Dear Attorney Gurfinkel:
I recently applied for a visitor’s visa and was denied. Before the
interview, I gathered and organized all my supporting documents, including bank
statements, land titles, my employer’s letter, children’s birth certificate,
etc. When I tried to offer these documents to the consul, he said that they were
not necessary.
How could the consul deny my tourist visa, without even looking at the
documents that I brought?
Very truly yours,
FJ
Dear FJ:
Whenever a person applies for a visitor’s visa, the consul has to quickly
size up and evaluate a person’s intent and intentions, to determine whether the
person has “immigrant intent”. The reason is that under US immigration law,
applicants for certain visas (such as visitor’s visas) are presumed to have the
intent to immigrate, unless they prove otherwise. To be eligible for a visitor’s
visa, a person must not have any intent to immigrate. Ordinarily, they must
demonstrate sufficient roots and ties to their home country, so that they have a
good reason to want to return. Such “roots and ties” could include a well-paying
job, immediate family members, property, etc in the Philippines.
I agree that the types of documents that you described can certainly
demonstrate roots and ties to the Philippines, and should certainly be brought
to the interview, in case they are requested. However, it is not always
necessary for a consul to review documents in order to make a decision on a visa
application for the following reasons, among others:
Sometimes documents are unreliable. Some people go to Recto Street and
“buy” bank statements, land titles, college degrees, business licenses,
employment letters/certifications, and the like. While you may say that your
documents are true and genuine, other people have submitted fake or altered
documents.
Financial documents may not necessarily prove that the person has no
“immigrant intent.” Even if a person owns property and has actual land titles,
but the property is barren, empty farm land in the province, owning such
property may not be a strong enough incentive to return to the Philippines.
Similarly, bank statements showing money in the bank could also be withdrawn
once the person is in America. In fact, some people are willing to leave behind
their property and family and remain in America.
The Embassy forms that you do submit already provide a lot of information
to the consuls. For example, the DS-160 (non-immigrant visa application form)
contains information about a person’s marital status, travel plans (such as the
purpose of the trip and who will pay for it), information about your immediate
family members in the US, present employment and monthly salary, such that the
consul can get a pretty good idea about a person just from the information on
the DS-160. (I know that in my office, when a person comes for an initial
consultation, they fill out an initial intake questionnaire. I know that I am
able to pretty much size up their situation from the information provided in the
questionnaire alone.)
The most important thing to remember is that even if the consul did not
look at your documents, he did interview you. He asked you questions, listened
to your answers and probably studied your body language—whether you hesitated in
answering relatively simple questions, fumbled around before answering a
question, or may have given an answer that showed that you are not eligible,
such as when asked if you would like to live or work in the US, you may have
responded “yes,” which affects your eligibility for a visitor visa. So visa
applicants should not be mad or angry if the consul did not review the
supporting documents that were brought. Often, based on the verbal interview –
there was no need for him to do so, to make a decision.