zamarano111

Attended an interview at the US consulate in London for a B1/B2 visa and my visa application was denied on grounds of "my ties to the US being stronger than ties to the UK". I'm British and my family is here in the UK; the exception of course is my 3month old daughter who is also an American citizen (her father is American, and she was born in the US). Anyway, I work and live in the UK and in the mean time I'm taking a year of maternity leave. While on leave our plan was for me to travel back to the US and spend the remainder of the leave there with the father of my child. We chose to apply for the B1/B2 visa because it would allow me to stay in the US for 6 months, which I couldn't do on the visa waiver program (the program only allows up to 90 days and extension while you are in the US is not possible on the waiver program).

So, included in my B1/B2 visa application package were:
(i) my mortgage information
(ii) letter from my employer
(iii) letter of support from the father of my child.
(iv) my bank account statements.

Also, I told the interviewer that my family is here in the UK. I thought that would be enough, but I was in a for a surprise. My visa application was (quickly) denied and to add insult to injury they also revoked my ESTA. They said my ties to the US were stronger than those to the UK, which I don't know how to disprove given that I provided all the necessary documentation I had to support my case. Apparently, I'm considered at a high risk of immigrating, although I have no such intentions; however, getting a visa was going to be really useful in our transatlantic co-parenting plans.

I'm not sure what to do next, when to do it. Do I:
(a) re-apply for my ESTA first or do I reapply for the B2 visa?
(b) what kind of support documentation/evidence would I need to add to my visa application package to strength my case?
(c) should I re-apply for the visa (or ESTA) this month or should I wait a little while?
(d) Does the denial of the B1/B2 visa make travel to the US harder for me.
So many questions, so few answers. Please help.

Noorah101

If you previously had a valid 2-year ESTA approval which they've now revoked, you'll need to go throught the ESTA steps again, this time indicating the denied visa.

Don't reapply for a B2 visa unless something in your situation changes drastically (I can't even think of anything off the top of my head that can change to your favor).

Concrete proof that you have no intent to immigrate to the USA. I can tell you that having a USC husband and USC daughter, USC husband currently inside the USA, and maternity leave all work against you.

You can reapply for ESTA anytime. I wouldn't reapply for a B2 at all, it will just get denied again as long as hubby is in the USA.

Possibly.

Rene

Noorah101

Are you saying you truly view your family in the UK (I assume parents and siblings, etc) as a stronger tie to you than your own husband and child?

Rene

Noorah101

If you apply for ESTA and it gets denied, you can then reapply for a B2. At that time, bring the ESTA denial, and bring proof that your husband's time in the USA is temporary. Bring his work contract or whatever proof he has that he will NOT be remaining in the USA beyond a year or however long you were planning to do the long-distance co-parenting plan.

I just realized you never said "husband" or "partner", but "father of my child". Are you married to this man?

Rene

fatbrit

Sounds like the end of visiting the US to me. We always advise against applying for a B2 if you are eligible for a VWP (except for a small number of specific exceptions) for this very reason.

The father might try his congressional representatives....but it's a slim hope.

md95065

Yes - what a mess ...

It's hard enough to get a B visa at the best of times if you are eligible to use the VWP and by having a US citizen daughter who has a US citizen father currently living in the US the OP has made it almost impossible for herself to refute the presumption of immigrant intent.

crg

Did you avail yourself of taxpayer funded medical treatment when the child was born in the US? They get touchy about that.

zamarano111

Firstly, thankyou for your input; most of the information is really quite insightful.
Just thought to make some clarifications regarding some comments:

(a) The father of my child and I are not married. We do not intend to get married but do intend to co-parent. Does that change the situation?

(b) On the question of whether or not we availed ourselves of the tax payer's funded medical services - the answer is no; the baby is covered under the father's health insurance and we paid all our medical expenses (we had a home birth with midwives which actually far cheaper and provided the birthing atmosphere we wanted - but that's another topic altogether). The short of it is, we have no intention of cheating the system (ie., draining the tax payer's medical services etc), we're really just trying to make the most of my maternity leave and want to spend this time together.

(c) I take it from Rene (Noorah101)'s comment that the best path forward at this point is to re-apply for the ESTA and forget about the B2 for now?

fatbrit

a/ No.

c/ Apply as many times as you want -- the Department of State computer has, I'm sure, already spoken to the Customs and Border Patrol one, and you're black-balled. It's not suddenly going to change its mind.

Being realistic, the options are:
Marry the man and live in the US.
Both co-parent together in the UK or elsewhere.
You co-parent in the UK, and he co-parents in the US.

Noorah101

Is the father of your child in the USA temporarily, and will come to the UK to continue parenting together at some point? Or your intention is to co-parent long distance forever? I was under the impression you wanted a B2 to come to the USA only while the father is in the USA (doing something temporarily) and while you have maternity leave. After that, I was thinking the father will return to the UK to continue parenting together with you.

But if your intention is to continue long distance parenting forever (you say you have no plans to marry...do you plan to at least live together on one continent?), you will have major problems coming to the USA so often. Your daughter, I believe, is a dual citizen and once she's old enough she can fly alone between the USA and UK, but until then, you're going to run into problems at the POE by visiting the USA very often.

Rene

scrubbedexpat099

If he wants to co parent he needs to look at UK options.

Marocco

You may wish to consider that if you are allowed to travel under the VWP (which is perfectly possible) then you won't be able to take your child out of the US without the father's consent, regardless of whether you are allowed to stay there or not.

crg

If she is correct that her ESTA was revoked/denied, how would she travel on the VWP?

Marocco

From what she writes, it's not clear how her ESTA has been "revoked". They may have told her when they denied her application that she could no longer travel under the VWP, but I don't think that carries much weight. If she hasn't done it already, she should probably update her ESTA application giving details of the visa denial, and see what happens. I remember seeing at least one person in this forum who got an approval after a visa denial, despite being told he could no longer use the VWP.

crg

I concur with your take on it. Now she needs to see if they gave her accurate information by checking the ESTA and letting us know what it says.