Group visa?

[blackeyedsusan 29]

My fiance and I would like members of his family to apply for tourist visas in order to participate in our wedding in the US. There will be 6 of them. Should they make their appointment using a group request? Or is it better to apply individually? Also, what is the usual time frame for a group appointment vs. individual appointments?

[Boiler 45,949]

Did not know you could apply collectively

Varies significantly by Consulate and time of year.

[aleful 1,905]

hi

they each will apply individually and each of them must show strong ties to their country

every person that applies for a tourist is considered to have immigrant intent, so they must prove otherwise

not everyone might be approved, if any, it will depend upon the evidence that they take to the interview and what they fill out on the application

even if they could apply as a group, it doesn't mean that all of them will have the interview together

Edited May 7, 2016 by aleful

[Dakine10 5,452]

My fiance and I would like members of his family to apply for tourist visas in order to participate in our wedding in the US. There will be 6 of them. Should they make their appointment using a group request? Or is it better to apply individually? Also, what is the usual time frame for a group appointment vs. individual appointments?

IIRC, the group function on the DS-160 is primarily for importing redundant data into the application for several family members. For visitors visa's, it creates a separate application for each person, so no matter how you do it, the applications are handled individually.

I'm not sure either way about scheduling appointments on the same day for six people. They may have to call the consulate and see if there is a way to do that.

[Boiler 45,949]

I thought bookings were made on line.

[Dakine10 5,452]

I thought bookings were made on line.

They are, but I've never tried to schedule six interviews on the same day. It probably depends on availability. It may be possible to find out from the consulate if there is a day with lots of openings. It wouldn't hurt to call. I wouldn't consider trying to get all the interviews on the same day an issue unless there is significant travel time involved.