Travel Visa - To U.S. from Honduras

[Gondorf 1]

Hi Everyone!

My wife is from Honduras and has 3 children from her previous marriage. After our marriage, I was able to petition for her 2 boys, as they were under the age of 18 at the time of our marriage. They are now permanent residents living with us her in the U.S.

Unfortunately, our daughter was 19 at the time of our marriage, and I was not able to petition for her.

In the meantime, we are applying for a travel Visa so that she may visit.

It is my understanding that the U.S. Embassy in Honduras is not approving travel visas at this time. Has anyone on this board recently been through the interview process at the Embassy?

In general, I am trying to find out how to have her best prepared and if there is anything further I can do for a positive outcome.

I am contacting my states Congressman for assistance, but I am uncertain what that will be. I am going to have her bank account adequately funded to cover travel expenses and have made her an authorized users on a few US credit card accounts. I also want prepare an affidavit of support letter that she can bring to the interview, along with evidence that her 2 brothers are living here with me in the U.S.

I have never applied for a travel visa. Will any of this be helpful, and more importantly, are there any other things that I can do to help her before her interview is scheduled. We are thinking late December/January.

Thanks in advance!

[Lucky2Lucky 2,526]

This is probably not what you want to hear but her having her immediate family live in the US will actually hurt her chances of getting a visitor visa. She has to show that she will be going back to Honduras- what are her strong ties to that country? There is no affidavit of support required- she has to show ties on her own and a congressman will not be able to help out. The only thing that can help her are her ties to her country and showing that in the application- they aren’t required to look at any documents brought to the interview. To prepare her, in my opinion, is to tell her to be honest and hope for the best but prepare for the worst.  

[USS_Voyager 1,972]

45 minutes ago, Gondorf said:

Will any of this be helpful

The only thing will be helpful to her is her ability to present her ties to Honduras and how she will go back to Honduras after her authorized stay in the US is over. As mentioned, it is very hard in her case since all of her immediate family are living in the US. By laws, the CO has to place the presumption that she is going to overstay her visa and stay illegally in the US and it will be her burden to prove that she will not. 

[Gondorf 1]

Thanks for your response.

 

She is enrolled at the University and currently taking classes. We own the home where she lives and have discussed using an attorney to place it in her name.

 

I thoroughly understand what you are saying. It's a long shot. I could understand refusal if her brothers were here under asylum status, but I petitioned as their stepfather and they are here living with me. Just frustrating to be a U.S. citizen and unable to penetrate all the red tape.

 

Thanks again for your response.

Edited October 7, 2019 by Gondorf

[Gondorf 1]

Thanks USS Voyager. I pretty much laid out our situation. Just have to be honest and pray for the best. Thanks!

[MacUK 983]

12 hours ago, Gondorf said:

Thanks for your response.

 

She is enrolled at the University and currently taking classes. We own the home where she lives and have discussed using an attorney to place it in her name.

 

I thoroughly understand what you are saying. It's a long shot. I could understand refusal if her brothers were here under asylum status, but I petitioned as their stepfather and they are here living with me. Just frustrating to be a U.S. citizen and unable to penetrate all the red tape.

 

Thanks again for your response.

You being a U.S. citizen has nothing to do with it, it's not you that is applying.

You have to look at it from another point of view.

All of her immediate family are in the U.S., you said yourself that the reason she isn't there also is because she was over 18 at the time.

I don't know why you mention asylum seekers, people use tourist visas all the time to "visit" family and forget to return home. I don't know the statistics but I imagine there are far more cases of tourists abusing their visas than there are asylum cases.

No one is saying that's what you're doing but that's the way the consular officers look at it. They don't know your stepdaughter and have to guess her intentions based on what is in front of them.

 

That all sounds quite negative but you shouldn't let that stop you trying.

People get approved all the time but it's always best to remember that it's not guaranteed and there's very little you can do to help other than give her advice to think more about what her reasons are for returning to Honduras and less about her reasons to want to be in the U.S.

They don't care why people want to visit, they only care that they'll go home again afterwards.

[Unlockable 7,315]

17 hours ago, Gondorf said:

Thanks for your response.

 

She is enrolled at the University and currently taking classes. We own the home where she lives and have discussed using an attorney to place it in her name.

 

I thoroughly understand what you are saying. It's a long shot. I could understand refusal if her brothers were here under asylum status, but I petitioned as their stepfather and they are here living with me. Just frustrating to be a U.S. citizen and unable to penetrate all the red tape.

 

Thanks again for your response.

Agree with MacUk's response. It has nothing to do with you being a US citizen. She is evaluated based on the risk of an overstay. Like someone already mentioned, ALL of her immediate family is in the US. Even if she is in a University and has a house in her name in Honduras, it is not like she can't give those up to come live in the US. You can live in the US and own home in other countries. You can enroll in a new University in America.

 

The problem stems from too many people in the past using tourist visa to come over and live in the US. This is why it is difficult for some people in certain countries to obtain a visa.

[ElDiablo 95]

To be honest from what you have posted it sounds very much like you want her to come on a B2 and stay forever so she can join her family. You said it yourself if she was under 18 she would have joined you. Can't have that many ties to her home country then can she.

 

This is exactly how the CO will see it.

[Gondorf 1]

Thanks to everyone for your responses.  This is exactly what I needed to hear, to give me more clarity as to what she is up against.

 

The comparison I was trying to make was:

 

If she were seeking a travel visa and her immediate family were in the U.S. after seeking asylum, I would expect the Customs Officials

to assume that once she was in the country, she would attempt to do the same thing and make a asylum resquest.

 

If she were seeking a travel visa and her immediate family were in the U.S. illegally, and had deportation orders, of course I would expect

the Customs Officials to deny her visa.

 

But neither of these 2 scenarios is the case.  I successfully petitioned for my sons and they are now living with me.  Of course, our plan

is to eventually petition for my daughter to be admitted into the U.S. as a permanant resident via her siblings.  It would be irresponsible

of me as a parent to bring her to the U.S. under false pretense and ruin the opportunity of her ever becoming a U.S. citizen.  If bringing her to the

U.S. by any means were the the only obstacle, she would already be here.  If living together as a family were our only mission, I'd buy a home

in Costa Rica and we'd live happily ever after.

 

Given the political and economic climate in Honduras, I'm  certain anyone would have a difficult time making an honest case for themselves,

and trying to convince a Customs Official that their ties to Honduras out weigh anything the U.S. has to offer.

 

The protests in Honduras are gearing up as I speak, so my expectation is that the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa will be shut down indefinitely

some time soon anyway.

 

Thanks again, to everyone reading the details of our situation and providing advice to me and everyone else on the Visa Journey website.

[Boiler 45,765]

I think you have explained better than anybody why she might have issues.

 

Has your wife petitioned her daughter, she can as a LPR.

[Gondorf 1]

Thanks for you response. My wife and sons can not petition for her at this time. No one is a U.S. citizen yet. My son's have only been here for 8 months and my wife's case is an entirely separate matter altogether.

 

Yes, I originally posted for advice on making sure we had all of our 'ducks in a row' before walking into the Embassy for the interview.

 

Thanks!

Edited October 8, 2019 by Gondorf

[Boiler 45,765]

Your wife, a LPR I assume can sponsor her unmarried daughter.

Edited October 8, 2019 by Boiler

[Gondorf 1]

No. She can not petition under her current status. Without going into detail she is simply in a long holding pattern in a very long line of similar cases. We have an immigration attorney handling her case.

Edited October 8, 2019 by Gondorf

[Boiler 45,765]

5 minutes ago, Gondorf said:

No. She can not petition under her current status. Without going into detail she is simply in a long holding pattern in a very long line of similar cases.

Well I am intrigued! But lets put the intrigue to one side, on the visitors visa aspect her long holding pattern could well impact that Visitor Visa situation.

 

As it would take 25 years or so, well anybody's guess that far out for her siblings to sponsor the sister I would imagine it will still be quicker for her Mother to sponsor when her situation is resolved.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

2 hours ago, Gondorf said:

Thanks to everyone for your responses.  This is exactly what I needed to hear, to give me more clarity as to what she is up against.

 

The comparison I was trying to make was:

 

If she were seeking a travel visa and her immediate family were in the U.S. after seeking asylum, I would expect the Customs Officials

to assume that once she was in the country, she would attempt to do the same thing and make a asylum resquest.

 

If she were seeking a travel visa and her immediate family were in the U.S. illegally, and had deportation orders, of course I would expect

the Customs Officials to deny her visa.

 

But neither of these 2 scenarios is the case.  I successfully petitioned for my sons and they are now living with me.  Of course, our plan

is to eventually petition for my daughter to be admitted into the U.S. as a permanant resident via her siblings.  It would be irresponsible

of me as a parent to bring her to the U.S. under false pretense and ruin the opportunity of her ever becoming a U.S. citizen.  If bringing her to the

U.S. by any means were the the only obstacle, she would already be here.  If living together as a family were our only mission, I'd buy a home

in Costa Rica and we'd live happily ever after.

 

Given the political and economic climate in Honduras, I'm  certain anyone would have a difficult time making an honest case for themselves,

and trying to convince a Customs Official that their ties to Honduras out weigh anything the U.S. has to offer.

 

The protests in Honduras are gearing up as I speak, so my expectation is that the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa will be shut down indefinitely

some time soon anyway.

 

Thanks again, to everyone reading the details of our situation and providing advice to me and everyone else on the Visa Journey website.

That explanation took way longer to read than any almost CO would spend listening to a tourist visa interview.... unfortunately as others have noted, it will be difficult for her, but sometimes you get surprised. Good luck.