mamasue

We've been inviting my best friend from Egypt to come and visit us here in the US for years.
He finally applied to the US Embassy in Cairo... it cost him 650 le (about $140)... and he got refused a visa!!

This guy fills in all the criteria for a visitors visa... with bells and whistles....
They had absolutely no reason to refuse him... but they did!!!
It seemes the bad-tempered woman at the embassy interviewed him for less than 2 minutes....then refused him!!

Does any Egyptian ever get granted a visitors visa to the US??? :

crg

Apparently, the consular officer did not agree.


They don't need a reason. If they are not convinced he will abide by the terms of the visa, they will not issue it.

Yes. 31,873 nonimmigrant visas were issued in Cairo in 2010. Almost 28,000 of those were issued to visitors.

Egyptians have a 31.3 % refusal rate for 2010.

scrubbedexpat099

Begs the question as to what those criteria are, and they would have told him why he was refused.

fatbrit

http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/FY10.pdf

crg

Good link. I have a theory about why the Canadian refusal rate is so high. Would anyone else like to put out a theory?

iray

No idea. But it sucks to be from Andorra.

md95065

Presumably the only reason why a Canadian would ever apply for a B visa would be because they were for some reason ineligible to visit the US without a visa. This would suggest that all Canadian applicants for B visas had some kind of ineligibility issue that they had to overcome which could explain the rather high rejection rate.

mamasue

OK... this guy has a successful business in Egypt....he owns a large busy furniture store.
Owns 2 apartments
Has a wife and 2 small children
Has more than sufficient funds, of which he showed proof
Went to Germany 2 years ago, and returned at the allotted time.
I've heard of Egyptian Christians being refused because they often claim asylum due to so-called persecution from muslims, but this guy's a muslim.
I can't think of any more bells or whistles!

crg

That's what I was thinking. Ineligible Canadians don't require a visa and the consulates in Canada generally won't issue a visa to a Canadian even if they require a waiver.

Most of the time a Canadian will submit the waiver application at a border crossing and then return to Canada to wait for the decision. The waiver is issued on a standalone document that they present when they cross and they get an I-94.

That doesn't work for Canadians who reside outside of Canada because they can't easily get to a border crossing so they get a visa.

So that huge visa refusal rate is due to ineligible Canadians in need of a waiver who may have the added problem of residing in a country that may not have the high standard of living, stability, and opportunity as Canada leading to concerns about immigrant intent.

scrubbedexpat099

I did not know these were the factors that were crucial in deciding whether or not to issue a visa.

S Folinsky

An interesting thread from a couple of years back. Read it to the end.

mamasue

Folinsky, thanks so much for the link... very interesting.
Another friend, a journalist for Egypt's top newspaper told me to tell my friend to apply again....it seems, reading the thread, that's definitely the way to go.

superkruz

After reading this thread and the other one I wonder how a my daughter (a full-time student) would demonstrate sufficient ties with her home country if she ever wanted to visit me in the US on a visitor visa. By their nature, students don't have assets, jobs etc that tie them down.

scrubbedexpat099

Why does she need a visa?

avanutria

But she could show papers that she has enrolled in classes for the next term, and a copy of her agreement for student housing for that year.