Interview for seniors

[Dan Nguyen 3]

Hi, I'm applying for tourist visa on behalf of my wife's mother. Could someone tell me what she can expect at the interview? Is interview for seniors different or are they the same? She's 61 years old. Live in the country most her life. Not very educated. She can answer simple questions, but probably won't be able to answer questions such as what our address in the U.S.

She just a simple country woman. She has no job, bank account, etc..

Would she be denied base on this?

Also, what kind of documents should she bring besides the require documents?

[subz 6]

In my personal opinion, in current circumstances she will be denied.. US wants people with money spending there... at 61 most ppl retire in some countries so not having job is fine but she must have ties back home... house, shop, any property, relatives... CO will think if she has no ties why will she come back...

does she have previous travel experience?

[RhettVoe 282]

and you don't apply for her....she applies (and qualifies) on the strength of her own situation (which sounds fragile, at best).

[Dan Nguyen 3]

and you don't apply for her....she applies (and qualifies) on the strength of her own situation (which sounds fragile, at best).

I can apply on her behalf. Immigration lawyers do it.

In my personal opinion, in current circumstances she will be denied.. US wants people with money spending there... at 61 most ppl retire in some countries so not having job is fine but she must have ties back home... house, shop, any property, relatives... CO will think if she has no ties why will she come back...

does she have previous travel experience?

She has ties. She owns house, lands,and has many relatives.

[MacUK 983]

I can apply on her behalf. Immigration lawyers do it.

No, you can help filling in the forms, as can a completely pointless immigration lawyer, but the application is from her and there is nothing more than helping out with the forms that you or anyone else can do.

If you've found a lawyer who claims to be able to guarantee a tourist visa then you've found a lying lawyer.

[MacUK 983]

She has ties. She owns house, lands,and has many relatives.

She also has a relative in the US. Remember, the COs by law have to presume that every applicant will overstay their visa so it is up to them to prove they wont.

Would relatives in her home country be more compelling to return to than a daughter in the US?

Land can be sold or given to other family members.

It is up to her, on the day of the interview, to convince the CO that she will return.

[Dan Nguyen 3]

It is up to her, on the day of the interview, to convince the CO that she will return.

This is why I'm here trying to find out what she can do.

[RhettVoe 282]

No one can apply for another...even a lawyer. They only fill out papers and ask for money.

[RhettVoe 282]

There are no magic answers, and no lawyer can positively influence the outcome of a tourist visa interview.

[Girl from Celebes 588]

This is why I'm here trying to find out what she can do.

My mother's friend applied for third times and got rejected. The first one was because when the CO asked her why her husband did not go to visit their daughter in the US and she replied back that her husband was sick and won't be able travel in such long distance. She got denied and the CO told her that she did not have strong ties to her home country.

The second time, she applied again and the CO asked her why her husband did not apply this time and she said that her husband still recuperated from surgery on his back. The CO denied her again. The las time, she and her husband finally applied together and when the CO asked her how many children they had, she said only have one child. The CO denied her again even her husband applied at that time.

The COs always have had the reason to denied tourist visa without going into any specific matters. My mother's friend was well educated, had a good job before retired. And no lawyer even the top-notch lawyers can't guarantee an approval. She has to apply on her behalf. For some cases, invitation letter could hurt a chance for applicants.

The positive side that she can use, if she can't speak English very well, ask the CO to speak to use her native language. I heard that would helped her to get approval. Because many people won't take a chance living in the place where they can't communicate very well to each other, assuming many people using tourist visa to stay in the US.

The other friend told me that her mom got approval because she couldn't speak English and the CO interviewed her in Bahasa for a few minutes and she got approved.

[jan22 3,064]

My mother's friend applied for third times and got rejected. The first one was because when the CO asked her why her husband

The positive side that she can use, if she can't speak English very well, ask the CO to speak to use her native language. I heard that would helped her to get approval. Because many people won't take a chance living in the place where they can't communicate very well to each other, assuming many people using tourist visa to stay in the US.

The other friend told me that her mom got approval because she couldn't speak English and the CO interviewed her in Bahasa for a few minutes and she got approved.

Sorry, but not being able to speak English well (or pretending to -- which I know some people try to do) does not help get a visa issued. Doesn't matter if a parent doesn't speak English when they want to go visit their child in the US. The visa officer will assume the child will be able to communicate with the parent. It isn't seen as taking a chance, since they will have their child to rely on to take care of them. It might, actually, work against the person if the visa officer doesn't speak the local language fluently enough to understand the applicant responses.

[Girl from Celebes 588]

Sorry, but not being able to speak English well (or pretending to -- which I know some people try to do) does not help get a visa issued. Doesn't matter if a parent doesn't speak English when they want to go visit their child in the US. The visa officer will assume the child will be able to communicate with the parent. It isn't seen as taking a chance, since they will have their child to rely on to take care of them. It might, actually, work against the person if the visa officer doesn't speak the local language fluently enough to understand the applicant responses.

The CO knows if people are pretending, . And nowhere of my post saying that they could try pretending. My point was that many people who can't speak English and they were trying to learn it prior their visa interviews, I met some of them in fact they asked me to teach them.

And for your information, all COs that working in the US embassies can speak local languages very good. That's one of requirements. I have met many consular officers from different consulates like from the UK, the US, Germany, and Australia. Most of them told me that COs can speak very well in Bahasa. When I had my B-2 visa and K-1 visa interviews as well, the CO asked me whether I would prefer speaking in Bahasa or English language.

Also some of my friends who were worked at Indonesia embassy in Moscow as consulars can speak Russian very well. That's a living proof that COs has be able to demonstrate they can speak in the local languages.

Edit:

I did not say it will guarantee an approval. I was saying it could help at some point since the OP asked opinion about that. No one can ever guarantee visa approval even the top-notch lawyers.

Edited August 11, 2014 by Girl from Celebes

[T&T&T 31]

I would not recommend waiting for the interview to prove your case. If you can't prove strong reasons for her to return to her home country when submitting the petition you will most likely get denied. In almost all cases the decision is made long before you get to the interview stage. Most non immigrant visa interviews last 2 minutes or less.

[Dan Nguyen 3]

I would not recommend waiting for the interview to prove your case. If you can't prove strong reasons for her to return to her home country when submitting the petition you will most likely get denied. In almost all cases the decision is made long before you get to the interview stage. Most non immigrant visa interviews last 2 minutes or less.

[Dan Nguyen 3]

How are you suppose to prove anything on the visa application? The DS-160 is done online. Then you pay the fee and schedule interview. Up to that point there's no way to submit any document to prove your case.