Do educated beneficiaries have a higher chance of getting approved?

[confusedasheck 21]

Wondering if educated beneficiaries have a higher chance of getting approved at HCMC. I realize other circumstances play a factor. But I would think that an educated person with a degree might be looked upon more favorably by a CO.

[Anh map 2,098]

Not a plus or a minus.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Wondering if educated beneficiaries have a higher chance of getting approved at HCMC. I realize other circumstances play a factor. But I would think that an educated person with a degree might be looked upon more favorably by a CO.

If it's a factor they consider then they're doing a damn good job of hiding it. I don't recall anything about the beneficiary's education ever being mentioned on a blue slip, or a beneficiary ever being asked to produce a copy of a degree they claimed to have earned, or anything remotely similar.

A hypothetical scenario: A consular officer is looking over the documents a beneficiary submitted. They notice the beneficiary claims to have earned a PhD on their DS-230. After considering all of documents, the consular officer is thinking "I'm borderline about this one. If only I knew the PhD thing was real then I'd approve this visa." What do you think the consular officer is going to do? They'd ask the beneficiary to produce a copy of the diploma, or they'd issue a blue slip for it, right? Ever heard of that happening to anyone? Yeah, me neither.

[Tero 105]

Education is not a criteria for issuing a K-1 or IR-1/CR-1 visa anywhere.

[amykathleen2005 441]

I think the OP's reasoning would be that a more educated beneficiary would theoretically be better off generally (ie, health, home, etc) and therefore have less of a desire to try to obtain a visa fraudulently to come to the US. Not sure if it would totally be true, but it could be in some cases.

[Messybrownhair 251]

For us, it helped.

My fiance was questioned for his small salary (just above the poverty line with no assets) and he asked how he could support me (we were both present for my interview) and I adamantly told the CO that I do not need to be supported because I could support myself since I was a speech therapist and would not have a hard time finding a job in the US. I showed him my diploma and that I worked for an American Intl School and he said, "Okay, I will take that into consideration. Congratulations you are approved, welcome to the USA"

And also we are only 23 and 22 so we are not the typical couple seen at the Philippine US Embassy, usually it is an older man with relatively good salary and standing already, so I guess they were not used to seeing a fresh grad working minimum wage petitioning someone..

Just wanted to share!

[confusedasheck 21]

I think the OP's reasoning would be that a more educated beneficiary would theoretically be better off generally (ie, health, home, etc) and therefore have less of a desire to try to obtain a visa fraudulently to come to the US. Not sure if it would totally be true, but it could be in some cases.

Yes, that is my exact reasoning.

[ScottThuy 140]

no impact....

[BinhJerome 14]

Wondering if educated beneficiaries have a higher chance of getting approved at HCMC. I realize other circumstances play a factor. But I would think that an educated person with a degree might be looked upon more favorably by a CO.

NOPE, my wife has her teaching degree, she had been working the same job for 6 years as a teacher at ABC international school, I have my B.A. and was with my job for 9 years in a professional non meanial labor capacity and we should clearly be on the low fraud marker list just because of both of our educational standings and with our professional standings both being long term professionals with the same job for many years. For us we had a bad CO, and he lied to issue a denial, but I know others in similar situations that the CO didnt lie like he did with us and they were also denied. So there is no way to think that any person should have a better chance than another, it is all random, chance, and luck.

The fact is that some people have a strong case, no KNOWN red flags and they just get denied for stupid reasons, while other people have tons of what we see as red flags get approved. For instance, I knew my fiancee 9 months before I went to meet her in person, then I waited about 2 months before I filed for the Visa, I made 3 trips, the two trips AFTER the initial interview and before the actual denial. We were denied.

Another person here on VJ met his fiancee, within 1 month on the internet proposed to her, flew to her all within 1 month, stayed only 5 days applied as soon as he got home, came back on the interview date for another 5 days and were approved, they had only had face time of 7 days total at the interview date.

My first trip I was there for 16 days, the second I was there for 11 days, and the third for 15 days not to mention knowing her for well over a year by the time of our denial, the person that was approved had only known his fiancee for 6 months TOTAL, and only had 7 days together.

So with these two cases you can clearly see that anything can and does happen in HCMC Hope this helps. Jerome and Binh

[luckytxn 2,264]

No impact. My babe only had a high school diploma and we managed to get a visa.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

For us, it helped.

My fiance was questioned for his small salary (just above the poverty line with no assets) and he asked how he could support me (we were both present for my interview) and I adamantly told the CO that I do not need to be supported because I could support myself since I was a speech therapist and would not have a hard time finding a job in the US. I showed him my diploma and that I worked for an American Intl School and he said, "Okay, I will take that into consideration. Congratulations you are approved, welcome to the USA"

And also we are only 23 and 22 so we are not the typical couple seen at the Philippine US Embassy, usually it is an older man with relatively good salary and standing already, so I guess they were not used to seeing a fresh grad working minimum wage petitioning someone..

Just wanted to share!

Good point. If you're borderline on the public charge requirement then it might help. The CO is supposed to take the beneficiary's health, age, education, and work history into account when making the public charge determination.

I think the OP was thinking more along the lines of whether the beneficiary's education would help persuade the CO that the relationship was less likely to be a sham. It may help at some consulates, but I've never heard of it making any difference at all at the consulate in HCMC. No matter how well educated someone in Vietnam is, their income is going to be sh!t compared to someone working in a nail salon in the US.

Like Jerome's wife, my wife also had a degree and worked as a teacher. She owns her own home, although a lot of homes there resemble a concrete bunker with a tin roof and cost less than a new compact car in the US. She was making about $3 a day when she left. Granted, teachers aren't paid as well as other professionals, but the overall average per capita income in Vietnam is only slightly over $1000 per year. A well paid professional would be lucky to earn $10K.

Also, a lot of the fraud cases in Vietnam are primarily motivated by family reunification, and economic factors are only secondary. There have been several special immigration programs for Vietnamese people, so there are a disproportionately large number of them in the US for such a small country. This means a lot of families to reunify with. There are about 1.2M Vietnamese in the US. Compare that with 1.6M from India, a country with a population 13 times larger. Compare that with 1.9M from China, a country with a population 15 times larger.

[BinhJerome 14]

For us, it helped.

My fiance was questioned for his small salary (just above the poverty line with no assets) and he asked how he could support me (we were both present for my interview) and I adamantly told the CO that I do not need to be supported because I could support myself since I was a speech therapist and would not have a hard time finding a job in the US. I showed him my diploma and that I worked for an American Intl School and he said, "Okay, I will take that into consideration. Congratulations you are approved, welcome to the USA"

And also we are only 23 and 22 so we are not the typical couple seen at the Philippine US Embassy, usually it is an older man with relatively good salary and standing already, so I guess they were not used to seeing a fresh grad working minimum wage petitioning someone..

Just wanted to share!

Something also a bit different with your degree, the Philippines are still heavily influenced by the US, so their degrees are held to a higher standard than those from Vietnam or other non democratic countries. Even graduates from colleges in Vietnam still have to take an IELTS to go to school in the UK or the US. Most people also need to realize that as soon as you come to America you cannot just simply go to work legally meaning there are other steps that have to be taken prior, and one of which is a social security number along with permission to even work because of the Visa itself. All in all there is the possibility that your degree helped, but in actuallity it probably made the CO feel more comfortable, rather than actually being a factor for the Visa being issued. Had you said that you had already been training to do nails, or cut hair, or even said that your Fiancee's boss said you could go to work as soon as you got to the US would very possibly had the same affect. Jerome

[cedwards001 18]

My wife only had a high school diploma and we got the K1 approved. If your fiance would like to continue her education, like my wife wanted, I would recommend she hold off her plans until she gets to the US. A US college diploma is worth far more then a VN college diploma

Good luck!

[Harsh_77 718]

Overall I don’t think they consider your education anywhere – you are not required to put it on paper.

When I went for my interview in my home country CO asked me I had American accent in my English and I told him I had stayed here for xx number of years and I have graduated from American Univ and she was like ahh cool.

I don’t think that would had impacted the end result, but I think it did put her in the comfort zone, that I would not be a public charge and I would add value to American economy.

The only reason they might give you hard time is that if they think you will become a public charge, but I have never heard on this forum or anywhere else someone got denied coz of this.

[garfield529 47]

While I don't think that education influences the decision, the degree and the field of employment could issue a red flag in very rare instances. This would be a beneficiary with engineering, biotechnological, or radiological focus. Simply might draw some scrutiny at the interview to determine if the beneficiary poses a potential risk to national security.