Moldovan Couple Seeks Offlist Advice

[Vaughn]

   My wife works with a gal named Alla, who, with her husband, have tried
twice unsuccessfully to get a visitor's visa for her Mom. Their English is weak; hence, on their behalf I composed a very convincing letter of invitation for Mom's third attempt, also unsuccessful, to my surprise. Alla and her hubby both hold valid green cards, are gainfully employed and practice civic responsibility. All they want is that Mom can visit the grandkids for 30 days.

  Is there something about the American Embassy's policy in Moldova that differs from Ukraine and Russia - who both seem to grant MIL visas with relative ease?

Vaughn

[Jet]

Just speculation, but I would guess it has more to do with the fact that neither are citizens. The invitations we sent always started out explaining the I (the citizen) was inviting my in-laws to visit and always included an I-134 affidavit of support even though it's not required in Moscow.

[Vaughn]

Yeah, Jet, I took that into consideration, but we know
many couples here, both partners Russian or Ukrainian,
that have tackled this successfully...

I believe it's Moldovan in nature. We're gonna
give it a rest and try again this summer.
Persistence might sway them...

[Killer-B]

...I composed a very convincing letter of invitation for Mom's third attempt, also unsuccessful, to my surprise.

Guess it wasn't too convincing afterall    (Sorry, I couldn't resist Vaughn)

FWIW, Moldova is in the dark ages when it comes to visas and such... Even getting a gal into a Baltic country a few years back took an act of Congress.

[andrewfi]

FWIW, Moldova is in the dark ages when it comes to visas and such... Even getting a gal into a Baltic country a few years back took an act of Congress.

Not Moldova, the US. Moldova does not issue the visas, the US does.

[BC]

Having applied for a tourist visa recently for my wife and daughter to visit the US, the more you can do to substantiate:

1. Ties to the homeland i.e. own property, job, pension, banking, insurance, business, family memebers remaining in country.

2. Fiancial situation adequate to cover travel costs and expenses such as bank statements, credit cards, ATM cards etc. Maybe even a travel health insurance policy.

3. As jet mentioned a good letter from anyone sponsoring the visit briefly explaining the circumstances surrounding the visit and stating that the sponsor is aware and will uphold all obligations to ensure the visitors comply with requirements, especially to exit the country on or before visa expiration.

We had a good sized binder full with anything we could scrounge up.  I figured we would probably be scrutinized a bit closer since we were already married and could easily be viewed as a couple trying to circumvent the K process.  Every little bit helps imho.

I don't remember but isn't there a waiting period after visitor visa denial? Maybe the re-applications submitted within the wait period?  Burocrats look first for any justifiable reason to quickly get paper off their desk.. usually without any real explaination hoping you won't figure it out and come back so quickly.