dleeg

exaggerating one's salary was a critical mistake (i.e., 'lying')....also, many Colombians still request asylum (usually for bogus reasons) upon arriving in the US....however, one lie = instant lack of credibility....

Also, YOUR bank account, YOUR job, YOUR whatever opinion you have of yourself is, at the end of the day, totally meaningless, as you (and the in-laws) discovered.

My advice (as having served in Bogota!!), 'do not lie, do not exaggerate anything about one's current situation, do not make up stories, numbers nor hopes of being promoted to some important job, nor anything that attempts to portray oneself as being 'worthy' of getting a tourist visa on merits that do not exist....

Trying to outwit a CO is a mistake.....

Hey thanks for your response. I agree with everything you said. Believe me, even though I told my father in law to respond to the questions directly and truthfully, he feels pretty bad for what "slipped out" in the heat of the moment. We sent our packet info to them to make them feel more confident in their quest. We knew it wouldn't be a factor, but if it made them more confident so be it. Hopefully the result will be different next time.

My wife's parents (her mother and step father) had their interview last week in Bogota for B2 visas. After being with my wife for 6 years (and married for 5 of those years) we thought it would be nice if the in laws applied for tourists visas so they can visit us here in states. We are always visiting them so it would have been a nice change. They were denied the visas. Thought I'd share how the interview went.

Some background info before you read the questions and answers. My wife's parents have been together for 20 years and married for the last five years. They are 18 years apart in age, my mother in law is the older one (she's 64 and he's 46). They are five years into making house payments and also own a car. Though the VO didn't ask for my or my wife's information, my mother and father in law had a packet we sent to them which contained a letter of invitation, 2015 copy of our taxes, bank account statements, affidavit of support form, etc. My wife and I paid for the visa applications, their trip to Bogota (from Cali). We had also intended to pay for the entire trip to the United States and back to Colombia and everything in between.

The interview was in the morning, at 9am. There were 13 questions total, ALL of them directed to my father in law. The VO was an Asian American male. According to my father in law the VO was very stern and at times seemed rude in the way he was asking questions.

1. What is your reason to visit the United States?

He responds: We want to visit our daughter and her husband this Christmas and New Year in San Diego and see the city they live in.

VO then asks to see a copy of my wife's passport, father in law produces it.

2. Is your "daughter" your birth daughter?

He responds: She is my wife's daughter.

3. What is your daughter's name?

He responds her name (including her maiden name) but fails to add her married name.

4. What line of work does your daughter do in the United States?

He responds: She is a nanny.

5. What is the name of the company you work for?

He responds the name of the company he works for

6. How many years have you been at this job?

He responds: 12 years.

7. What do you do at your job?
He responds what he does at his job

8. What kind of products do you sell at your company?

He responds what the company sells

9. How much do you earn per month?

He responds how much he earns per month but he inflated the number thus not matching the number on the visa application.

10. How long have you been married?

He responds: Five years

Vo then asks to see their marriage certificate, father in law produces it.

11. When is your wife's birthday?

He responds the date of her birthday.

12. What is your wife's job?

He responds: She doesn't work, she is a house wife.

13. Do you own a house?

He responds: Yes, we are five years into making house payments.

That's it. After the last question the VO informed my father in law that they didn't qualify for the visa.

Of course they would like to apply again so we'll see how much time passes before they attempt it.

If you want to comment with advice for next time thanks in advance. Would be great to hear from those who's family had to apply twice or more.

Good luck to those going through the process!!

They will not tell you that you have to prove that you have significant ties to Colombia, but that is exactly what you have to do. There are many disapproval's and many sad people. My fiance was disqualified twice even though I involved my congressman the second time around. The age is important and so is owning property, a good job for years, family at home etc etc.

They should go out of their way to press those points, they wont ask you directly.

I wish you good luck.

Thanks I appreciate it!

Hi everyone

In a few weeks my mother in law and her husband will have their B2 visa interview at the US Embassy in Bogota (my wife's parents). It's their first time applying. All ducks are in a row and now they are waiting for their date. They have read all the necessary info for the embassy (day of) interview and the fingerprinting process. Aside from preparing for and understanding the process, they don't know what to expect. Especially the actual interview at the embassy. I told them to relax and answer the questions with confidence, be themselves and things will be fine. They asked my to post something here to see if anyone with ties to Colombia can comment on their interview experience at the embassy. Perhaps you can comment on how it went for your parents or family members. They are flying from Cali to Bogota for the interview. They are excited to be going through the process but the unknown is also making them nervous, understandably.

Thanks for your time!

Danny

Let us know how they get on.

Will do!

You sending documents is a waste of time as it is their own ties to Colombia that matter. There is no 'sponsorship' and you paying for everything is another red flag, shows the applicants cannot support themselves so have more reason to not come back.

Do not buy a ticket until the passport with the visa is in their hand.

Let us know the result.

Thank you, I'll definitely post a result probably within 6 weeks or so.

No problem! I did edit my post slightly, though.

Got it thank you.

I can't really take a guess as to their actual chances of being approved, but we have friends in Colombia that are a married couple - he works, she stays home, have a house - and they were approved. It's all about convincing the IO that they have more reasons to return to Colombia than they do to stay in the U.S. The I-134/tax returns will matter because you can't sponsor a tourist visa.

As for the airline ticket, I purchased my wife's ticket (she was my fiancee at the time) from Colombia when she moved to the U.S. on my CC without any problem whatsoever.

Good luck to them!

Thanks for your response I really appreciate it!

Thanks for your response I really appreciate it!

My Colombian wife's mother and her mother's husband (he's not my wifes biological father) are applying for tourist visas. They are at the point in the process where they want to schedule a date for the interview and biometrics. My wife and I have almost five years of a happy marriage and we would like for them to visit us for their first time this Christmas and into the new year for a three week period. I'll make it short and to the point: my wife's mother is a homemaker and her husband has been employed with the same company for 12 years. They have been paying off their house for the last 3.5 years. They manage without much of a savings account, we help them out monthly to make ends meet. My wife and I will be paying for everything, travel, their time here, EVERYTHING, we just paid the visa applications as well. Before they have their interview I'm going to send her parents a completed form I-134 (affidavit of support) and copies of our tax returns for the last 2 years just in case they ask for it.

Is there anything else to be aware of?

Also, has anyone bought a airline ticket from the US for someone abroad using a US credit card? If approved we'd like to purchase airline tickets early but not sure if there will be a problem if they are asked to present the credit card used that purchased the tickets.

Thanks in advance for any advice and info!

Danny and Francys

Hi soy Francys son de Colombia -Cali cumpli 3 anos viviendo aqui en San Diego me encanta , estoy buscando paisanos en San Diego. Empezamos el proceso para de mi tarjeta verde para remover la condicional. :-)

Really US Department of Homeland Security?

ANOTHER biometrics fee???

Just venting......

My wife (the applicant) and I are about to fill out the I-751. We want to get an affadavit from a friend who lives in a different state than us (he was at our wedding). Can this friend write the affadavit, sends the letter to us, and have it notarized where we live? Or is it better that he writes the letter and has it notarized where he lives? Not sure if my wife needs to be present when it's notarized.

Thanks in advance for your response.

Hi everyone

We want to buy tickets for Colombia for Christmas. Will buy today or this weekend. Should my wife use her name on her passport or her married name on her green card? I thought someone here would know from experience.

Thanks for your help!

My wife got a letter today saying her AOS was granted on September 22nd!

We are both very happy, especially since yesterday we celebrated our one year wedding! Looks like we're going to Colombia for Christmas

Thanks fellow VJ'rs for all your advice through the process since the K1 days. There were a couple of bumpy moments but it all turned out fine.

For those still waiting hang in there!! Good things will happen.......

Hi there

Also in San Diego.....

My then fiance and I went downtown two weeks after her arrival and applied for a SS card. Two weeks later it arrived in the mail no problem. So it is possible.

Good luck!

why should you be viewed any differently than the rest of us? Just curious as to why you think his. Your income is what you claim on line 22. This has zero to do with deductions or how much your business earns. If you choose to give yourself a low salary and deduct expenses to offset this, it's your decision. The rest of us who don;t own businesses don;t have the luxury of deducting things a business owner does.

I agree you are correct. It is what it is. Just feeling a bit frustrated. Hope you can understand that. Grasping for straws I guess. Getting a joint sponsor as there is no other way at the moment. Thanks ......

Let me explain a little bit about how this works for people who are self-employed. For the purpose of I-864, your income is going to be business profits only, after all of the business expenses you've deducted are subtracted. The reason is that I-864 is looking for the amount of income you'll have to support the immigrant. If you are claiming that you've paid a lot of money toward business expenses, that is no longer available to support the immigrant and isn't included in I-864. People who are self-employed often get in trouble because they may be deducting more business expenses than they should to reduce their taxes, but then can't qualify as a sponsor on I-864. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

Get a joint sponsor.

I deduct my expenses reasonably and honestly and I don't pad my expenses to avoid paying lower taxes. I know that you are not insinuating that at all as I'm just stating a fact. I can support myself and my wife on my current income but in the eyes of our government I have to gross nearly 3 times the amount I do now to even qualify keeping with my business expenses. Not saying that self employed people should get special treatment but maybe it should be viewed a little differently. Thanks for your response.

So much for the advice and service I paid for when I filed for the K1! That person told me forms 1040 and Schedule C were combined as far as income. I assumed the same carried over for AOS. I guess the interviewer in Bogota was correct at first for the denial of thr K1 visa. Lucky for us she heard me out and changed her decision. It's amazing all the paperwork went through for K1. Looks like it's time to seek a co sponsor. Not feeling paticularly good at this moment. But thanks for your time much appreciated.

Forget about playing with numbers from Schedule C (although you still have to attach it to your affidavit together with 1040 and any W2's).

For purpose of I-864, the amount from 1040, line 22 (total income) is considered when determining your income.

If in your case this amount is more than 125% poverty line for your household size, I don't really know what they may want from you.

Thanks Tygrys

So even though I attached Schedule C they never look at Gross Income on line 7 of the schedule C?

Hi all

Well....... after seing the other day on the USCIS site that our case has been RFE'd, we got the RFE letter today. It turns out that according to them I don't meet the federal povertly line on the I-864. They are asking me to submit more evidence to fullfil the poverty level guideline OR obtain a joint sponsor. First I must explain that I have my owned small business since 2004. With that said, I sent in copies of my tax return for the last three years, which comprised of Forms 1040 AND Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business). With those forms combined one can easily see that I have exceeded the poverty line requirement with the 1040 forms showing occassional income from W2 work and schedule C forms showing income from my business. I earn much more income with my business compared to the income from W2 work. I had this same problem at the US Embassy in Bogota when my then fiance had her K1 visa interview. She was denied the visa based on my income saying that I did not meet the poverty level requirement. If I had not been there to explain the tax forms to the interviewer my fiance would have been denied if she had went to the interview alone, thus delaying the entire process. Obviously I do meet the requirement since SHE IS HERE IN THE UNITED STATES and we have since been married. The thing that bugs me is that with the I-864 form I not only submitted what they wanted but I also wrote a short letter explaining the the problem we had in Bogota, and that they have to look at ALL the forms I submitted to see my income. But now the process is delayed due to someone who can't read a simple letter explaining the facts.

So my question are:

1. Should I resend everything I sent before and hope for the best?

2. Should I call and try to explain what I wrote (above) and hope that I can correct this over the phone without sending RFE?

3. What else can I do?

Thanks for your help. Hopefully we can clear this up soon.

Hi everyone

My wifes NOA date for I 485 was on April 20th. We just checked the USCIS site and saw that her case has been moved from "Acceptance" to "Request for Evidence". We will get the letter I would think within a week explaining what they want. My wife has not yet received her biometrics appointment letter. Does it sound right to get an RFE before a biometrics appointment? Just want to be sure...... thanks in advance for your response.

Also, if you travel anywhere within a 100-mile radius of either U.S. border (especially the southern), keep a photocopy of your AOS cover-letter (& the check for payment) with you at all times. Doing so could avoid your being detained by CBP at an inland checkpoint.

Thanks for the advice I will definitely do that. Especially here in San Diego since I live 25 minutes from the boarder.

An expired I-94 is no problem. Go ahead and file.

Cool thanks for your time!

Your partner came in on K1 right? Just go ahead and file... they'll tell you what they want, one way or another... problems shouldn't stop you from going ahead. Deal with them, if or when they arise. I'm no expert, but I don't think it will cause any undue problems, the entry was legal.

Yep a K1..... thanks for your reply!

You're fine, but don't leave the country until GC is in hand. You have too many days out of status to use AP.

Noted..... thanks!

We are just 6 months past the expiration of the I94 and we now want to apply for AOS. Finally got my tax return and will get the money order today.

Does anyone foresee any problems with the time frame.

I know we should have done this earlier but it has been an unusual slow time in my line of work and money has been tighter than usual.

Thanks for your replys!