gazmix

Dear All
I went to the States with my Hungarian girlfriend to visit friends. She got a visa in London so easily with only 500 pounds in the bank & a babysitting job to return to England for.
I was on the waiver, we decided to travel a little around Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Southern California etc so i returned home for some medical attention i needed & to get a B2.
I was denied the B2 under section 214b that i produced not enough evidence on the day of strong UK ties. I produced evidence of a bank account, a letter of return to employment & a letter from the people we would be based with, an invitation letter with contact numbers & address if someone wanted to contact them, also a letter from my parents saying i could stay there on my return.
I emailed the embassy concerning what extra i would require at immigration in the USA, i own no property as i live with my familys house. In the email reply they state that i showed no evidence of a property to return to & no evidence of a job to return to. Did they overlook this i wonder? Do i have grounds to complain, this isn't my fault.
How do backpackers & travellers from all over the world get through this, surely people on a world trip for a year haven't got strong ties to their country.
I have recently been on a waiting list for surgery here, would an appointment letter be acceptable as proof, what about a letter of enrolment in a college course.
I am so annoyed, i could strangle the illegal immigrants that make life so hard for the bonafide traveller that just wants to do this with his or her friends whilst they can, i probably would have to say this to the immigration officer. I have savings that i have worked hard for for this, my previous 8 weeks in my friends house cost me only the cheap airfare. Please help anyone & if there's any immigration people out there reading, we aren't all criminals, even if were made to feel like one. A couple of bad apples shouldn't ruin the boxfull. Cheers!
Gazmix

supernav

They go by certain criteria. Remember, they look at the facts and at the end ask themself the one quesiton: "Is there a good reasonable chance that this alien MIGHT immigrate".

So they look at things like:

age
his he/she married with kids here
does he/she own a home or property
Does he/she work at a real f/t job that only gives 1-2 weeks vacation time (not 8-12 which seems odd)
does he/she been working at this company long
does he/she have fiancee/wife/relatives in usa
etc.
etc.

You catch my drift. Questions like that. Almost like a point system.

Face it. MOST "tourists" who travel, and then show up at the door with "Hey i'm married, give me a GC" are single people from 20-40. People who rent or live at someone else's house. People who can somehow get MONTHS of vacation time from their work (most of US folks oly get 1-2 week floater vacation time). People who have no CONCRETE reason that they HAVE to come back.

Letters and all are nice -- but there's no guarantee. If you stayed in the US, nothing would've forced you to come back if you think about it. The job part, property part, any schooling part, etc. is what you need to really document.

The people who almost always get accepted are like: Business CEO's who obviously need to come back to run their company, married 50 y/o's with a house and 4 grown up kids here, People going to the US for a specific conference tied to their career, People who work at some high level government job that wuld be silly for them to leave behind, People who have a wife and kids here, People who are going through some major medical process here (cancer treatment, ec.).

You have to show a REAL BINDING TIE to force you to come back.

I know it sucks. But like you already know -- the lawbreakers ruin it for everyone else.

-= nav =-

supernav

btw why did you apply? Did you get denied on VWP?

-= nav =-

Courtney

I am with you Gazmix!!!! I have a 214b in my passport now too for the same reasons as yours. What really annoys me is that we are getting penalised for not owning property...who can afford to buy anything in London these days, or the UK??? Plus some of us want to see the world and not getin a rut with a house etc, we're too young!! It's so unfair that all these people seem to get away with it and we are left feeling like we're the criminals. So, what are you doing now? Are you applying again or appealing it? I am worried sick now that I am not going to get in and my boyfriend be left at arrivals wondering what is going on, while I am then in a prison cell!!!!!
Anyone else out there in the same jam?????
Immigration..take note, we don't all take the mickey!!!!

Ray

You asked the same question a week ago under the name Gary and had 27 replies.. the advice won't change....

supernav

>What really annoys me is that we are getting penalised for not
>owning property

Is it unfair? Probably. A lot of people who probably had NO intention of immigrating, get denied visas.

It's unfortunate, but tightening up the rules is the only way to deal with the plethora of people from your country who ABUSE the VWP and don't come back. There really is no other option, unless you can come up with a better solution. The IS is all ears!

(btw: There was talk ofa "bond" to guarantee you come back, but critics shot it down, saying then only rich people could travel to the us, blah blah blah).

-= nav =-

gazmix

Look, i am very inexperienced in this & thought rather than use the waiver all the time, it would be better to get a visa, i have worked for a long time for this & have given myself time to travel!

gazmix

Courtney, i am as stuck as you, at least you have a ticket so you nothing to lose but it is an emotional rollercoaster.
i don't know how all these hippi surfin travellers do it that hang out all the time. I have written for an explanation & also emailed them, like i say i think they overlooked some of my evidence, i suggest you do the same. I assume your in London because you said of the house prices, so a trip to the embassy isn't too bad, exept for the financial side of it. My trip back up to Sheffield was a nightmare. I was in shock. If anyone else reads this please explain how my foreign girlfriend got her visa with only a p/t nannying job in England. Take care Courtney. Do you fancy protesting with flags at the embassy, it's different when they want our help in a war!!
GAZMIX

Courtney

I agree with you wholeheartedly...Bush and Blair are supposed to be best buds but really america couldn't give a rats arse about anyone else!!!! I know what you are going through and your trip home must have been awful...so was mine!! But at the time I thought that nevermind I will just go over for three months instead, I didn't know allabout this crap. It's a nightmare isn't it. What are ya going to do????

Courtney

Didn't you say that your girlfriend was going to school out there? She probably got a student visa then didn't she???

gazmix

She changed status when there, you can do that!
I'm just annoid that she has no ties to England, but she got a visa & they said enjoy your trip to her, when she left ! hu!
I hope to carry on a college course anyway when i return, i'll try get something in writing . Talk Soon

Kocourkov

Face it, the US govt has decided that foreign tourism is an inherently bad thing and is doing everything it can to make sure that people don't come. Just wait until next year when a bunch of country may start needing visas and the VWP by and large stops working. Hooo-hooo that'll be great!

At the same time, the US govt is basically ignoring all of the campesinos who come over the border looking for work. B2? Not for you! But we do need low-paid and exploitable migrant labor for cleaning floors at disocunt shopping malls.

I truly and sincerely hope that Blair gets demolished in the next election. He walked straight into Bush's fantastical mystery trip and the UK is getting nothing in return.

For a true picture of America, you should have seen the BBC show last night on the terror training tour or that idiot playwright in Lincoln last weekend.

J. Vlach, Amsterdam

supernav

>that foreign tourism is an inherently bad thing

The IS are not stupid. Please give them more credit.

They are pretty high-tech and have all kinds of fancy stats, and probabilities and information you don't have.

They know how many "tourists" all of a suddent get married and show up for a gc. They have "stats" on these tourists, what the average age is, typical sex, average money they made back home, average # of visits/stays before they wanted a gc, etc. All those stats gets compiled -- and then sent to the consulate saying : THESE ARE THE TYPES of applicants who usually wind up applying for a GC or overstay. Deny all of them, unless they show VIABLE STRONG PROOF of ties.

So if you fit that "stat" -- you'll probably get denied. Especially if you're int he "marrying" age.

Also the IS runs reports of "overstays" of I-94's, grouped by countries. Countries which go to the top of the list, automatically their embassies get mmeos to TIGHTEN UP IMMEDIATELY restrictions, etc.

I've probably given way too much information on how the internals work -- but it's common sense anyways.

If people of X, who fit a Y descripion from the coutnry Z -- are the typical applicans who marry, fraud or overstay -- then these people will automatically get denied, unless they have STRONG ties.

Blame the people before you who abused the system.

-= nav =-