Visa Denied " ouch"

[sabound]

recently a friend of mine was denied a visa for his little sweetheart. After all the BS and paperwork and interview ...NO . Explanation , which they were so kind in giving . They had not spent enough time together . Over a year of knowing each other , and 2 extended long trips like 3-4 weeks at a time , they said no.

Has anybody else ever heard of this or happened to somebody they know ? They did not tell him how many trips were needed but that he did not have enough . To me , 2 trips with a total 6-7 weeks is a lot more than i have heard people having and still get her visa .

There were NO other problems , only this .     

[Bob_S]

Expat guys in China are complaining of similar experiences, denial of their sweeties with little or no reason given.

[Capstone]

Like Bob mentioned, this actually happens quite often at the consulate in China. The VO almost always lists the catch all reason for the denial as 'Not a Bona Fide Relationship' without any further explanation. It is a real bummer but not uncommon at all.

[utopiacowboy]

Marry a widow with three kids. They won't ask you any questions all the way to permanent residency.

[Ray]

recently a friend of mine was denied a visa for his little sweetheart. After all the BS and paperwork and interview ...NO . Explanation , which they were so kind in giving . They had not spent enough time together . Over a year of knowing each other , and 2 extended long trips like 3-4 weeks at a time , they said no.

Has anybody else ever heard of this or happened to somebody they know ? They did not tell him how many trips were needed but that he did not have enough . To me , 2 trips with a total 6-7 weeks is a lot more than i have heard people having and still get her visa .

There were NO other problems , only this .     

Was this for a fiancee visa?

These denials happen all of the time for a variety of resons.

There is no minimum time requirement to spend together, so my guess is that there definitely was something else that triggered the denial. They don't always give you the REAL reason that they denied the visa...

Ray

[sabound]

yes Ray , this was for a fiancee visa . I know this person pretty well and of all the guys I know he would be the last person I thought would have a problem . There were no children involved , no previous marriages , good work history , no criminal convictions , even there age difference was only 8 years.

They did say he could come back in 6 months , so I guess that is what he plans on doing .

[Pivery]

  That's pretty scary...

Just to be denied for whatever. They don't even give out guidelines to follow. After all of the mountain of paperwork
and stress to get to that point, what a letdown. Our government punishes the people that are trying to do things the right way, but meanwhile in California where I live, there are people crossing over every day. I really don't understand why they make it so difficult for people to do things legally.

I'm about to start the visa process and reading this post sure doesn't help my nerves. I feel like they are asking me to drive an obstacle course with a blindfold over my eyes.

Trying to figure out what the hell you did wrong and re-applying every 6 months will definitely put most engagements to the test. Just when you think you have done everything right, they just stamp "DENIED".
That's got to be so dissapointing and not to mention a huge waste of time and money to have to through the hoops again in 6 mos...

Pivery

[william3rd]

Like Bob mentioned, this actually happens quite often at the consulate in China. The VO almost always lists the catch all reason for the denial as 'Not a Bona Fide Relationship' without any further explanation. It is a real bummer but not uncommon at all.

Very frequently in China,  especially with weak English skills on the part of the fiancee and weak Chinese on the part of the fiance.

[herbrags]

Trying to figure out what the hell you did wrong and re-applying every 6 months will definitely put most engagements to the test. Just when you think you have done everything right, they just stamp "DENIED".
That's got to be so dissapointing and not to mention a huge waste of time and money to have to through the hoops again in 6 mos...

Pivery

Did you do something wrong Pivery?  Yes it would be hugely dissapointing to be denied.  if I were to hazard a guess I say many relaionships do not survive a visa denail.  Our government should not deny fiance visas unless it is an obvious case of fraud.

[Jamie]

yes Ray , this was for a fiancee visa . I know this person pretty well and of all the guys I know he would be the last person I thought would have a problem . There were no children involved , no previous marriages , good work history , no criminal convictions , even there age difference was only 8 years.

They did say he could come back in 6 months , so I guess that is what he plans on doing .

Was he at the interview? Can they communicate well with each other in the same language?

[mudd]

close friend of mine here who is Vietnamese but lived here most of his life, is just as American as me. he was dating a girl from Vietnam, went there 2 or 3 times in a year for 2 weeks at a time, can speak her language,  but her English is  non existant, they were rejected for a  fiance visa also. they pretty much told them they didn't provide enough paperowork or evidence that their relationship was real, and was not a " business deal"   which i guess is a big  problem now in china, Vietnam, Russia and to some extent Colombia.

[raycjs]

they must have not hard enough paperwork to show that there relationship was for real. i went through the same process a year ago and mine took under 6 months start to finish with a large gap in age. It is a real same that they will not tell you why you where denied.


I hope all goes well for them the next time


Ray

[Researcher]

         Not enough proof of relationship and paperwork filled out incorrectly seem to be the biggest reasons for denial. That is just one more reason to try and learn the language. They tend to look a you with suspicion if you can't talk to one another.I took tons of emails and phone records with me to the interview and I made sure to speak to my wife in Spanish in front of the CO. Now, I'm sure that some had smooth sailing through the process but why take the chance? Just my opinon.

  Researcher

[daytrader]

Marry a widow with three kids. They won't ask you any questions all the way to permanent residency.

No one in China is allowed to have 3 kids...

DayTrader

[zack]

Wow. Times are changing. If this interview took place 10 years ago there is a pretty good chance that the visa would be approved. I know men who's had their fiance's visa approved after knowing each other for less time, but that was long ago.

[utopiacowboy]

No one in China is allowed to have 3 kids...

DayTrader

True. It seemed to me that the original post was Colombia-related but I could be mistaken. He didn't mention which embassy where this occurred.

[william3rd]

close friend of mine here who is Vietnamese but lived here most of his life, is just as American as me. he was dating a girl from Vietnam, went there 2 or 3 times in a year for 2 weeks at a time, can speak her language,  but her English is  non existant, they were rejected for a  fiance visa also. they pretty much told them they didn't provide enough paperowork or evidence that their relationship was real, and was not a " business deal"   which i guess is a big  problem now in china, Vietnam, Russia and to some extent Colombia.

Two/three years ago dozens of USCs were prosecuted in a fraudulent fiancee visa ring. I think they were based in Seattle.  Business deals.
"Romance (now apparently called "singles tours') tours" are equally suspect due to their extremely low success rate.

[sabound]

A few more details.  This was in Colombia , he did attend the interview , I would have to say that his spanish was better than her english.

This has not ended there relationship , there just regrouping and looking ahead .   

[raycjs]

Sabound

I went thought this process in Colombia and i do not speak much Spanish but my girl spoke very good English so that was a big help. When they saw that she spoke English they interviewed her and i in English. I also used a great lawyer to handle my whole process if your friends would like her name and number to see if she can help just let me know it is only an option it is not necessary.

Ray

[valuedcustomer]

I live in europe now and it would take me about a month to get a fiancee here if i wanted.  And I dont even have to marry her - I can register her as a legal partner.  America is a gulog.

[Shadow_mas]

I live in europe now and it would take me about a month to get a fiancee here if i wanted.  And I dont even have to marry her - I can register her as a legal partner.  America is a gulog.

That would depend on which country you live in. Some are easy, others are quite hard. Some have a marriage requirement, others don't.
If you are an American expat with a 5-year permission, laws will indeed be relatively easy.

[valuedcustomer]

That would depend on which country you live in. Some are easy, others are quite hard. Some have a marriage requirement, others don't.
If you are an American expat with a 5-year permission, laws will indeed be relatively easy.

5 year permission in Netherlands.

[Researcher]

A few more details.  This was in Colombia , he did attend the interview , I would have to say that his spanish was better than her english.

This has not ended there relationship , there just regrouping and looking ahead .   

         This does happen, even in Colombia. When my wife had her embassy interview I was there also. I saw one CO that kept everyone he interviewed at his window for at least 15 minutes. He denied at least one out of three he talked to. When he finished he just pushed their paperwork back and quickly dropped the shades on his window. If he interviewed a couple he talked to them seperately. I was hoping not to get that guy even though I was well prepared. We ended up getting a very nice lady who seemed to approve everyone.

         From my experience of having gone through this process twice, this is just how it is.Some guys that went through this process with no problems will say that its a breeze, because it was a breeze for them.Some times it is, sometimes it isn't. The best thing is to be prepared for the worst but hope for the best.


     Researcher

[JimmySTLOUIS]

I had made about 8 trips to Peru just to be with "JLO" before the interview

we had all our e-mails and pictures

once the lady saw my passport with that many trips then it seemed to be over the hump

also "JLO" spoke english, so the whole interview was in English

[Jamie]

I am not aware one client that has been declined. I suspect something wasn’t right with the couple and it had nothing to do with the amount of visits. I have had many clients only visit once and get approved. I also do not think it was the language because I have seen many couples get approved with minimal communications. Now it could be the interviewer being more stringent than the other interviewers, but I would hope they would all be working under some uniform method of evaluation and I doubt that was the reason for the decline.

On April 21, 2009 a fiancé visa was approved in Bogotá for a client’s fiancé. She left for Barranquilla that afternoon. She received her visa via personal mail service on the 27th of April in Barranquilla. The client was not at the interview. She does not speak English and he only speaks moderate Spanish. He visited her 2 times for 7 and 9 days. Age difference 18 years.