Tourist Visa For Mother-In-Law - Requirements For Interview

[titantom 2]

We are trying to help prepare my Mother-In-Law for an interview to get a Tourist Visa so she come and visit us for about 3 weeks later in the year. As part of the interview, she is going to take several documents to show her ties to home such as documents showing flat ownership, power of attorney over my wife's affairs in Russia, Employment Letter, other Children's Birth Certificates, etc...

Are these documents required to be translated in English for the consulate officer? When going through the K1 process, everything had to be translated, but I can't find any requirements related to Tourist Visa interview. Being that they are legal documents and rather long, they will cost a quite a bit to get translated and I don't want to do it if it's completely unnecessary.

Her interview will certainly be in Russian, as she doesn't speak English, so I am sure the CO doesn't need them translated...

Has any of you gone through this with the consulates in Russia and have any information?

Thanks For Your Help...

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

If the documents are in the local language, there is no need for translation as the consular officers will be able to read it. If they are in another language then yes, translate them.

[vbtwo 54]

We are trying to help prepare my Mother-In-Law for an interview to get a Tourist Visa so she come and visit us for about 3 weeks later in the year. As part of the interview, she is going to take several documents to show her ties to home such as documents showing flat ownership, power of attorney over my wife's affairs in Russia, Employment Letter, other Children's Birth Certificates, etc...

Are these documents required to be translated in English for the consulate officer? When going through the K1 process, everything had to be translated, but I can't find any requirements related to Tourist Visa interview. Being that they are legal documents and rather long, they will cost a quite a bit to get translated and I don't want to do it if it's completely unnecessary.

Her interview will certainly be in Russian, as she doesn't speak English, so I am sure the CO doesn't need them translated...

Has any of you gone through this with the consulates in Russia and have any information?

Thanks For Your Help...

Why did you have to translate everything for K1? Stuff that you bring to the interview did not need to be translated. Only stuff that you send to USCIS.

[titantom 2]

Why did you have to translate everything for K1? Stuff that you bring to the interview did not need to be translated. Only stuff that you send to USCIS.

Everything we submitted as evidence and was kept was translated. Birth Certificates, Police Reports, Formal Invitations (Homestay Visa) to visit the country and stay with my Fiancee, etc... Was is it all absolutely unnecessary? Maybe not... But certainly not worth risking anything not being accepted. Getting translations was a small price to pay. And by the way, having just completed the AOS Interview, you would be surprised how big that file had become. Right there on the desk were all the documents we submitted over the previous 16 months. Actually there were some items missing from the file. We had the duplicate copies from previous submissions with us, and believe it or not, the officer asked to keep some of those copies for her records. So it was very nice to have them and reduced her doubt about us, and in the end, my wife was approved on the spot.

All that to say... I want my Mother-In-Law to approved without doubt or additional hassle. So if I needed translations for her, so be it... If not, then that's even better...

By the way... Good luck with the process...

[UK_Fan 192]

actually i was needing to know the answer to this question as well. I have already schedule an interview date for my mom, but i was just gonna see what all she has to bring..

do i need to write a letter of invitation? i don't reckon so, because on the visa application it asks where she'll be staying and her relationship to me, yet she still insists that she needs it.

from what a gathered, i told her to bring her marriage certificate and proof of employment and when she's supposed to be back at work. credit/bank card statements.. loan papers that show that she had financial obligations.. anything else that im missing?

[vbtwo 54]

actually i was needing to know the answer to this question as well. I have already schedule an interview date for my mom, but i was just gonna see what all she has to bring..

do i need to write a letter of invitation? i don't reckon so, because on the visa application it asks where she'll be staying and her relationship to me, yet she still insists that she needs it.

from what a gathered, i told her to bring her marriage certificate and proof of employment and when she's supposed to be back at work. credit/bank card statements.. loan papers that show that she had financial obligations.. anything else that im missing?

Invitation letters are a common misunderstanding of the tourist visa process over there. Everyone seems to be under the impression that if you write them an invitation letter, they will magically get a visa. This is probably because Russia requires an invitation letter to issue a visa to come there.

They seem to not understand that the US wants proof of ties to the home country and that is pretty much all they look for in deciding whether to issue a visa (some other things help, but having no ties to home country is pretty much a guaranteed denial), and don't really care about any invitation letters.

[Turboguy 6]

My MIL is here right now for her third visit. It sounds like there should be enough proof of ties to her homeland that she should do fine.

When this subject comes up I always think back to my MIL's first visa interview and suggest you be precise with the travel times. The lady in line before my MIL was called to the window and showed proof of ties and then was asked why she was going and how long she was staying. She told them her daughter was having a baby and she wanted to help with the baby and would be staying for a couple of months at least but wasn't sure exactly. She was denied. My MIL was called to the window and asked how long she planned to stay and she said she hoped to leave on June 30th and return on July 29th. She was approved. You did mention 3 weeks and I do think she wants to be fairly precise when they ask her that question.

[james&olya 1,121]

They want to know one thing most of all, that the visitor will be leaving. So make that the most certain thing in the interview, more important and more definite than everything else. Say you absolutely must be back by xx date because of work, school, family responsibilities, planned activities, whatever. The more reasons mentioned the better. My MIL had never traveled outside Russia except one trip to Egypt. She was widowed but helped take care of her mother. She owned her apt and had a regular job. She got approved on the first try and is here again now on her 4th trip in 2 years!

[Brad and Vika 129]

We are trying to help prepare my Mother-In-Law for an interview to get a Tourist Visa so she come and visit us for about 3 weeks later in the year. As part of the interview, she is going to take several documents to show her ties to home such as documents showing flat ownership, power of attorney over my wife's affairs in Russia, Employment Letter, other Children's Birth Certificates, etc...

Are these documents required to be translated in English for the consulate officer? When going through the K1 process, everything had to be translated, but I can't find any requirements related to Tourist Visa interview. Being that they are legal documents and rather long, they will cost a quite a bit to get translated and I don't want to do it if it's completely unnecessary.

Her interview will certainly be in Russian, as she doesn't speak English, so I am sure the CO doesn't need them translated...

Has any of you gone through this with the consulates in Russia and have any information?

Thanks For Your Help...

We never thought a translation could hurt. Translation of documents is pretty cheap. We just thought that if there ever were any questions from anybody that didn't speak Russian anywhere, MIL was covered.

actually i was needing to know the answer to this question as well. I have already schedule an interview date for my mom, but i was just gonna see what all she has to bring..

do i need to write a letter of invitation? i don't reckon so, because on the visa application it asks where she'll be staying and her relationship to me, yet she still insists that she needs it.

from what a gathered, i told her to bring her marriage certificate and proof of employment and when she's supposed to be back at work. credit/bank card statements.. loan papers that show that she had financial obligations.. anything else that im missing?

My response may be too late for you, but here goes. See my comments about invitation letters below. My MIL had a letter from her employer stating she had a job to return to, and a letter stating that she had a pension. A document showing property ownership, and a doctor's letter stating she her dad was living at her house and couldn't take care of himself. She also had a recent visa from the EU to demonstrate that she has a history of returning. We may have bought a ticket for her, or reserved a seat to get an itinerary too.

Edited to say that she also had proof of marriage, and that her spouse was staying behind.

Invitation letters are a common misunderstanding of the tourist visa process over there. Everyone seems to be under the impression that if you write them an invitation letter, they will magically get a visa. This is probably because Russia requires an invitation letter to issue a visa to come there.

They seem to not understand that the US wants proof of ties to the home country and that is pretty much all they look for in deciding whether to issue a visa (some other things help, but having no ties to home country is pretty much a guaranteed denial), and don't really care about any invitation letters.

We found that the real value of the invitation letter was at POE. The consular officer did see it, and the letter did have a length of time in it if I recall, but the CO did not take a copy or ask any questions. My MIL does not speak English. We had English and Russian versions of my invitation, and the customs officer did look at them, as MIL could not explain why she was here or give enough detail. The rationale was the same as the OP here - just wanting to avoid hassle for MIL. Here is the language from the Homeland Security website that I was concerned with:

If you are an alien, the CBP Officer must determine why you are coming to the United States, what documents you may require, if you have those documents, and how long you should be allowed to initially stay in the United States. These determinations usually take less than one minute to make. If you are allowed to proceed, the officer will stamp your passport and customs declaration form and issue a completed Form I-94 to you. A completed form I-94 will show what immigration classification you were given and how long you are allowed to stay.

Here is the link http://cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/legally_admitted_to_the_u_s.xml

Edited June 9, 2013 by Brad and Vika