B2 visa chances

[Asia 2,499]

So stay optimistic

Just apply for a visa and you'll know everything.

[Nikki&Nathan 1]

So stay optimistic

Just apply for a visa and you'll know everything.[/quote

Thank you so much, I will do so!

[world123 0]

Wait times for interview appointments vary by location, season, and visa category, so you should apply for your visa early.

[world123 0]

Visa applicants must qualify on the basis of the applicant's residence and ties abroad, rather than assurances from U.S. family and friends. A letter of invitation or Affidavit of Support is not needed to apply for a nonimmigrant tourist visa. If you do choose to bring a letter of invitation or Affidavit of Support to your interview, please remember that it is not one of the factors that we use in determining whether to issue or deny a nonimmigrant tourist visa.

Edited April 1, 2016 by world123

[HFM181818 750]

how many times have people asked about invitation letters...?????....and as (I hope) everyone can see, they are worthless as far as overcoming the presumption of immigrant intent....Worthless with a capital 'W"...

[Nikki&Nathan 1]

how many times have people asked about invitation letters...?????....and as (I hope) everyone can see, they are worthless as far as overcoming the presumption of immigrant intent....Worthless with a capital 'W"...

Well a friend of mine was in fact asked if he had an invitation letter at his interview.

[verneforchat 139]

Well a friend of mine was in fact asked if he had an invitation letter at his interview.

It depends upon the purpose of travel. If said friend was going for a meeting or conference, I guess that they would need to show an invitation letter?

[HFM181818 750]

invitation letters prove nothing about immigrant intent...what they can do (if fraudulent) is undermine the applicant's chance of success during his/her interview...and, if from a conference or something similar, generate more questions to test the applicant's knowledge of what might really be going on....they rarely have any positive effect on the outcome....I cannot tell you how many phony invites I was given by people claiming to be going to the US for some 'important meeting' --- many of those invites had been 'crafted' on their own ink jet printer....(or by someone working in one of those kiosks three blocks away from our embassy, who, for $50, would produce almost any sort of letter or bank document or job letter)....

but....a document printed on an ink jet printer smudges (the logo portion), and if some foolish applicant gave me a letter from, say General Motors, claiming he had to attend some big business meeting, well, once I saw that the grammar was at a choppy second grade level, I would then run a moist thumb over the GM logo only to watch it smear....sorry....if GM produces letterhead, it was printed on an offset press and won't smudge!

Guess what happened to the applicants?

Also, checking the invite letter for grammar and layout problems could also reveal a lot...letters written in the US are formatted in very specific ways, and the same for numbers....we don't, for example, use periods for numbers like 2,000 (2.000) whereas many countries do....so if I saw a letter that had the date format backwards and numbers indicated in some foreign manner, I knew that the invite did not come from the US...also the paper size was critical....no one in the US uses A4 sized paper, which is approximately 1/4 smaller in width...but I saw tons of these, purporting to have been sent by some company or business in the US....armed with this basic knowledge about written products, you can see how swiftly an invite letter could do someone in....

[Nikki&Nathan 1]

invitation letters prove nothing about immigrant intent...what they can do (if fraudulent) is undermine the applicant's chance of success during his/her interview...and, if from a conference or something similar, generate more questions to test the applicant's knowledge of what might really be going on....they rarely have any positive effect on the outcome....I cannot tell you how many phony invites I was given by people claiming to be going to the US for some 'important meeting' --- many of those invites had been 'crafted' on their own ink jet printer....(or by someone working in one of those kiosks three blocks away from our embassy, who, for $50, would produce almost any sort of letter or bank document or job letter)....

but....a document printed on an ink jet printer smudges (the logo portion), and if some foolish applicant gave me a letter from, say General Motors, claiming he had to attend some big business meeting, well, once I saw that the grammar was at a choppy second grade level, I would then run a moist thumb over the GM logo only to watch it smear....sorry....if GM produces letterhead, it was printed on an offset press and won't smudge!

Guess what happened to the applicants?

Also, checking the invite letter for grammar and layout problems could also reveal a lot...letters written in the US are formatted in very specific ways, and the same for numbers....we don't, for example, use periods for numbers like 2,000 (2.000) whereas many countries do....so if I saw a letter that had the date format backwards and numbers indicated in some foreign manner, I knew that the invite did not come from the US...also the paper size was critical....no one in the US uses A4 sized paper, which is approximately 1/4 smaller in width...but I saw tons of these, purporting to have been sent by some company or business in the US....armed with this basic knowledge about written products, you can see how swiftly an invite letter could do someone in....

On basis did you grant a visa if you don't mind me asking?. I am going on holiday to the US I will be staying with my friend and we will be doing some sightseeing including taking a helicopter ride through the grand Canyon, my trip has been planned for a long time and this is really the first time I have the chance to go. I have documentation to prove strong ties but if that's not considered important, how on earth does a visa get approved? My friend had an invite letter sent via email and it included the person's who invited him who is also an American citizen's name and address and contact number. Why would that be considered as fraud? How else would someone get a letter to someone these days? Edited April 4, 2016 by Nikki&Nathan

[KierenHby 899]

The value of a letter of invitation / financial support.. or the opinion of B-adjudicating COs.. is never an absolute no.

In the real world, there will likely be a degree of subjectiveness with some NIV adjudications, with all due respect to HFM181818.

[HFM181818 750]

applicants do not get visas because they present some silly invitation letters....they get B2 visas because they convince a CO that they are bona fide travelers for pleasure....

[Nikki&Nathan 1]

applicants do not get visas because they present some silly invitation letters....they get B2 visas because they convince a CO that they are bona fide travelers for pleasure....

Well how do you prove that if whatever evidence they suggest you bring gets knocked down or treated as lies?

[HFM181818 750]

I did not say 'treated as lies'..I said that often people tried to present phony documentation, which is why I've said (and practiced what I preach) that papers will rarely make a bad case good....but they can turn an iffy case to a bad one quickly....my questions, which generally went all over the place rather than some linear, 'where do you work, how much do you earn, who do you want to visit.."', etc....I started sometimes at the end, went back to the middle, retested other questions, but never in a particular order....this way, if someone tried to memorize answers they would be left sputtering after just 3 or 4 questions, and now they have to answer them without help....which often said a lot.....I watched faces, body language, listened to the tone and volume of the answers, etc, plus other clues and monitored consistency to reach a conclusion....attempts to evade questions were not viewed positively; memorized answers were easy to identify and then ruin....it is (was) much more of an art than a science...

[KierenHby 899]

In occasional circumstances, those silly invitation letters can add a bit of credence to certain bona fide travelers of pleasure..

[Nikki&Nathan 1]

In occasional circumstances, those silly invitation letters can add a bit of credence to certain bona fide travelers of pleasure..

I thought an invitation letter at least offers some kind of proof that you are staying where you said you will be staying as in my case and there is a bona fide address and phone number.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Nikki&Nathan