Obtaining US visa

[sthubbar]

My wife applied for a US visa and was denied. Though disheartened, we applied a second time and succeeded. If there is anyone else that is trying to get a US, or other visa, maybe some of this information will be of help.

Our situation: Recently married, wife owns no property and is unemployed.

What I did to change the decision:

1) I personally visited the embassy and petitioned on her behalf. The US embassy has certain time's set aside (T & Th 4-5) for American citizens to petition for people trying to get a US visa. I visited twice, once right after her denial, and the second time before she went for the second interview. I stressed that I was working here and had to return and she would also return with me.

2) I wrote a letter explaining that my wife does not speak English and that I work here and have to return for work.

3) My father wrote a letter saying that he would make sure she was not burden on the US economy and that she would also leave the US.

4) I contacted a friend who knows friends in the US embassy. I don't know if this made any difference since I don't know the mystery friends in the US embassy.

5) My father made requests to his congressmen to look into the case. Not sure if this worked or not since government works slowly.

6) I was able to obtain an expedited second appointment following my friends advise. At first I requested an expedited appointment and they said I should send in a fax with my reasons and they would call me back. The called me back after the fax and said it was denied. My friend said I should insist to talk to an American citizen and I would get better results. I called the embassy back and insisted to talk to an American citizen. At first the representative kept trying to tell me it was denied, and I insisted that I wanted to hear an American citizen tell me that. Finally, she said she would get back to me, and within a couple of hours we received a return call and an appointment within a few days.

So, I'm not exactly sure what it was that caused us to be successful on the second time. It could have been my visiting in combination with the letters, or it could have been the mysterious behind the scenes guanxi and congressional pressure.

Either way, we are ecstatic and will be spending the holidays in the US.

[liuzhou]

In my experience, many people are refused on the first application and OK'd on the second. It just happened to two friends last month.

No idea why.

[BrandeX]

It is easier to be approved for spouse visa/citizenship than a temp/tourist visa.

[sthubbar]

BrandeX are you speaking from experience?

My understanding is that there are only two types of US visa immigrant and non-immigrant. I believe what you are referring to is an immigrant visa.

I believe all immigrant visas must be processed through Guangzhou which means going down there for an interview. They also require a physical. I also understand the time to obtain these visas is measured in months, not days or weeks.

[wushijiao]

n my experience, many people are refused on the first application and OK'd on the second.

My wife had the opposite experience, ok'd the first time, denied the second, (accepted the third). I think the steps sthubbar laid out are good.

[BrandeX]

Yep. I was once quoted an 80% fail rate on non-immigrant visas, not certain if that is truly valid though... Also, since you are married, wouldn't an immigrant visa be at more convenient? That is how we are doing it anyways.

[DrWatson]

since you are married, wouldn't an immigrant visa be at more convenient? That is how we are doing it anyways.

Immigrant visa's are only valid for six months, and they lead to permanent residence which is valid for longer.

But if you're outside of the US for more than one-year without a re-entry permit, you lose the permanent residence.

If you're outside of the US for more than two years with a re-entry permit, you lose the permanent residence.

You only want to go that route and pay all of the money for it if you plan to spend the majority of your time in the US.

[ABCinChina]

Does anybody have any experience with bringing your soon-to-be wife to USA? I remember somebody saying that they need you to be working in the US for 3 years and make a certain amount of money and have a certain amount of assets in order to do that. I'm thinking about going back to US next year and bringing the wife with me, but I don't have much assets and haven't been working in the US for a long time now. Seems like a long and hard process since USA doesn't like China immigrants.

[DrWatson]

As long as the Dept. of Homeland Security doesn't do a stealth change to procedure like they are known to do, it will probably take you just a few months to complete the application process.

If your parents are willing to act as the financial sponsor for your spouse then you have nothing to worry about. If you can't get a sponser within your family, then you would need to start the application process at the embassy, and then you'd need to go back to the US and get a job. Once you have a job you'd want to keep pay-stubs and perhaps get a letter from your employer statying you're employed with them and the date you started. As long as your projected income will be above the minimum, you'll be approved usually.

If you leave before starting the app process, you will have to go abroad and stay in one country for over six months before you can file at the embassy. Otherwise, you will have to do it by mail with USCIS which can take anywhere from a year to two years.

[liuzhou]

ok'd the first time, denied the second,

If she was OK first time, why did she apply again?

If for a new visa some time later, that is different and not what I thought we were talking about.

[ABCinChina]

Thanks for the info DrWatson,

I have a bit of a technicality. I came in to China on a Taiwan passport so I think that means that China considers me as a Taiwanese. I hold dual passports in USA and Taiwan but was born in USA. In this case, can I start the application process at the USA embassy in Shanghai before I go back to USA? (I only have the USA passport with me but left credentials such as my birth certificate back in the US)

[kdavid]

I'm surprised that no one has recommended this site yet:

www.candleforlove.com

Everything you need to know about the China-America immigration process.

[DrWatson]

You have to prove that you've been in China for6 or more months to file at the embassy. That is the rule ever since 2007 If you have a way to do this, then I suspect you will be able to file there whether or not you used your US passport upon entry. I don't know how it works for dual citizens, but you might ought to contact an embassy or consulate in China and find out more. There might be extra complications. You may need to get police records from Taiwan so that you can clear your security background check by USCIS.

So how do they determine six months? Well, in the country I lived in, all foreigners had to have ID cards that contained a creation date along with all of the addresses you'd moved to as well as changes in your visa status. This, along with the original visa in my passport was all that was needed for the State dept. to accept my application. Does the PRC have anything like that for ROC residents? I'm not sure how the PRC treats ROC residents versus regular American citizens.

Another option is the entry and exit stamps in your passport. But since you landed in China on a ROC passport, I suspect it won't be accepted. I've never really understood the dual citizenship laws in the US, so you might want to look into that first. I doubt that the US embassy would accept your ROC passport. They're only going to want to look at the US passport.

I'm not an expert on this or anything though, especially when it comes to China or Taiwan. I'm just a guy who has gone through this with my non-American spouse. My main advice to you is to get everything in writing, and if someone from the USCIS service center phone line or State Dept. NVC phone line says something different from what is on the US embassy webpage in China, tread very carefully.