... in response to Re: Re: Tourist visas, posted by Robert D on Nov 4, 2004...It's not impossible to get a tourist visa, just difficult. If you've been around here a while you may recall I spend two weeks last year showing a couple young girls from Russia around the western USA. While a little monkey business was involved in obtaining those visas other young single women can often get one too.
It's exactly as Powerlifter said. Also one needs to understand how the US comes up with visa restriction rules in the first place. It's all done by analyzing historical data based on how many were issued versus how many were abused. In the case of the FSU (as well as certain other countries) the record is not good at all. Contrary to popular belief, the government has good data on when a visitor abuses their visa, they know who stayed and who left. The problem of abuse is so massive they simply don't have the resources (and thus priorities) to chase them down...so they add the country to the "list" and attempt to screen those applicants more carefully in the first place.
Thats why a history of returning home after prior entries (regardless of the type visa used for the prior entry) is a very important part of the equation. How to build a history if they can't get a visa? Well, it's not as catch 22 as it first appears. The US looks at an individual's "performance" when visiting other countries in Western Eroupe that have a history of visa violations by visitors. For example, FSU women who have obtained a Schengen and visited Italy, GB, Germany, etc, stand a better chance. Even returning from countries like Egypt, Turkey, Israel, etc carry some weight, though not as much as Western Eroupe.
