B-2 visa interview: how much do they care about who you are visiting?

[anon-ee-mouse 14]

hi all,

A friend of mine is going to come visit the US. I recently moved here on a green card and, for the time being, my wife and I have decided to live in separate apartments. We aren't separating but after quite a few months apart we decided it'd work well as a way to get back into the rhythm of living back in each other's lives. 

 

(Yes, I know it's unusual). 

My question: when my friend goes for her B-2 interview, do you know how many questions they will ask about *me*, the person she'll be staying with? I've updated my address with USCIS so they (in theory) know that I'm living at a different place than where my wife lives. 

[JFH 12,190]

Where is your “friend” from? They will ask where she intends to stay and what she intends to do. It’s certainly unusual that a lone female is coming here to stay with someone who’s married to someone else. Especially one who has recently gone through the whole process to move here as the spouse of a USC. 

[anon-ee-mouse 14]

23 minutes ago, JFH said:

Where is your “friend” from?

That's not a very friendly insinuation.  She really is a friend. But I take the point. 

 

She lives and works in the Netherlands, but is from Bulgaria. 

 

When you say that it's weird, do you mean that you think it is or that you think immigration will? Because to me it isn't strange to have friends that are members of the opposite sex, whether married or not. When we lived in the UK it's not like the only friends we had visiting from the US were women. My wife has plenty of male friends.

[JFH 12,190]

You have to remember that the USA (especially those who work in immigration) see things in a far more traditional and simplistic manner. That’s why you can only petition a spouse but not a live-in partner, for example. In the U.K. you can bring a boyfriend or girlfriend without having any intention of getting married. Not here. 

Now, I know this is a different matter because she’s not coming for good but it’s a big financial and time commitment to fly thousands of miles to see a friend. I have male friends and my husband has female friends. It’s one thing to drive to the next town to see them but if my husband didn’t want to live with me because he wasn’t usd to having me around and wanted to adjust but then announced a female friend was coming to stay from the other side of the world...I’d find it odd. 

You obviously are somewhat concerned that it looks odd or you wouldn’t be asking here about it. I’ve never had a B-2 interview but I have been asked at the border who I’m visiting and what their status is in the USA. They can cope with the ordinary but once things sound a little unusual, they don’t like it. 

That said, without applying she has no chance of coming. And she won’t know what her chances of approval are until she applies. I assume she has the usual strong ties to home? They will be very interested in her reasons for returning home. 

 

[MacUK 983]

49 minutes ago, seewolves said:

That's not a very friendly insinuation.  She really is a friend. But I take the point. 

 

She lives and works in the Netherlands, but is from Bulgaria. 

 

When you say that it's weird, do you mean that you think it is or that you think immigration will? Because to me it isn't strange to have friends that are members of the opposite sex, whether married or not. When we lived in the UK it's not like the only friends we had visiting from the US were women. My wife has plenty of male friends.

Having friends is one thing, try to think about it the way a complete stranger would see it. Would you be happy if your wife was to have a male friend come stay with her without you there?

[anon-ee-mouse 14]

Just now, MacUK said:

Having friends is one thing, try to think about it the way a complete stranger would see it. Would you be happy if your wife was to have a male friend come stay with her without you there?

Yes, totally. In fact, that's happened a whole bunch of times. When we lived in the Netherlands she'd travel to the UK for work once every three months and stay alone with friends who lived alone. We'd have friends come to visit and I might be out of town. When she moved over to the US in September, mutual friends of ours visited her before I was able to move as I didn't yet have my visa.

 

 I don't find that odd if you trust each other. But maybe that's just me. 

But yeah, obviously I'm aware that it might look odd to immigration hence asking the question. I guess I just don't want something that's genuinely not 'wrong' to be seen as such and affect any one of us. I'll go stay with my wife while my friend is in town anyway, but obviously she's putting down my apartment as the place she's staying (because that's where she'll stay).

[anon-ee-mouse 14]

13 minutes ago, JFH said:

Now, I know this is a different matter because she’s not coming for good but it’s a big financial and time commitment to fly thousands of miles to see a friend. I have male friends and my husband has female friends. It’s one thing to drive to the next town to see them but if my husband didn’t want to live with me because he wasn’t usd to having me around and wanted to adjust but then announced a female friend was coming to stay from the other side of the world...I’d find it odd. 

For sure. Apologies for grumpiness. After a six years of countries inspecting your motivations for doing the things you do (marrying in the UK, living in the Netherlands with my wife on a non-EU passport, now me moving to the US) it's a bit triggering.

I didn't say I wasn't used to having her around. It was a mutual decision but actually, if it's relevant, something that came more from my wife. But that's between us, obviously. 

Materially, I'm just concerned that at her interview they will question my own motivations and I'll have my green card called into question. I'm probably being paranoid, since my wife and I are doing things the way we want to do them and everything is legit. But, I dunno, forums are there for exactly this reason. 

Ja, well she obviously has a good reason to go home again. And (I'm not even sure why I'm justifying this) it's not like she isn't friends with my wife as well. It's the us living apart bit that got me thinking, re: her B-2 interview. 

Edited September 6, 2018 by seewolves

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

If all's legit as you say, she puts down your address (as that's where she'd be staying) and goes for the b2 interview. Answers whatever questions she's posed, and if deemed credible, she's crossed one hurdle. I don't know the denial rate for Bulgarian nationals. 

 

Your living situation is a bit odd from this forum's perspective, but that's life. B2 interview, though, would be all about her. 

[anon-ee-mouse 14]

33 minutes ago, WeGuyGal said:

Your living situation is a bit odd from this forum's perspective, but that's life. B2 interview, though, would be all about her. 

Got it. Thank you. I know they'll obviously ask her where she's staying and how she knows us but I didn't want to ask a friend to have to explain the complexities of what is (evidently) an unusual situation, so thought I'd check it up in advance.

 

Thanks again for your help. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

On a different tack, I think this could possibly come up when it’s time for your removal of conditions or naturalization interview and they scrutinize the bona fides of the marriage. I agree with JFH that having a single female coming to stay with a married man in his own apartment could raise eyebrows somewhere in immigration, if not now then maybe later. Of course it’s not unusual to have platonic friends of the opposite gender, but this particular setup is not usual. Why for example is she not staying with your wife?

 

(re American attitudes, there is a lot of conservatism vs European attitudes; just look at mike pence not even going out to dinner alone with a female friend., and it’s not just him https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/01/upshot/members-of-the-opposite-sex-at-work-gender-study.html)

 

 

Edited September 6, 2018 by SusieQQQ

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, WeGuyGal said:

 I don't know the denial rate for Bulgarian nationals. 

 

 

Not too bad, 15%

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/RefusalRates/FY17.pdf

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

13 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

On a different tack, I think this could possibly come up when it’s time for your removal of conditions or naturalization interview and they scrutinize the bona fides of the marriage. I agree with JFH that having a single female coming to stay with a married man in his own apartment could raise eyebrows somewhere in immigration, if not now then maybe later. Of course it’s not unusual to have platonic friends of the opposite gender, but this particular setup is not usual. Why for example is she not staying with your wife?

 

(re American attitudes, there is a lot of conservatism vs European attitudes; just look at mike pence not even going out to dinner alone with a female friend., and it’s not just him https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/01/upshot/members-of-the-opposite-sex-at-work-gender-study.html)

 

European attitudes on cultural issues, generally speaking, are more liberal than the US. 

 

A friend's b2 attempt/US address will not show up on OP's US immigration file. Spouses living apart, could, however be scrutinized. 

[anon-ee-mouse 14]

18 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Why for example is she not staying with your wife?

Actually, good point and we can just do it that way around and there's probably no question anyways.

My wife and I will stay together during the period, just the plan was that I'd stay with my wife and our friend would stay at my place. So she's put my place down on the application. 

 

Alright, I think all this has really helped. Thank you to all. 

(Re: naturalization, that's a long way off yet and we'll be moving back in together *way* before then anyway. I know it's a weird situation...when it comes to love, you do what you do to make it work, right?)

[Crazy Cat 41,888]

20 minutes ago, WeGuyGal said:

Spouses living apart, could, however be scrutinized.

Agree.  I'd venture to say it WILL be scrutinized....and should be, imo.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, WeGuyGal said:

European attitudes on cultural issues, generally speaking, are more liberal than the US. 

 

A friend's b2 attempt/US address will not show up on OP's US immigration file. Spouses living apart, could, however be scrutinized. 

It’s pretty easy to link up various b visa applications to immigrant petitions etc. I’ve discovered this first hand at a US consulate - my kids B visa application got questioned because they linked it to my father’s F3 petition for me (they weren’t named on the F3 petition yet obviously). They clearly don’t just stop at the first step. I would always go with the assumption that uscis knows and links data that is in its database, rather than it doesn’t.

Edited September 6, 2018 by SusieQQQ