# Spouse USA visit VISA



## Phil_expat (Jan 3, 2011)

Two of my friends want to visit the USA with their wife and children. Only a visit so their family in the Philippines and their USA family can meet each other. Both of them are having lots of troubles, seem a visitor’s visa is VERY hard to get. Has anyone had any success, any suggestions?


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## cvgtpc1 (Jul 28, 2012)

I've tried three times to simply get my mother-in-law to the US to see new grandkids and denied each time and loss application fees each time. If they can prove they have no reason to stay in the US....a home with title, huge peso bank acct, they might be successful. Never know until you try unfortunately.

On my flights over you see pinoy families coming back from Disney World, how did they get their tourist visa? No idea how they rate and my nanay doesn't....

If you can handle PI movies there's one called You Are the One with Sam Milby, he's the tourist visa issuer at the US Embassy, cute girl is applying, and the hijinks ensue haha. It's actually a very cute movie. Lots of english so easy to know what's going on.


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## Phil_expat (Jan 3, 2011)

One of my friends owns a home in the Philippines and a back account but was still denied. My doctor has a very successful business in the Philippines and do visit the USA a lot.


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## jon1 (Mar 18, 2012)

I am in a similar situation but no kids. This is what we did so that my wife was able to obtain a 10 Year Tourist Visa;

Step 1
Get her Philippine passport in her married name
Requirements;
NSO Certified copy of Marriage Certificate
CFO brief (Married to Foreign Spouse) in Manila

Step 2
Copies of any property titles
Any employment record
Or
Letter from college stating she was enrolled in curriculum

Step 3
Apply online for Visa (DS160)
Pay application fee at BPI
Wait until next day for payment to be processed in DOS System, then schedule appointment

Step 4 – Appointment Day
Bring certified copy of bank statement
Sponsorship letter from US Spouse requesting a Tourist Visa for your Philippine Spouse (with copy of US Spouse’s Passport Bio Page attached) 
NSO Marriage Certificate
Philippine Passport
Copy of any property titles
Any old Philippine passports documenting foreign travel
Bank Passbook
DS160 confirmation printout
Appointment confirmation printout
Appointment payment receipt


From what I have observed, it is very hard to bring children with you for an initial Visa approval, especially if they are older (teens). Of course everyone’s situation is not the same and your mileage may vary. We just accomplished this, this last week and she was approved her first try. It looked to me that about 75-80% of applicants were approved. If you go with her to the US Consulate, you will not be allowed to go into the Immigration section where she will be interviewed. You can however sit inside the compound just outside of the Immigration section in the waiting area. It took my wife over 3 hours to go through the queue for her 2 minute interview (over 500 applicants and only 4 Consular officers interviewing).

Bottom line: She has to be able to prove why she will be coming back and not try to stay in the US once there.


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## jon1 (Mar 18, 2012)

Alibi edit (poor internet connection in the province at the moment).

The applicant will have to upload a 2x2 photo with her DS160 application. Retain the hard copy of the photo and bring with you to the interview. If approved they will need the photo. Also, if approved, they will take her Philippine passport for processing and send it via courier one week later to the delivery address provided on the DS160 application.


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## HondaGuy (Aug 6, 2012)

Congrats on your wife's tourist visa jon!


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## jon1 (Mar 18, 2012)

Thanks HondaGuy!


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

I have a US friend married to a Thai and he has tried sevral times to get her into USA with no luck. She owns substantial property in her name ( he bought it for her as in Thailand like PI foriegners cannot own real property. 

However getting your kids ( assuming kids are yours not hers) should not be an issue as the kids are Americans by virtue of having an American father. I did read that the US embassy requires parental DNA tests though.

Another US friend married to a Thai adopted a kid and had to take him to the US to claim citizanship and get a US passport. No real hassles once he proved that the kid was adopted legeally under Thai law.


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## jon1 (Mar 18, 2012)

Here are some key observations that my wife made;

Be short and concise with your answers. She heard several applicants being told "just answer only what you have been asked". The interview is brief and they do not need to hear your life's history. Act like you are in court.

My wife had all of the above documentation with her and produced only what was asked for. Again time is of essence.

Finally, she was asked if I was going to petition her for citizenship. She said no. The Consular Officer asked why? She said that she doesn't want to live in the US as it's too expensive. She just wanted to visit to sight see and meet family/friends. 

It also helped that we attached the sponsorship letter to the front of my bio page copy. The Consular Officer wanted to see my passport when told that she was married to a US Citizen. *So I was able to give my pitch to them (without physically being there) requesting that she be granted a tourist visa. Again, my letter was short (maybe 5 or 6 sentences) reflecting an understanding to the Interview that time is of the essence. *

On what Manitoba was saying about kids. Yes kids with US Citizenship (yours) should not be an issue as they would hold a US passport. I was referring to primarily all pinoy families (what I observed and also an account from a close filipino friend). The DOS may request a DNA test if it appears that the kid is not yours genetically. If you are white and the baby is obviously mixed they will not request a DNA test in most cases.

If depositing money into your wife's account to show she has financial capability, put several months worth of budget in there. That way if asked where she got the money without a job, she can say that "my husband deposits it there for our monthly expenses and I run the household budget". I have also heard stories of Expats depositing $20,000 or more into pinay accounts just before the interview and the application being denied. Large amounts of money raises the interviewer's suspicions.

Some of the other reasons for denial that I overheard that day were, no proof of land or home ownership (titles), no proof of work history or business ownership (but had money in the bank??) and no explanation of why they wanted to go to the US.

My wife was interviewed on a Tuesday and we received her Passport with the US Visa in it 10 days later in Subic. Also she was granted a B1(business)/B2(Tourist) visa even though she applied for the B2 only. Maybe it's automatic to get both??

It was nice to get some goodness from the State Department for a change.


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## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

The guy doing the interview is in a difficult position.

He will be the one blamed if he grants a visa to anyone and something happens. He will usually err on the side of his career safety. He can always say that the applicant was “shifty” so he denied the visa but if the applicant is granted and something happens its on him.

Sort of like the screeners are the airport.


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