USA Tourist Visa from Ukraine

[Picasso1]

My fiance and I have been struggling to get tourist visas for her Ukrainian Mother and Brother. They have been denied in 2011 basically from understanding at that time my fiances English wasn't sufficient to fill out the paperwork fully, but just this week after extensive work they have been denied once more without reason other than to "keep trying". Its a very long and expensive process to keep trying, They are 12hr train ride from the embassy and with all the outrageous visa and interview fees it costs around 600usd which for them is a months salary.


At this point im looking for some advice from the community here. Our life has kind of stopped with the potential war in the country has left us in a hard place. The part of the country where they are from will probably be Russia very soon. Which will make it nearly impossible for me to get to being a US citizen and then of course my fiance wont entirely want to claim US citizenship if she has to go through a song and dance to go home and see her family and friends.

Being told by many Ukrainians that the US embassy's over there are near corrupt and the chances of anyone even getting a tourist visa is near impossible. This most recent time I stepped in and verified that all the paperwork was correct and that they had every slip of paper they could possibly even use to prove there intentions. (the officer didnt even look at the papers) I feel like its a guessing game with this embassy over there. They only respond "try again" but as far as i see we did everything as requested and nothing will change from now till the next time... Its frustrating to even think about it.


advice?
Keep trying and probably get rejected again?
Is there ways to waive the visa fees? I meen spending 1200$ for a 2 second no surely is a great feeling.

[peace999]

your post is not very clear;

*You and your fiancee ; are you in US and on what visas?

*what does your fiancee's brother do in ukraine and what is his income ? is he married?
*what about her dad?
*What is the purpose of visit they wrote on the form?
*What is the druation of visit they wrote on the form?
*What did they write about who is paying for the trip?
*What income did they write on the form?

[Picasso1]

Reply to Peace999

*You and your fiancee ; are you in US and on what visas?
Im a US citizen from ND she is from Ukraine here on a green card.
*what does your fiancee's brother do in ukraine and what is his income ? is he married?
Her mother works for Motor Sich in financial dept for 20yr and makes really good money for the area im not sure exact. I would say 2500-3500 Hrv
*what about her dad? Dad works for motor sich as well runs the manufacturing side of things- he is not wanting a visa at this time he also makes good money
Her brother who also requests a tourist visa is a manager for moter sich once again running logistics for there rail transportation. 3000 Hrv salary he is 24yrs old he has property and vehicles registered under his name and is in year 4 of 5 of university.
*What is the purpose of visit they wrote on the form? Purpose to visit me and my fiance in lil small town north dakota.
*What is the druation of visit they wrote on the form? duration 1 month
*What did they write about who is paying for the trip? my fiance said that she and here mom/brother will split costs
*What income did they write on the form?
Her moms income was written on her moms application and same for the brothers. It was stated that we will all split costs.


In there interview they were both allowed to do it together (mom and brother) The officer sat sideways never looked at them and only asked questioned about my fiance. Nothing important was asked of them. No documents were looked at and it was all about 3 minutes for them both. There reasoning was because there wasn't sufficient proof that they will come back to Ukraine. Which was all in the documents that they failed to look at.

From what they are telling me the officer new the answers to the questions before he even asked.

We are worrying that this is because of my fiances past. She came here on a J1 student visa in 2007ish and ended up getting married. Shortly after ended up having a very messy divorce. From her family 80% of the 3 minute interview was directed towards her and her personal life. Im sure it looks like on paper that she came here and married for her green card. Which wasnt the case whats so ever.



Im wondering since me and her are not married yet that if I write a letter next time explaining I will sponsor them since i make a around 6k/monthly? I have read also that writing to senators and congressmen have helped, is this something to consider?

[peace999]

yes, your assessment seems right. Actually they make their decision based on what you write on the form and do their own checks before the interview.
Documents are rarely used for decision making.

Yes, your fiancee's past has a lot to do with it.She came on a J1 and did not return so they suspect others in the family will do the same.
Also your brother's young age and single status( I assume he is single) are negatives for a visitor visa.
they think with sister as a green card holder, he is not likely to return .


In future, I do not think your brother should apply again because his chances will be slim.

After you get married to her, not before, you can sponsor her parents for a visit.

I do not know much about senators/congressmen letters but officers have free will so they can choose to ignore them.

by the way, when did your fiancee get her green card?

[Picasso1]

Reply to Peace999

She got her green card after she got married. She hired a lawyer to sort out her status. I think because normally she would have to return home and be invited on k-1. They had a messy divorce this last year. She has 1.5 years left before she can file for citizenship i believe.

Yes. Thats my fear. Its going to be 3 years before she sees her family at the soonest. And now her family's home could end up being Russia very soon.

I had the same concerns about her brother. He is single. He has a fantastic job ( better than my us job go figure) and is 1-2yr from his 5yr degree. He has vehicles and property registered to him though.

They took the interview together though is that good or bad would you suggest that they take it separately next time? Would the current crisis over in the region affect their chances?

[peace999]

yes, the current crisis definitely has an effect. they look more closely at your ties to home country .

brother can succeed if married and showing personal funds for the trip, so he should not apply when single.

Parent(s) can still succeed but should apply when both of you are married and well settled.

She being alone , just out of a divorce, the officers think mother would not like to leave her daughter alone
and would stay with her.

[Picasso1]

Reply to Peace999

Alright thanks for the honest truth,

For another option. When we get married, settled, and she gets her citizenship. Can we file to reunite the family? Will the approve of her mom, dad, and brother?

[peace999]

once she gets her citizenship , she can sponsor her parents for permanent visa (green card) which they can get in a few months. She can sponsor her brother for
green card also, but that will take 10+ years.

[Picasso1]

Reply to Peace999

alright thanks for the advice on her parents. But surely there has to be easier methods for getting her brother either a green card or visa. What would you suggest?

Our main goal is for visitation purposes none of them want to even live here. But her brother being our age would love to spend time with us. He is our priority i would assume.

[peace999]

He can get a visitor visa if he gets married since he has good income.

Othewise, if he has a bachelor degree, you can try for a work visa (H1b) for him in US but he will have to leave his job in ukraine.

Also, green card is possible through an employer in US.

[SaraKate]

How to get a visa?

Hey. Me and my husband are planning to get married. However, we have different nationalities. He is from Poland and I am from Ukraine. The thing is, we want to move to America and we need to get a visa. How we could do that? First, we will visit Ukraine to my husband, because he has never seen my country. And then we will go to Poland to get married. so... how to get visa for both of us?

[nads18]

My parents can't get a tourist visa

Good afternoon. I need all the advice I can get as I am getting desperate.
Here is my story: I came to USA from Ukraine on j1 Visa (was doing my internship with a company for a year) in 2014. As things were getting messier in Ukraine (I'm from the south) I had to apply for asylum and my application was accepted I was in a status of asylum applicant for a while. I got my work authorization and legally worked. Meanwhile I met my future husband (us citizen) and we got married in 2016. My dad tried to get a Visa to come to the wedding, but got denied as the interviewer said there is no chance while I'm in asylum applicant status, but it will all change as I get my green card.
Our daughter was born in 2017 and the same year I got my green card (I was never granted asylum, my case never moved). All three of us went to Ukraine to visit my family and while we were there my father tried to get his Visa again. It got denied with no explanation what so ever, they barely even looked at the documents. The similar experience had my mom couple of days ago - Visa was denied (we invited her to come for 2 months for the birth of our second baby). Everytime we prepare the application, my husband is their sponsor (all expenses on us, provide employer letter, bank statements, our marriage certificate, letter from obgyn). My parents are retired, happily married, owned their own house, vehicle, another piece of property, they have no intention staying in the states. Is there anything we can do differently to get their visas approved? Or is my former asylum applicant status will chase me forever (or at least till I get my citizenship) with no chance for my parents to come visit?
Thank you for your time, I appreciate any help I can get.

[samuel1984]

My wife is Ukranian and We are relocating to Ukrain and hope someone can help or refer me to a reliable company. We are moving to Ukraine and would like to bring the majority of our items from our 5 bedrooms house in texas. We have no idea on what are the rules as far as bringing all of our personal belonging but we have done some research and if correct we are even allowed to bring our car:

We possibly won't bring our car but we like to bring all of our furniture to Ukraine We tried to find a reliable customs broker in the US or Odesa or Kiev who can help us with the customs clearance and delivery of our goods to our new home.
If you had a similar experience and can refer us to someone, please feel free to share the information. Your help is greatly appreciated!