No interview questions asked. Docs never reviewed. B2 Visa Denied. Help Please!!!

[PaaKor]

Both my wife (US citizen) and sister are teachers. My sister teaches in Africa and wife in the US. We applied for a tourism visa for her to come visit during this summer break but got turned down in less than a minute of the interview. This was after three hours of waiting to be interviewed. Reason for rejection was "No travel experience" base on a new US article. The interviewer did not open any of the supporting documents except the passport.

1. Is it legal for the US embassy (or any embassy) to reject a visa base on "no travel experience"? It's like saying you can't get a learner's permit to learn how to drive because you have no driving experience.
2. If it's legal, shouldn't there be a notice on the visa application page of such provision?
3. Currently, the denial can not be appealed which doesn't sound American so we would like to know if any of you have experienced this issue and how you dealt with it.

The goal is to get her here by end of May and leave early-mid September. She has documents showing she has been approved for leave early part of the school semester but of course they never look at the documents. It appears they allowing people to apply when they know 98% of them have no traveling experience and yet no one will inform them of this requirement when paying for the visa or applying for it. Can you imagine paying to go see iphone/android products in a store and once you find a product you want to buy they ask if you have previously owned iphone/android and you say no. They then come back and say you can't buy it. That is illegal? I will appreciate any help. Thanks.

[peace999]

actually they give it to you as a privilege ( like they are doing you a favour) not as your right. You cannot appeal
or anything like an immigrant visa.

no prior travel was just one reason they gave her because they had to tell her something why she was being denied.

Actually, it is all about 214b ( not convinced she will return) because of several reasons. They read all the info on the form
that was required for the decision.

Is she single or married?
what was the purpose she wrote?
Was she traveling alone?
What was the duration she wrote?
what did she write Who was funding the trip?
does she have any family in africa?
Is she an african national or a migrant from another country?

[raghvi]

In addition, having a US citizen sister raises eyebrows for the Consulate officer as to the surety of whether she will return back or not. They would need concrete evidence, such as a strong job, strong family ties etc. to get convinced that she would return back.

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[PaaKor]

Thanks for the replies.

She is single
She wrote for tourism
She was traveling alone
She wrote 4 months due to break and had a letter from head mistress confirming she be on leave until mid September
She wrote my wife and I were going to sponsor her
She's an African and I am green card holder. My wife is a citizen.

So since there wasn't an opportunity for her to be interviewed she could not have proven any ties. Also, I understand it's a favor they are granting her to visit but don't you think if she paid to receive an interview then she should have received one? Would love to see your opinion. Thanks

[peace999]

people commonly abuse their visitor visa ( do not return home) hence they have this strict policy.

ties are mostly assessed from the
DS 160 form you complete , if the form shows favorable answers they can ask more questions or look at an occasional document.

In her case all these factors combined brought her the denial;

- single marital status( no spouse to return home to) ,
-traveling alone raises suspicion she may have other agenda(better if she showed travel with a family member like a parent),
- dependence on you for funding the trip( she should have shown self funding rather than your sponsorship),
-long stay of 4 months and
-sister as a US citizen (there is someone to support her in US )

[PaaKor]

Thanks again. I'm amazed they don't even give a person a chance to be interviewed to prove she will come back. Will it be better if my wife puts in a green card application for her so she can come and go at any time? Any idea how long that usually takes?

[peace999]

green card apps for siblings of US citizens takes more than 10 years ; there is a small quota per year.
if she has a degree over a bachelor's like a masters , you guys can find an employer for her that will file an employment based green card application for her under EB2. that will take about a year or so.

But remember after she gets her Green card , she will have to maintain residence in US, live in US for more months than abroad each year.