How to get a b1/b2 tourist visa

[curranti]

My girlfriend just got hers two weeks ago so i figured I would share. 

First the US embassy is very interested in her desire to return to her home country.  That being said there is an extreme emphasis on that. 
She needs to have a job that is worth going back to.  She must have money in the bank, the Min appears to be $10k.  Owning property and a car is a plus.  Mom, dad brother all got a visa is not important.  Its based on her performance.  The reason she is going to the USA will be asked over and over in the interview.  90% of the tourist visa is how she performs in the interview.  The same questions will be asked over and over.  What is she gonna do in the USA?  She is gonna be a tourist Duh? (go to Disney with my boyfriend).  Don't lie, what difference does it make if she has a boyfriend in the USA or not?  Obviously she is going for a reason.  Tell the truth, its easier plus if shes lying they will sniff it out and the tourist visa process will fail.

Fill out the DS156 for her and sign it at the bottom as Boyfriend.  You the boyfriend also need to fill out a letter of invitation.  In this letter take responsibility for her that you will ensure she will not overstay her visa and be responsible for her if she gets sick.  The whole process takes about 5 days start to finish. 

Most visas are denied because their is a belief that the girl will stay in the USA and become illegal.  She does not have Significant ties to home country.

The US also wants to see many trips out of her country and RETURNING on time. 

Don't let her overstay her visa!  If you marry the girl it means nothing, you must then do a K3 or CR1 visa to have your wife stay in the USA.
 
My girlfriend has a business, we have made trips to Mexico, Aruba and Dominican Republic.  She owns no property or a car.

They gave her a 10 year visa.

[Ray]

If you marry the girl it means nothing, you must then do a K3 or CR1 visa to have your wife stay in the USA.

Yes, but:

If she were to marry while here on a visitor visa, she may very well be able to stay here and adjust status without being required to return home.

That is precisely why an American boyfriend raises red flags with the interviewers. Some couples who are planning to marry attempt to use the visitor visa as a shortcut so they can marry here and adjust status, thus avoiding the long wait and additional paperwork involved with the fiancée visa.

Also, it is extremely important to realize that being issued a valid visitor visa is only the first step in visiting the U.S. The visa gets her on the plane, BUT she will still need to answer many of the same questions and be admitted by the immigration officer at her port of entry. There are no guarantees that she will get in!

Ray

[mudd]

i know a girl and a guy from Colombia, both received tourist visas, but when they came into Miami airport, both were rejected and told to go home, without no real explanation.   explain that to me?

[Ray]

i know a girl and a guy from Colombia, both received tourist visas, but when they came into Miami airport, both were rejected and told to go home, without no real explanation.   explain that to me?

Homeland Security is responsible for admitting foreigners.

You could say that the State Dept just helps out by pre-screening them and issuing visas.

Ray

[Dave H]

i know a girl and a guy from Colombia, both received tourist visas, but when they came into Miami airport, both were rejected and told to go home, without no real explanation.   explain that to me?

I am not very surprised. I know many Colombians that have overstayed their tourist visas. Perhaps Homeland Security suspected that they would also. What were their reasons to come to the US? Do the have relatives in the US?  Over the years, 5 Colombians who have overstayed their tourist visas have lived with their aunt two houses away from me (Miami area). One was in elementary school when she came and is now 30.

Dave

[braziliangirl]

I have a Brazilian friend that told in the visa interview she was going to visit her boyfriend in US and it was denied this time and over and over again. She just could enter to US after marrying him.

[curranti]

Yes, but:

If she were to marry while here on a visitor visa, she may very well be able to stay here and adjust status without being required to return home.

That is precisely why an American boyfriend raises red flags with the interviewers. Some couples who are planning to marry attempt to use the visitor visa as a shortcut so they can marry here and adjust status, thus avoiding the long wait and additional paperwork involved with the fiancée visa.

Also, it is extremely important to realize that being issued a valid visitor visa is only the first step in visiting the U.S. The visa gets her on the plane, BUT she will still need to answer many of the same questions and be admitted by the immigration officer at her port of entry. There are no guarantees that she will get in!

Ray

Stay on her tourist visa?  She has a business and commitments a person who can leave those commitments without any problem and not return to their country doesnt have "strong ties" and probably wont qualify for a tourist visa anyway.

Yes your correct on her entry at port of entry but the immigration official has to have strong believes that the tourist will stay and not return to their home country.  So its important to have hotel reservations, tickets and evidence of the purpose of the trip into the united states.  I have never seen anyone refused entry, if everything was in order.

[curranti]

i know a girl and a guy from Colombia, both received tourist visas, but when they came into Miami airport, both were rejected and told to go home, without no real explanation.   explain that to me?

Overstaying visa previously, not able to respond to planned activity in EEUU.  insufficent funds for trip.  Lack of credit card.  Suspect criminal activity.  Many reasons, Pick one.  The deportation process is never just up to one ICE agent. 

[InnocentVixen]

use the visitor visa as a shortcut so they can marry here and adjust status, thus avoiding the long wait and additional paperwork involved with the fiancée visa.

I didn't know that, sounds like great news to me! now all I have to do is find my guy 

[utopiacowboy]

If you look at the USCIS statistics, most foreign spouses adjust status after marrying a US citizen while here on a tourist visa or under the Visa Waiver Program. Comparatively speaking hardly anyone goes the K-1 or K-3 route and not even that many go the CR-1 route.

[Ray]

Stay on her tourist visa?  She has a business and commitments a person who can leave those commitments without any problem and not return to their country doesnt have "strong ties" and probably wont qualify for a tourist visa anyway.

Yes your correct on her entry at port of entry but the immigration official has to have strong believes that the tourist will stay and not return to their home country.  So its important to have hotel reservations, tickets and evidence of the purpose of the trip into the united states.  I have never seen anyone refused entry, if everything was in order.

So you’ve never seen anyone refused entry? It happens every day, whether you’ve seen it or not.

Overstaying visa previously, not able to respond to planned activity in EEUU. insufficent funds for trip. Lack of credit card. Suspect criminal activity. Many reasons, Pick one. The deportation process is never just up to one ICE agent.

You obviously don’t understand how the system works. Refusing someone entry IS NOT deportation, and YES, it is up to that one ICE agent who screens you at the POE. On his say alone, he can turn your little butt around and send you right back on the next plane.

It doesn’t matter how many times she has entered the country before, how much money or how many credit cards she has. If the inspecting officer at her POE sees that she is visiting her American boyfriend, that’s all the reason he needs to refuse entry.

Ray

[Tallman]

Cowboy, do you have a link to the USCIS stats that you are quoting?

[utopiacowboy]

Here is the link: http://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/yearbook.shtm

You can see that for the various years from 1999 to 2008, the number of K-1s varies from 15,962 to 32,991 (in 2008 29,916. The number of K-3s ranges from 4575 to 17,864 (in 2008 12,849). In 2008, there were 24,210 spouses who adjusted to permanent resident from financee. Spouses who arrived in the US after going the I-130 route totaled 74,232 (45,519 IR1 and 28,713 CR1). Spouses who adjusted totaled 161,689 (58,714 IR-6 and 102,975 CR-6). You can see that number who adjusted from some other status such as tourist or student are a big majority of immigrant spouses.