Need some advice RE: Visitor Visa to the USA for my friend

Hi DU I'm wondering if any of you have been through the visitor visa process recently and can offer some help. My friend is Argentinian and I have been living with him for 2 months while in Buenos Aires to sightsee and learn Spanish. He's got a pretty lengthy vacation from school so I'm inviting him to NY to see a real White Christmas (hopefully). He's already got his passport updated and made the appointment for the temporary visa.

There's all this language about "establishing intent" and whatnot so the process seems completely arbitrary and up to the specific person reviewing the applications. My question is, is it better to offer vague and safe information, as one would in court, and let them press for specifics or offer as much explicit information as possible? Also is it useful for me to accompany him to the meeting? The US embassy website is unhelpful and a bit threatening:

"Isn’t free travel a human right?

The United States Government upholds the right to free travel as a basic human right. However, immigration to the United States is not a right. If you are able in the future to establish that you are a bona fide nonimmigrant and you qualify for a visa, you will be able to travel to the United States as a temporary visitor."
http://argentina.usembassy.gov/why_a_visa_was_refused2.html

Any help is appreciated and feel free to move to Lounge if this isn't appropriate DU topic although I would be interested in a further dialog about the US's xenophobic policies. :wave:

Have you posted in the Democrats Abroad or Latin America forum? Couldn't hurt...

:shrug:

Good luck!

It would be helpful to show them a return ticket, even if it's open-ended. Just make sure he can get a full refund if they turn down the visa.

If he's currently employed or in school, have the employer/school write a letter that he's working/enrolled, in good standing, etc... If they ask about it at the interview, he can give it to them. It will help establish that he has a life in Argentina waiting for him.

In the application, include your name & home address or address of your family as his contact in the US, so they know he'll be in the company of "real" people.

As for how he would present himself ... just tell him to act like a tourist, which he is! If the INS officer is chatty, talk about things he plans to do in NY, like catch a Broadway show (hope the stage hand strike is over!), see the Status of Liberty, good Chinese food in Chinatown. Hey! Try to get tickets to The Daily Show or Letterman! :)

In the past 19.5 years, I've been through student, visitor, & work visas, green card and citizenship. For the most part, for legal immigration matters, the INS's bark is worse than its bite. Don't let the stern language put you off. That's just the way they talk.

I would not worry too much about your friend's visa -- I'm sure he'll get it without a problem. But you should be very worried about being able to produce a White Christmas! :P

...to satisfy the Embassy that he has every intention of returning to Argentina. They'll check everything he puts in his visa application so fudging or withholding information will only raise suspicions and harm his chances of success. And if his application fails, he won't get into the US without a visa either. (on edit: I meant to add, this is my assumption. It likely depends on how long ago the visa application failed and what new proof can be provided upon entry to the US that a visitor intends to return to their home country.)

You can accompany him to the Embassy, but I don't know if you'll be permitted into the interview. They may even want to interview you separately since he'll be staying with you in the US.

This isn't an arbitrary process. I went through the same thing applying for a fiancee visa to enter the UK. Most countries want to be satisfied that you will abide by the terms of your visa before they'll issue you one.

some bank receipt or Red Card, etc. The embassy made it clear that the presumption was that people would overstay their visas and not return and take jobs from hard working American families, unless they are from the UK, Brunei, Spain, etc.
It is mostly boiler plate, in order to show they have the arbitrary power to not grant a visa if they desire, the other stuff is to ensure that the visitor will have both a ticket to get home and enough devalued US$ to support themselves rather than become a gigilo or barmaid with a charming foreign accent, model, soccer player, etc.
We have no beefs with Argentina, and his visa should be no problem, save for the process per se, and processing these days (remember the passport holdup earlier in the US?).
Not to scare you, but a tourist (B-2) visa is not that hard if you have the scratch and not a member of a "radical" organization. Ever been to Orlando, Tampa and Miami? On the other hand, student visas, even for NATO allies which used to be a snap are now wrought with pain and physical travel to the home country every six months or so for a renewal due to our ICE fetish. I could tell a couple of horror stories about two friends from Canada and Spain, but I will spare you, but they were students and allowed to work during school.

good points about establishing intent to return, etc. We were just a bit scared because his friend had applied a year ago and while she was granted a visa her brother was not because he was "of the age to immigrate illegally". I'm guessing they didn't offer enough specifics, and I'm hoping my letter if invitation to my home in NY will help. Keep your fingers crossed for the snow!

She had just sold her house, and the embassy decided that was evidence that she may not be planning to return to Thailand.

That's been my only experience, and it wasn't a very good one. :(

I don't know how this works...does the US not want people from some countries (other than the obvious ones) coming here? At the risk of being a complete ninny...WHY NOT?



:shrug: