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B-2 for girlfriend denied - Visiting boyfriend on F-1.
Hey guys,
After reading a lot of posts on how US immigration treats 'trip to the US to visit bf/gf' seem a tough deal, I wanted to share my instance to gather some insights from you experienced folks.
Boyfriend : Living in the US, currently on F-1 OPT, employed full-time. OPT expires in December 2017 after which he has to return or change his visa status
Girlfriend : Living in Germany, currently on student visa, enrolled in a Master's course, will graduate in late 2018.
We have been in a relationship for 3 years now and its tough to stay apart and that's why we wanted to meet up. So, I asked my gf to visit me in the US on B-2. We decided on a date and she took an appointment n it was a disaster waiting to happen. She was denied. We didn't research on how tough things were to get a B-2 visa and we under-prepared.
During the interview, my gf mentioned some wrong information about my visa status which made the Visa officer(VO) think that I am working illegally in the US. He denied the visa stating that I don't unaware about your bfs immigration status and I cannot give you a visa on that. What happened was, my gf mentioned that I am working Full-time on F-1 Visa, which sounds wrong. I am currently on an extension called Optional Practical Training(OPT), which gives you the right to work for 12 months after you graduate. So, my gf failed to mention this because she didn't know about all that part. I didn't tell her about it too. The VO thought that I was working illegally here and he can't send someone to the US to meet someone who is of illegal status.
Now, both of us are cognizant that what went wrong. I am on F-1 OPT, which is a non-immigrant visa, which is set to expire in Dec 2017. She is applying for B-2, which is given for 10 years for people from India. I have advised my gf to give it another shot with the right information and state that both of us will be on a visa which is set to expire. What do you guys think will happen this time? After reading about the general perception, I still doubt if these guys will grant her a visa especially now since she was denied a couple of days back. I want her to give it a shot again in a week and see if things don't go our way inspite of being clear and honest about everything.
As the purpose, she stated that she is going to visit her bf. Now, I cannot change this. Earlier, I did think that we can lie about something and get it easily but I advised my gf to not to lie and let's be honest since we are not doing anything wrong! She was planning to come here for 12 days and she was denied a visa for that. This is terrible and sad for the both of us. During the last interview, she didn't even mention anything about her plans after her MAster's in Germany, she plans to go back to India. I have the same case until something drastic happens! I am plannng to go back to India after my OPT date ends.
Please advise any thoughts/questions/presumptions/anything which can make things better for our situation.
Apologies for the long post.
After reading a lot of posts on how US immigration treats 'trip to the US to visit bf/gf' seem a tough deal, I wanted to share my instance to gather some insights from you experienced folks.
Boyfriend : Living in the US, currently on F-1 OPT, employed full-time. OPT expires in December 2017 after which he has to return or change his visa status
Girlfriend : Living in Germany, currently on student visa, enrolled in a Master's course, will graduate in late 2018.
We have been in a relationship for 3 years now and its tough to stay apart and that's why we wanted to meet up. So, I asked my gf to visit me in the US on B-2. We decided on a date and she took an appointment n it was a disaster waiting to happen. She was denied. We didn't research on how tough things were to get a B-2 visa and we under-prepared.
During the interview, my gf mentioned some wrong information about my visa status which made the Visa officer(VO) think that I am working illegally in the US. He denied the visa stating that I don't unaware about your bfs immigration status and I cannot give you a visa on that. What happened was, my gf mentioned that I am working Full-time on F-1 Visa, which sounds wrong. I am currently on an extension called Optional Practical Training(OPT), which gives you the right to work for 12 months after you graduate. So, my gf failed to mention this because she didn't know about all that part. I didn't tell her about it too. The VO thought that I was working illegally here and he can't send someone to the US to meet someone who is of illegal status.
Now, both of us are cognizant that what went wrong. I am on F-1 OPT, which is a non-immigrant visa, which is set to expire in Dec 2017. She is applying for B-2, which is given for 10 years for people from India. I have advised my gf to give it another shot with the right information and state that both of us will be on a visa which is set to expire. What do you guys think will happen this time? After reading about the general perception, I still doubt if these guys will grant her a visa especially now since she was denied a couple of days back. I want her to give it a shot again in a week and see if things don't go our way inspite of being clear and honest about everything.
As the purpose, she stated that she is going to visit her bf. Now, I cannot change this. Earlier, I did think that we can lie about something and get it easily but I advised my gf to not to lie and let's be honest since we are not doing anything wrong! She was planning to come here for 12 days and she was denied a visa for that. This is terrible and sad for the both of us. During the last interview, she didn't even mention anything about her plans after her MAster's in Germany, she plans to go back to India. I have the same case until something drastic happens! I am plannng to go back to India after my OPT date ends.
Please advise any thoughts/questions/presumptions/anything which can make things better for our situation.
Apologies for the long post.
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