B2 for a family member after I had AOS from non-immigrant visa

[koshka-mishka 0]

Hello VJ users! I had a J-1/B-2 adjust of status done inside the US and got married to a US citizen after almost a year from the day I came into the USA. We already had our interview and it went flawless. My dad & his girlfriend want to come visit for a couple of weeks in May and I started recearching the information on that all over russian internet and came across some forums that say that my dad will most probably not get his visa because I've violated visa rules by doing AOS from a non-immigrant visa. Although, the embassy website says that having strong ties to Russia is what they look for when making a decision about issuing a visitor visa. My dad is a CEO of a local branch of one of Russian banks(or whatever it is called but he is a head of a bunch of offices in one of Russian cities) and makes a little more than 5000$/ month and also owns a car, an appartment (partially) and has another daughter living in Russia. In past few year he had only been abroad twice - one in Austria, once in Chech Republic, so he has two Shengen visas in his pasport. What do you think, will the embassy consider that being his strong ties to Russia?

Does anyone have any experience inviting family members to visit after getting married not on fiancee visa?

Edited February 3, 2012 by koshka-mishka

[TimeTravel 78]

Hello VJ users! I had a J-1/B-2 adjust of status done inside the US and got married to a US citizen after almost a year from the day I came into the USA. We already had our interview and it went flawless. My dad & his girlfriend want to come visit for a couple of weeks in May and I started recearching the information on that all over russian internet and came across some forums that say that my dad will most probably not get his visa because I've violated visa rules by doing AOS from a non-immigrant visa. Although, the embassy website says that having strong ties to Russia is what they look for when making a decision about issuing a visitor visa. My dad is a CEO of a local branch of one of Russian banks(or whatever it is called but he is a head of a bunch of offices in one of Russian cities) and makes a little more than 5000$/ month and also owns a car, an appartment (partially) and has another daughter living in Russia. In past few year he had only been abroad twice - one in Austria, once in Chech Republic, so he has two Shengen visas in his pasport. What do you think, will the embassy consider that being his strong ties to Russia?

Does anyone have any experience inviting family members to visit after getting married not on fiancee visa?

Your dad seem to have enough strong ties with his country. It should be fine then.

Edited February 3, 2012 by iwaiting

[Boiler 45,466]

He will find out if he applies, he will not if he does not.

Ditto Girl Friend.

[mox 298]

Hello VJ users! I had a J-1/B-2 adjust of status done inside the US and got married to a US citizen after almost a year from the day I came into the USA. We already had our interview and it went flawless. My dad & his girlfriend want to come visit for a couple of weeks in May and I started recearching the information on that all over russian internet and came across some forums that say that my dad will most probably not get his visa because I've violated visa rules by doing AOS from a non-immigrant visa.

But you didn't violate visa rules by doing AOS from a non-immigrant visa. You applied, had your interview, and "it went flawless." Based on the information you've provided, you didn't do anything wrong, you didn't violate any rules.

All anyone can do is give their opinion of whether he has strong ties or not. The fact is, you're going to need to apply for the visa to get an absolute answer. Based just on what you've said, it doesn't seem to me that he'll have any problems. Apply, then he'll know for sure.

Edited February 3, 2012 by mox

[slim 1,525]

If he works for a major Russian bank he should be more worried about them not letting him go as opposed to the US not letting him come.

[koshka-mishka 0]

Thanks everybody! I was thinking I didn't violate any rules too, but it's a common belief in Russia that if you adjust your status while in the USA from J1 visa - your relatives have very slim chances to ever get a visitor visa. I don't know why is that, it doesn't really make sense...I know that applying for a visa is the only way to find out, I just got a little discouraged after reading some russian forums (didn't ask anything there), but for some reason all these russian forums about travelling and immigration are always a little discouraging, so I decided to ask on my favourite visajourney, because here users are very nice and helpful

[mox 298]

Good luck!