Advice Needed! Girlfriend Applying for B2 Visa Tomorrow.

[KAM313]

Hi,

Is it a dealbreaker to say that you will be traveling with your USA boyfriend if they ask? Even if you 100% have no intentions of marrying during your travels?

Thanks,

KAM

[dnoblett]

Not a deal breaker, however it needs to be established to the satisfaction of the interviewing officer that there is no immigrations intent.

 

Our admin Kyle, had his wife, then girl friend visit USA prior to their marriage without problems.

[Kyle]

Yup, they're not worried about boyfriend/girlfriend status. Focus on making sure they know she's coming back to China and you should be fine

[foobaz123]

Not a deal breaker, however it needs to be established to the satisfaction of the interviewing officer that there is no immigrations intent.

 

Our admin Kyle, had his wife, then girl friend visit USA prior to their marriage without problems.

 

I've got to ask.. from my personal experience and nearly everything I've read anywhere getting a visa for a girlfriend is practically impossible unless there is something very special about the girlfriend (rich, older, kids in china) or one has the devil's own luck. That being the case, do you know what sort of star alignment Kyle had?

 

My father is in not so good health and I'd love him to meet my wife before anything.. unfortunate.. happened.. though so far we haven't even given getting a visitor's visa a second thought given the extreme odds against a girlfriend, let alone a wife, getting one.

[Randy W]

Not a deal breaker, however it needs to be established to the satisfaction of the interviewing officer that there is no immigrations intent.

 

Our admin Kyle, had his wife, then girl friend visit USA prior to their marriage without problems.

 

I've got to ask.. from my personal experience and nearly everything I've read anywhere getting a visa for a girlfriend is practically impossible unless there is something very special about the girlfriend (rich, older, kids in china) or one has the devil's own luck. That being the case, do you know what sort of star alignment Kyle had?

 

My father is in not so good health and I'd love him to meet my wife before anything.. unfortunate.. happened.. though so far we haven't even given getting a visitor's visa a second thought given the extreme odds against a girlfriend, let alone a wife, getting one.

 

Yes - exactly! It's better to focus on actualities than to gloss over them. Many more have been denied than approved - the few who have been approved had extenuating circumstances - if I'm not mistaken, ALL had some applicable travel experience.

 

There is no reason to use the word 'boyfriend' in describing her relationship with you - more often that not, that IS a deal-killer.

Edited September 29, 2011 by Randy W (see edit history)

[foobaz123]

Not a deal breaker, however it needs to be established to the satisfaction of the interviewing officer that there is no immigrations intent.

 

Our admin Kyle, had his wife, then girl friend visit USA prior to their marriage without problems.

 

I've got to ask.. from my personal experience and nearly everything I've read anywhere getting a visa for a girlfriend is practically impossible unless there is something very special about the girlfriend (rich, older, kids in china) or one has the devil's own luck. That being the case, do you know what sort of star alignment Kyle had?

 

My father is in not so good health and I'd love him to meet my wife before anything.. unfortunate.. happened.. though so far we haven't even given getting a visitor's visa a second thought given the extreme odds against a girlfriend, let alone a wife, getting one.

 

Yes - exactly! It's better to focus on actualities than to gloss over them. Many more have been denied than approved - the few who have been approved had extenuating circumstances - if I'm not mistaken, ALL had some applicable travel experience.

 

There is no reason to use the word 'boyfriend' in describing her relationship with you - more often that not, that IS a deal-killer.

 

I'm fairly certain it was in our case, as to a point only makes sense. Absent extremely powerful reasons to return to China (usually in the form of great wealth/property or children) or a history of going to the US already, getting a visa for a girlfriend is basically impossible. In short, if she isn't rich/older/have children/been to the US before/coming with a tour group (even this is shaky)/invited by a company/invited by parents/other family (probably as shaky as the tour) then a denial is pretty much certain.

 

I hate to rain on the parade, but unless the OP really has the devil's own luck or unless the girlfriend has been to the US on a visitor's visa before they're going to take one look at her and go down this checklist:

1) Young (I presume)

2) Not rich (which really is to say doesn't have significant amounts of money in the bank or property owned. It isn't that the VOs hate poor people, it's that poor people, without children, have no reason to return and lots of reasons to stay in the US.)

3) Single

4) No Kids (I also presume)

5) Never had a US visa before

 

Denied.

 

I don't say this to be mean, I say it to brace you for what is the most likely outcome while also hoping you get extremely lucky. Just be prepared to get denied after an interview of no more than 3 minutes, probably less. Have a game plan of how to deal with that and what your next step is.

 

Before Sue and I got married, I went over there four times. I would have loved her to come here, not the least because she could have come here for nearly as long as we wanted whereas I was hemmed in by vacation limitations (having not truly started her career, quitting a job for a bit for an extended vacation isn't a totally unreasonable thing to do at this point.) After our first meeting she tried to get a visa and, without actually saying so, they went down the list above and denied us. The interview lasted exactly as long as was required to fill out the form for the denial.

[Kyle]

No star allignment for my wife. I did have a brother who worked, at that time, for a congresswoman, but that didn't have a whole lot of pull. I had a return ticket already scheduled to return w/ Jingjing's proposed return to China date (no I didn't buy her ticket beforehand). My wife did not come from money but had a modest amount of RMB stored away (I can't remember what it was - maybe something like 50,000) which she froze at Citic Bank), and a work document stating that she signed a new employment contract w/ her school, following her return to China. I also had a renewed contract with my then employer. I guess I don't understand all of the drama and nay saying that comes when somoene posts a thread about getting a B-2 for a girlfriend (which BTW, I don't think that term is a deal breaker). Cover your bases and show that she will definately return to China and I think you'll be fine. There was a story listed on the Embassy website a year back about how the US was trying to make the opporunity for B-2 visas more widely available to Chinese citizens. Anway, that's just my thought on the matter. Other's will have their own take on it - which is good.

[foobaz123]

No star allignment for my wife. I did have a brother who worked, at that time, for a congresswoman, but that didn't have a whole lot of pull. I had a return ticket already scheduled to return w/ Jingjing's proposed return to China date (no I didn't buy her ticket beforehand). My wife did not come from money but had a modest amount of RMB stored away (I can't remember what it was - maybe something like 50,000) which she froze at Citic Bank), and a work document stating that she signed a new employment contract w/ her school, following her return to China. I also had a renewed contract with my then employer. I guess I don't understand all of the drama and nay saying that comes when somoene posts a thread about getting a B-2 for a girlfriend (which BTW, I don't think that term is a deal breaker). Cover your bases and show that she will definately return to China and I think you'll be fine. There was a story listed on the Embassy website a year back about how the US was trying to make the opporunity for B-2 visas more widely available to Chinese citizens. Anway, that's just my thought on the matter. Other's will have their own take on it - which is good.

 

With all due respect, I imagine the nay saying and such that you mention comes from the fact that though you may say the stars weren't aligned for you they in fact were.

 

1) You were both living in China at the time with long term employment commitments (so it wasn't merely "a girlfriend visiting her boyfriend who lived in the US but closer to a family vacation even if you weren't married)

2) You, the reason she was going to the US could show you were committed to returning to China (something they are probably more likely to believe than she by herself would do so)

3) The money in the bank helped I'm sure. Having the equivalent of two years of salary for a lot of Chinese frozen in the bank and, I presume, documentation showing it was her money and not a money dump is a strong motivation to return. One that probably isn't an option without a lot of planning ahead.

 

In short, your case (though I'm happy for you) was very much the exception and not the rule. The facts, based on gobs of reports, is that without a situation very much like yours a young Chinese woman will not get a B2 visa. On one hand we have probably hundreds (between here and VJ) of reports of failures and a few dozen (maybe) reports of success. Some people even say that even trying is just donating the application fee to the government. I hope I'm wrong and the fact that the OP lives in China and will probably go to the US and come back to China with her will probably help a lot.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it isn't "drama" about it, but recognizing that you were the exception and that the vast majority of people will fail every single time unless they have the magic set of requirements.

 

Sorry if it seems I'm heated and maybe I do take this kind of situation a little personally. I'd really love my wife to be able to meet my father before he dies but there is a very good chance that won't happen precisely because there is no chance of a B2 visa for us. Now because we're married and before because she didn't have the magic requirements.

[Kyle]

I suspect those who aren't successful in obtaining a visa, post their stories on websites such as this one more often than those who are. I'm simply trying to give KAM some hope. Back to the OP's original question

 

"Is it a dealbreaker to say that you will be traveling with your USA boyfriend if they ask? Even if you 100% have no intentions of marrying during your travels?"

 

No, I don't think it is. Jingjing referred to me as her boyfriend. All went well. Are there people who get denied. Sure, I suspect there are. I don't think it's a blanket "no" however.

[dnoblett]

I suspect those who aren't successful in obtaining a visa, post their stories on websites such as this one more often than those who are.

This may be true, I do see quite often the " I came to the USA on a visit visa, just married my friend. How do I get green card?" obviously they got a B-2 without issues.

[amberjack1234]

KAM, I told my self that I was going to stay out of these B-2 conversations a long time ago and this is the first time since then that I have broken that promise.

 

Although slim for a young single Chinese lady to come to the US it is possible. My wife did it at the age of 27.

 

1. She never mentioned my name or that she had a boyfriend in the US. Once that is done there is the suspicion of the intent to immigrate, in their eyes. We were not married or engaged to be married.

 

2. She did have some money in the bank. I have no idea to this day how much or if she posted that money until she returned to China or not.

 

3. She did not own any property in China, that I know of.

 

4. She did have an invitation letter from an American Company that her company/government did a lot of business with.

 

5. Her employer offered a letter guaranteeing that she would return to China. Which she did.

 

6. She got all of this done in 2-3 weeks with help from her boss.

 

 

 

One thing for sure you will never know unless you try for it. What can they do shoot her? The worst is that she will be dinied. Some have applied 2-3 times and was miraculously approved the third time. Go figger. There seems to be different recipes for success. There use to be a guy here that had a fiance that had a lot of money, property and ties to China and was yet refused the B-2.

 

Give it a try. I don't know why this subject is such a burr under some folks saddle.

 

Larry

Edited September 29, 2011 by amberjack1234 (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Realism helps a lot. I think the OP has a MUCH more accurate picture now.

 

There are MANY stories - continuing - about denials of visitor visas from China - not just girlfriends. It's unrealistic to NOT tell someone about them.

Edited September 30, 2011 by Randy W (see edit history)

[dnoblett]

Larry, excellent points!

 

Just remember that the consulate as been instructed to assume immigrations intent in ALL cases and need to be shown proof otherwise.

 

How do you decide whether or not to issue a visa?

 

Section 214(b ) of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Act states:

 

"Every alien shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officer, at the time of application for admission, that he is entitled to a nonimmigrant status..."

 

To qualify for most nonimmigrant visas, applicants must meet the requirements of U.S. immigration law. Failure to do so will result in a refusal of a visa under Section 214(b ). The most frequent basis for such a refusal concerns the requirement that applicants possess a residence abroad he/she has no intention of abandoning. Applicants prove the existence of such residence by demonstrating that they have ties abroad that would compel them to leave the U.S. at the end of the temporary stay. The law places this burden of proof on each individual applicant.

What are strong ties?

 

Strong ties differ from country to country, city to city, individual to individual. "Ties" are the various aspects of a person's life that bind them to their country or residence: possessions, employment, social and family relationships. Some examples of ties can be a person job and income, a house or apartment, a car, close family relationships, bank accounts, etc. Consular officers are trained to look at each application individually and consider professional, social, cultural and other factors. With younger applicants who may not have had an opportunity to form many ties, consular officers may look at the applicant's specific intentions, family situations and long-range plans and prospects within his or her country of residence. Each case is examined individually and is accorded every consideration under the law.

 

 

http://guangzhou.use...uestions.html#3

[KAM313]

Thanks everyone. I will give further information after the interview. I think we have some decent proof that she will return to China, but...we will see.

[amberjack1234]

Thanks everyone. I will give further information after the interview. I think we have some decent proof that she will return to China, but...we will see.

Please do and I'll have my fingers crossed for you.

 

Larry

 

P. S. Randy my wife had never been out of China. It was her first trip. I don't understand their thinking either. It seems as though they reach their quota for the day that they are going to allow and from there on everyone else is denied. Just seems that way to me. I have read some, in my opinion, mighty unrealistic denials.