Visa Refusal Rates - 70% are getting B type visas

Thanks for posting this. All too often people focus on the scare stories because they are the most sensational. Plenty of Dominicans get tourist visas- it's just not as sensational when they get them.

Mi esposo and I (filing for K-1) were told repeatedly by other gringos in the DR that the consulate was no longer issuing K-1 visas, that they will automatically deny you just to test you, that it takes over a year, etc. etc. Reality is we met all the requirements and got ours within 6 months. The majority of the couples that were there with us that day at the consulate got theirs too.

My wife must be blind

In the five hours she waited to be turned down she did not see one person get a tourist visa. At $165.00 per turn down they rake in the money. They asked her four nonsense questions half of which we already answered online. We had excellent DR connections, bank account, two cars, two houses, two small businesses and had evidence of support to her parents and we were leaving her three children in the DR who we also supported. This was for a two week visit to LA. They may claim different but they do not give out the tourist visas. The Dominicans who got these visas in the past got out and never came back. They dont want to say the visas are not given out!! I talked to the consul at length and all he could do was repeat that "in the opinion of the interviewer she was not eligible. I asked what we could do to be more eligible after listing off our long list of ties to the DR. His response was "I cannot tell you as its up to the interviewer. They give out only enough so that people cannot say that they do not give the visa. This has been my experience. I do know one person who got one after trying five times. Nothing changed but for no reason the fifth time was yes. Good Luck

zoomzx11 said:

In the five hours she waited to be turned down she did not see one person get a tourist visa. At $165.00 per turn down they rake in the money. They asked her four nonsense questions half of which we already answered online. We had excellent DR connections, bank account, two cars, two houses, two small businesses and had evidence of support to her parents and we were leaving her three children in the DR who we also supported. This was for a two week visit to LA. They may claim different but they do not give out the tourist visas. The Dominicans who got these visas in the past got out and never came back. They dont want to say the visas are not given out!! I talked to the consul at length and all he could do was repeat that "in the opinion of the interviewer she was not eligible. I asked what we could do to be more eligible after listing off our long list of ties to the DR. His response was "I cannot tell you as its up to the interviewer. They give out only enough so that people cannot say that they do not give the visa. This has been my experience. I do know one person who got one after trying five times. Nothing changed but for no reason the fifth time was yes. Good Luck

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My wife's cousin and his wife both got 10 years Tourist Visa, and their 4 children got 5 year tourist Visas one year later. Not rich people but not poor either. The two oldest girls had come to Canada before for summer school but other than that they hadn't applied previously. That was two years ago.

Interesting

Robert said:

Some may dispute the numbers, but unless you have other eviedence or "real" stats, it's very straight forward. As a Dominican, if you are economically solvent, have a job, can prove you will return, you have a very good chance of getting a visa.

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Interesting:

Mexico 11.1
Canada 57.1

I'm going to sleep better at night knowing we're doing a good job of keeping out all those undesirable Canadians trying to get in.

Meanwhile, all those hundreds of thousands (ok millions) of undocumented Mexicans just needed to do was ask?

Don't doubt the numbers, just curious as to how many total visas are requested from each country, as opposed to a percentage. I think that would help put it into perspective.

La Rubia said:

Interesting:

Mexico 11.1
Canada 57.1

I'm going to sleep better at night knowing we're doing a good job of keeping out all those undesirable Canadians trying to get in.

Meanwhile, all those hundreds of thousands (ok millions) of undocumented Mexicans just needed to do was ask?

Don't doubt the numbers, just curious as to how many total visas are requested from each country, as opposed to a percentage. I think that would help put it into perspective.

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Canadians don't need a Visa to go to the USA, we can go for 6 months at a time, or just bUy property and retire in the USA. TO WORK WE NEED A GREEN CARD.

windeguy said:

My PERSONAL experience after being in the US embassy and seeing thousands of people processed withe VERY FEW happy faces is the same as your wife's. Perhaps we cannot believe everything we read.

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Have you ever seen a Carnival game where the guy with the microphone tells you how many people are winning the Cupid Doll? This is the same thing. They are raking in tons of cash and giving out air.

Cold hard stats are always better and more reliable than emotional anecdotal experiences. Denying stats is a joke.

Robert said:

Going by the attached PDF from the US State Dept. In 2010, 31.2% of Dominicans had their B type visas applications denied. That means just under 70% are getting their travel/visiting visas.

Some may dispute the numbers, but unless you have other eviedence or "real" stats, it's very straight forward. As a Dominican, if you are economically solvent, have a job, can prove you will return, you have a very good chance of getting a visa.

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That is true, but the 31.2% is deceiving on the surface. The approval rate includes both the B1& B2 visa(s).

B-1 business- probably a small number that makes up that 70%.
B-2 medical treatment- another potentially small number.
B-2 tourist/pleasure- two types; the regular tourists (high refusal rates) and those US Resident Aliens (green card holders)- that did not actually reside in the US and improperly possess and use the green card as if it was a visa.

After the 9/11, USCIS began to clamp down on these "fake expats" and offered/traded 2, 5, 10 year visas for the green card. The approval rate includes this large, recurring group. Many have traded, thus avoiding numerous ?treks? to and long stays in US territories to avoid the losing ?La residencia? and the assurance of a "long term", easily granted B2 visa.

Statisticians use numbers and graphs that are somewhat easily manipulated to yield false impressions. They are often impressive to us, the average laymen, who would never critically analyze them, because we do not have access to the information to do so- who knows what the "real" numbers are?

La Rubia said:

Interesting:

Mexico 11.1
Canada 57.1

I'm going to sleep better at night knowing we're doing a good job of keeping out all those undesirable Canadians trying to get in.

Meanwhile, all those hundreds of thousands (ok millions) of undocumented Mexicans just needed to do was ask?

Don't doubt the numbers, just curious as to how many total visas are requested from each country, as opposed to a percentage. I think that would help put it into perspective.

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Well for the DR the quota is 20,000 visas a year. This without the renewals, the family reunification/marriage/k5/HB-1/etc... Visas. These are only B1 or B2.

That tells you that if the refusal rate is such and such, the number of approvals is exactly 20,000 per year. Do the math for the applicants therefore.

Approved: 20,000. How many make this number of successful seekers when 31.2% of applicants had their B type visas applications denied???

That's 20,000 which represent 68.9% of applicants, what's the figure for the 31.2%??????

Show me that the first world education paid off now...

I assume that we are addressing visitor privileges to the USA.

I am neither American or Dominican so I have no axe to grind here but from my experience with the new US visa system, I do not think that it is particularly biased towards a selected group of people. (Notwithstanding those countries the US considers 'Unfriendly").
I would imagine that with a correctly filled out application and with the necessary supporting documentation and some form of proof of attachment to the parent country all applications would be considered equally.

The website states that "all applicants for an entry visa should be treated the same as a potential immigrant" so documentary proof of subsequent intention to leave the US should be provided.(Family ties, property, financial stability, employment etc.).
The sponsor is required to state his/her responsibility in certain cases.

The US system does not deal in petty issues and if the criteria are met, the applicant will be granted some form of visa. B1 and B2 are practically indistinguishable as far as privileges go.

Scare and abberrant stories abound, and it is true that the US Consular section is filled to bursting point with applicants but correctly filled and supported paperwork will go through.

My husband is by no means poor. He is well-educated and speaks several languages. Despite several visits to Europe and other Caribbean and Latin American countries, he was consistently denied a U.S. visa. He then applied again last year and was finally awarded a 10-year visa. The process was confusing to us as nothing really had changed in our circumstances (we still had two cars, a house, were married, had good, well-paid jobs, etc.). He also has no family from the U.S., no ties there and no interest in living there whatsoever. So I do understand when people say that the process is like a lottery. I think once you're "through the door" so to speak (i.e. you go for a tourist visa renewal) then the process is pretty standard as long as you haven't overstayed your visa. Getting on that first rung of the visa ladder however is hard work...

There is no wriiten quota...

Robert said:

I would like to see a link to a page or something posted here that actually substantiates the 20,000 quota.

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but there may be an unofficial one.

Interestingly enough, all the people I know that applied for a B type visa were approved. And, they all said that while they were there awaiting their interview, they did not see any other approvals. Apparently it is easy to tell by reading peoples faces.

That having been said the percentages quoted probably include visa renewals which could skew the numbers greatly.

So while the approval figures may be accurate, I do not believe they are for persons seeking a Visa for the first time.


Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

I don't think there are visa quotas for visitors to the US but here are green card lottery quotas per country.

domilinguist said:

My husband is by no means poor. He is well-educated and speaks several languages. Despite several visits to Europe and other Caribbean and Latin American countries, he was consistently denied a U.S. visa. He then applied again last year and was finally awarded a 10-year visa. The process was confusing to us as nothing really had changed in our circumstances (we still had two cars, a house, were married, had good, well-paid jobs, etc.). He also has no family from the U.S., no ties there and no interest in living there whatsoever. So I do understand when people say that the process is like a lottery. I think once you're "through the door" so to speak (i.e. you go for a tourist visa renewal) then the process is pretty standard as long as you haven't overstayed your visa. Getting on that first rung of the visa ladder however is hard work...

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Did you change any of the paper work at all? Were you more diligent about each question and your supporting documents this time?

As the counsul pointed out (quoted in a much earlier post), the approval/denial is totally at the discretion of the interviewer.

In my previous work with immigration issues (all before September 11, 2001), interviewers were rather inconsistent. One would more leniently interpret the rules than another. Older male interviewers were usually more lenient. One agent explained that all INS agents began with border control and are taught to try to keep people out. When they began interviewing, they kept that mentality.

As I mentioned, this as all prior to the attacks on the World Trade Centers, and people who continue to work in immigration matters say that although the rules have become more stringent, discrepancy among interviewers continues to be a frustration.

I encourage people to keep this in mind when going to their interview. Also, remember that agents see a significant number of people each day. Your first impression is going to have a huge impact on your possibility for approval. Dress well, have all documents neatly organized and completely filled out, greet the interviewers in a respectful and friendly manner, and answer all questions clearly. For Heaven's sake, don't try to explain why your case is special and deserves more consideration than any other case. NEVER take children with you. These should all be common sense rules, but you'd be amazed how many people don't do this.

All this will not guarantee you a visa, but they will at least help your chances.

puryear270 said:

In my previous work with immigration issues (all before September 11, 2001), interviewers were rather inconsistent. One would more leniently interpret the rules than another. Older male interviewers were usually more lenient. One agent explained that all INS agents began with border control and are taught to try to keep people out. When they began interviewing, they kept that mentality.

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Unless I am mistaken, the American employees who interview at US consulates worldwide are foreign service officers, usually in their first overseas post. All of the 1st post FSOs I know started as consular officers, pre- and post-9/11. They are not INS (now ICE) agents.

puryear270;940206I encourage people to keep this in mind when going to their interview. Also said:

Your first impression is going to have a huge impact on your possibility for approval.[/B] Dress well, have all documents neatly organized and completely filled out, greet the interviewers in a respectful and friendly manner, and answer all questions clearly. For Heaven's sake, don't try to explain why your case is special and deserves more consideration than any other case. NEVER take children with you. These should all be common sense rules, but you'd be amazed how many people don't do this.

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I agree with your other advice. Being OVER-prepared and OVER-cautious is the way to go.

las2137 said:

Unless I am mistaken, the American employees who interview at US consulates worldwide are foreign service officers, usually in their first overseas post. All of the 1st post FSOs I know started as consular officers, pre- and post-9/11. They are not INS (now ICE) agents.

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You're absolutely correct. Consular agents work for State. INS used to work for Justice. INS responsibilities were divided into ICE, CIS, and CBP, and they all are under Homeland Security. My experience was always with INS agents who now are working in CIS.

My suspicion is that some of the training is similar, and they consider themselves the first line of defense in keeping out those who would enter the United States for fraudulent or nefarious reasons.

And for those who have no idea what we're talking about:
State: US Deptartment of State
Justice: US Deptartment of Justice
Homeland Security: US Department of Homeland Security, created after the 9/11 attacks, and includes some of the following:
ICE - Immigrations & Customs Enforcement
CIS - Citizenship & Immigration Services
CBP - Customs & Border Patrol
TSA - Transportation Security Administration

And one last piece of advice I should have mentioned: TURN YOUR CELL PHONE OFF WHEN ENTERING THE CONSULATE AND DO NOT TURN IT BACK ON UNTIL YOU EXIT.