Wants to re-apply a denied tourist visa with a new POE & reason

[tokyobelle 2]

hi everyone, i would like to seek an advice about my situation and i hope you don't get confused with my long explanation. i want to clarify things first by stating some facts.

i am from the philippines but currently working here in japan for 5 years. i have a boyfriend in the US, known each other for 7 months. we have been officially dating for 3 months now and met him last July when he visited me here in Japan. the relationship is getting serious so we actually discussed about the possibility of getting married but we previously planned on having a second meeting first before taking our relationship to the next level. i know it would be really hard for me to get a tourist visa so what i did is i tried my luck to see if i will get it or not.

so my previous application stated that my point of entry is hawaii. during the interview, the officer asked me first in japanese. i did not hear what he asked so i requested if we could switch to english. i guess i lost one point for that. he asked me how long i have been here, what i have been doing, where i would like to go, the purpose and who am i going with. i answered briefly and direct to the point (mostly) for his questions. i said i have been here for 5 years, been working before as programmer and switched to my current job (still IT industry. told him i wanna go to hawaii for a short trip and that i would go alone. i got rejected cuz i lack strong ties. i submitted a 3-day itinerary, my bank account certificate, and an employment certificate (which states i started only last july 12). i didn't wanna overdo my documents so i am not sure if an apartment lease would help...but that's the only thing i could add. i have no prior travel experiences except going here to japan for work.

with that premise, my boyfriend and i are really contemplating if we should go ahead with the K1 visa before or after our second meeting (which we are planning in december). prior to my tourist visa application we have not really discussed about engagement yet, at least in detail.

my company is planning to send me to australia next month (for 1 month job training) so i was thinking that maybe that could add to a change in my circumstance. i can add more money to my savings also. but this time, since we have talked about engagement and such, i am planning to apply with a different purpose. to meet his family in utah, to know about his lifestyle, to really find out if we match before we take the next step. i am afraid that the office would find it shady and it might hurt my fiancee visa application. at the same time my boyfriend thinks if we are outright honest this time, it will help with the fiancee visa application.

so basically i dunno if i screwed myself over. but our plan b still remains that he would visit me here in japan.

do they keep records of the previous interview answers? i am more concerned about the fact i did not mention about having a boyfriend in the US but i was not also sure if declaring so was relevant to my previous application.

thanks in advance

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

They will have access to the previous data. So unless you develop better ties to your home country you are unlikely to get a visitors visa. You can try but your file is probably flagged for having a US fiance.

[Ryan H 3,834]

They will likely have a record of the previous tourist visa application and denial. Even though you have been in Japan for 5 years, you only started your current job very recently so I imagine that was taken into consideration on your recent tourist visa application.

IMO: You should probably just go with your plan B and have him come to Japan regardless. Talking about seeing your boyfriend and meeting with his family is sure to give your application extra scrutiny and set the bar higher as far as strong ties go. I.E. there is a better than a 50% chance you will be denied a tourist visa under section 214(b) again.

Finally, always be honest what your intent is, even if you think it may result in a denial of a tourist visa. Dishonesty will only cause problems in the future, the worst being banned from entry to the USA.

Edited October 9, 2010 by Ryan H

[Boiler 46,082]

Best for him to visit you.

[tokyobelle 2]

hi everyone, thanks for all your responses. now we have decided to move forward to our plan b