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Q: Will an invitation help me get a U.S. Non Immigrant Visa?
Many applicants come to the interview for a nonimmigrant visa with an invitation from a family member, business, or church in the United States. The Embassy commonly sees wedding and birthday invitations presented along with an individual’s visa application. Sometimes a family member will include personal information about their income and willingness to support the applicant while they are in the United States. Generally speaking, these documents will not affect the outcome of the consular officer’s decision of whether or not to issue the visa.
The nonimmigrant visa is for temporary visits to the United States. By law every applicant for a B-1/B-2 ‘tourist’ visa is assumed to be an intending immigrant, and therefore not entitled to receive the visa. In your interview at the Consular Section, you must convince the interviewing officer that your visit to the United States will be temporary. Otherwise, the officer will be required by U.S. law to deny your visa application.
Under U.S. law, the interviewing officer is obligated to look only at the qualifications of the applicant. It is the applicant who must overcome the presumption of being an intending immigrant. Therefore, letters of invitation or letters of financial support from others are not relevant to the decision.
Having a friend or relative say he or she will make sure the applicant leaves the United States also has no real effect on the decision to issue a nonimmigrant visa, since such letters of support cannot be enforced in the United States. Therefore, the applicants should concentrate on explaining their current situation during the interview, since their ties are the ones that are evaluated in determining eligibility for a nonimmigrant visa.
Q: What types of support documents are useful for the visa interview?
The requirements for a visa depend on the purpose of travel. Applicants should completely and accurately fill out the application form and have documents to support the information presented.
Most non-immigrant visa applicants must show they have strong ties to Guyana. Bank letters, job letters, property deeds, birth and marriage certificates are common ways of demonstrating this. Self-employed farmers and businesspersons should also bring tax records, receipts and other evidence of their business and income.
For more information about visa categories and requirements, please check http://www.unitedstatesvisas.gov/ the official source of information about U.S. visa policy and procedures.
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