Looking for an opinion.....

[steve057]

Hi Guys,
 
  I have a couple of questions and want an honest opinion about them.
 
 I would like to get a tourist visa for my girlfriend for a couple of weeks in the spring of 2012. She is 47, a lawyer, owns her apartment and business, her family is in the city she lives in, her daughter is married but lives in another city. Is there any chance she can get a tourist visa to the USA?  What I've read so far doesn't sound good but since I've never tried I really don't know?
 
 Also if she is denied a visa will this hurt her chances for a K-1 visa in the future? She loves the area I live in but would like to see it for herself and I don't blame her really!:)
 
 Thanks! Steve

[Vaughn]

Steve,
  I've come to believe that it's a crapshoot depending on WHO actually conducts the interview. My sister-in-law has been denied a tourist visa twice, yet others in similar situations have been approved, to include visas approved for two or more siblings concurrently.
 Best to encourage her to apply, and to submit a thorough list of all ties, familial, cultural and economic - to convince the Consulate of her intent to return. She should not overlook any past foreign travel she may have made showing a history of timely return.
 

[steve057]

Thanks Vaughn.
 
 Yes she has traveled to the UK, Egypt, Turkey and Ukraine. So that should show them she does plan to return I would think? Who knows with this government anymore???

[Vaughn]

Who knows ??  Exactly !
My SIL was a solid candidate, married, daughter in university, business owner, owns a flat, among other property. Travel history too. So what the heck went wrong twice? She asserted that each interviewer made little to no eye contact and dismissed her summarily. Upon digging deeper we came to realize that perhaps our dear sister did NOT present herself properly, that is to say - she could have and should have been more personable, more outgoing. She admitted to nervousness that overcame her usual effervescence. She at times uttered one word answers, definitely not recommended.
After the first denial we vsisited our local congresswoman's office to see about an appeal - found the decision was not reversible. But that visit yielded a rather comprehensive list of recommendations for a potential applicant - which I posted in the early autumn of 2007.
I will find it - and post a link to it.
Also, I have NO idea if a failed tourist visa bid would negatively affect a subsequent K-1. My gut says no, but have no experience with that scenario.
 

[Turboguy]

From what you have said she should have a pretty good shot and it is worth trying.  It will have no affect on a K-1 application.
 
I would suggest she is sure to let them know about her ties that would bring her back and to go in with firm travel dates such as she wants to leave April 1st and return on the 15th.  Of course don't buy the tickets until she has the visa.

[Vaughn]

Here is that list. Some items will not apply. Items that do apply should be addressed comprehensively. Don't fail to mention every connection possible.
1) Full Name
 2) Date and Place of Birth (City, Town, Province, Country)
 3) Residential Address
 4) Home and Office Telephone Number
 5) Employment Position, Name of Employer, Address of Employer, and
     Length of Time at present Employment
 6) Same Information on Spouse as listed in numbers 1 to 5 above
 7) Same Information on All Children as listed in numbers 1 to 5 above
 8] If Spouse or Children are Naturalized US Citizens or Legal
     Permanent Residents of the United States, please indicate status
     and provide their Naturalization Cerificate Number, Date of Naturalization,
     Place of Naturalization, Name listed on Naturalization Certificate, and
     USCIS Registration Number (also referred to as former Green Card number
     or A number). Also provide copy of Naturalization Certificate or Green Card
     for Spouse or Children.
 9) List Financial Assets: Does applicant for visa own a home, own property,
     own a business, own automobile(s)? If so, state what is owned and where
     property or home is located. Does applicant have a checking or savings
     account? State name of financial institution where accounts are located.
10) Provide same biographic information as listed in numbers 1-5 above for
     siblings (brothers and sisters) of visa applicant(s), list same information for
     parents.
11) Has a Relative Immigrant Visa (RIV) Petition (Form I-130) ever been filed
     on behalf of the visa applicant? If so, by whom and when? Provide copy of
     Fee Receipt Notice, or Notice of Action on the I-130 filing. What was the
     outcome of filing, if known, or is case still pending?
12) Has an Immigrant Occupational Visa Petition (Form I-140) ever been filed on
     behalf of the visa applicant? If so, by whom and when? Provide copy of
     Fee Receipt Notice, or Notice of Action on the I-140 filing. What was the
     outcome of filing, if known, or is case still pending?
13) Has the visa applicant ever visited the United States before and for what
     purpose? If so, when, where, and for how long? Answer same questions
     for multiple trips to the U.S.A.
14) Has the visa applicant ever visited another country and for what purpose? If
     so, where, when and for how long? How many trips to each country visited
     have they made, responding to where, when and for how long?
15) Has the visa applicant already visited the American Consulate to apply
     for their visa? If so, when and what was the outcome? List multiple times
     visits to Consulate were made concerning this matter and the outcome of
     those visits.
16) Has an invitation letter from the party in the United States seeking
     individual(s) to visit been provided to the visa applicant? Please provide
     a copy of invitation letter to me. (Note: "me" implies the Congresswoman who provided this list)
17) If the visa applicant is seeking to attend a seminar, conference, tour
     plant facilities, etc., please provide copy of itinerary for intended length
     of stay.
Steve, think positively and encourage your lady to do the same.
 
 
 

[Shadow]

I see no reason why she would to get a Tourist visa. However its the Embassy who decides, not me.

[steve057]

Thanks Vaughn!:) I know for a Russian visa you cannot submit it more than 90 days in advance and I would assume ours is something like that as well.
 
 I think she just wants to be able to visit here and see what it's like here. Very different than in Russia thats for sure!:)

[Jack]

Due to her age, owning flat, a daughter living in country, you have a chance. My guess would be about 20% chance.  But that's 19% better than if she was in her early 30's or younger.

[BC]

For my wife's visa we included copies of our tax statements, credit cards and a couple recent bank statements.

Showing ties to home is good.. the more the better, as is showing that the trip is economically feasible.

We also threw in proof of travel medical insurance.

[ML]

Upon digging deeper we came to realize that perhaps our dear sister did NOT present herself properly, that is to say - she could have and should have been more personable, more outgoing. She admitted to nervousness that overcame her usual effervescence. She at times uttered one word answers, definitely not recommended.

Yes, I would suggest definitely working on presentation.  Before my Gal's student visa interview, I read dozens of websites including all the official ones from Kyiv Embassy.  From these websites, I constructed my idea of the likely questions that would be asked.  We both came up with appropriate answers to these questions.

Then we did 4 practice interviews on Skype over a period of about 3 weeks.  I was the interview officer.  She stood up  during the Skype sessions as this is what will be the situation at the real interview.  The first practice interview went pretty rough as she stumbled through the answers.  But over the next 3 she became more polished and projected a distinct air of confidence.  She also did much reading on the various websites and searched out a lot of info about my area, the population, the terrain, where population concentrations of Ukrainians were in USA, where Orthodox churches were, and dozens of other bits of info.  She was like a mini walking encyclopedia at the end.  Of course, we knew they could  not possibly ask her questions about all of these things, but she would be prepared.  And the big feature was, the more she knew, the more confident she became.  I didn't tell her, but I knew because of this confidence, she could even pull off answers to questions we had not anticipated.

And very important, I think, as she relaxed, she began to smile a lot.  Not a huge smile like hearing funniest joke ever, but a very nice pleasant type of smile.

It is still always a crap shoot . . . but she established instant rapport with the female interviewer.  They even talked about some irrelevant things such as where their children went to school, some fashion girl talk, etc.  The interviewer told her she seemed really well prepared.

One other comment Vaughn; on the help websites that I read, the advice was to give short answers.  The longer your answers, the more likely you are to give harmful info.  But the trick is to give short answers that project confidence, rather than short answers that give impression you have something to hide.

[Globetrotter]

Jack is right in that a tourist visa is always a crapshoot.  So..........find a legal seminar here for her to attend, have her and her boss write the appropriate letters, have her get an invitation to that seminar, and have her apply for a business visa.  Worked for me twice.  One was a doctor, and current girl is a psychologist.  Both got multi entry visas for one year...which are renewable quite easily.

[Chicagoguy]

My stepdaughter went last April in Moscow with few advantages. No condo, no car, no one to come home to or support and a so,so job. Only thing she had was trips to Paris, Turkey and Greece. She asked for 1 month visa to U.S. and they gave her two years.
A few years ago woman I was dating had good business invitation, good job, car, flat in Moscow and 3 story modern brick dacha. Had been to the U.S. before. She was denied.
Maybe it because of different interviewers and/or presentation ?
Give it a try. Nothing to lose.

[BC]

My stepdaughter went last April in Moscow with few advantages. No condo, no car, no one to come home to or support and a so,so job. Only thing she had was trips to Paris, Turkey and Greece. She asked for 1 month visa to U.S. and they gave her two years.
A few years ago woman I was dating had good business invitation, good job, car, flat in Moscow and 3 story modern brick dacha. Had been to the U.S. before. She was denied.
Maybe it because of different interviewers and/or presentation ?
Give it a try. Nothing to lose.

I'd say 80% documentation, 20% presentation.

[Manny]

Due to her age, owning flat, a daughter living in country, you have a chance. My guess would be about 20% chance.  But that's 19% better than if she was in her early 30's or younger.

Also, she has had a UK visa. That will do her no harm.

It is a crap shoot. My wife applied for a US tourist visa in London while married [to me] and living in the UK with permanent residence. We were planning to visit together. Amazingly, she was denied. Yet, 18 months later, now as a UK citizen, they passed her online for visa waiver despite her ticking the box "been denied a US visa in the past" which 99% means an interview.

There is no logic to it. Worth an application methinks.

[Eduard]

There is a guy on these fora who's nick is "Clave". I'm not sure if he is a member here or not. He was able to get his girl a tourist visa and she came to the US to visit him for 2 weeks. If you do everything just the right way you probably have a 50/50 chance that it will go through. I know most of the details about how he did it, but since he was a client of mine can't discuss his situation here. I'm sure that if you contact him he'll be happy to share with you how he did it.
It really wasn't that hard.

[calmissile]

ManLooking,
My god, all that for a student visa?  I had thought student visas were pretty easy if you have a sponsor at a college here.   Makes me wonder how bad the K-1 interview is.  Anyone with first hand experience?

[Muzh]

For you guys it will be a walk in the park. The problem you'll face is the wait time for approvals and NOAs.

[ML]

ManLooking,
My god, all that for a student visa?  I had thought student visas were pretty easy if you have a sponsor at a college here.   Makes me wonder how bad the K-1 interview is.  Anyone with first hand experience?

There is a fairly high turn down rate for Student Visas.

The main reason for this is that many applicants view this as a route to get into USA, get a job, or get married to someone, and stay permanently with no intention to go to school.

The Interviewing Officers ask probing questions to try to smoke these persons out.