B-2 Visa Denial - Tbilisi - Russian Citizen

[The_Empyrean 733]

as tbone said. Show good "Travel" history, same as credit history. Returns on time, i'd have some papers to prove business ownership, taxes to pay, general ties to comeback. Tickets themselves won't change anything as they aren't permanent in any way. You can place a ticket order at the same day of interview, and cancel them afterwards with no penalties.

Having an interview in a different country might have thrown the CO off as to why not applying in Russia. It just seems sketchy, ya know? Then the question about permanent stay " i don't think so" isn't giving him confidence either, considering your wives situation and AoS.

My parents were business owners back in Eastern EU years ago, they had B2's countless times issued, i had B2 issued. But my parents made a good point of having relatives in US, visiting, traveling, and spending money in US (not a valid point but there's that lol). Just gotta show your necessity to come back after visit, rather than trying to show that you won't overstay.

[Sextus Empiricus 15]

You are not going to get very meaningful answers from here (or anywhere for that matter) on B visas refusals, just a bunch of conjectures which will do nothing for you. For immigrant visas, you would get great answers here, many times even better than what an immigration attorney would tell you. B visas are among the most frustrating to figure out when denied, the latitude consular officers have to deny is virtually total. That said, the adjusted refusal rate for Russians is about 15% so it does appear your in laws were not fortunate.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/RefusalRates/FY18.pdf

 

I adjusted status here after coming as a student as did many many people. It has not affected any of my family's ability to obtain visas to visit. My stepmother, brother, sister, nephew, uncle and aunt have all visited me in the USA [including some like my aunt who had very poor finances back home] despite not having visited any other western developed country. Ignore such explanations, it's meaningless.

 

There is no harm applying again, all they lose is $160 each and there are scores of people who applied for a B visa and were refused who reapplied almost immediately afterward and got approved. There is a good degree of randomness in B visa approvals.

Edited June 12, 2019 by Sextus Empiricus

[Delta7 9]

1 hour ago, The_Empyrean said:

as tbone said. Show good "Travel" history, same as credit history. Returns on time, i'd have some papers to prove business ownership, taxes to pay, general ties to comeback. Tickets themselves won't change anything as they aren't permanent in any way. You can place a ticket order at the same day of interview, and cancel them afterwards with no penalties.

Having an interview in a different country might have thrown the CO off as to why not applying in Russia. It just seems sketchy, ya know? Then the question about permanent stay " i don't think so" isn't giving him confidence either, considering your wives situation and AoS.

My parents were business owners back in Eastern EU years ago, they had B2's countless times issued, i had B2 issued. But my parents made a good point of having relatives in US, visiting, traveling, and spending money in US (not a valid point but there's that lol). Just gotta show your necessity to come back after visit, rather than trying to show that you won't overstay.

In the past 5 to 10 years, they have each traveled to a total of 5 countries in Europe and Africa (Egypt). They didn't overstay a single time. I totally get the fact that it might seem suspicious to bypass their home country's consulate, but it's a move simply because the wait times in Georgia are 10x less. My wife and I talked last night and I think they're going to file in Moscow and just wait it out and pray. 

[The_Empyrean 733]

1 minute ago, Delta7 said:

In the past 5 to 10 years, they have each traveled to a total of 5 countries in Europe and Africa (Egypt). They didn't overstay a single time. I totally get the fact that it might seem suspicious to bypass their home country's consulate, but it's a move simply because the wait times in Georgia are 10x less. My wife and I talked last night and I think they're going to file in Moscow and just wait it out and pray. 

sometimes trying to save time, ends up costing more time...

[Delta7 9]

2 minutes ago, The_Empyrean said:

sometimes trying to save time, ends up costing more time...

Sure seems that way! My wife has a friend who works at a travel agency in Russia and they even tell clients to go to Georgia instead of waiting for Moscow. 

Edited June 12, 2019 by Delta7

[Delta7 9]

37 minutes ago, Sextus Empiricus said:

You are not going to get very meaningful answers from here (or anywhere for that matter) on B visas refusals, just a bunch of conjectures which will do nothing for you. For immigrant visas, you would get great answers here, many times even better than what an immigration attorney would tell you. B visas are among the most frustrating to figure out when denied, the latitude consular officers have to deny is virtually total. That said, the adjusted refusal rate for Russians is about 15% so it does appear your in laws were not fortunate.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/RefusalRates/FY18.pdf

 

I adjusted status here after coming as a student as did many many people. It has not affected any of my family's ability to obtain visas to visit. My stepmother, brother, sister, nephew, uncle and aunt have all visited me in the USA [including some like my aunt who had very poor finances back home] despite not having visited any other western developed country. Ignore such explanations, it's meaningless.

 

There is no harm applying again, all they lose is $160 each and there are scores of people who applied for a B visa and were refused who reapplied almost immediately afterward and got approved. There is a good degree of randomness in B visa approvals.

Yeah, there have been some helpful answers here and some not so much. I'm just glad there's a place to discuss with others who have been through the same situations. I'm glad to hear your family has been able to visit, that's how it should be! My wife is torn between having them try Tbilisi again within 2 months, or wait the 10-12 months for Moscow. 

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

21 minutes ago, Delta7 said:

Yeah, there have been some helpful answers here and some not so much.

More times than not, the "unhelpful" answers are just something other than what the questioner wanted to hear......some of the posters in this thread have been around here for quite a long time........I would trust them more than others.

[Delta7 9]

17 minutes ago, missileman said:

More times than not, the "unhelpful" answers are just something other than what the questioner wanted to hear......some of the posters in this thread have been around here for quite a long time........I would trust them more than others.

"Your spouse already showed that she violated the terms of her J1, so their B1/2 will be denied with the same concern." This is an example of an unhelpful answer. My wife didn't "violate" her J1. There are many people who meet people while on this visa. We married and filed the AoS before her J1 even expired.

 

I read each answer and while many are helpful (and I truly appreciate everyone taking their time to reply), there are definitely ones that aren't really helpful. 

[Unlockable 7,314]

1 hour ago, Sextus Empiricus said:

You are not going to get very meaningful answers from here (or anywhere for that matter) on B visas refusals, just a bunch of conjectures which will do nothing for you. For immigrant visas, you would get great answers here, many times even better than what an immigration attorney would tell you. B visas are among the most frustrating to figure out when denied, the latitude consular officers have to deny is virtually total. That said, the adjusted refusal rate for Russians is about 15% so it does appear your in laws were not fortunate.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Non-Immigrant-Statistics/RefusalRates/FY18.pdf

 

I adjusted status here after coming as a student as did many many people. It has not affected any of my family's ability to obtain visas to visit. My stepmother, brother, sister, nephew, uncle and aunt have all visited me in the USA [including some like my aunt who had very poor finances back home] despite not having visited any other western developed country. Ignore such explanations, it's meaningless.

 

There is no harm applying again, all they lose is $160 each and there are scores of people who applied for a B visa and were refused who reapplied almost immediately afterward and got approved. There is a good degree of randomness in B visa approvals.

Let me break down what you said....

 

Quote

For immigrant visas, you would get great answers here, many times even better than what an immigration attorney would tell you.

Yet, you repeated some of the information that was posted on here. First example...

 

Quote

That said, the adjusted refusal rate for Russians is about 15%

This was already stated.

 

Quote

I adjusted status here after coming as a student as did many many people. It has not affected any of my family's ability to obtain visas to visit.

And it may not have been a reason for the OP's parents denial. But it also may have been a reason. Again, being on the site for a while we have definitely seen denials where the CO specifically asked about a relative(s) that either adjusted or was in the US illegally. 

 

 

Quote

There is no harm applying again, all they lose is $160 each and there are scores of people who applied for a B visa and were refused who reapplied almost immediately afterward and got approved. There is a good degree of randomness in B visa approvals.

Nobody on here is saying that they can't try again. They are saying to not to have high hopes for an approval. 

 

 

 

 

You admitted yourself in this statement that B visas have a bit of randomness..

Quote

There is a good degree of randomness in B visa approvals.

Again, if you know someone who was successful immediately following a denial. We know of a few here who were not.

In fact, I know of a thread where a guy's father was denied 7 times.

 

With all that being said, you just joined the site. If you have been here long enough as some of the more senior members, you will see that denials are quite common. And for every claim you have that you (which you should know means that your case is different than the OP's) were successful, we can find a case on her where they were not.

 

You know of family being poor and being able to obtain a visitor visa, we have many threads where many poor families were denied.

 

You know of people not having a previous travel history getting a visa. We have many threads where the applicant's travel history helped.

 

The whole point of this thread was the OP was more shocked at the denial than anything else because they thought their parents had a good case. People on here are advising that any visa is not guaranteed and should be approached with cautious optimism.

 

In the end, your advice did not add anything that was not already suggested. Don't know if posted as a chance to take a shot at the forum in your first sentence. But to summarize you post you simply stated that B visas are random (which is a not guarantee), shared a percentage of denials (which was previously shared by another member), then shared your experience with your family's visas (the searched the forum and found experiences from other members also), and told the OP that they can apply again (which was stated many times on here but was added with not having a high expectation of an approval). You pretty much made the same statements but worded differently.

 

Based on the follow up post by the OP. I feel confident that @Delta7 and her family know how to approach the next try for a B visa. So the answers and ex here (whether some were more blunt than others) were meaningful.

[Unlockable 7,314]

16 minutes ago, Delta7 said:

"Your spouse already showed that she violated the terms of her J1, so their B1/2 will be denied with the same concern." This is an example of an unhelpful answer. My wife didn't "violate" her J1. There are many people who meet people while on this visa. We married and filed the AoS before her J1 even expired.

 

I read each answer and while many are helpful (and I truly appreciate everyone taking their time to reply), there are definitely ones that aren't really helpful. 

Yes, we see this a lot. There will be a whole line of members with helpful answers and 1 or 2 that are not so helpful fouls the mood.

[Ksenia_O 696]

19 hours ago, Pinkrlion said:

Your spouse already showed that she violated the terms of her J1, so their B1/2 will be denied with the same concern. 

I'd second that.

 

When my parents had their B1-B2 interview, they were asked just a very few questions about themselves.

The most questions were about me - how I ended up in the US (on what visa), where we got married and etc...

 

So, I'd think it is really important for CO to make a decision on someones B1/B2 visa - if any visa violations have been done by you or  a family member. 

 

 

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

1 hour ago, Delta7 said:

"Your spouse already showed that she violated the terms of her J1, so their B1/2 will be denied with the same concern." This is an example of an unhelpful answer. My wife didn't "violate" her J1. There are many people who meet people while on this visa. We married and filed the AoS before her J1 even expired.

 

I read each answer and while many are helpful (and I truly appreciate everyone taking their time to reply), there are definitely ones that aren't really helpful. 

I think what the poster meant was that a J1 is a non-immigrant visa. I didn't say every answer is a good one.  I said I would trust the long-time members here.

[Boiler 45,488]

 

I always feel that these sort of questions are  like posting in a Medical forum and giving a few general bits of information about your illness and expecting a diagnosis and a solution.  Things are complicated and  even if every bit of information was disclosed there may not be a good answer.

[Sextus Empiricus 15]

1 hour ago, Unlockable said:

With all that being said, you just joined the site. If you have been here long enough as some of the more senior members, you will see that denials are quite common.

You sure seem to have a lot of free time and a chip on your shoulder to type that long thesis to attempt to rebut me. I just joined VJ does not mean I do not have a long history or knowledge and experience about visas. You don't know me. VJ is not the be all and end all of knowledge about visas. Inferring from you, I guess if even a retired consular officer or experienced immigration attorney joined VJ, their knowledge would be inferior to long time members. That's hilarious.

 

Also you conveniently ignored my praise of VJ that there is rich and accurate information here about immigrant visa process. All that caught your eye was the factual assertion that finding a reason for B visa refusals is like throwing darts on a wall. Even a consular officer in the same embassy would not be able to tell you exactly why the next officer refused your application without looking at detailed notes.

 

Bottom there is a lot of randomness in B visa approvals and denials and the underlying reasons for denial could be one of zillion.

Edited June 12, 2019 by Sextus Empiricus

[Crazy Cat 41,845]

3 minutes ago, Sextus Empiricus said:

VJ is not the be all and end all of knowledge about visas.

It's absolutely the best I have found.

4 minutes ago, Sextus Empiricus said:

You don't know me.