Tappy82

Hi,

I was refused a H2 B Visa today because I couldn't prove I was coming back even with a mortgage statement. My question is can I still travel to the states for a holiday/vacation in the near future? Will I get refused port of entry because I have been denied the visa recently? And how long am I allowed to visit for?

Noorah101

If you qualify to travel on the VWP, yes, you can still use that to visit the USA. You must declare your refused visa, though, and you will probably get questioned about it at the POE. Bring the proof of ties to your home country when visiting, in case they ask for it.

On the VWP, you are allowed to stay 90 days.

Rene

CarlM

Rene - doesnt a refusal of visa mean there is no VWP option? (I know ive been gone a while, and know i am rusty, but thought that was the case at least..!)

Ray

No !! but you can virtually guarantee a visit to secondary
London refuses 50% of B2 application as they are deemed to be unnecessary a lot because their web site say's you must have one with any arrest and people with a speeding ticket apply ...

moviebuff

What happens if you don't declare it? I'm just curious as my husband was refused a US visa when he was a child and had a Kenyan passport. He genuinely did not know as his father had applied for the whole family when he was away at school. He has travelled under the VWP with his UK passport and did not declare it, but nothing happened. He's a bit confused as if he now declares it, it'll appear he was lying the first time and if he doesn't, someone may do a thorough check... it's just something that has been bothering us for as while as we plan to visit friends in New York next year.

Sapphyre

On Sep 2, 6:35 am, moviebuff <[email protected]>
wrote:
> What happens if you don't declare it? I'm just curious as my husband was
> refused a US visa when he was a child and had a Kenyan passport. He
> genuinely did not know as his father had applied for the whole family
> when he was away at school. He has travelled under the VWP with his UK
> passport and did not declare it, but nothing happened. He's a bit
> confused as if he now declares it, it'll appear he was lying the first
> time and if he doesn't, someone may do a thorough check... it's just
> something that has been bothering us for as while as we plan to visit
> friends in New York next year.

I can't answer what happens if it's not declared, I guess that depends
when you get caught...

As for your unusual situation... I have no legal basis for giving you
this information, however this is how I see it. Your husband was not
refused a visa because he cannot legally apply for one as a child. He
was only refused on the basis that the rest of the family was refused
(whichever adults were applying). And depending on his age at the
time, there comes a point when you aren't expected to know something
your parents did. If my parents had applied for visas to other
countries before they were accepted in Canada, and were refused, I
would not necessarily know that unless they told me. As a child, your
husband did not sign any documents whatsoever, so if you don't sign
it, how do you know...

So to answer your question, I would not declare it now because that
would be worse since he didn't declare it before (and then they'd
figure he knew all about it and start asking questions). I'd continue
to check off the form the same way, and if it ever comes up, he didn't
apply for a visa himself, his parents did. If he was young enough,
then it stands to reason he wouldn't know. We don't know everything
our parents did for us while growing up, and sometimes we find out
later, sometimes not. I just wouldn't suddenly admit to knowing about
it now after all this time, because like I said, they'll think he knew
all along and it causes problems.

But I have zero legal basis for answering this, I'm just giving you my
opinion (based on common sense). Not everything decided is based upon
common sense, so your mileage may vary.

S.

scrubbedexpat099

There was a post last week somewhere about an Irish guy who did this, ovestayed his British pasport so got an Irish passport.

Tried to enter on his Irish pasport and got sent back.

Sapphyre

On Sep 3, 4:37 am, Boiler <[email protected]> wrote:
> > What happens if you don't declare it? I'm just curious as my husband
> > was refused a US visa when he was a child and had a Kenyan passport.
> > He genuinely did not know as his father had applied for the whole
> > family when he was away at school. He has travelled under the VWP with
> > his UK passport and did not declare it, but nothing happened. He's a
> > bit confused as if he now declares it, it'll appear he was lying the
> > first time and if he doesn't, someone may do a thorough check... it's
> > just something that has been bothering us for as while as we plan to
> > visit friends in New York next year.
>
> There was a post last week somewhere about an Irish guy who did this,
> ovestayed his British pasport so got an Irish passport.
>
> Tried to enter on his Irish pasport and got sent back.

Overstaying as an adult, then using a different passport to wilfully
misrepresent yourself is completely different than being refused a
visa as a child (that your parents applied for), and not remembering
or knowing about it as an adult. The fact it was applied for under a
different passport is irrelevant, it's only a myth that people can
hide with multiple passports (only if you have multiple identities
too).

Also the rules of the VWP state you can't overstay, so regardless of
which passport he uses, he's ineligible to use the VWP. They don't
like it much if you switch between two passports to spend more time in
the US (and attempt to conceal that fact) either. I really don't get
why someone would take those risks...

S.

moviebuff

Thanks Sapphyre and Boiler - the advice you gave, Sapphyre, is what I've said to him as he really never applied for a visa and as you said, the refusal was based on the adults (they thought they may never return to Kenya) His surname and first name are the same as when he was a child but his middle name is different, so maybe that's why it wasn't flagged up at the POE.

Sapphyre

On Sep 3, 1:48 pm, moviebuff <[email protected]>
wrote:
> Thanks Sapphyre and Boiler - the advice you gave, Sapphyre, is what I've
> said to him as he really never applied for a visa and as you said, the
> refusal was based on the adults (they thought they may never return to
> Kenya) His surname and first name are the same as when he was a child
> but his middle name is different, so maybe that's why it wasn't flagged
> up at the POE.

How old was he when the application was made? There's different
criteria for different ages (for instance, in some cases, children
over the age of 14 need to sign their own forms, etc, etc.) I was made
to sign my own arrival/departure record when I was 12 travelling
abroad to New Zealand (I think that was their guidelines). So I know
that 18 isn't always the age where a person becomes responsible for
some things.

In any event, the more logical solution is that he wasn't flagged
because he was a child and did not sign his own visa application, not
because of the name being different. My understanding under name
searches is that the surname and date of birth are used, but they
could be searching by date of birth and checking into a close match.
There's also the combination of date and place of birth, that
information doesn't change with name changes and nationality changes.

Best of luck,
S.

moviebuff

Hi Sapphyre - just checked his old passport and he was 9, 3 months from turning 10 when the "application received" was stamped on his passport.

Sapphyre

On Sep 4, 1:24 pm, moviebuff <[email protected]>
wrote:
> Hi Sapphyre - just checked his old passport and he was 9, 3 months from
> turning 10 when the "application received" was stamped on his passport.

Well, I can't even remember much about where my parents took me before
I was 10, so at that age, I doubt he'll have any problems. If they do
find the visa denial in the computer, it will obviously come with a
date that the application was made/denied, in which case it will be
obvious he was a child.

In my opinion, although I have no experience or legal basis for
telling you this, if it ever came up (don't bring it up), I would just
say I didn't apply for one, perhaps my parents did.

Seriously, I think you're worrying for nothing... He was 9 years old,
he has no basis to apply for a visa nor be denied one. For all I know,
I've been denied a Visa too, since my family was keen on moving from
place to place from 1972 until 1981, for all I know, we were turned
down five times before we came to Canada. If memory serves, my dad
tried to move us twice from Canada, but was not successful for some
reason... I don't know if a Visa was denied or if my mom just refused
the move. I won't bring it up if I apply for any visas since I never
signed any forms as a child, so I have no clue how far that process
went. Your husband is not alone in his situation, and hopefully anyone
looking at the history will be understanding that a nine year old
might not be aware of decisions his parents made.

S.