Wife's Friend Denied Tourist Visa Twice to Visit US from Thailand

[geowrian 22,338]

I do believe those statistics as they are based on hard facts, not anecdotal evidence of somebody seeing a bunch of people denied. The alternative is to believe some sort of conspiracy to manipulate statistics, which are easily verified or not with a simple query on a system.

RFEs are usually issued when evidence is not provided or is incomplete. Yeah, there's plenty of mistakes as this is a very human process and documents get lost or are overlooked. But anytime you have literally over a million forms being processed by humans, there's going to be a lot of mistakes in raw numbers.

 

The "trick" noted is providing advice on or condoning fraudulent activities.

Edited October 24, 2018 by geowrian

[faithintrust 0]

4 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

When 80% of tourist visa applicants from a country are successful, it’s hard to believe in conspiracy theories centering around application fees for tourist visas.  Thais have much more success than many other nationalities too. You should rather focus on why the person you know got denied and figure out how to overcome that. Incidentally, tricks like the one your friend played with a bunch of people lying just make it harder for more ordinary Thais to get visas... if you’re looking for a reason for increasing denials, fraudulent applications by nationals is usually the place to focus.

What I am saying is not conspiracy.  We have seen the high denial rates first hand.  Check the poster before me.

It is true there is an application fee.  And it is also true that we have witnessed high denial rates, despite what the government reports.

They don't give an explanation for denial.   No one knows.  That's why ni one has given any sound advice.

No one person here can explain the reason normal people are denied.  The original poster got the same answer to his question the government provides.

None of you have first hand experience with the BKK embassy. 

I don't understand how you can believe a government report without any  real-world evidence.

 

[faithintrust 0]

4 minutes ago, geowrian said:

I do believe those statistics as they are based on hard facts, not anecdotal evidence of somebody seeing a bunch of people denied. The alternative is to believe some sort of conspiracy to manipulate statistics, which are easily verified or not with a simple query on a system.

RFEs are usually issued when evidence is not provided or is incomplete. Yeah, there's plenty of mistakes as this is a very human process and documents get lost or are overlooked. But anytime you have literally over a million forms being processed by humans, there's going to be a lot of mistakes in raw numbers.

 

The "trick" noted is providing advice on or condoning fraudulent activities.

How do you know reports are not manipulated?

How do you know the countless anecdotal observations are not truth?

If you don't take a moment to question, which is not conjouring conspiracy, you may fail to recognize a problem.

It could be mearly coincidence that the approval-denial ratio is 80/20.

No one seems to know the answer to the original poster's question.  And when you are denied you are not give a reason.

So I ask you, what are the most common reasons for denying the 20%?  Where is the evidence in that?

 

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

5 minutes ago, faithintrust said:

What I am saying is not conspiracy.  We have seen the high denial rates first hand.  Check the poster before me.

It is true there is an application fee.  And it is also true that we have witnessed high denial rates, despite what the government reports.

They don't give an explanation for denial.   No one knows.  That's why ni one has given any sound advice.

No one person here can explain the reason normal people are denied.  The original poster got the same answer to his question the government provides.

None of you have first hand experience with the BKK embassy. 

I don't understand how you can believe a government report without any  real-world evidence.

 

So if I come on here under an anonymous internet name and say I went into X embassy, and everyone got approved or denied or whatever, you’d believe me over years of official statistics? By the way you can go look at the database where those stats come from,  the government database on its visa applications and decisions is extremely detailed with thousands of data points and descriptions about what goes on, including by embassy. But hey, let’s rather believe some anonymous dude on the internet, because its always easier to blame conspiracy theories than fix what we’re doing wrong  

[geowrian 22,338]

Anecdotal evidence << official source

Real-world evidence is in the hard numbers of approved and refused (and overcome) visas posted each month. The only way those would bed wrong is if somebody is manipulating the data....which would be a conspiracy.

The reason for a refusal in most cases is fairly clear - INA 214(b): Unable to establish they one is eligible for the visa due to a required presumption of immigrant intent.

If the CO stated exactly why they reached the decision about immigrant intent, people would just take those actions and reapply even if they actually had immigrant intent. This would increase fraudulently obtained visas and result in them becoming even more strict.

There's a reason why VWP countries have it so easy compared to countries requiring a visa...there have not been significant cases of fraud. If/when they do see an uptick in fraud, those countries lose VWP privileges. When a country's fraud level drops, they can become eligible for VWP.

 

11 minutes ago, faithintrust said:

How do you know reports are not manipulated?

How do you know the countless anecdotal observations are not truth?

If you don't take a moment to question, which is not conjouring conspiracy, you may fail to recognize a problem.

It could be mearly coincidence that the approval-denial ratio is 80/20.

No one seems to know the answer to the original poster's question.  And when you are denied you are not give a reason.

So I ask you, what are the most common reasons for denying the 20%?  Where is the evidence in that?

It's a conspiracy to suggest they are being manipulated. This isn't some complex calculation where they can bias the data....it's a count of approvals/refusals divided by # of applications. Either somebody is issued the visa or they are refused the visa, so the people that do the reports would need tgo be involved in a conspiracy to not calculate that correctly. And the people who worked there before them would have also been involved. And the people before them. And... And..

 

I cannot prove anecdotal observations wrong. I also cannot prove the guy down the street who claims he met Jesus is wrong. But there is no hard evidence to support it, and the actual hard evidence available contradicts it.

Edit: And that guy smells pretty bad...

 

The number of visas refused due to 214(b) is documented and reported as well.

Edited October 24, 2018 by geowrian

[faithintrust 0]

4 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Anecdotal evidence << official source

Real-world evidence is in the hard numbers of approved and refused (and overcome) visas posted each month. The only way those would bed wrong is if somebody is manipulating the data....which would be a conspiracy.

The reason for a refusal in most cases is fairly clear - INA 214(b): Unable to establish they one is eligible for the visa due to a required presumption of immigrant intent.

If the CO stated exactly why they reached the decision about immigrant intent, people would just take those actions and reapply even if they actually had immigrant intent. This would increase fraudulently obtained visas and result in them becoming even more strict.

There's a reason why VWP countries have it so easy compared to countries requiring a visa...there have not been significant cases of fraud. If/when they do see an uptick in fraud, those countries lose VWP privileges. When a country's fraud level drops, they can become eligible for VWP.

 

It's a conspiracy to suggest they are being manipulated. This isn't some complex calculation where they can bias the data....it's a count of approvals/refusals divided by # of applications. Either somebody is issued the visa or they are refused the visa, so the people that do the reports would need tgo be involved in a conspiracy to not calculate that correctly. And the people who worked there before them would have also been involved. And the people before them. And... And..

 

I cannot prove anecdotal observations wrong. I also cannot prove the guy down the street who claims he met Jesus is wrong. But there is no hard evidence to support it, and the actual hard evidence available contradicts it.

 

The number of visas refused due to 214(b) is documented and reported as 

 

The denial accompanied with 214(b) gives no substantiation. So we will never know the details about why  his friend or mine were denied.

I don't know just one Thai but many throughout the country.  I know wealthy Thais, poor Thais and even Thais that worked for the embassy.

I'm telling you, go see the line at the embassy on wireless road one day.   I will bet a small fortune you will become skeptical of those figures. We've all seen it.  Go see for yourself.  Go talk to the people on the ground.

Again, we cannot answer the poster's question.  We won't be able to investigate why the poster's friend was denied because you will get stonewalled.

[Boiler 45,923]

[lierre 224]

On September 14, 2018 at 4:26 AM, Chris Duffy said:

My wife sister (single) around age 28 applied for a Tourist Visa to USA a few months ago.   She is from Philippines been working in Singapore last few years, she applied in Singapore and was denied.  She has traveled to other countries and never overstayed, she is not from poor family, etc.

 

Here is the twist, her other two cousins whom one is male and one if female (both single) and around same age applied for Tourist Visa to come to USA.   There Uncle who was born and raised in the Philippines and was able to join the US Navy in the Philppines while never sitting foot on US Soil and he is now retired. And he hold both a US and Philippines Passport, and lives in Philippines.

 

  He wrote a letter saying he would take care of all their expenses, while they went to USA on a Tourist Visa to see his son graduate from military training. 

 

You hear all the time an invitation and letter of support is a waste of time, in my opinion it was the key to success for a tourist visa.

So, while I don't entirely agree with Chris Duffy that Letter of support and an invitation are the key to success. I partially agree with him that your wife's friend having a solid reason to visit the US is key.

 

@Seed, I'm not sure how exactly your wife's friend interviews... Does she get too nervous and unsure? People who are not very comfortable with the English language can often come across as insincere. Maybe practice with her a bit?

 

My family was recently approved for tourist visas. Neither have been to the US, but they are well-traveled in Asia. Both are moderately comfortable with English. one of the things we used to prepare was this set of questions I found here on VJ. Change it up to apply for your wife's friend:

 

Where are you traveling?

What will you do in the U.S.?

Where will you stay in the U.S.?

Who do you know in the U.S.?

How long will you be in the U.S.?

When do you plan to travel?

Have you booked your tickets?

Is this your first time applying for a US visa?

Is this your first visit to the US?

What are your ties to your home country that require you to return?

Why do you want to go to the USA?

Do you have any relatives in the US?

Who are your relatives in the US?

Who will pay for the expenses of your trip? Who will sponsor your trip?

Do you need an interpreter?

Have you ever visited any other country?

What are those countries?

What do you do?

Where will you stay in the US?

Where does your sister/daughter work?

Where does your brother-/son-in-law work?

How long has your sister/daughter been in the US?

What is the visa of your sister/daughter when she came to the US?

Who petitioned her?

Is your sister/daughter married?

When did she get married?

Where did she get married?

Is your sister/daughter pregnant?

When is your sister/daughter’s birthday?

When is your brother-/son-in-law’s birthday?

Do you have siblings/children?

How many siblings/children do you have and what do they do?

 

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

**** several posts removed for advocating lying to US immigration officials, which can lead to a lifetime ban, or quoting same.  Get back on topic and post with legal,  constructive advice for the Op, or do not post. *****

[faithintrust 0]

On 10/24/2018 at 1:26 AM, ivyyy said:

So, while I don't entirely agree with Chris Duffy that Letter of support and an invitation are the key to success. I partially agree with him that your wife's friend having a solid reason to visit the US is key.

 

@Seed, I'm not sure how exactly your wife's friend interviews... Does she get too nervous and unsure? People who are not very comfortable with the English language can often come across as insincere. Maybe practice with her a bit?

 

My family was recently approved for tourist visas. Neither have been to the US, but they are well-traveled in Asia. Both are moderately comfortable with English. one of the things we used to prepare was this set of questions I found here on VJ. Change it up to apply for your wife's friend:

 

 

Is English language a requirement for Thai visitors?  

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

51 minutes ago, faithintrust said:

Is English language a requirement for Thai visitors?  

It’s not a requirement for any visitor, it’s not even a requirement for immigrants. It only becomes a requirement for naturalization purposes.

[lierre 224]

7 hours ago, faithintrust said:

Is English language a requirement for Thai visitors?  

It isn’t a requirement. In the Philippines, one of the questions they ask right away is if you need a translator.

[faithintrust 0]

Few B2 are granted to people from Asia.  Most countries come in at 0% or 1% as in the case with Thailand.

  

The overwhelming majority were B1 and B1/B2.  2% and 97% respectively, according to the FY2017 NIV Detail Table report. 

 

That suggests that only 9 Thais were refused B2 last year.  That is, if the 20% refusal rate was applied evenly across the three B Visa types.

I happen to know 2 of the individuals denied last year.  So, I could in fact know at 20% of the refused.

 

It seems the B1/B2 is the way to go.  Is there any issue with applying for the B1/B2 if not conducting business?

 

   

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

3 minutes ago, faithintrust said:

Few B2 are granted to people from Asia.  Most countries come in at 0% or 1% as in the case with Thailand.

  

The overwhelming majority were B1 and B1/B2.  2% and 97% respectively, according to the FY2017 NIV Detail Table report. 

 

That suggests that only 9 Thais were refused B2 last year.  That is, if the 20% refusal rate was applied evenly across the three B Visa types.

I happen to know 2 of the individuals denied last year.  So, I could in fact know at 20% of the refused.

 

It seems the B1/B2 is the way to go.  Is there any issue with applying for the B1/B2 if not conducting business?

 

   

From what part of the ether did you pull those numbers, 9 refusals?!? In FY2017, 769 Thais were issued B1 only visas,  463 were issued B2 only visas, and 43812 were issued combination B2/B2 visas. 

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/AnnualReports/FY2017AnnualReport/FY17AnnualReport -TableXVII.pdf

[faithintrust 0]

My question was whether or not the B1/B2 is an appropriate Visa for pleasure trip.

 

Let's stay on topic as the moderator suggested.  I make a living crunching numbers.  So if you really want to know, and are not just trolling, here's the math.  Actually it's 43,182 B1/B2 Visa.  It doesn't mention a B2/B2.

But anyway, it's simple math.

As I mentioned, if the 20% refusal rate were evenly distributed across the 3 B Visa types, then approximately 9 persons would have been denied B2.

9 people is 20% of the 1% of total B Visas.  Only 1% B2 Visas were granted out of the 44,414 total.

Likewise, about 8,000 B1/B2 and about 30 B1 could have been denied.    

 

 

Edited October 31, 2018 by faithintrust