# My US tourist visa application is rejected because my of short stay in Australia



## manny0606 (Mar 31, 2012)

Hi,

I am an Indian citizen living in Australia since August'2014. I came to Australia after I got my Permanent Resident and found a job in Sydney. I am working in an IT firm since Sept'2014. I planned to visit my cousin in the month of July'2015 and I applied for US tourist visa two weeks back and got an appointment today (30'Mar'2015) in US consulate located in Martin Place, Sydney.

This was my first ever visa interview in an US consulate and I was confident that I will get my tourist visa application approved as I am a permanent resident of Australia and I have a well paid job here to support my travel expense. Everything I have filled in my application and I had all my supporting documents with me during the interview.

The interviewer asked my purpose of travel and who is there to visit. I told him that I'm going as a tourist to visit my cousin in Maryland. He then asked my job designation and the company I work in. and how long i want to stay there. Then he asked how long I live in Australia. I told him 8 months. Then he was doing something in his computer for a minute and gave me a print out and said he is not allowing me this time as I have a very short period of stay in Australia and i need to re-apply. I asked him how long he is expecting me to stay in Australia to apply again for the US tourist visa. He said there is no particular time period he can specify now but I can apply anytime again, but today's decision is my application is refused.

I was in a shock coz I had never thought that my application would be rejected as I have provided all the genuine details. I got frustrated and I didn't know what to ask him further. Then I came out and started reading the paper he handed over to me. It is mentioned in that sheet something like "You have not demonstrated the ties to compel you to return to your home country after your visit to the US". But he said I was not allowed as I stay in Australia for a short period of time. He did not ask if I have any supporting documents. He just asked my passport and I was not aware that I can show him the supporting documents that will help my application. I had all the supporting documents like my payslips, a letter from employer and my cousin's green card photo copy and I didn't have the chance to show him those documents. As he just said my period of stay in Australia is not enough I couldn't think of something else to convince him by showing a proof that I will continue to live in Australia. I was totally blank.

Is there something like "a specified time period" I should stay in Australia to get eligible for US tourist visa? Please help me understand what could be wrong.


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## chafid (Apr 6, 2015)

Hi Manny, I'm registering to the forum to ask the same question as you. I got a 2 year contract to work at a telco company in Mexico City, and have live here for a few weeks. I went to Mexico using the Europe route since the US route requires me to have a US visa. Since I don't have much time, I'm planning to apply for US visa in Mexico. I've plan on visiting to my home country in 4 months time, and return to Mexico through US route this time. Also I have a relative in US that I want to visit later. 

However, according to my friend experience, most people who arrived in Mexico less that 6 months usually got their US tourist visa application rejected. The best that I can do is applying for a transit visa which I can only use to travel between airports. If I want to visit my relative in US later, I have to apply to a tourist visa. Which is fine but it's a bit annoying to cough up visa fee twice. But in your case it seems a bit harsh since you already working and living in Australia for about 8 months. My friend said that the visa application is a bit of a gamble. It very much depends on the interviewer personal judgement. He simply may doesn't think you stay long enough in Oz, but if you got another interviewer he may think that you've stayed long enough to get a visa. My friend got lucky. He was in doubt whether he lived long enough in Mexico (1 year) to warrant a tourist visa, so he apply for the transit visa. However, it turns out the interviewer was a nice man, and he gave him tourist visa without much questions.

If you want, you may apply again, and pray that you get a friendlier interviewer this time. Good luck.


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