I am a permanent resident, married to an US Citizen and my mom just had her visa denied.

[Boiler 45,559]

The adjusted refusal rate for the UK is a lot more than that, from memory around about 15%.

[asisflyer 47]

I would take the statistics used by the Department of State with a grain of salt. Those numbers aren't real at all. For example, South Africa's denial rate is 2.6%. Lol. Come on, every single South African would be in the States by now if that were true. Really? For those that have been involved with the immigration process, you will know that the government routinely fudges numbers or denies reality. If I call a Tier 2 officer and ask about my K1 case they will say that I am within processing times and that they haven't processed any visas beyond August 2 (which is on their page). Obviously that is not TRUE. There are September and October filers that have been approved. This is but one example of how the stats presented by the government don't reflect reality. Getting a visa from Brazil is harder than the 5% number indicated on the State Department webpage.

I won't play into conspiracy theories with no basis in evidence. The reality is for ever person who writes of a problem here, thousands have no issue and never write about it.

The State Department was directed to "enhance" the breadth of tourist visas in recent years to increase money from tourism, not decrease it. The data shows many many countries at 50%+ denial rates without issue. There is no motive for DOS to manipulate one country but not another.

[Carol & Tim 4]

How long should I wait till I try again? I was thinking about waiting till I become a citizen. Thanks everyone for your help. It sure does make me feel a little better having all this support from you all.

[Hypnos 6,576]

If anything it will look worse after you become a US citizen, as you would then be able to petition her directly whenever you wished.

[Carol & Tim 4]

But she doesn't want to live here, just visit!

[Carol & Tim 4]

But she doesn't want to live here, just visit!

[Boiler 45,559]

What is her job?

[pdking5000 56]

If anything it will look worse after you become a US citizen, as you would then be able to petition her directly whenever you wished.

as I mentioned earlier, there is no such thing as looking worse or better -- I have had friends with family members illegally in the US and they still received visas.

It depends on the mood of the officer that day. I also know of a woman who had a nice government job and no family in the States, yet she was denied. It is really unreasonable to believe that the only people issued tourist visas are those that have NO family members in the United States. For many countries, it is virtually impossible not to have at least one member living here. Based on the example above, it would be less likely that her mother would abuse a tourist visa considering her daughter could petition her legally anyways. You can create positive and negative spins to any scenario. At the end of the day, no one can predict what will slide or not slide during an interview. they last all of 5 minutes, sometimes less. It is not science as people here like to believe. My girlfriend was led to believe she was denied because she hadn't finished her degree; she only had to take one test to complete it. Strangely enough, an acquaintance of ours goes to the same embassy a year later with no degee and obtained a visa. So what is it? There are so many applicants that decisions are made on the fly and almost any reason could be used to deny or approve someone.

[Cathi 5,757]

Thanks everyone for your responses! I am the only child and she works. I don't know what could lead them to deny her. Maybe because I am the only child. That sucks.

And I am sure brazilians are not the only people that"forgot to go home". I know people from other countries that live here illegally. I've done everything the right way and I have never been illegally in this country. We should not judge by race. Thanks.

Why would you say she was denied based on race? Race has nothing to do with the fact that she didn't provide sufficient evidence to prove she will return home. Having a job isn't strong proof, ESPECIALLY because you are her only child. You being her only child living in the US is a reason she would stay here.

[apple21 953]

Luck just wasn't on her side that day. Try again.

[Carol & Tim 4]

Somebody above that comment mentioned brazilians forget to go home that's why I posted that.

Why would you say she was denied based on race? Race has nothing to do with the fact that she didn't provide sufficient evidence to prove she will return home. Having a job isn't strong proof, ESPECIALLY because you are her only child. You being her only child living in the US is a reason she would stay here.

[pdking5000 56]

Her being her only child living in the US is a reason she would stay here.

It is also a strong reason why her mother would want to visit.

[Carol & Tim 4]

It is also a strong reason why her mother would want to visit.

Thank you! Wish the consul would see that way too!

[MacUK 983]

They don't care about why people want to visit, only that they'll go home after.

[Dave&Roza 748]

How long should I wait till I try again? I was thinking about waiting till I become a citizen. Thanks everyone for your help. It sure does make me feel a little better having all this support from you all.

But she doesn't want to live here, just visit!

I will relate to you our story to show you how stupid the whole tourist visa situation is:

My wife, who at that time was just a freind and we were conversing via e-mail, wanted to visit the US to see the sites and I told her that I would take her around and be her tour guide. SO she gets all the documents together to go to the US Consulate for a tourist visa. It has been quite some time since she has travelled to another country besides Turkey. I give her teh $165 visa fee and she goes to her interview and is promptly denied. We wonder what to do. I send her another $165 to try again. So two weeks after the first interview she returns with the same evidence and is approved. What was the difference? The IO the first time was a very young woman that my wife said seemed new to the job and the second time was with the older gentleman that had dealt with where my wife worked. It also migh be that the experienced IO knew that my wife had a pretty good paying job by Kazakhstani standards even if it was extreme poverty by US standards.

Maybe some Embassies/Consulates want to see if an intending tourist will be willing to shell out the visa fee a couple of times.

Good luck,

Dave