B2 visa in my tricky situation.

[TNJ17 1,329]

3 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Not everyone in the world wants to immigrate to the USA. And if all those requirements were necessary I wouldn't have received my first visitor's visa to the USA since I did not have a job or properties, just a family (not husband or kids) which I believe that the OP also has in her home country. 

It's different when you're a student. All you have to show is proof of financial support which you did so through your mother's taxes.

[Boiler 45,837]

28 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Not everyone in the world wants to immigrate to the USA. And if all those requirements were necessary I wouldn't have received my first visitor's visa to the USA since I did not have a job or properties, just a family (not husband or kids) which I believe that the OP also has in her home country. 

OP is from Romania.

[Iskender 0]

Well, thank you for the answers. 

 

As @Chewbacca said, I’m backpacking around. For more than a year and won’t stop soon as I’m living my dream. 

 

Showing to have ties with my home country is the most complicated thing. I have just my father there and... that’s all. 

 Actually the policy it’s so travel-unfriendly especially for people who travel on a “full time basis”. 

 

I will email the embassy probably in January in Romania and Singapore to ask... 

[doggieandsam 765]

OP - have you heard of the traveling / blogging duo https://twomonkeystravelgroup.com/? check it out, one half of the duo is filipino and has gone through the same situation as you (blogging while traveling long term) and has applied for a B2 while in South America visiting. Reach out to them, maybe they can provide you some guidance or at the very least maybe an entry about their specific experience on their blog may provide you with some confidence that it has been done before.

[doggieandsam 765]

i cant find the exact blog post anymore but i found this where the writer wrote:

 

" lot of people were asking me how I got my USA Tourist Visa while on a long-term around the world journey. I got mine while on a tourist stamp in Bogota, Colombia, not in my home country (Philippines) and it was a smooth process. But I had to justify to the Consul why I was applying in South America and why I needed the USA visa. I was granted a 10-year of multiple entry visas after the interview! Now, I’m enjoying our USA travels, and it opened a lot of opportunities for me and our travel blog."

 

https://twomonkeystravelgroup.com/filipina-backpacker-visa-experiences-around-the-world-trip/

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

2 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Not everyone in the world wants to immigrate to the USA. And if all those requirements were necessary I wouldn't have received my first visitor's visa to the USA since I did not have a job or properties, just a family (not husband or kids) which I believe that the OP also has in her home country. 

Not everyone wants to immigrate, but US consulates must assume they do when assessing visit visa applications. It is up to the applicant to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent. 214b denials are issued to those applicants who are unable to overcome this presumption, and are actually stated as “Did not overcome the presumption of immigrant intent, required by law,...” (my emphasis added)... see https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/visa-denials.html 

 

You said you were a college student when you got that visa, and enrollment at school can be used as a tie. OP actually said most family is outside the home country by the way, I believe it was only the father still there.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2017 by SusieQQQ

[Iskender 0]

@iamdegie thank you very much! That’s exactly what I wanted to see. 

I cant believe backpackers are left behind when comes about traveling to US (tho I don’t plan to backpack now in US, as I should start in a spring with Canada then go down to America’s, expect 2019 or 2020) 

As a backpacker we have a different situation and most of us don’t wish to immigrate anywhere, that’s actually why we left, to explore, not to settle down. (AUS gov knows this and treat it different for example)

-We can’t prove our ties with our home country as all of us quit our jobs/ etc 

-we have funds, but usually not very official and not an uniform cash flow. Usually our statements looks like every 3/4 months we get the cash (enough) and the next months nothing income just expenses 😂 

-in the same time is easy to show that we’re not staying for long in a place (passports, blogs, social media) 

 

Thanks a lot, I’ll try to contact them for more details  

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

1 hour ago, Iskender said:

 

 Actually the policy it’s so travel-unfriendly especially for people who travel on a “full time basis”. 

 

 

Actually it’s much easier to get than a schengen visa, count yourself lucky you don’t have to do European visas. Coming from someone who needed both before. 

 

If you want to blame anyone, blame the hundreds of thousands of people who do use visit visas to enter the US then stay illegally. It’s their fault the policy is like this.

Edited December 27, 2017 by SusieQQQ

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

4 minutes ago, Iskender said:

@iamdegie

-we have funds, but usually not very official and not an uniform cash flow. Usually our statements looks like every 3/4 months we get the cash (enough) and the next months nothing income just expenses 😂 

-

Yeah maybe your funds are all earned and above board, but as someone who has also spent a year backpacking around, I can tell you that almost all of the long term backpackers I met while doing so spent at least some of the time funding their travels by working illegally in some of the countries they ended up in. It’s not all sunshine and roses, and COs know this. Of course, as above, it has been done.... in fact i got my first US visit visa as an new college graduate backpacking around for a gap year, but that was a while ago.... good luck contacting the people via the link above, and I think we’ll all be curious to know the outcome so please return here and tell us what happens!

[doggieandsam 765]

3 minutes ago, Iskender said:

@iamdegie thank you very much! That’s exactly what I wanted to see. 

I cant believe backpackers are left behind when comes about traveling to US (tho I don’t plan to backpack now in US, as I should start in a spring with Canada then go down to America’s, expect 2019 or 2020) 

As a backpacker we have a different situation and most of us don’t wish to immigrate anywhere, that’s actually why we left, to explore, not to settle down. (AUS gov knows this and treat it different for example)

-We can’t prove our ties with our home country as all of us quit our jobs/ etc 

-we have funds, but usually not very official and not an uniform cash flow. Usually our statements looks like every 3/4 months we get the cash (enough) and the next months nothing income just expenses 😂 

-in the same time is easy to show that we’re not staying for long in a place (passports, blogs, social media) 

 

Thanks a lot, I’ll try to contact them for more details  

you're welcome! it's not as easy nor as straightforward compared to applying with resident status but they were able to do it. i think to some extent your long-term traveling status can even be a plus for you, in that it demonstrates that you somehow have the financial means to sustain travel in general and that you have a long history of going to all these different countries (even some first world ones like the US) and yet you left and did not overstay your previous visas in those countries. you need to be prepared and be able to convince the consul though. best of luck and do update us how it goes if you can! =)

[Iskender 0]

7 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Yeah maybe your funds are all earned and above board, but as someone who has also spent a year backpacking around, I can tell you that almost all of the long term backpackers I met while doing so spent at least some of the time funding their travels by working illegally in some of the countries they ended up in. It’s not all sunshine and roses, and COs know this. Of course, as above, it has been done.... in fact i got my first US visit visa as an new college graduate backpacking around for a gap year, but that was a while ago.... good luck contacting the people via the link above, and I think we’ll all be curious to know the outcome so please return here and tell us what happens!

 

Well I never worked illegally and I don’t intend, as I make enough working online. (Selling domains and design). That’s why I said the cash flow is not monthly, as this month I can sel something for Yxxx and to be enough for next 3/4 months. And this things works slowly, needs patience. 

The problem: I don’t pay taxes 🤦‍♂️ I’m selling things (domains/ logos) to end users. Like, selling things on eBay as comparison. 

In few cases if I work with a 3rd party contractor we might have a cooperation contract and pay taxes, but that’s really rare and happens only with European companies (because they’re the only ones which can use my tax ID) 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2017 by Iskender

[Boiler 45,837]

A couple of guys I used to work with did the same, travelled across the US doing odd jobs, now back then they were able to get a B rather than be restricted to the 90 days on the VWP.

 

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

17 minutes ago, Iskender said:

 

Well I never worked illegally and I don’t intend, as I make enough working online. (Selling domains and design). That’s why I said the cash flow is not monthly, as this month I can sel something for Yxxx and to be enough for next 3/4 months. And this things works slowly, needs patience. 

The problem: I don’t pay taxes 🤦‍♂️ I’m selling things (domains/ logos) to end users. Like, selling things on eBay as comparison. 

In few cases if I work with a 3rd party contractor we might have a cooperation contract and pay taxes, but that’s really rare and happens only with European companies (because they’re the only ones which can use my tax ID) 

 

 

I never said you worked illegally. I’m trying to get you to understand that the policies that are in place - like the presumption of immigrant intent - are there because of what many people do, and COs will often presume you will do the same.  So it is up to you to show them otherwise. It is wonderful if you can prove that you are legally earning enough to fund your travels so the CO will not suspect you of wanting to work illegally in the US to do so. I think half of Santa Monica /Venice Beach was running on illegal labor from the hostel I stayed at while there

Edited December 27, 2017 by SusieQQQ

[Iskender 0]

Oh god. That’s a lot. 

I couldn’t even find a reason to go with work and travel while half of my colleagues were going every summer. I’m kinda picky when comes about weather, environment and ocean temp. So yeah. Canada is a great country but weather sucks. California is cold in winter and the ocean is cool all the year. Florida gets bad weather in summer. Anything else doesn’t attract me for more than a week 😂 

 

I’ve found out that: great countries to live has worst weather ever (look at Northern Europe 😆). 

Countries with great weather are usually poor :)) nothing perfect in this world. Or get hit by a typhoon in the middle of nowhere. 

 

Ok. I’ll try to apply by the end of January or February. I’ll still do some research about and hopefully this will turn out good. 

[jan22 3,056]

On 12/26/2017 at 7:57 AM, SusieQQQ said:

Apart from the description being a long shot chance, generally you can’t apply for US  visas in countries you’re not resident in.

Not true for non-immigrant visas.  You can apply in any country where you are physically present.  Your chances for approval are better where you have residence (and, therefore, usually greater ties/connections), but you can apply in any country you are in.