b2 rejection in Delhi, have questions

[gotexans]

sorry in advance for the long post....but any guidance is appreciated

i am a us citizen. applied for a k-1 visa back in 2001 for my fiance in india. once it was granted, i also filed for a b2 tourist visa for my in-laws in 2002 to attend the wedding in the us. the visa was rejected due to insufficient ties in india for my in-laws. also the delhi consulate officer verbally told my in-laws that the sponsor (me) should just come to india to get their daughter (my fiance). fast-fwd to 2012, i have applied for my in-laws. now my wife is a us citizen as well. we have not applied for the in-laws since it took them several years to get a visa to visit the UK where their son is. they have gone to UK and have returned to india twice in the past five year. i put together a rather pervasive packet (many thanks to this site), and setup the appt for both in-laws (joint appt) in Delhi, but the visa was rejected

they took the DS-160, but asked for no other information (no request for sponsor support or cover letter or affidavit, etc). these questions were asked

Q1: who lives in the US?
A1: my daughter and son-in-law

Q2: what does your daughter do?
A2: she is a student. my son-in-law is sponsoring

Q3: Any other relatives in the US?
A3: no

Q4: what is the purpose of your visit:
A4: visit our daughter and son-in-law and travel within the US

Q5: how long do you plan on staying:
A5: 6 months

Q6: What is your job (asking father-inlaw)
A6: retired ex-Indian army

then he said we can't grant your visa, pls read this letter (214b) and go. btw, they were called up to a booth.

I don't mind re-trying the visa application, but am not really sure what to do different. I've read applying too soon may cause another rejection as they would say what has changed? since i dont know exactly what to do any different, i'm not sure how to answer that question. the only way it would work is if there was some confusion i could clear up

I've read about contacting a congressman or maybe emailing the consulate, or contacting an immigration lawyer, but nothing there seemed too deterministic. Maybe that is the problem, this is all random. My in-laws felt the decision had been made before any questions were asked. i really thought the fact that they had been to UK twice and returned gave reasonable historical proof of ties/etc. I dont think my father-in-law got a chance to say anything about the UK trips, but i figure that information was submitted within the DS-160 and hopefully reviewed by the officer

asking for feedback here, seems like these are the options to gather more info:

1. email the consulate and ask for more detail. i doubt they would do this, but dont think it could hurt
2. send a note to a congressman asking to help. maybe they can help draft with a support letter for next time i apply?
3. contact an immigration lawyer. i dont think i filled anything incorrectly. i'm not sure how they would help, but i guess i can try

i am uncertain when i should try to refile

any help is appreciated

best regards

[immihelp]

Read https://www.immihelp.com/usa-visa-re...lication-tips/

[bigbird75]

b2 rejection in Delhi, have questions

Dear Gotexan,

In my view the reason that I could think off as to the rejection were
a) 6 month stay in the us
b) Retired ex service man

It would help if they could say
Perhaps a couple of weeks visit cause they needed to get back to take care of some business back in India.
Apply again in another 2 months

[gotexans]

thank you. next time i apply, i will use a shorter duration

as for #2, is that more an issue since they are retired, that they are ex-army, or both? i built a cover letter for my in-laws that explained reasons for them to return, but there was no opportunity to show this

[bigbird75]

b2 rejection in Delhi, have questions

The reason to return should be blended into the conversation.
Retired does not sound like a tie back to ones country.

[gotexans]

ok I understand what you mean. in the cover letter we stated ties as:

1. receiving pension and living comfortably
2. have house and land to tend to
3. elderly father-in-law
4. have gone overseas to UK twice and returned in the past five years

official docs were attached as well (house/land, bank statements, pension book,etc)

I have question for you though, the officer did not see the cover letter stating this. I think they just looked at the ds-160 information, which i don't think can show any tie anyhow. Should the applicant ask the officer to review the cover letter, or should I do something different when submitting the online information that the officer likely reviewed?

best regards and thanks for your time

[bigbird75]

b2 rejection in Delhi, have questions

Covering letters are very rarely looked as VO has to adjudicate the case in a matter of minutes before moving on. It's more of a situational thing where ties are established in the course of normal conversation rather that through letters and documents whos authenticity is difficult to ascertain.