Christopher R.

I tried to be patient.
I tried to work their "system".
Our 1st visit, they took all over 30 seconds. They looked at her bank record and told her that $3,000 was not enough for a visit. DENIED. No chance of appeal.
So we tried to be creative. We put a good sum of money in 2 accounts to show diversity. We put in a total of $30,000. This person interview her immediately now wanted tax records, income statements, things they never asked for before, and never spell this out. She of course said that she did not bring these since it was never shown,asked, or written anywhere what all to bring. DENIED.
As much as I love dropping a cool $160 every couple of months. I have lost faith. From what my mother-in-law said over 30 people were there that morning for visas for all different reasons. A lot of them were quite legitimate. One American was trying to adopt a Georgian baby and had all her paperwork in order. The 2 windows of people calling people and basically shooting them all down. Not a single person was approved. Maybe it's the culture here, but I just could not stand the lack of compassion and humanity these people had.
For us, we will now have to wait until later this year when my wife becomes a citizen. Then we will apply for a green card, which they cannot deny. I would love to be there when she gets approved so I could literally take a on that window and laugh at that person's face.

I tried to be patient.
I tried to work their "system".
Our 1st visit, they took all over 30 seconds. They looked at her bank record and told her that $3,000 was not enough for a visit. DENIED. No chance of appeal.
So we tried to be creative. We put a good sum of money in 2 accounts to show diversity. We put in a total of $30,000. This person interview her immediately now wanted tax records, income statements, things they never asked for before, and never spell this out. She of course said that she did not bring these since it was never shown,asked, or written anywhere what all to bring. DENIED.
As much as I love dropping a cool $160 every couple of months. I have lost faith. From what my mother-in-law said over 30 people were there that morning for visas for all different reasons. A lot of them were quite legitimate. One American was trying to adopt a Georgian baby and had all her paperwork in order. The 2 windows of people calling people and basically shooting them all down. Not a single person was approved. Maybe it's the culture here, but I just could not stand the lack of compassion and humanity these people had.
For us, we will now have to wait until later this year when my wife becomes a citizen. Then we will apply for a green card, which they cannot deny. I would love to be there when she gets approved so I could literally take a on that window and laugh at that person's face.

Well they could only deny it if she had some kind of criminal record, which she doesn't. We only wanted her to come visit her grandson for a few months before being able to have the green card which would be unlimited travel.
I am just shocked at these ridiculous people that are not even American. They are shitty locals that are employed by this local consulate and think they are superior to others. It's a very typical attittude in Georgia as a whole. They think money makes you a better person. At the embassy, they don't even listen or care about your circumstances. They think they are doing someone a favour by being cruel to locals. And we Americans wonder why people hate us. We are not the greatest country in the world. Far from it! Our country was built on the backs of hard working people that came to our country wanting to make a better life for themselves, then understanding that nobody wins unless we all win.
Chris

Here in Georgia (thankfully I am an American citizen and I live in the US with my wife and child!) I think it is this way. The embassy seems like this overprotected, shiny thing for people to aspire to. I wanted to go inside to do something and I was blocked by some idiot security guard. I flashed my passport and said "Give me the phone and let me talk to a real employee here!" He backed down and I was able to get what I wanted done in just a few minutes.
It's a shame that to apply for the privelege of being treated badly and denied costs so many people so much money. I get the bigger picture regarding keeping people that would just become illegal and never return out of the country, but denying all applicants is not the way to do this.
An analogy I can think of is how you fly out of Tel Aviv airport in Israel. The know by observing you and talking to you if you are a threat. They have had a 100% success rate. America could apply the same principles to our visa application process.
I have a dream, too bad it will never happen!
Chris

Good for you! I am so glad when people get approved.
Honestly, I just don't think it's worth the time, the money and the trouble. Now that I have witnessed the process by being there firsthand, we will just wait for the I-130 process where again, she cannot be denied since it's a family visa that will be permanent.
I went throughe enough of a nightmare with the I-130 with my wife 4 years ago. I am here on these forums because I got such wonderful support and information. But in the end, there is nothing you can do to control the whims of a nasty person behind a huge glass window treating people like they are prisoners or worse, livestock.
Chris

- Yes, I not only think my American embassy is stupid, but also baselessly cruel to people to don't deserve it. If you read my previous statements, I watched firsthand how this specific person did not approve a single applicant. Some of them student visas, and one in particular was trying to adopt a child.
- One year is not a short period of time. We showed them both bank accounts this time, one for personal use, one for business. This was not a fraudulent attempt on our part, we were told last time to simply show "more money". This time the person without any hesitation immediately assumed that this was not her bank account. She asked my mother-in-law "Who at the bank did this for you?" And other accusatory, hostile, baseless questions.
- I have not cursed my attempts simply because there is are no set rules at all. Every country has different rules, and in the end it doesn't matter since a person who has a specious amount of training and little to no care of people in general, makes this arbitrary decision.
- Watching person after person get denied by the same of a woman taking little to no time to review the applications. As an American, this looked like a purely "for-profit" enterprise. Supply and demand says this embassy has been bought and paid for by their near 100% denial rates. Not what America was founded on! And I will tell you one thing, even if she was go to full illegal alien, those people actually GREATLY benefit the American economy way more than people think. They pay billions in taxes and never take from the system. They spend billions and billions of dollars while living in America. Not saying I support it, but there are hidden positives to it all.
- I have done immense amount of research both here and in many other places, in the end there are NO actual pieces of evidence that show "intent to leave". This is a purely nebulous thing. Intent? Just like a murder trial. How can you show intent of anything without asking someone? I have read stories from people with nothing getting multi-year visas, to people with property, jobs, and lots of income be denied. I sincerely hope you were not trying to stick up for my governments processes and processors. Because that is a losing premise at best. You would be better off arguing religion or politics.
So in conclusion my original post was my lamentation of situation regarding my mother-in-law. In contrast, when my wife went for her approval to that very same office 3 years ago, the person at the window was attracted to her and was enamored with her grasp of the English language, which was damn near perfect. He sat and basically flirted with her asking her almost no real questions about her, me or the situation at hand. So......I stand by my point that the system is screwed up, there is no consistency, and ultimate corrupted by individuals with more power than logic and reason.
My mother in law would not want to live in the US even if she was paid to. The US has become a toilet. Go to Detroit if you don't believe me. Go to some of the "great" new cities in North Dakota that have sprung up overnight to support a destructive and corrupt oil industry.
My post was not to debate the issue, nor seek advice. It was merely conveying my story.

You can also thank all the people who AOS from tourist visas for the difficulty getting your MIL one. They aren't just worried about people staying in the US illegally but also people who may change their mind and pursue a legal way to stay once they land. Good luck.