Sam Shults

Hi,

I couldn't quite figure out what to put in the header. Hopefully this
is an easy question for people here. I have a Japanese female penpal (28)
that I plan on hosting here in the states. The idea is I teach her English
and American culture and she teaches me Japanese. She has her passport &
everything and has been to California and Hawaii for vacation so that's all
in order. I'm just curious if there's a type of visa she is able to get for
this situation or if I'll just have to use the 90 days provided under the
visa waiver program?

Unless something happens, I'd like to be able to invite her over for 6
months rather than the 3 provided with the VWP.

Sam

Ingo Pakleppa

On Thu, 15 May 2003 10:38:21 -0700, Sam Shults wrote:

    > Hi,
    >
    > I couldn't quite figure out what to put in the header. Hopefully this
    > is an easy question for people here. I have a Japanese female penpal (28)
    > that I plan on hosting here in the states. The idea is I teach her English
    > and American culture and she teaches me Japanese. She has her passport &
    > everything and has been to California and Hawaii for vacation so that's all
    > in order. I'm just curious if there's a type of visa she is able to get for
    > this situation or if I'll just have to use the 90 days provided under the
    > visa waiver program?

The tourist visa waiver is pretty much the only option.

    > Unless something happens, I'd like to be able to invite her over for 6
    > months rather than the 3 provided with the VWP.

Well, in theory she could apply for a tourist visa. However, in practical
terms this would almost always get denied for people from visa waiver
countries, and would then also cause problems with using the visa waiver.

For such an informal program, there probably is nothing else that could do
what you need. A remote chance is to contact a J-1 exchange organization
and see if they can sponsor her for a J-1 visa. Also, if your friend
enrolls in a school, for instance for a formal English class, then she
might be able to get an F-1 visa.

--
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everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
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immigration links.

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Sam Shults

That's pretty much the train of thought I had. I didn't see any visas that
fit the situation so I was left with thinking of trying to go through a
homestay/exchange type program. I just think that'd be a lot of trouble for
the situation.

Perhaps with the 3 months, if she's able to learn enough English and decides
she'd like to try for a formal education here, she can try for a student
visa. Just looks like she can't apply while on the vwp. Looks like you
can't change your status that way.

Thanks for the confirmation and the reply.

Sam

"Ingo Pakleppa" wrote in message
news[email protected]...
    > On Thu, 15 May 2003 10:38:21 -0700, Sam Shults wrote:
    > > Hi,
    > >
    > > I couldn't quite figure out what to put in the header. Hopefully
this
    > > is an easy question for people here. I have a Japanese female penpal
(28)
    > > that I plan on hosting here in the states. The idea is I teach her
English
    > > and American culture and she teaches me Japanese. She has her passport
&
    > > everything and has been to California and Hawaii for vacation so that's
all
    > > in order. I'm just curious if there's a type of visa she is able to get
for
    > > this situation or if I'll just have to use the 90 days provided under
the
    > > visa waiver program?
    > The tourist visa waiver is pretty much the only option.
    > > Unless something happens, I'd like to be able to invite her over for
6
    > > months rather than the 3 provided with the VWP.
    > Well, in theory she could apply for a tourist visa. However, in practical
    > terms this would almost always get denied for people from visa waiver
    > countries, and would then also cause problems with using the visa waiver.
    > For such an informal program, there probably is nothing else that could do
    > what you need. A remote chance is to contact a J-1 exchange organization
    > and see if they can sponsor her for a J-1 visa. Also, if your friend
    > enrolls in a school, for instance for a formal English class, then she
    > might be able to get an F-1 visa.
    > --
    > Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I
encourage
    > everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
    > newsgroups.
    > Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com with a list of
interesting
    > immigration links.
    > My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection.
    > Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my new Web site
    > http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.

lairdside

Hi Ingo:
I have heard this before and am curious about it.

So - if my parents retire and wish to visit me for a period of longer than 90 days and as a result apply for a B-2 they will probably be denied? If so they cannot use the VWP anymore to the US so they would need a B-2 to come here.....does that mean that if they subsequently applied for a B-2, stating that they were now unable to travel on the VWP they would get a B-2 ??

If it's catch 22 then would they never be able to visit without immigrating ?

Ingo Pakleppa

On Thu, 15 May 2003 22:51:33 -0700, Sam Shults wrote:

    > That's pretty much the train of thought I had. I didn't see any visas that
    > fit the situation so I was left with thinking of trying to go through a
    > homestay/exchange type program. I just think that'd be a lot of trouble for
    > the situation.
    >
    > Perhaps with the 3 months, if she's able to learn enough English and decides
    > she'd like to try for a formal education here, she can try for a student
    > visa. Just looks like she can't apply while on the vwp. Looks like you
    > can't change your status that way.

Yes, she would have to return to Japan. Of course she can apply while in
the US, and then only go back to Japan to actually pick up the visa.

--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com with a list of interesting
immigration links.

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection.

Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my new Web site
http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.

Ingo Pakleppa

On Fri, 16 May 2003 06:47:35 +0000, lairdside wrote:


    > Originally posted by Ingo Pakleppa
    >> On Thu, 15 May 2003 10:38:21 -0700, Sam Shults wrote:
    >> > Hi,
    >> >
    >> > I couldn't quite figure out what to put in the header.
    >> Hopefully this
    >> > is an easy question for people here. I have a Japanese female
    >> penpal (28)
    >> > that I plan on hosting here in the states. The idea is I teach
    >> her English
    >> > and American culture and she teaches me Japanese. She has her
    >> passport &
    >> > everything and has been to California and Hawaii for vacation so
    >> that's all
    >> > in order. I'm just curious if there's a type of visa she is
    >> able to get for
    >> > this situation or if I'll just have to use the 90 days provided
    >> under the
    >> > visa waiver program?
    >> The tourist visa waiver is pretty much the only option.
    >> > Unless something happens, I'd like to be able to invite her
    >> over for 6
    >> > months rather than the 3 provided with the VWP.
    >> Well, in theory she could apply for a tourist visa. However, in
    >> practical
    >> terms this would almost always get denied for people from visa waiver
    >> countries, and would then also cause problems with using the visa
    >> waiver.
    >> For such an informal program, there probably is nothing else that could
    >> do
    >> what you need. A remote chance is to contact a J-1 exchange
    >> organization
    >> and see if they can sponsor her for a J-1 visa. Also, if your friend
    >> enrolls in a school, for instance for a formal English class, then she
    >> might be able to get an F-1 visa.
    >
    > Hi Ingo:
    > I have heard this before and am curious about it.
    >
    > So - if my parents retire and wish to visit me for a period of longer
    > than 90 days and as a result apply for a B-2 they will probably be
    > denied?

Yes, this is very likely. In fact, in that situation, it would be
justified because retiring in the US pretty much amounts to immigration
intent.

    > If so they cannot use the VWP anymore

Well, yes and no. One of the questions on the VWP form asks if they ever
had a visa denied. Of course they have to check yes (anything else would
be immigration fraud and get them banned for life), and that in turn would
provoke more questioning by BCBP officers. Given the situation, it seems
unlikely that they would be admitted.

    > to the US so they would need a B-2 to come here.....does that mean that
    > if they subsequently applied for a B-2, stating that they were now
    > unable to travel on the VWP they would get a B-2 ??

No, unfortunately not.

    > If it's catch 22 then would they never be able to visit without
    > immigrating ?

Pretty much...

--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com with a list of interesting
immigration links.

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection.

Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my new Web site
http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.

lairdside

Oh no, they wouldn't be intending to retire to the US!

Just that when they both retire they would be able to visit the US for a longer period of time that would be possible at present as currently they both have jobs. They have both travelled extensively and have enough passport stamps that the POE officer gave up leafing through them the last time my mother visited me in the US.

They obviously wouldn't be able to show employment ties to the UK in the above scenario but they would be able to show UK property and investments in excess of 1 million GBP (approx $1.6 million) if that's any use.....

If they intended to immigrate here I'd DCF for them in London, doesn't take very long at all. The trouble is at the moment that they don't want to emmigrate!

I have friends with parents who own property in the US, mostly in Florida. They were issued B-2 visas and although they cannot officially retire in the US they spend more time here now than in the UK. They can more than adequately support themselves (as could my parents) and neither the DHS or the Embassy in London seems to have any problem with this situation.

It just would have been handly if my parents could have spent time here longer than the 90 days if they wished visiting their grandchildren.

lairdside

If they wanted to immigrate without going through the process outside of the US they wouldn't be applying for B-2 visas... as they could enter on the VWP and would be eligible for AOS as soon as they set foot here once I am a USC.... so it wouldn't make sense.

Not that that would happen - I'd just DCF for them.

Ingo Pakleppa

On Sat, 17 May 2003 08:22:20 +0000, lairdside wrote:

    > Oh no, they wouldn't be intending to retire to the US!
    >
    > Just that when they both retire they would be able to visit the US for
    > a longer period of time that would be possible at present as currently
    > they both have jobs. They have both travelled extensively and have
    > enough passport stamps that the POE officer gave up leafing through
    > them the last time my mother visited me in the US.

*I* understand this, actually. In the eyes of BCBP, though, planning to
spend a long time in the US is pretty much equivalent to immigration
intent (except for those permissible long-term activities, such as
studying or guest worker).

    > They obviously wouldn't be able to show employment ties to the UK in the
    > above scenario but they would be able to show UK property and
    > investments in excess of 1 million GBP (approx $1.6 million) if that's
    > any use.....

They don't need quite that much... Generally, money is not the primary
reason people from the UK are denied admission. In fact, with this much
money, the inspector may well suspect that they do plan to retire into the
US - which is almost exactly right.

    > If they intended to immigrate here I'd DCF for them in London, doesn't
    > take very long at all. The trouble is at the moment that they don't want
    > to emmigrate!

Well, what they could do is get a Green Card anyway, and maintain two
homes. They do have to reside in the US, but that doesn't mean that they
have to reside *only* in the US. The only concern is that this could mean
a tax headache.

    > I have friends with parents who own property in the US, mostly in
    > Florida. They were issued B-2 visas and although they cannot officially
    > retire in the US they spend more time here now than in the UK. They can
    > more than adequately support themselves (as could my parents) and
    > neither the DHS or the Embassy in London seems to have any problem with
    > this situation.

This is interesting information!

    > It just would have been handly if my parents could have spent time here
    > longer than the 90 days if they wished visiting their grandchildren.

--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com with a list of interesting
immigration links.

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection.

Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my new Web site
http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.

lairdside

Thankyou very much Ingo !

I have a while to go yet before I can Naturalize but am just thinking ahead. My husband and I would love for my parents to move here but they aren't convinced at the moment (he's working on them ) Part of the problem is that I have a younger brother and sister (23 and 21 years old respectively) and I think my parents are concerned about being far away from them if they should need "Mum and Dad".. although my sister is planning to move to Italy and my brother has said that he plans to emmigrate also. My parents still have about another 10 years or so until they retire so the situation may have altered by then.

Perhaps buying a modest home here and becoming LPR's would be a good solution for them. If they spent say 5 months a year in the UK and 7 months a year in the US .. then we could work on "weaning" them...lol.

I find it strange as they considered emmigrating to Australia 18 years ago and them decided not to go - my mother has always wanted to live somewhere warmer and sunnier, she adored it here during her visits, so there's hope yet!

Good point about the taxation, another maze of reciprocal treaties to navigate

Ingo Pakleppa

Your brother is actually another reason they should consider emigrating as
soon as possible.

Once you are a citizen, you can sponsor your brother pretty easily (in the
Family 4th category), but it will take at least ten or twelve years until
he can actually immigrate. Your parents could sponsor him in a different,
faster category (Family 2B). Family 2B still takes eight years or so, but
as soon as they get naturalized, the time would shrink quite a bit (he
would move to Family 1st) and he probably could immigrate immediately.

By the way, the picture changes if your brother ever gets married...

Regards,

Ingo

On Sat, 17 May 2003 17:36:11 +0000, lairdside wrote:

    >
    > Thankyou very much Ingo !
    >
    > I have a while to go yet before I can Naturalize but am just thinking
    > ahead. My husband and I would love for my parents to move here but they
    > aren't convinced at the moment (he's working on them ) Part of the
    > problem is that I have a younger brother and sister (23 and 21 years old
    > respectively) and I think my parents are concerned about being far away
    > from them if they should need "Mum and Dad".. although my sister is
    > planning to move to Italy and my brother has said that he plans to
    > emmigrate also. My parents still have about another 10 years or so until
    > they retire so the situation may have altered by then.
    >
    > Perhaps buying a modest home here and becoming LPR's would be a good
    > solution for them. If they spent say 5 months a year in the UK and 7
    > months a year in the US .. then we could work on "weaning" them...lol.
    >
    > I find it strange as they considered emmigrating to Australia 18 years
    > ago and them decided not to go - my mother has always wanted to live
    > somewhere warmer and sunnier, she adored it here during her visits, so
    > there's hope yet!
    >
    > Good point about the taxation, another maze of reciprocal treaties to
    > navigate

--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com with a list of interesting
immigration links.

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection.

Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my new Web site
http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.

lairdside

Thanks, Ingo.

The visa pref categories probably won't have much of an impact though - I don't think that either my brother or sister would want to immigrate to the US, certainly not in the foreseeable future.

Though more difficult if they decided to come here at some point in the future it would be through one of the employment based categories as they have careers to follow

Until recently my brother was moving to Budapest with his gf but unfortunately they split up last year.. who knows where his future lies. My sister is looking forward to a career in textile design and so is headed for Milan ....

lairdside

I actually met a guy from the UK who obtained a B-2 from the Embassy in London in 1997. His stated reason being that he wished to tour the US for 6 months.

I also met someone the other day who'd come over on a 6 month B-2 and extended for another 6 months but had been in the US for a total of 9 months and was saying he'd have to go back to Fulham soon as he was running out of money..lol.
He had graduated from University last year and decided to make the most of the opportunity to take a long holiday in the US before settling down to the world of work

So I guess it's not impossible - just a little more difficult. My parents assets weren't to show that they could support themselves but to show ties to the UK that would make them less likely - not more likely - to stay in the US. They have business interests, a primary residence etc.

Next time I speak to one of my friends whose parents are refugees from the UK weather in Florida I'll get some more details as to exactly what their parents are up to these days...I know Simon complains that his parents are hardly ever in the UK though, they have just gradually spent more and more time at their house in Florida over the years.

Ingo Pakleppa

On Sun, 18 May 2003 04:53:13 +0000, lairdside wrote:

    >
    > Thanks, Ingo.
    >
    > The visa pref categories probably won't have much of an impact though -
    > I don't think that either my brother or sister would want to immigrate
    > to the US, certainly not in the foreseeable future.

I misunderstood you; I thought you meant that your sister wanted to move
to Italy and your brother to the US.

    > Though more difficult if they decided to come here at some point in the
    > future it would be through one of the employment based categories as
    > they have careers to follow

Well, the other side of the coin is that if there is a chance they may
plan to immigrate to the US in the future, you can start the process now
so that they have the chance once they make the decision. Of course,
employment-based currently is better if they qualify, but who knows
whether that will still be true a few years from now, and whether they can
even find a suitable job. With family-based immigration, they can work in
any job, even something completely different.

There is a drawback: once you or your parents file a petition for them, it
may be more difficult to travel to the US.

It's your call to assess how likely it is that they want to move to the
US.


--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com with a list of interesting
immigration links.

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection.

Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my new Web site
http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.

Ingo Pakleppa

On Sun, 18 May 2003 06:57:49 +0000, lairdside wrote:

    >
    > I actually met a guy from the UK who obtained a B-2 from the Embassy in
    > London in 1997. His stated reason being that he wished to tour the US
    > for 6 months.

As long as he has strong evidence that he really plans to return to the
UK, that can be doable. The consulate just looks carefully at such things.
I didn't mean to say that it is impossible to get a B-2, just that it can
be difficult and is often denied.

    > I also met someone the other day who'd come over on a 6 month B-2 and
    > extended for another 6 months but had been in the US for a total of 9
    > months and was saying he'd have to go back to Fulham soon as he was
    > running out of money..lol.
    > He had graduated from University last year and decided to make the most
    > of the opportunity to take a long holiday in the US before settling
    > down to the world of work

Actually, this kind of surprises me. Maybe the officer was in a good mood
that day. But generally, this tends to be a situation that sends red flags
up...

    > So I guess it's not impossible - just a little more difficult. My
    > parents assets weren't to show that they could support themselves but
    > to show ties to the UK that would make them less likely - not more
    > likely - to stay in the US. They have business interests, a primary
    > residence etc.

Then show the business interests, primary residence etc. Most importantly
in the case of your parents, show that they don't plan on retiring from
the business. The assets themselves are really not very important, though.

    > Next time I speak to one of my friends whose parents are refugees from
    > the UK weather in Florida I'll get some more details as to exactly what
    > their parents are up to these days...I know Simon complains that his
    > parents are hardly ever in the UK though, they have just gradually spent
    > more and more time at their house in Florida over the years.

Have your parents looked at some other nice and warm spots? How about the
British Virgin Islands? Somebody else mentioned that you still need some
kind of permission to settle there, but as UK citizens, I would think that
it's easier. Of course, there always is the old standby of Mallorca with
its large expatriate English community (although that many of those may
have died off right now, and I don't know how many new expatriates moved
there).

--
Remember, I am strictly a layperson without any legal training. I encourage
everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com with a list of interesting
immigration links.

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection.

Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my new Web site
http://www.ingopakleppa.com ! Comments are welcome.