Visitor visa to accompany USC to US for urgent medical treatment

[rickbechard@gmail 5]

22 minutes ago, HRQX said:

"Humanitarian parole is used to bring someone who is otherwise inadmissible into the United States for a temporary period of time due to an emergency." https://www.uscis.gov/forms/explore-my-options/humanitarian-parole

 

https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/humanitarian-or-significant-public-benefit-parole-for-individuals-outside-the-united-states

Step 6: Issuance of Travel Documents and Parole into the United States (Approvals Only)

If a request is authorized, the approval notice will inform the beneficiary that he or she must complete a Form DS-160, Application for a Nonimmigrant Visa, and appear for an appointment with the Department of State consular section to verify their identity and collect biometrics for additional security vetting. All beneficiaries 14 years and older must provide biometrics. If no derogatory information or new identity information is identified during vetting, the U.S. Consulate issues a document referred to as a boarding foil that allows the beneficiary to travel to the United States within 30 days of it being issued. Issuance of a boarding foil does not guarantee parole but allows the beneficiary to proceed to Step 7 below.

 

Step 7: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Paroles into the United States (Approvals Only)

A CBP officer inspects the beneficiary at the port of entry. If CBP paroles the beneficiary, CBP will issue the parolee an I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, documenting the length of their parole period. The parole period begins when CBP paroles the beneficiary at the port of entry. After arriving in the United States, the parolee may request employment Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization.

Reading at the USCIS link you provided it appears to be a lengthy process requiring sending physical mail to a box in Dallas to start the process. Too time intensive in this case.

 

[Boiler 45,557]

There is no downside in seeking an expedite and it may not be quick but a lot quicker than without one

 

Yes there are some paperwork aspects but should not take that long and you are going to need to do them.

[HRQX 4,145]

18 minutes ago, rickbechard@gmail said:

it appears to be a lengthy process requiring sending physical mail to a box in Dallas to start the process.

Humanitarian parole is usually processed way faster than an Advance parole request (for example) but there is a recent uptick in humanitarian parole requests because of the situation in Afghanistan: https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/humanitarian-parole/information-for-afghan-nationals-on-requests-to-uscis-for-humanitarian-parole "While we try to process all urgent requests for humanitarian parole quickly, the processing may take several months."

[George99 12]

14 hours ago, rickbechard@gmail said:

As life has a habit of doing, a curve ball has come my way. I have had a major vision problem with one eye, which the local eye center says needs urgent surgery to avoid losing the remaining sight in the eye. It can be done here in Thailand, but, the hospital says they have a 50% success rate, there is a high risk of bleeding requiring a second surgery and a high risk of becoming blind in that eye due to the surgery itself. They also can not tell me the cost, but it will be high for a foreigner. Medical insurance is not available.  I am taking drugs to reduce the pressure and keep it stable, but it is still at the high end of normal. The drugs have some hard side effects like chronic fatigue and depression, so they can not continue long term. I am eligible for treatment through the VA, so have opted to return to the US for this surgery. I have a referral letter from the doctor at the hospital, along with the results of 2 CT scan and 2 MRI scans with photos taken during the physical exams.

 

I know this is off-topic, but may be of some help to you. I have lived in Thailand for 17 years, though currently overseas, and have had multiple serious eye surgeries there at two hospitals. You didn't say which local eye center you have visited, and you probably already know about Rutnin Eye Hospital in Bangkok. I had some of my work done there and they are top notch world class. If you haven't consulted them I would highly advise this, as the cost even out of pocket might be not much more than the total cost of trip to the US to do this even if covered by Tricare.

[rickbechard@gmail 5]

You do realize that Covid has been with us for 2 years. It was only last September that my mother had her fall, which initiated the attempt to go visit at that time. Covid was actually active at the time with travel restrictions and 2 week quarantine on return to Thailand. After the second rejection in November, I booked airline tickets for myself to fly in early January for a 3 week trip. At the end of December Expedia notified me that the flights had been cancelled by the airline due to travel restrictions. They were only offering a voucher good for 90 days. Expedia was then offering the same flights for double the cost. After filing complaints with the airlines and the DOT, I found out it was in fact Expedia who cancelled and had already been given a full refund. They actually told my bank I did not did not qualify for a chargeback on my card as they had fulfilled their obligations. When confronted with letters from Japan Airlines and Air Canada say they had given full refunds, they relented with an email that said "good news, we have gotten your refund approved by the airlines". My response is not permitted in this forum.

I was about to hit the purchase button on new flights for myself last May, when my daughter interceded and said save the money and wait until you can bring your wife. Now this medical situation comes and I need to go asap with or without her. 

[rickbechard@gmail 5]

9 minutes ago, George99 said:

I know this is off-topic, but may be of some help to you. I have lived in Thailand for 17 years, though currently overseas, and have had multiple serious eye surgeries there at two hospitals. You didn't say which local eye center you have visited, and you probably already know about Rutnin Eye Hospital in Bangkok. I had some of my work done there and they are top notch world class. If you haven't consulted them I would highly advise this, as the cost even out of pocket might be not much more than the total cost of trip to the US to do this even if covered by Tricare.

I live in the Northeast and so was seen at the government hospital Srinagarind. This is the only hospital in the NE that does this. If I had private health cover, I would not hesitate to have this done here. But the insurance company I had cancelled me, only saying I was too risky. Srinagarind will only say 100,000 or more for farangs, they can't say until it is all done and dusted. Too hard to proceed with that and be presented with a huge bill later. My wife has a friend in admin there and she said she has seen such cases go as high as 200,000. 

Looking at the possible costs, it makes sense to spend the money on going to the US, getting treatment at the VA for as long as necessary at no charge, and being able to see my mother, kids and grandkids.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

12 minutes ago, rickbechard@gmail said:

You do realize that Covid has been with us for 2 years.

Yes I do, but I was responding to these comments

 

1 hour ago, rickbechard@gmail said:

. On the first application, I included a letter from myself explaining that I have not lived in, or been to the US since 2003. …

. I have a daughter I have I have not seen in 10 years, and 3 grandkids I've never met.

anyway I’m not here to argue back and forth with you, my intent was to try to help you see the consulate side of things but I guess I’ve been on this forum long enough to realize people never want to hear anything that doesn’t give them what they want 🤷‍♀️ 

[George99 12]

13 minutes ago, rickbechard@gmail said:

I live in the Northeast and so was seen at the government hospital Srinagarind. This is the only hospital in the NE that does this. If I had private health cover, I would not hesitate to have this done here. But the insurance company I had cancelled me, only saying I was too risky. Srinagarind will only say 100,000 or more for farangs, they can't say until it is all done and dusted. Too hard to proceed with that and be presented with a huge bill later. My wife has a friend in admin there and she said she has seen such cases go as high as 200,000. 

Looking at the possible costs, it makes sense to spend the money on going to the US, getting treatment at the VA for as long as necessary at no charge, and being able to see my mother, kids and grandkids.

I had a retina replacement implant done at Srinagarind. Dr. Chavakij used to be the head of department there - excellent doctor. That is a very good eye clinic and the best hospital in the NE. However, for even 200,000 I would consult with Rutnin in Bangkok and maybe even save when you consider all the hassle with travel now and with this visa stuff.

[rickbechard@gmail 5]

11 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Yes I do, but I was responding to these comments

 

anyway I’m not here to argue back and forth with you, my intent was to try to help you see the consulate side of things but I guess I’ve been on this forum long enough to realize people never want to hear anything that doesn’t give them what they want 🤷‍♀️ 

The problem is you keep pushing the narrative that the embassy has anything other than a single point of view. That view being that everyone is being dishonest and is lying to them.

As the embassy has pointed out to me and is clearly spelled out in the form letter they hand the applicant, "the official has most often made a decision solely on the information in the DS-160", before the interview. Most of the DS-160 asks question about your intent to engage in terrorism, prostitution, child trafficking etc. They have now removed the section where you could explain your reasons for wanting to visit the US. So they have even less information on which to base the denial. At the last interview, which was with the same official as the previous one, my wife handed him a packet of documents. He simply handed it back, smiled and said sorry.

 

What you see as an argument I see as a discussion. But, some people do get frustrated when they can't prevail with a simplistic "see it from the embassy's point of view" statement. I have never worked for the embassy and I suspect you haven't either, so neither of us really knows what their point of view is. Each of us is guessing based on our own experiences. If yours was good, you will very likely take a defensive tact.

 

Let me ask you this. I don't know if you are the immigrant or the sponsor, but if you were told your spouse could not travel with you to any country, because that country did not trust them to leave, would you still go?

 

[Cathi 5,757]

29 minutes ago, rickbechard@gmail said:

The problem is you keep pushing the narrative that the embassy has anything other than a single point of view. That view being that everyone is being dishonest and is lying to them.

As the embassy has pointed out to me and is clearly spelled out in the form letter they hand the applicant, "the official has most often made a decision solely on the information in the DS-160", before the interview. Most of the DS-160 asks question about your intent to engage in terrorism, prostitution, child trafficking etc. They have now removed the section where you could explain your reasons for wanting to visit the US. So they have even less information on which to base the denial. At the last interview, which was with the same official as the previous one, my wife handed him a packet of documents. He simply handed it back, smiled and said sorry.

 

What you see as an argument I see as a discussion. But, some people do get frustrated when they can't prevail with a simplistic "see it from the embassy's point of view" statement. I have never worked for the embassy and I suspect you haven't either, so neither of us really knows what their point of view is. Each of us is guessing based on our own experiences. If yours was good, you will very likely take a defensive tact.

 

Let me ask you this. I don't know if you are the immigrant or the sponsor, but if you were told your spouse could not travel with you to any country, because that country did not trust them to leave, would you still go?

 

Susie is not pushing any narrative, she's merely telling it like it is. You just won't accept it because it isn't what you want to hear. When it comes to immigration you need to take your feelings out of the equation, immigration could care less how you feel or about what you want. 

[Boiler 45,557]

I had not thought on what basis they were processing Afghans makes sense that HP would be overloaded 

 

 

[rickbechard@gmail 5]

1 minute ago, Cathi said:

Susie is not pushing any narrative, she's merely telling it like it is. You just won't accept it because it isn't what you want to hear. When it comes to immigration you need to take your feelings out of the equation, immigration could care less how you feel or about what you want. 

Well, she went to playing devil's advocate assuming I made a decision not to go visit my family alone and that it was all before Covid. Both wrong because she didn't bother to ask if I did, or tried to. She made judgements without facts. So her advocacy wasn't very effective. When I supplied further information to the story, she then goes to shut down the discussion with "some people just don't want to hear what does not give them what they want". It's a common tactic when one hasn't a suitable reply.

 

I have heard the "embassy's point of view" blanket excuse multiple times. But really, do you, Suzie or I know what their point of view is, other than they clearly state every applicant is judged to be an immigrant regardless if they request a non-immigrant visa. You are in fact guilty until you prove your innocence. Might as well remove that option from the list I say.

 

But these forum discussions from my observation, tend to drift off course. I ONLY wanted to know if anyone had experience with expediting a visa appointment on medical grounds. I got several good answers to that and would have preferred it ended there. But just as with all forums, some members pick one thing you said to the person who answered your question and take it off on a tangent. So I think, ok if you want to talk about that I'm ok. Just don't get your feelings hurt if your ranking on the forum doesn't cause me to defer to all you say as wise and revealing.

[rickbechard@gmail 5]

13 minutes ago, Boiler said:

I had not thought on what basis they were processing Afghans makes sense that HP would be overloaded 

 

 

HP??

[Redro 4,611]

54 minutes ago, rickbechard@gmail said:

The problem is you keep pushing the narrative that the embassy has anything other than a single point of view. That view being that everyone is being dishonest and is lying to them.

As the embassy has pointed out to me and is clearly spelled out in the form letter they hand the applicant, "the official has most often made a decision solely on the information in the DS-160", before the interview. Most of the DS-160 asks question about your intent to engage in terrorism, prostitution, child trafficking etc. They have now removed the section where you could explain your reasons for wanting to visit the US. So they have even less information on which to base the denial. At the last interview, which was with the same official as the previous one, my wife handed him a packet of documents. He simply handed it back, smiled and said sorry.

 

What you see as an argument I see as a discussion. But, some people do get frustrated when they can't prevail with a simplistic "see it from the embassy's point of view" statement. I have never worked for the embassy and I suspect you haven't either, so neither of us really knows what their point of view is. Each of us is guessing based on our own experiences. If yours was good, you will very likely take a defensive tact.

 

Let me ask you this. I don't know if you are the immigrant or the sponsor, but if you were told your spouse could not travel with you to any country, because that country did not trust them to leave, would you still go?

 

I'm not @SusieQQQ but I am an intending immigrant and I currently do not possess a B1/B2 visa. My husband and I have agreed that if he needs to return to the States for any reason and I've not obtained my immigrant visa yet, he will go. He has also travelled to several countries without me because it was too difficult/ arduous for me to obtain a visa. 

Your wife is not the only person to get denied an B1/B2 visa for not having strong enough ties to her home country. In South Korea, where I interviewed for my B1/B2, people were getting denied because they were visiting an opposite sex friend and the CO believed they were being untruthful and going to see a romantic partner. I've read about more denials than I have successful applications. 

[HRQX 4,145]

3 minutes ago, rickbechard@gmail said:

HP??

HP = Humanitarian parole