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Hello,
[My post is a little long; please bear with me. I thank you for your time]
I am an United States citizen and my mother is a citizen of India residing in
Chennai. She wishes to visit me and would like to make a trip to the United States some time in 2009. She will need a nonimmigrant tourist visa (B2) for this.
Various people, including an immigration attorney and an USCIS officer, have advised us that, since I am a citizen, any nonimmigrant visa application made
by my mother at the Chennai Consulate will most likely be rejected. These people counseled us to abandon the nonimmigrant visa route altogether and start the green card application process for my mother so that she can enter the country as an immigrant.
My mother, however, has no intention of staying in the U.S. long-term and is
opposed to the idea of applying for a green card. She feels, justifiably so, that all she wants is to visit and a tourist visa is what she needs.
My question is this: if she explains clearly to the consular officer that even
though her son is an U.S. Citizen, she has no intention of immigrating, do you think there is a decent chance that her nonimmigrant visa application will be successful ? She is a widower and does not have fixed assets such as immovable property that are usually used to show ties to the home country. She stays with my sister who lives in Chennai and helps take care of my infant niece, as is customary in India.
There is one more point which needs to be mentioned: my mother previously held a 10 year multiple-entry B1 visa. During her last visit to the U.S., she accompanied my sister, who was in L1 status and working for a company in Indiana. Due to ignorance, she applied for an extension of stay citing care for my niece as the reason for requesting extension. She was unaware that such child care was considered employment under Section 8 C.F.R 214.1(e) of immigration law. Her application to extend her stay was denied and her B1 visa was automatically voided as per Section 222(g) of immigration law.
Grandparents taking care of grandchildren while the parents work is common in Indian society where the concept of daycare is frowned upon. She, being from a different culture, did not realize that such care was not permitted under the terms of her visa. It is a rather strange rule and even experts such as immigration lawyers had to look it up in a reference text.
It is worth noting that (1) she left as soon as she got application to extend stay was rejected and she in fact was out of status for only about 14 days. (2) She has visited the U.S. on two separate occasions before this, in 2002 and again in 2003.
In both instances, she did not violate any visa rules and promptly left after
staying for about 2 months.
Thank you for your time. I will be very grateful for any responses. I've been in the U.S. academic system for over 12 years and I can answer questions related to funding, F1 visas etc.
[My post is a little long; please bear with me. I thank you for your time]
I am an United States citizen and my mother is a citizen of India residing in
Chennai. She wishes to visit me and would like to make a trip to the United States some time in 2009. She will need a nonimmigrant tourist visa (B2) for this.
Various people, including an immigration attorney and an USCIS officer, have advised us that, since I am a citizen, any nonimmigrant visa application made
by my mother at the Chennai Consulate will most likely be rejected. These people counseled us to abandon the nonimmigrant visa route altogether and start the green card application process for my mother so that she can enter the country as an immigrant.
My mother, however, has no intention of staying in the U.S. long-term and is
opposed to the idea of applying for a green card. She feels, justifiably so, that all she wants is to visit and a tourist visa is what she needs.
My question is this: if she explains clearly to the consular officer that even
though her son is an U.S. Citizen, she has no intention of immigrating, do you think there is a decent chance that her nonimmigrant visa application will be successful ? She is a widower and does not have fixed assets such as immovable property that are usually used to show ties to the home country. She stays with my sister who lives in Chennai and helps take care of my infant niece, as is customary in India.
There is one more point which needs to be mentioned: my mother previously held a 10 year multiple-entry B1 visa. During her last visit to the U.S., she accompanied my sister, who was in L1 status and working for a company in Indiana. Due to ignorance, she applied for an extension of stay citing care for my niece as the reason for requesting extension. She was unaware that such child care was considered employment under Section 8 C.F.R 214.1(e) of immigration law. Her application to extend her stay was denied and her B1 visa was automatically voided as per Section 222(g) of immigration law.
Grandparents taking care of grandchildren while the parents work is common in Indian society where the concept of daycare is frowned upon. She, being from a different culture, did not realize that such care was not permitted under the terms of her visa. It is a rather strange rule and even experts such as immigration lawyers had to look it up in a reference text.
It is worth noting that (1) she left as soon as she got application to extend stay was rejected and she in fact was out of status for only about 14 days. (2) She has visited the U.S. on two separate occasions before this, in 2002 and again in 2003.
In both instances, she did not violate any visa rules and promptly left after
staying for about 2 months.
Thank you for your time. I will be very grateful for any responses. I've been in the U.S. academic system for over 12 years and I can answer questions related to funding, F1 visas etc.
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