Lilly77

Myself and my husband both hold O1 visa's and we live in LA. When we first moved over just my husband had the O1 visa so our children were O3 dependents on my husbands visa, however my son is mine from a previous relationship and my husband is his stepfather.
My husband recently renewed his O1 and is traveling back to the UK next month for his US Embassy interview, we have recently discovered that the US embassy says:

Applicants aged 14 – 79 are required to appear in person for an interview with a consular officer.
Children under the age of 14 are generally not required to attend a visa interview; they are eligible to apply by courier.

So if my son is 14, what does that mean? It would be an absolute pain in the ass and cost money for us as we'd have to fly my son to the UK too for this interview plus he'd have to miss a whole 10 days of high school, which he will have just started.

We are really trying to get past this, without him having to go to the embassy in person, any advice??

We have tried calling the Embassy with no luck, and have sent an email but they take a week to respond

thanks in advance!!

ian-mstm

A visa is a travel document - nothing more! It's the I-94 that determines how long you're allowed to remain in the US. Even if your son's visa has expired, he can remain in the US in status so long as his I-94 hasn't expired. If your son has no plans to travel outside the US, then there's no need to renew the visa (again, so long as the I-94 has not expired).

Bottom line: if your son isn't renewing his visa, he has no need to attend an interview in the UK.

Ian

Lilly77

thanks Ian - however i've missed out a vital piece of info, we are traveling as a family to south africa in december - would I be able to hold my son's interview at the US embassy there???

ian-mstm

Not likely, no. But, as implied, if your son's visa isn't expiring he doesn't need a new one.

Ian

Lilly77

Well His visa is attached to my husbands which expired in May this year, my husband applied for a renewal which was granted, so he is traveling to the UK to get the new visa stamped in his passport. My son's passport will be valid when we travel to SA in December, but his visa won't. My own O1 expires next year, is there anyway I could transfer my son's O3 status to my own O1?
We'd like to not have to pay for a plane ticket to the UK for my son before December (and take him out of school) to get his passport stamped with the new visa. My daughter is 6 so she does not have to attend the interview. Is there any way around this??

Noorah101

I don't see any way around it. Your son is 14. His visa will be expired when he leaves the USA in December. He needs a valid visa to return to the USA. You can't count on renewing his visa in South Africa. Therefore, he should go renew it in London.

Rene

Rete

Why not get a one time consultation with an immigration attorney.

Either contact the attorney you used to obtain your original O visa or go to AILA - American Immigration Lawyers Association to find one specializing in your type of visa (American Immigration Lawyers Association).

AdobePinon

If you try to apply for a visa in South Africa (or any other third country), you need to be aware that they may refuse to accept the application (or worse, accept the application and then deny the visa because of a higher level of scrutiny). You would then have to return to London at short notice (and potentially have to overcome a visa denial).

I have (a long time ago) renewed two visas in third countries, and they both had an element of sketchiness to them. That was before 9/11 and everything that followed.

Twinkle0927

If you think that's a pain, have you got all the documents you need to get into SA for your son since he is traveling with only one biological parent? Or are you South African citizens?

moneypenny20

Just a thought but why would he need to miss 10 days? Can't he fly out for the interview and fly straight back? He's old enough to travel alone under the watch of airline officials. The expense is a pain but if he's got to go then the cost has to be sucked up.

fbf2006

Can he go to Mexico to get a new visa stamp instead, if that's more convenient for you? I've always done my visa stamping in third countries (Canada and the UK). The only US visa stamp I had from my country was the first one in 1998.

Rete

She said they are traveling as a family. Didn't mention that only one parent was going on this vacation.

ian-mstm

Ah... that's a shame. Note, though, that he isn't required to get a new visa in the UK (nor your husband, for that matter). Several people have successfully renewed their visas in Canada, Mexico, or the Bahamas.


No - not that I'm aware of.

Ian

crg

They need to fingerprint the 14 year old at the consulate in order to issue a new visa so he would have to be there.

Lilly77

Thanks everyone, yes it seems there is no way around this :-(

We could travel to Canada or Mexico I guess - but doesn't the Embassy take the passport away and stamp new visa in it? In which case we need to be in that country at least 7 days to wait for the return of the passport.

Re SA - my husband and I both British citizens but I was born in South Africa, so I think we'll be ok traveling there - definitely not going to US Embassy in SA, I agree - too sketchy and over Xmas period will be even worse!