[B2] visa denied; spouse of us citizen

[a.reece 0]

Hello,

 

My spouse recently applied for a B2 visa and was denied. I am a U.S. citizen, and we were hoping to visit my family this summer, as we just had a child.

 

We do not have the intention to immigrate to the U.S., which is why we applied for the tourism visa. I asked advice about which visa to apply for previously here.

 

During the interview, my spouse was never asked for any documents showing ties to the country we are living in. 

 

What advice do you have for obtaining a visa to visit the U.S.?

 

Does my spouse have any additional rights to visit my family, now that we have a child that is an American citizen? 

 

Is there another visa we can apply for, although we do not plan on living in the U.S. at any point? 

 

What could we do differently to succeed in the B2 interview? We had strong supporting documents, but never had the chance to present them.

 

In a perfect world, we would like to visit my family for 2 weeks every summer and winter.

 

Thank you for your guidance.

[Roel 7,192]

Nope. If you don't want to immigrate then the tourist visa is the only option. Your spouse doesn't have any special rights to visit just because if the USC child. Your spouse has to apply on her own merits and show her own ties to the country she lives in. Embassy just decided it wasn't enough. 

[Dashinka 24,519]

Agreed, since there is no intent to immigrate, the tourist visa is the only real option for a visit.  Which country is this from? 

 

Good Luck!

[JBMG 890]

Here are Visitor Visa requirements per country.. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_United_States_citizens

Edited July 19, 2017 by JBMG

[az2014 381]

Documents are not expected to be looked at, why would they?

 

Your spouses answers on the DS160 and to the questions at the interview did not show sufficient ties to their home country, thats it really.

 

What country are they from? What ties do they have? Previous travel abroad?

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Where do you live now?  Any other international travel?

[a.reece 0]

17 minutes ago, az2014 said:

Documents are not expected to be looked at, why would they?

 

Your spouses answers on the DS160 and to the questions at the interview did not show sufficient ties to their home country, thats it really.

 

What country are they from? What ties do they have? Previous travel abroad?

Thanks for your reply. 

 

I expected documents to be looked at, as the embassy suggests bringing documents to show ties, especially in a situation where immigration is assumed until proven otherwise.

 

My spouse is completing his master's degree, he had proof of his enrollment, a letter from the University stating he was scheduled to defend his thesis this fall, all of the transcripts and deposit slips, etc that the U.S. embassy website suggests. 

 

We live in Morocco, my spouse is a Moroccan national. Previous travel includes Turkey and Japan. All previous travel is Academic-related, if that's of importance.

 

Thank you again.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

4 minutes ago, a.reece said:

Thanks for your reply. 

 

I expected documents to be looked at, as the embassy suggests bringing documents to show ties, especially in a situation where immigration is assumed until proven otherwise.

 

My spouse is completing his master's degree, he had proof of his enrollment, a letter from the University stating he was scheduled to defend his thesis this fall, all of the transcripts and deposit slips, etc that the U.S. embassy website suggests. 

 

We live in Morocco, my spouse is a Moroccan national. Previous travel includes Turkey and Japan. All previous travel is Academic-related, if that's of importance.

 

Thank you again.

I don't know what to tell you other than your chances of ever getting a tourist visa are slim to none.  Morocco is an incredibly difficult embassy and high fraud 

[Penguin_ie 5,994]

You could try again and send the proof of previous travels and ties with the submission, rather than bringing to the interview, in the hope they will look at it then.  Also include proof that YOU, the US citizen, has ties to the country you live in and don;t intend to move back to the USA (because if you aren't in the USA, the wife is much less likely to stay illegally).

 

There is another option, but it is very costly and I would definitely give the tourist visa another try before going this route:  Petition for a IR-1 spousal visa. You would need to show intent to re-establish domicile in the USA at the same time as your wife moves over, BUT as soon as she has the greencard, you guys could move back abroad, and she can formally hand back the greencard and apply for a tourist visa again.  As she showed that she could have stayed in the USA legally with the greencard, but declined to do so, the tourist visa is almost guaranteed then.

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

Morocco will always assume you intend to come on tourist visa and AOS to stay shorting the time frame from CR 1

As she said you can apply CR1 which i assume by now would be IR1 

but other option is to pay the fare for your parents to viist in Morocco / same price as you would pay /watch cheapoair everyday (sepecially after September 1 ) for good fares .  i flew roundtrip in april for $463 ( special Air France had that ran 2 days on internet)

 

They don't look at any paperwork / they read application and supporting documents before the interview/ the letter given to my mother-in-law when she applied for tourist visa was written the day before interview and handed to her when she went for Biometrics

so sorry

 

[Hypnos 6,576]

(1) From Morocco. 

 

(2) US citizen spouse. 

 

Both of these together means a B-2 is going to be an extremely uphill battle, with a very slim chance of success. 

[hannac 37]

10 hours ago, a.reece said:

Hello,

 

My spouse recently applied for a B2 visa and was denied. I am a U.S. citizen, and we were hoping to visit my family this summer, as we just had a child.

 

We do not have the intention to immigrate to the U.S., which is why we applied for the tourism visa. I asked advice about which visa to apply for previously here.

 

During the interview, my spouse was never asked for any documents showing ties to the country we are living in. 

 

What advice do you have for obtaining a visa to visit the U.S.?

 

Does my spouse have any additional rights to visit my family, now that we have a child that is an American citizen? 

 

Is there another visa we can apply for, although we do not plan on living in the U.S. at any point? 

 

What could we do differently to succeed in the B2 interview? We had strong supporting documents, but never had the chance to present them.

 

In a perfect world, we would like to visit my family for 2 weeks every summer and winter.

 

Thank you for your guidance.

The chances for your spouse obtaining a tourist visa are very slim. You would have to really show strong ties in the country you live in now. They will look at where your spouse has a right to become a permanent resident of the US, you guys will visit and your spouse might not return to their home country. A lot of people I know married to USC have been denied a tourist visa. Good luck with your journey.

[Coco8 1,042]

Did you spouse mentioned she had documents proving ties? He cannot wait to see if they ask for them, you should tell them and give them the documents, or tell them what you have. 

 

8 minutes ago, hannac said:

The chances for your spouse obtaining a tourist visa are very slim. You would have to really show strong ties in the country you live in now. They will look at where your spouse has a right to become a permanent resident of the US, you guys will visit and your spouse might not return to their home country. A lot of people I know married to USC have been denied a tourist visa. Good luck with your journey.

Not true. Many people get it, particularly when the US citizen lives in the other country. 

 

OP said he has strong ties but they never asked his for documents. Maybe that was the mistake.

 

8 hours ago, a.reece said:

My spouse is completing his master's degree, he had proof of his enrollment, a letter from the University stating he was scheduled to defend his thesis this fall, all of the transcripts and deposit slips, etc that the U.S. embassy website suggests. 

More proof: lease of where you live, maybe something showing you live in Morrocco too with your job letter. If he works, his job letter, paystubs, etc. 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2017 by Coco8

[Transborderwife 4,666]

1 hour ago, Coco8 said:

Did you spouse mentioned she had documents proving ties? He cannot wait to see if they ask for them, you should tell them and give them the documents, or tell them what you have. 

 

Not true. Many people get it, particularly when the US citizen lives in the other country. 

 

OP said he has strong ties but they never asked his for documents. Maybe that was the mistake.

 

More proof: lease of where you live, maybe something showing you live in Morrocco too with your job letter. If he works, his job letter, paystubs, etc. 

 

 

Some officers don't even give the chance to say that you can show docs.  It's at their discretion.  Do you have much knowledge of the Moroccan consulate?  Giving hope for a tourist visa here isn't very helpful.

[merc0230 28]

12 hours ago, a.reece said:

Hello,

 

My spouse recently applied for a B2 visa and was denied. I am a U.S. citizen, and we were hoping to visit my family this summer, as we just had a child.

 

We do not have the intention to immigrate to the U.S., which is why we applied for the tourism visa. I asked advice about which visa to apply for previously here.

 

During the interview, my spouse was never asked for any documents showing ties to the country we are living in. 

 

What advice do you have for obtaining a visa to visit the U.S.?

 

Does my spouse have any additional rights to visit my family, now that we have a child that is an American citizen? 

 

Is there another visa we can apply for, although we do not plan on living in the U.S. at any point? 

 

What could we do differently to succeed in the B2 interview? We had strong supporting documents, but never had the chance to present them.

 

In a perfect world, we would like to visit my family for 2 weeks every summer and winter.

 

Thank you for your guidance.

Happened to me too in Costa Rica (low fraud country). I had Costa Rican residency, a house (jointly owned with my wife). At the interview we were told to apply for a Green Card! Once I explained we only wanted to visit and I lived in Costa Rica that we weren't eligibility for a GC the agent, said "oh, your right, sorry". With that he pretty much ended the interview. So, I don't have any real advice to offer to you, however you aren't the first and certainly won't be the last.

 

Good luck!