiving the GC?

Any educated guesses are appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Update: EAD arrived in mail today! One more hurdle to go and we can put all of this stress behind us. Come on USCIS, keep up the good (fairly predictable) work.

Good luck to everyone else with their cases.

Moreover, he said that he would recommend us for green card approval (I hope it means I’ll get green card), and my card should arrive in 2-3 months.

Wow....that seems like a LONG time to wait for your GC after approval. I thought it only took 2-3 weeks after an approved interview/decision???

Anyone care to chime in?

Good info everyone. I guess the best we can hope for is a quick interview with minimal originals requested. We have all of our papers in order except for the birth cert. issue and no other issues. Here's to hoping for a stamp!

Thanks, YuandDan.

So...

1. So they could approve us and stamp the I-551 AT THE INTERVIEW, right? Any idea what constitutes doing a name check and not doing a name check? Or why they would instantly approve vs. not approving?

2. Will they ask for ALL of our original documents like birth certificate, etc? I think I accidentally filed my original birth certificate and I can't get another one. I've been told they will have all of my application documents at the interview - is this true? If that's the case I might be able to ask for the original back and give them a copy.

Any thoughts?

You rock!

Things are moving now!! liz_legend n 'Ol please update me again...

Application Type: I765, APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION

Current Status: Card production ordered.

On April 30, 2008, we ordered production of your new card. Please allow 30 days for your card to be mailed to you. If we need something from you we will contact you. If you move before you receive the card, call customer service. You can also receive automatic e-mail updates as we process your case. Just follow the link below to register.

We're Feb 2008 AOS filers.

We have some questions now that the interview is scheduled. These are tough ones but here goes:

Scenario: We want to visit Indonesia in July and the interview is 6/12.

1. If everything goes well at the interview what are the chances that they will give us the I-551 stamp?

2. If we get the stamp does that mean we can travel?

3. If we don't get the stamp can we travel and just hope the GC comes while we're gone? My wife will be there for 2 months but I'll be back in 2 weeks and I could send her the card hopefully.

4. Would we be abandoning the application if we travel under one of these conditions?

To me it's too risky to buy the plane tickets until after the interview - maybe even only after we receive the GC. However, my wife is growing impatient and economic tickets are almost sold out during this time.

Your thoughts?

Any help is appreciated.

Ok, we have some questions now that the interview is scheduled. These are tough ones but here goes:

Scenario: We want to visit Indonesia in July and the interview is 6/12.

1. If everything goes well at the interview what are the chances that they will give us the I-551 stamp?

2. If we get the stamp does that mean we can travel?

3. If we don't get the stamp can we travel and just hope the GC comes while we're gone? My wife will be there for 2 months but I'll be back in 2 weeks and I could send her the card hopefully.

To me it's too risky to buy the plane tickets until after the interview - maybe even only after we receive the GC. However, my wife is growing impatient and economic tickets are almost sold out during this time.

Your thoughts?

Ok, progress finally! Not exactly the timing or order I expected but progress nonetheless.

I-797C NOA - Interview scheduled - 6.12.08 in Chicago.

Sent on 4.24.08, received 4.29.08 (no touches, no CRIS emails??)

Here's some stats on the processing so far:

Number of days:

Appplication to Interview notice - 64

Application to Interview date - 113 (slightly above average)

Bio to Interview notice - 40

Bio to Interview date - 89 (slightly below average)

Hope that helps to give others a little more detail into our timeline.

liz_legend 'n Ol - please update me on your chart. Thanks!

Geez...the suspense it's getting to me. It looks like we're part of the next group in line...I just hope everything keeps moving on down the list. What an exercize in patience this is.

I have lots of trips planned for this summer, and it sucks not being able to book early, get cheap tickets, and eliminate the uncertainty for my friends and colleagues who are waiting to hear what's going on with me this summer. *sigh*

Totally agree with you there. We're in the same boat. Looking to travel but can't. Makes booking tickets a nightmare and lots more expensive - not to mention not being able to tell my work/family when exactly the trip is planned.

Just know that there's people out there in VERY similar situations. Had to imagine sometimes but it's true. Just have to keep the faith.