Installment Seventy-One
Many non-immigrant visa applicants planning personal or business travel to the U.S. have questions about a handful of issues related to their visa application. This installment of Ask the Consul provides answers to those frequently asked questions (FAQs).
Q: Why do consular officers no longer review documents during non-immigrant visa interviews for short-term travel?
Applicants for visitor visas are no longer permitted to present employment letters, bank statements, letters of support from friends or families, or other documents purporting to demonstrate their qualifications during their interview. The U.S. Embassy in Georgetown implemented this “no document” policy in 2007 due to concerns about document validity following numerous instances of fraud carried out by some applicants in the visa application process. Visa adjudications for most categories of non-immigrant visas will be made solely on the basis of a face-to-face interview with a consular officer. This policy also applies to applicants intending to conduct business in the U.S.
Q: Does this “no document” policy apply to all types of non-immigrant visa applications?
No. Consular officers will still accept specific documents related to applications for other non-immigrant visa classifications, including seamen, students, and temporary workers. Two examples illustrate the distinction. If you are invited by a family member to celebrate the holidays in the U.S., showing the consular officer a letter of invitation from that relative will not have any effect upon your case. Instead, applicants must be prepared to respond truthfully and completely to questions asked by the consular officer at the interview that will demonstrate their qualifications for a visitor visa. In contrast, for example, if you work on a cruise ship or merchant vessel and you are applying for a so-called “seaman’s visa”, then you will be required to show the consular officer evidence of your employment, such as a valid employment letter.
Q: My non-immigrant visa application was denied. May I appeal the decision?
An applicant will be found ineligible for a non-immigrant visa if they do not demonstrate strong ties to Guyana or if they cannot demonstrate that their intended activities in the U.S. will be consistent with the visa classification for which they are applying. Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act gives consular officers authority to deny applicants a visa for either of these two reasons. If an applicant is found ineligible under Section 214(b), that decision cannot be appealed and an applicant would need to reapply in order to have their case re-adjudicated.
Q: My non-immigrant visa application was denied. May I reapply?
An applicant will be found ineligible for a non-immigrant visa if they do not demonstrate strong ties to Guyana or if they cannot show that their intended activities in the U.S. will be consistent with the visa classification for which they are applying. Section 214(b) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) gives consular officers authority to deny applicants a visa for either of these two reasons. Applicants who have been refused non-immigrant visas may choose to reapply at anytime. However, they would need to pay the non-refundable $131 USD application fee again, make a new online appointment, and complete the DS-156 application form again. Consular officers do not encourage applicants to reapply if there has been no significant change in their circumstances since the last time that their application was refused.
Q: My non-immigrant visa was refused under Section 214b of the Immigration and Naturali-zation Act. What does this mean?
Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Naturaliza-tion Act states that every alien shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officer … that he is entitled to nonimmigrant status. An intending immigrant is a person who plans to enter the U.S. and remain there without appropriate legal status to do so, which violates U.S. immigration law. To be approved for non-immigrant visas, applicants must overcome this presumption of immigrant intent by demonstrating strong personal ties to Guyana. Strong personal ties include, but are not limited to, financial assets, employment, and social and familial bonds. Consular officers consider the totality of an applicant’s circumstances when adjudicating non-immigrant visa applications. This means that an officer will ask you a series of questions about your life and living circumstances in Guyana. Your truthful ans-wers to these questions will help establish your “ties to Guyana” and form the basis of the consular officer’s decision. If the consular officer does not believe your ties to Guyana are strong enough or finds out that your answers to questions are not credible, then you do not overcome the presumption of immigrant intent, and you cannot be issued a non-immigrant visa.
“Ask the Consul” is a periodic column from the U.S. Embassy answering questions about U.S. immigration law and visa issues. If you have a general question about visa policy please email it to us at AskGeorge@state.gov. We select questions and publish the answers in Stabroek News and on our website at http://georgetown.usembassy.gov/guyana/ask_con.html. For more information about visas please see http://www.unitedstatesvisas.gov or http://georgetown.usembassy.gov/.
Other than the questions we select, we DO NOT respond to questions sent to Ask the Consul. Please contact the visa inquiries unit (email visageorge@state.gov or call 225-7965 between 8 am- 12 pm and 1 pm- 4 pm Monday through Friday) if you have questions about a specific case.
