Reason to Visit US too simple??

[IguanaCouple 26]

Fair enough. It is good that they could afford it if they wanted to.

For some reason that comment made me LMAO.

[kris&me 572]

my freind from Brazil was denied to visit family here and pick up copy of son's birth certificate as he was born here when they attended college

background she teaches in Brazil

Her husband is a police officer

They have 2 sons

she was going to travel for 10 days with a cousin to see family and of course, return to home, job, husband and children

Go figure as what is wrong with visiting the US?

I am glad i am able to travel feely and don't have to go thru all this

[HFM181818 750]

nothing is wrong with visiting the US...the problem are the people who forget to leave the US...making tougher for the citizens of a particular country to convince a CO that they will be the ones who abide by the terms of a tourist visa...

[aaron2020 11,651]

my freind from Brazil was denied to visit family here and pick up copy of son's birth certificate as he was born here when they attended college

background she teaches in Brazil

Her husband is a police officer

They have 2 sons

she was going to travel for 10 days with a cousin to see family and of course, return to home, job, husband and children

Go figure as what is wrong with visiting the US?

I am glad i am able to travel feely and don't have to go thru all this

What is wrong with visiting the US is the numerous number of Brazilians that overstay their visitor visas. I know a few Brazilians who overstayed their visitor visas here in San Diego.

Instead of putting the blame on the US, look at the action of people who overstay their visas. 40% of the unauthorized immigrants to the US came here with visas.

Edited May 4, 2016 by aaron2020

[HFM181818 750]

the above statement is the real issue....it is the abusers of the visa privilege who cause problems, not the COs... if a culture has demonstrated that a very low percentage of them abuse visas, then the presumption is (by and large) that that particular culture can be trusted (hence, the VWP)....but countries in which a rather high percentage of visa holders have the ever popular 'mind change' at baggage claim will no longer be trusted at the outset....instead, applicants from those countries will be instantly perceived as being prone to not doing what they say, and thus, the '214b' bar will be raised accordingly....like it or not....blame the abusers, not the adjudicators....I remember serving in one eastern European country years ago, in which our validation studies showed a 95% overstay/abuse rate of B2 visas....guess what the refusal rate became? Yep....95%....then, when we discovered that of the 5% of folks who were granted visas, 95% of those failed to return, we raised the bar again....one week we had a 100% denial rate for new applicants....which settled into an approximate 92-95% refusal rate for first time applicants...which generated lots of hate mail, countless congressional inquiries, etc, but we stood our ground....there was NO benefit of any doubt for anyone under any circumstances....because the embassy had been burned far too often.....and while relatives, friends, congressmen and attorneys called us names, whined and wailed and complained, we focused on the situation at hand....and made our decisions accordingly...I received a death threat from one applicant's relative, was physically accosted by another (he wound up in the hospital instead!) and endured phone calls from congressional staffers whose pleas for reconsideration fell on deaf ears....who to blame? all of those who skipped town....not me, nor my colleagues.

[kittosuni 0]

I know many Filipino friends having members of their family come and visit, enjoy the vacation and go back. They don't need to worry about applying, in matter of fact, having two sisters traveling at the same time is a good idea.

They just have to be prepared to provide their bank statements, proof of owning real estate, home, land, business etc...letter from current employer for your sister with length of employment and salary.

The rest is up to your sisters to make the CO believe. If you are married, it might be helpful to have a letter sent by you and your husband inviting both sisters to come and visit.

Don't be discouraged, not all cases are treated the same. The CO would know if your sisters are telling the truth. Let their husbands go to the interview if they are allowed. Good luck to them!

Thank you! the invitation letter is a good idea. Im feeling very optimistic now.

[kittosuni 0]

both sisters have portable job skills - especially the nurse (US hospitals are always whining about the alleged shortage of nurses....most of the problem is that the hospitals don't want to pay the going rate, so they look to other countries for cheap labor, and the Philippines is and has been a huge source of inexpensive nurses)...so that could work against her, as the CO might well believe that she will jump at the chance to work as a nurse for much more than she can earn in the PI....

Hmm this is a very good point. I guess she'll just need to be honest and tell the CO she won't do that and beside she never applied to be a nurse in the US or applied jobs in the US. And this is not like their first time to go vacation outside of the Philippines. They have been to Hongkong Disneyland, Macau, Singapore and Thailand.

Thanks everyone for your opinions Im feeling really optimistic now!

[HFM181818 750]

sorry, but merely 'telling' a CO that one would not do something is not going to be taken at face value....imagine how many people (including those from the PI) have said something like this to a CO...'oh, of course I will come back, I am a law abiding person, I have my parents here, yaddy yaddy....' and then what? They 'forget' to return.....so verbal statements by themselves have zero positive value during an interview...(for tourist visas)...because, just like letters, anyone can say or write anything they wish.....but that does not make any such statement the absolute, gospel truth.

[aaron2020 11,651]

sorry, but merely 'telling' a CO that one would not do something is not going to be taken at face value....imagine how many people (including those from the PI) have said something like this to a CO...'oh, of course I will come back, I am a law abiding person, I have my parents here, yaddy yaddy....' and then what? They 'forget' to return.....so verbal statements by themselves have zero positive value during an interview...(for tourist visas)...because, just like letters, anyone can say or write anything they wish.....but that does not make any such statement the absolute, gospel truth.

Dude,

Quit being so negative. There are people who just want to visit family in the US and nothing more.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Thank you! the invitation letter is a good idea. Im feeling very optimistic now.

Be careful. A letter is often a double edged sword.

sorry, but merely 'telling' a CO that one would not do something is not going to be taken at face value....imagine how many people (including those from the PI) have said something like this to a CO...'oh, of course I will come back, I am a law abiding person, I have my parents here, yaddy yaddy....' and then what? They 'forget' to return.....so verbal statements by themselves have zero positive value during an interview...(for tourist visas)...because, just like letters, anyone can say or write anything they wish.....but that does not make any such statement the absolute, gospel truth.

While this is indeed true I'm wondering if you could provide the masses with tips to convince the CO. I often find your advice valuable to many, but you don't often provide a way to show that one will return.

[HFM181818 750]

That is because there is no guaranteed, fool-proof method of doing so....and while some might think me negative, I am instead, realistic. A lot of people erroneously believe that merely handing over some document that says that the applicant has a job, or tells a CO that the applicant has elderly parents, a favorite car or an invitation letter from a 'friend', that the visa will be issued instantly....but it is not that simple, because the process is not document driven, nor by the completion of some magic checklist of items. It is for more subjective in nature.

And, since experienced COs know all too well how non-existent our border controls are, they become the first line of defense against illegal immigration and abuse of our visa privileges....most of them without the support of Congress.

Edited May 5, 2016 by HFM181818

[Transborderwife 4,666]

That is because there is no guaranteed, fool-proof method of doing so....and while some might think me negative, I am instead, realistic. A lot of people erroneously believe that merely handing over some document that says that the applicant has a job, or tells a CO that the applicant has elderly parents, a favorite car or an invitation letter from a 'friend', that the visa will be issued instantly....but it is not that simple, because the process is not document driven, nor by the completion of some magic checklist of items. It is for more subjective in nature.

And, since experienced COs know all too well how non-existent our border controls are, they become the first line of defense against illegal immigration and abuse of our visa privileges....most of them without the support of Congress.

I half expected that answer. But I do agree that you're realistic not necessarily negative

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Sometimes people are just looking for a little confidence.

[HFM181818 750]

I would not want to give anyone false hope....rather, inform them that in spite of what their friends tell them, the B2 process is quite different - especially when seeking a US tourist visa....most other countries processes are document driven and the applicants are not already presumed to be going to country X to remain permanently....our process is based on a CO's assessment of the reasons that an applicant would leave the US when it's time, not why they want to go to the US, with the already in place legal presumption that the applicants are going to the US to stay. That's a pretty high bar for many cultures to get over....there are no magic answers, no shortcuts, no special list of papers to bring that will guarantee visa issuance.

If I had the 'magic answer', good lord, I could sell it for a mint (but even if I did have it, my own ethical standards would preclude offering it for sale).

The best advice I would give would be: be yourself - do not try to 'outsmart' a CO with clever semantics or sympathetic tales, and do not, under any circumstances use fraudulent documents to try and succeed.....because failure will instantly label you a fraudster, you may well be permanently barred from ever getting a US visa for the rest of your life, but even if that penalty is not inflicted upon you, you will be branded as a liar/cheat/whatever, your credibility will have evaporated and even if you later seek a fiancé or marriage visa, your case will be placed under an electron microscope, shipped off to AP (where it will likely mold and mildew!) and almost nothing you, your SO or an attorney could do will put your case back on the table, ready to go, in any reasonable time....

Edited May 5, 2016 by HFM181818