alistairlp

Hi everybody.

I am planning an upcoming trip to the States from the start of July. I hoped to go for about 4 months and would intend to travel with my girlfriend who is American and currently lives there. We are both 24.

My problem has arisen with a hasty application for the B-2 visa. I have travelled on the VWP twice in the last year and have had no problems. As I’ve mentioned, though, I applied for a visa to be able to stay longer than the 90 days.

My application is currently in a ‘holding status (my words)’ as I have yet to organise an interview or pay my MRV fee. I’ve become a bit concerned reading the forum posts of most people who have been denied the visa and then had to wait 6 months to get in with the VWP, thus why I have yet to book an interview.

From this I have a few questions. The first is, would I be able to leave this application and if so, would it count as a denial? Also, would I need to re-apply for the VWP?

The second, would it be worth giving the interview a shot? The basis of this trip is to visit all 30 Major League ballparks in the same season (I have already started buying tickets). Because of this type of trip, I have meticulously planned it, day-by-day and would use this to show that I would have no intention to work. Another reason I had for applying was to make getting in and out of Canada easier since I’ll need to go there for a game. I have enough money to fund the trip myself and can prove it with bank details.

I would be very grateful for some opinions on this.

Noorah101

Red Flag Number 1.

Red Flag Number 2.

I believe if you have paid NO fee, and submitted NO forms, it won't be a denial.

You mean do a new ESTA? Not if the above is true, and you've not yet submitted any fee or forms.

Only if you don't mind getting a denial, which will affect your ability to use the VWP for some time. A B-2 denial would mean you'd need to re-do ESTA and declare the visa denial, which in most cases causes the ESTA to be denied for some undetermined amount of time afterwards...somewhere between 3 to 12 months.

Rene

evil-homer

when you say you have applied for a visa what exatly have you done?

Have you filled out the online ds-160 form?

alistairlp

Yes, I've filled out the DS-160 form and submitted and 'signed' it. I have not yet booked an interview and have not yet paid any fee.

evil-homer

the problem with that is they now have your passport number and all you details, i dont know what they would do with these details but i presume it could flag up when or if you tried to enter and you could be pulled in for questioning

Noorah101

I am not sure at this stage what will happen if you just don't pursue it. You've basically submitted the application. I don't know if not paying the fee means you didn't apply for the visa, or not. You've applied for the visa...they are waiting now for the payment, I assume. If you don't pay, they might say well, enough time has passed, we'll just deny this one, since we never received payment. Or it might go on record as incomplete, and then just drop out of the system without an approval or denial, I have no idea.

Hopefully someone who knows for sure will come along.

Rene

alistairlp

Yeah, this is one of my concerns. I don't want to keep spending money on preparing for the trip and flights only to be turned away, but there's little to say whether leaving the application is a denial or not.

evil-homer

well i first filled out the ds-160 in oct 2011 but then never paid the fee as we didnt plan on traverling in the ned that year,

i then re-did the ds-160 in jan this year, this time paying the fee , i went to the interview and got my visa , no memntion was ever made of the ds-160 i filled in one year before , but i would not have risked traverling as they had all my details

Like i said you could risk it but you then run the risk of being questioned and the worst case scenario turned back and deported

alistairlp

Was there any specific reason you think you were granted the visa? Were you not eligible for the visa waiver program?

Noorah101

If you click on evil-homer's username, you can find a drop-down menu, taking you to his previous posts. Here's the one you're looking for to answer your question:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=785588

Rene

Noorah101

Here is a current, relevent post:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...2&postcount=18

Rene

evil-homer

my reason for obtaining a visa are different from yours as i have a criminal record but the visa b1/b2 is still the same process

the online ds-160 asks for a lot of information and what they do with that i dont know , you could very well appliy for and be granted the VWP , but when at the POE you have no way of knowing what could or couldnt flag up on your passport , my opinion is it would be risky with a high chance of being pulled to one side

alistairlp

On a similar note, would anyone have any advice for re-applying for the visa waiver programme. I obtained a new passport a couple of months ago and if I don't proceed with the visa application would need to apply again. I wouldn't, however, want to put down that I hadn't been denied a visa when potentially in the eyes of a CBP officer I had.

Noorah101

If you have NOT been denied a visa, and your current ESTA is still valid (the approval is valid for 2 years if nothing changes, such as an overstay or denied visa). You would just need to go in to your current ESTA and update your passport number information.

Why?

Edit to change my answer: ESTA asks about visa denials. Just answer the question honestly.

Rene

alistairlp

Ah, ok. I was under the impression I would need to apply for ESTA again if I got a new passport.

EDIT: I'd answer truthfully in a sense that I haven't been denied, if I leave my application to go dead then nobody has technically told me I can't have a visa. But as evil-homer pointed out, there's still the potential that a CBP officer would consider it a denial.