believer

dear all,
my friend is going to apply for visa waiver on ESTA. He is Australian citizen now.
The issue is in Question F of ESTA
"Have you ever been denied a U.S. visa or entry into the U.S. or had a U.S. visa canceled?"

He got student visa refused in 2005 in China when he was a chinese citizen
then in 2009 he got B1/B2 visa in Australia as Australian permanent resident. He also changed his name to an english one.

He's affraid because ESTA doesn't have space for explanation, its likely he has to answer "Yes" to that question. and it would be unfair if he's not eligible for ESTA and he has to go for visa interview everytime he likes to visit U.S.

Does his B1/B2 visa entitle him to be deemed as overcome his student visa's refusal in the past ?
Any input or anyone has got experience with ESTA, please comment. Thanksss heaps.!!!

henryh

Is the 'friend' you?

He should say 'yes'. This is a common situation: most likely, the ESTA will be initially "held for review", then approved after a couple of days.

Why doesn't he just travel on the existing B1/B2?

lifehouse51

Hey, there was actually a recent thread discussing this, but can't remember where it is anymore. Essentially, the question asks for "EVER", meaning that if he has been denied before, then the answer to the question is YES, even if he has approved visa later on. It doesn't matter that he used a different passport, changed name, etc. In the thread I mentioned, someone was denied a U.S. visa on an Argentinean passport but later acquired Italian citizenship.

With that said, even if you answered YES to that question, you're not automatically denied ESTA. SOme people have posted here who still successfully got ESTA and entered the U.S. Also FYI, with Australian passports, you can get a B1/B2 for a max of 60 months with $25 reciprocity fee (or 12 months with no fee)

Now those are the legal ways of doing things. Of course it's probably hard for the authorities to know about your friend's past in China as he now uses a different legal name in a different country. I'm just pointing out an observation and I'm not implying anything and no advice is given nor intended

lifehouse51

A possibility: He applied for B1/B2 in his Chinese passport while being an Australian PR. He now acquired Australian citizenship. China doesn't allow dual citizenship and he probably had to give up his Chinese passport/citizenship

believer

i think his U.S visa expired already and he doesnt want to pay for visa interview again.

believer

thanks lifehouse.
so for the Rest of his life, he would likely to have u.s visa every 5 years if he still likes to visit U.S. that must be PAIN haha...
another question dear: if he got 5 year B1/B2 visa and then he decides to have E3 visa, then would that B1/B2 visa be still valid when he's having E3?

lifehouse51

That's right, due to reciprocity schedule, Chinese Passports are issued a max of one year for B1/B2. However, with his Australian passport, he can get longer as I posted above (Up to 60 months or 5 years with a fee).
BTW, LEGALLY China doesn't recognize any dual citizenship and he has to give up his Chinese citizenship upon acquision of another one. He should be aware of that. Exceptions exist for the passports issued for Macau or Hong Kong permanent residents.

lifehouse51

I don't think the COnsulate will cancel his B visa when he applies for E3. As long as he still has the B visa stamp in the passport, he just have to let the agent know at the point of entry which status he wants to be admitted under. Now, it'll look suspicious if he wants to be admitted with B status when he still holds a job with the E-3 company.

believer

I read somewhere that Aliens can not have 2 U.S visas at the same time. Not sure if it's correct...and how two u.s visas works in one passport.

lifehouse51

That is something I'm unsure about, but to me as a layman, I wouldn't understand why they had to cancel a tourist visa before I can get a work visa, when my work is temporary, and after I finish my job, I may still want to enter the U.S. as a tourist.

But for sure is you can only be on ONE status at a time, you can enter as one status and switch to another one within the U.S. though.

Edit: When I applied for my second F-1 visa for Professional School, they did cancel my first one for Undergrad even though the first one hasn't expired. Now this is a different scenario because I no longer attend the undergrad (graduated) when I applied for the second student visa.

S Folinsky

Observation: Your post does not make it clear that you are talking about the "issuance" fee only. See this for the difference between "application" and "issuance" fees.

S Folinsky

Observations: fear is normal. Don't lie. His immigration history is not a bad one.

No advice given nor intended.

lifehouse51

That's correct. The Visa Application Fee is US$131, and you pay for any additional reciprocity fee.
So for B1/B2 on Australian Passport, it's $131+$25 for a 60 months visa vs. $131 for a 12 months visa. If he's planning on multiple visits throughout a 5 years period or want to avoid the hazzle of applying for multiple visas, the 60 months visa's the way to go.
If Australia doesn't charge for the ETA (The Australian version of ESTA), there probably won't be any reciprocity fee.

believer

thank you All for the input.
I think he better off getting the 5 year tourist visa. Even if he got approved for ESTA online after all declaration, and when he gets to POA and fills in I-94W (visa waiver form), unlike I-94, I-94W has the the question F. Have you ever been denied a U.S visa or entry into the U.S or had a U.S visa cancelled? He would have some sort of issue with the Immigration officer with that question anyway.
If he got B1/B2 visa, the I-94 doesn't raise such question again.

mmm and still not sure if a person can have 5 year B1/B2 and J1 or F1 at same time.
cheers.

lifehouse51

The problem is, as some people have reported here, if you use a passport from a Visa Waiver Country, it may be harder to get a B1/B2 visa (Allowing 6 months stay at a time vs. VWP allows 90 days). I assume it's because the consular officer may wonder why you wanna go for it

Also, you never mentioned the reason he got refused a B1/B2 a while back? Was it because of inability to prove ties to a foreign country? Not having income/place to live, etc. I think those may come into play when he tries to enter the country

If his ESTA is approved, then he at least got passed the initial clearance stage. I think it's worth giving a try to enter the U.S. without the B1/B2.