Denied Tourist Visa to the US... What now??

[AmericanExpat 18]

To the people piling on: stop.

Yes, the OP's entitled attitude may have rubbed you the wrong way. But let's separate that from the facts.

From all the OP has stated, he has NO INTENTION of bringing his wife here on a visitor visa to adjust status. They're happy with their life in Malaysia and just want to come visit relatives. The confusion comes in that the OP got some bad information from other websites suggesting that AOS after entry on a tourist visa is a valid shortcut in the immigration process. Based on this bad info, he couldn't fathom why his wife's visa was denied. He's now been set straight on this and seems to understand.

Also, from what the OP has stated, we have no basis to infer or allege that he is violating US tax law. He correctly states that filing US taxes does not equate to US tax liability. Unless he's making north of $90,000 a year, his entire foreign earned income would be exempt from US taxation.

Thanks for clearing it up Stephen, thanks!

I am truly just a bit confused why I was denied the ability to bring my wife to visit family in the US for a visit... They wouldn't even look at the proof, nor tell us what more we could possibly bring to satisfy them. I don't want to have to jump thru the hoops of getting her a greencard, which would then most likely be revoked since we won't be residing there, but just visiting once a year or so...

Any suggestions?

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

But see, I think you're missing the problem. There is a legal way. It's called a tourist visa. We do not want to live there, nor should we be forced to apply for I-130, a greencard (that can then be taken away if we don't live there!)

When we say we just want to visit, that's it. There is no intent to stay. My life, and hers is outside of the US. Why apply for a greencard when we won't be needing it, and someone else can use that number who wants to be there? We just want to visit once a year. If we apply for the I-130, get the greencard, and then are gone for most of the year every year, it can be taken away. Then we're back to square one all over again.

We're not wanting to break any rules. We just want to be tourists!

I wasn't going to take all your comments and embed them above mine. You said "we" applied for her tourist visa. No. She applied for a tourist visa. The onus was on HER to prove she won't overstay or try to misuse her tourist visa to immigrate. As others have said your ties in the US may not have helped her either. Since they didn't look at your documents, I hate to say it but they probably made their decision before she even walked through the door. It happened to my fiance before we were engaged or even dating, and he at that time had money and very strong ties. Sorry this happened to you but you did marry someone from a developing country. That means a lot more scrutiny than lets say if you were married to a European. It isn't fair but it's reality. She can always try again maybe when your business gets more off the ground and you have more money in the bank. In the meantime your relatives should come visit you, or perhaps you could all meet up for a reunion in a closer 3rd country. Malaysia sounds like a way more fun vacation to me than New England (of course, I live in NE!).

I think everyone on this forum has had an "AHA" moment when you realize that the State Department means business. They are doing their job to prevent fraud and illegal immigration. You may think your case is so obvious that you have no intent to immigrate but they have heard so many people before you say that and then do exactly the opposite.

[Reyan 56]

The OP is probably already aware of this, but someone asked/mentioned about this earlier.

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Comparison-of-Form-8938-and-FBAR-Requirements

[AmericanExpat 18]

I wasn't going to take all your comments and embed them above mine. You said "we" applied for her tourist visa. No. She applied for a tourist visa. The onus was on HER to prove she won't overstay or try to misuse her tourist visa to immigrate. As others have said your ties in the US may not have helped her either. Since they didn't look at your documents, I hate to say it but they probably made their decision before she even walked through the door. It happened to my fiance before we were engaged or even dating, and he at that time had money and very strong ties. Sorry this happened to you but you did marry someone from a developing country. That means a lot more scrutiny than lets say if you were married to a European. It isn't fair but it's reality. She can always try again maybe when your business gets more off the ground and you have more money in the bank. In the meantime your relatives should come visit you, or perhaps you could all meet up for a reunion in a closer 3rd country. Malaysia sounds like a way more fun vacation to me than New England (of course, I live in NE!).

I think everyone on this forum has had an "AHA" moment when you realize that the State Department means business. They are doing their job to prevent fraud and illegal immigration. You may think your case is so obvious that you have no intent to immigrate but they have heard so many people before you say that and then do exactly the opposite.

Thanks Sarah and Adnan. Did your fiance get the tourist visa after all? What did he have to do to prove the "strong ties"?

It all just seems a bit warped... It's just easier (should be anyways), for the 2 of us to visit my family, then all 6 of my immediate family to visit us anywhere. Plus 3 of my siblings are in school, so even more difficult.

I'm really just trying to figure out if there is some magical document I can staple to the immigration interviewer's forehead that will prove I have no plans to moving back and contributing to his salary!

[AmericanExpat 18]

The OP is probably already aware of this, but someone asked/mentioned about this earlier.

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Comparison-of-Form-8938-and-FBAR-Requirements

I know the tax codes well Reyan. I have to file. I don't have to pay. I'm below the threshold. I'll be certain to remain there also. Married now I can report about 120K before I have to pay taxes.

[Reyan 56]

Another, albeit expensive, method is to file for the GC and use it to enter the US. After your return trip back to Malaysia, your wife turns over the GC back to the US Embassy. This will show that your wife has no intent of living in the US, and may make it easier to file for a visitor visa in the future. It's just an idea.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Reyan

[AmericanExpat 18]

You feel your wife as a foreign national is ENTITLED to get a tourist visa.

You don't like paying US taxes. So you don't file US tax return as required because "you don't work for a US company." This is wrong, US citizens are required to report ALL income regardless of source on their income tax returns.

You think your words are enough. People at the US Embassy who are charged with enforcing immigration laws are stupid and know less than you.

Come on.

You don't pay your US taxes like you are suppose to. And yet you insist on receiving all the benefits. How do you think the rest of us US taxpayers think about providing a tax dodge with a tourist visa for his wife?

Get with the program or stay out. You and your wife are not special. You don't get an exception to the rules. We all followed the rules, so do you if you want to get your wife over to the US.

You missed it aaron. I file. I'm not required to pay. It's simple really. I'm not required to pay because I am not a burden on taxpayers, and I make below the guidelines that would require it.

This entire visa process is paid for. Believe me, the US Embassy is raking in the $$ from all these application fees collected! You taxpayers back home aren't footing the bill, you're benefiting. Just to apply for tourist visa costs 512 each time... Funny my tourist visa into Malaysia was free, as many times as I want it. US Government greed I suppose? I guess the million collected from greencard applicants wasn't enough...

Not asking to be an exception either. I think you're assuming as much as the embassy staff. Just want a tourist visa to go in, say hi, and split. We'll leave the snow far behind without a second thought. We can see it on the tv just fine.

[Harsh_77 718]

You mis-read. We don't want to adjust status. We are both happy living abroad. My business is abroad. My home is abroad.

You understand wrong about the taxes. Americans are only required to pay taxes if they earn above a certain income threshold if they live and work abroad. I just have to file stating my earnings, and ensure they are below the guidelines. I am just taxes on anything above.

As I said in my previous post, your status there is not solid. You are also on tourist visa there which means you are in that country on temp basis.

Just your application for the perm residency is not a solid evidence, as it can always be abandoned.

Your new business is in same boat as well, it does not take a whole lot to close a newly opened business.

CO's are just doing their job - they cannot tell you what exactly is required the onus is on applicant to prove that they have strong ties and would not overstay their visa.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Harsh_77

[AmericanExpat 18]

Another, albeit expensive, method is to file for the GC and use it to enter the US. After your return trip back to Malaysia, your wife turns over the GC back to the US Embassy. This will show that your wife has no intent of living in the US, and may make it easier to file for a visitor visa in the future. It's just an idea.

Thought about that, but that's ridiculous. It would take months, just to be turned over. Also taking away from someone who wants it in the process.

Just wondering how to prove it, documents besides my PR application status, her savings, joint bank info, prop ownership docs, business ownership docs.... Anything else that would do it??

As I said in my previous post, your status there is not solid. You are also on tourist visa there which means you are in that country on temp basis.

Just while my PR status is processing... They were also told that...

[Harsh_77 718]

Thought about that, but that's ridiculous. It would take months, just to be turned over. Also taking away from someone who wants it in the process.

Just wondering how to prove it, documents besides my PR application status, her savings, joint bank info, prop ownership docs, business ownership docs.... Anything else that would do it??

Just while my PR status is processing... They were also told that...

I have feeling once your application for perm resident is approved and you get their equvivalent of GC - your wife would have a much stronger case for B1/2.

[MedRoni 161]

Thought about that, but that's ridiculous. It would take months, just to be turned over. Also taking away from someone who wants it in the process.

Yes, it would take that long - it boils down to how important is it to have your wife be able to visit in the US?

She would not be taking up someone's visa number as spouses are immediate relatives and visa numbers are always available. It is not part of the "wait in line until one is available" category.

[Stephen + Elisha 92]

Thought about that, but that's ridiculous. It would take months, just to be turned over. Also taking away from someone who wants it in the process.

It would be a ridiculous waste of time and money. It would not, however, be depriving someone else—immediate relatives of US citizens are not subject to numerical limits, so she wouldn't be taking up a visa number that someone else could otherwise be using.

Just wondering how to prove it, documents besides my PR application status, her savings, joint bank info, prop ownership docs, business ownership docs.... Anything else that would do it??

DOCUMENT everything. Don't just tell them your Malaysian residency is pending, bring whatever documents you have that show it (although again, her case will be much stronger once you have that visa in hand). Savings, joint bank info, property ownership docs, business ownership docs—all good. If you can document that the business is making money that might also be good.

Speaking of the business, do you have employees? Someone who'll be minding the figurative or literal store while you're gone? An affidavit from that person stating that they will be in charge during the two weeks (with specific dates) that you'll be gone might be good.

Other ideas... a detailed itinerary showing your intended dates of US .entry and departure. Signed statements (or better yet, notarized affidavits) from your US relatives (along with copies of their passports) stating the dates that you'll be visiting with them and that they have every expectation that you'll be returning to your home in Malaysia after your visit.

That's about all I can think of. It'll be an uphill battle to be sure, but come prepared with a mountain of documents (anything and everything you can think of) to show you're coming back to Malaysia after your brief visit. POLITELY insist that they review all the evidence—emphasis on POLITELY. Hopefully the attitude you showed in your initial posts didn't come through at the visa interview, but if it did—stow it next time. Understand that no one is entitled to a visa, even spouses of USCs. Swallow your pride and go hat in hand and exquisitely prepared.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Ignore the tax implications for now. The way I understand it you are a US citizen, working without authorization on a tourist visa in Malaysia. You leave every 90 days, then come back. Is that correct?

[AmericanExpat 18]

Actually, that's exactly the reason they don't believe her. Using a tourist visa in the way you describe is immigration fraud. A tourist visa is a non-immigrant visa. Under Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, applicants for non-immigrant visas must overcome the presumption of immigrant intent. The fact that your wife is married to a USC gives her an immediate basis upon which to adjust status once in the United States, thus making the presumption of immigrant intent that much stronger.

Yep. Sounds about right.

... which would be immigration fraud if she entered on a non-immigrant visitor visa with the intent of adjusting status after entry.

The legitimate reason is the consular officers' statutory duty to ensure that people don't use non-immigrant visas to immigrate. People with a basis for adjustment of status (i.e., immediate relatives of USCs) automatically have to meet a higher standard of proof for that reason.

Sorry your wife didn't get the visa.

I suppose I'm still not seeing the problem. If someone did come in on a non-immigrant visa, even with the intent to change over and apply thru the I-130 after already there (this is NOT our intent), I'm not seeing what the problem would be anyways.

They would still have to pay the same fees, and go thru all the same processes, satisfying everything before approval... In fact, it would cost them more to do so, first paying for the tourist visa, then paying for the I-130 application. The only difference is it lets them be together right?

So why is Immigration making it difficult for a US citizen to be together with his new wife, in his country. Is this a way to penalize a citizen for marrying someone from another country? Keeping them apart until they jump through hoops? Imposing wait times before they can be together? I'm sure that many times the US husband or wife had to leave their spouse behind to get back for work, or for many other reasons because of this policy.

I'm not seeing any sense to these rules. Obviously I'll run through whatever maze I have too... I'm just not grasping the logic to keeping spouses apart for months pending paperwork...

[AmericanExpat 18]

It would be a ridiculous waste of time and money. It would not, however, be depriving someone else—immediate relatives of US citizens are not subject to numerical limits, so she wouldn't be taking up a visa number that someone else could otherwise be using.

DOCUMENT everything. Don't just tell them your Malaysian residency is pending, bring whatever documents you have that show it (although again, her case will be much stronger once you have that visa in hand). Savings, joint bank info, property ownership docs, business ownership docs—all good. If you can document that the business is making money that might also be good.

Speaking of the business, do you have employees? Someone who'll be minding the figurative or literal store while you're gone? An affidavit from that person stating that they will be in charge during the two weeks (with specific dates) that you'll be gone might be good.

Other ideas... a detailed itinerary showing your intended dates of US .entry and departure. Signed statements (or better yet, notarized affidavits) from your US relatives (along with copies of their passports) stating the dates that you'll be visiting with them and that they have every expectation that you'll be returning to your home in Malaysia after your visit.

That's about all I can think of. It'll be an uphill battle to be sure, but come prepared with a mountain of documents (anything and everything you can think of) to show you're coming back to Malaysia after your brief visit. POLITELY insist that they review all the evidence—emphasis on POLITELY. Hopefully the attitude you showed in your initial posts didn't come through at the visa interview, but if it did—stow it next time. Understand that no one is entitled to a visa, even spouses of USCs. Swallow your pride and go hat in hand and exquisitely prepared.

Thanks for the suggestions Stephen. Luckily it will be her doing the interview... I don't think I could do it. She's the cooler head of us... LOL