Hi!
I have been granted a year of leave from my work as a high school teacher in Sweden, to participate in a national government sponsored education program for teachers. This means that I will be studying courses offered online at a Swedish university, while living in an English speaking country. The purpose is to improve my verbal English (I teach in English) and learn about other cultures. For this reason, I would like to spend next year in the United States (Boulder, Colorado to be more specific).

I applied for a one-year tourist visa, and yesterday I was at the US-embassy in Stockholm for an interview. Naive as I am, I thought it would only be a formality, since I had all the necessary documents, no criminal record, several previous visits to the country, and letters from my employer explaining the purpose of my trip and a financial guarantee, in addition to being super-nice and cooperative. The only countries of interest from a security perspective that I´ve visited is Venezuela, Nepal and Indonesia, and all of these are common tourist destinations.

Not only did I not get the visa even for a shorter period of time, but I am no longer allowed to travel to the US as a tourist for even a weekend, unless I each time pay 1000:- and travel to Stockholm for an interview and manage to convince them I´m not a threat to the country this time. I used to be able to go there for 90 days without a visa on the visa waiver program....

They said they did not have any problem with me intending to study swedish online courses while staying in the us (this was apparently quite common), but they told me they were not convinced by my story that studying and enjoying the climbing and skiing opportunities was my only reason for going to Boulder. I was informed they suspected there was something I wasn´t telling them (they didn´t say what that would be though). They seemed to find it particularly hard to understand how anyone could posibly want to travel to a place for an entire year without having friends or family there.

There was no way of appealing. I can apply again, and my case will then be handled by another officer, but off course he will take the previous verdict into account, so I doubt that it will change anything. The "experienced" immigration officer who interviewed me also asked a colleague to help her with my hard case, and he more or less took over the interview and seemed to have come to the same conclusion as her.

Does anyone have a clue as to why my application was rejected?

I´ve heard two possible reasons from people I´ve talked to:

1. They were afraid I was going to stay in the country. In that case, how do I show that I have strong ties to my home country?

2. They were afraid I was going to work illegally as a skiing- or climbing instructor. How can I prove that this is not the case? How can I possibly prove that I´m a beginner climber and a lousy skier?

How important are letters of invitation from distant relatives and friends?

From what I´ve heard, taking a light course load at a an American university will not make me elligible for a student visa (has to be full time studies).

I´m also not sure if changing the destination to some place where I know people will make any difference. It may just seem like a desperate way to try to get a visa, and they could never be sure that I did not travel to Colorado straight away. What do you think?

Does the US immigration authorities cooperate with authorities in other countries, so that my american rejection will be known to for example the Canadian authorities if I decide to go to that country instead (Canada, New Zealand and Australia are my plan B if I don´t get an American visa)?

Does anyone know a good website about how to pass a visa interview? What misstakes to avoid, what to bring up, and what not to bring up, what the officers are looking for etc. Anyone who has worked with visa issuing, and knows how these people think?

I would really appreciate any kind of advice

P

"Oh, oh, oh, Tjena allena världen är brutal"
Magnus Uggla

It's a difficult proposition to get a tourist visa for anyone qualified to visit under the Visa Waiver Program, so I'm not surprised you were denied. They are most commonly granted to retirees who spend part of the year in Florida.

Even if you had been granted a B2 visa, it would still not have guaranteed you a 1 year admission. A visa is just a permission to knock on the door, so to speak. The decision on whether or not to admit you and for how long, is made by the CBP officer at a Point Of Entry. (POE) Typically, B2 admissions are for 6 months, depending on the specific circumstances. I'm not aware of any specific 'Hang out for a year in the USA' visa.

As for the reasons for denying you, we can only speculate. You mentioned that the interviewing officer felt you were hiding something, that might have had something to do with their decision. They may have been concerned with an intention to immigrate, i.e. potential overstay, possibly working illegally (how were you going to support yourself in Boulder for a year without working), or a significant other in Colorado. Who knows.

If you have not already - even though you are not looking to permanently immigrate - you may want to read the wiki:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulaski's_Ways:_How_to_Live_and_Work_in_the_USA
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulaski_Simplified

You may also want to read this thread which illustrates do's and don'ts during a visa interview:
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=633507

Keep in mind that US immigration law is specifically designed to keep non-US citizens *out* of the US. Your plan B might be a more viable option at this point.

Lykke til!

They assumed you be be shacking up with girl/guy friend you had out there ..which is usually true ...
You asked for far too long ..the max you would get is 6 months
so you should have asked for 4 months

I'm afraid I agree with the ConOff, no one would voluntarily want to visit Boulder, Colorado!!

What makes you think you can no longer use the Visa Waiver Program?

I maybe understand the climbing, but Eldora is hardly the best ski resort.

There are a few British expats in Boulder but most of the natives speak American .

Thanks for all the useful information (especially you, Discoviking)! Keep posting!

It was explained to me in the rejection. I guess it´s standard procedure. If they feel I have some hidden agenda it makes sense not to grant me access to the country for any period of time.

So if I apply for a 4 month visa and they grant me a visa, it will be for 6 months? It´s not possble for them to give me a visa for 4 months? Does a B2-visa expire after I´ve spent 6 months in the country, or can I go back for another 6-month stay at a later time? If so, how much time would have had to have passed in between the trips? (I assume it´s up to the officer at the POE to decide, but perhaps anyone has a rough idea?)

I had a document from my employer showing that I would recieve 80% of my current wage during my year off. I also presented a bank statement showing that I had 100.000 dollars worth of savings. I guess this is not a very strong argument against working illegally though. I guess a mountainguide could make quite a lot of money.

It is highly unlikely you will get a B2.

Have you tried ESTA, you should still be able to visit on the VWP. Forget about the year thing.

I believe you can still travel on the VWP, you just must declare your visa denial each time, and probably will go to secondary to explain it each time.

You don't apply for a 4-month visa. You apply for a B2 visa. Usually a B2 visa is valid for 10 years. Usually each trip to the USA using your B2 visa is approved for 6 months, but it's up to the POE officer. If you plan to make more than one trip, the general rule of thumb is to spend at least as much time outside the USA as inside. So, for example, if you get the B2 visa, you stay in the USA for 4 months, then you should spend 4+ months outside the USA before attempting another visit.

Rene

Thanks for the clarification Noorah!

Quote from the written rejection:

"Please note that citizens of Visa Waiver countries who have been denied a visa may not travel on the Visa Waiver Program and must apply for a visa for any future travel to the United States."

So no more Visa Waiver Program for me. Instead I get the pleasure of paying $150 for an interview+ traintickets and a full day of lost income each time I wish to go to the US for a week of holliday!

I've not heard of this before, but I'm just a layman.

You won't apply for a visa each time you want to visit the USA. As I said, if you ever get approved for a visa, it will be valid a certain length of time, like 10 years. You only need to make ONE trip to the embassy to get the visa. After that, you just show up at the US POE in hopes of being admitted for the amount of time you'd like to stay.

Rene

The rejection letter is wrong. We have seen in this forum examples of people who were refused a tourist visa, then were admitted on the VWP after declaring their visa refusal on the VWP form. So, as Boiler suggested, you should try filling in the ESTA form. If approved, you can seek admission on the VWP.

I don't believe that is correct. Unless they found an inadmissibility you are not telling us about, a visa denial should not automatically make you ineligible to use the VWP in the future, as far as I know. You must declare being denied a visa in your ESTA application and be prepared to go to secondary for additional questioning at a POE, however.

Fill out an ESTA application here:
https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

Answer every question including the one about ever being refused a visa truthfully, then see what ESTA comes back with.

Also, a typical B2 visa is valid for 10 years and multiple entries, in case you decide to reapply. You would not need a new visa each time you wish to visit, all you need is a visa that has not expired yet.

Hello,

I am a Swedish citizen in my late 40´s who was also (somewhat unexpectedly) refused a B2 non-immigrant tourist visa by the US Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, some time ago.
I applied for a stay of 90 days and was denied a visa with a reference to paragraph 214 (b) = not enough proven ties to Sweden.
I was also informed in writing that I no longer would be able to travel to the US on the VWP and that I would need to apply for a visa in order to do so.
Shortly thereafter I updated my previous ESTA application for VWP travel and ticked the box required for having once been denied a visa.
The outcome: No VWP travel allowed =
= I´m effectively barred from visiting the US.

Had the fact that a once denied visa = no VWP travel been made clear to me prior to my application for a B2 visa, I might not even have applied in the first place.
I have been studying the web site of the US Embassy in Sweden with great attention as of late, but have been quite unable to find any information whatsoever regarding this.
Perhaps some of the esteemed members of this forum might find something on the Embassy web site which I have overlooked?

Thanks!

The embassy doesn't administer the VWP so it's not up to them. Others have been approved via ESTA following similar visa denials. Some are approved and some are not. I don't know what factors they consider.