Tourist Visa for your sweetheart: How I did it!

MrMike

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So they say it is extremely difficult to get a tourist visa for your Dominican wife, since the fact that she is married to a gringo makes her look right away like she is planning to go to the states and stay AND only about 5% of female applicants for tourist visas under the age of 40 get one. (The rest are banned from re-applying for 1 year)

This is what the attorneys will tell you, attorneys who want you to hire them to process a K class visa.

AND this is not a bad advice for most people, but for me, since I don't have any plans of moving to the states but WOULD like my wife to be able to travel with me in the event I do take a trip a tourist visa seemed like the most logical choice and for a change when dealing with government agencies logic won out.

Now I did have alot going in favor of her getting a visa and these are the things that helped:

* I have legal residency in the Dominican Republic.

* I own a business, legally registered in the DR with a RNC (tax ID) number . (I was not required to show proof of this, and would not have been able to on the spot in any case, but if I had known it would help I would have brought proof of ownership of my business)

*My passport entry and exit stamps clearly show I have been living in the DR for years, my visits to the US have been few and short.

One thing I thought was interesting is that they ran a credit check (Dominican credit check via Datacredito) on me right there in the consulate, and asked me about an old phone bill showing I owed 100 pesos that had been written off to bad debt by Orange. (I was unaware of it until then)
Supposedly if I had really bad credit in the DR my wife may have been denied a visa.

Another thing is that my wife had had a visa canceled about 5 years ago, when she tried to enter Puerto Rico on an invitation from a company that turned out to have a bad reputation wtih immigration, and though we were going through the motions of this application we had our hearts well prepared to be turned down. Supposedly having a visa cancelled in the past severely limits the chances of a tourist visa being granted, and we were tempted (fleetingly) to skip over that part of the application and hope it would escape notice, but instead were honest it looks like honesty is still the best policy.

We nearly lost our minds through nervousness waiting in line behind several hundred people almost ALL of whom were denied Visas but finally our efforts were rewarded when my wife was granted a 5-year multiple re-entry B1/B2 visa!
 

DianaC

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Honesty

MrMike said:
Another thing is that my wife had had a visa canceled about 5 years ago, when she tried to enter Puerto Rico on an invitation from a company that turned out to have a bad reputation wtih immigration, and though we were going through the motions of this application we had our hearts well prepared to be turned down. Supposedly having a visa cancelled in the past severely limits the chances of a tourist visa being granted, and we were tempted (fleetingly) to skip over that part of the application and hope it would escape notice, but instead were honest it looks like honesty is still the best policy.

We nearly lost our minds through nervousness waiting in line behind several hundred people almost ALL of whom were denied Visas but finally our efforts were rewarded when my wife was granted a 5-year multiple re-entry B1/B2 visa!


CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Honesty is always the best policy... especially when dealing with immigration (or anyone else whose job it is to determine when people are lying).
 

Cathwithac

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Sep 9, 2005
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Please Help!

My brother who lives in Bermuda recently married a gal from the Dominican Republic. The wedding was held in the DR. To get her to Bermuda to live with him as his wife, she needs a transit (flight tranfers in New York to Bermuda). She will only be in the US long enough to get on the plane to Bermuda but all of the sudden this is a problem. She can't get an appointment with the Embassy in DR until Jan 2006 and I can't get in touch with anymore in the US (where I live) to help me regarding DR issues. Can anyone help my brother? He has never been married until now (46 years old) and he can't even have his wife with him. What is up with that?
 

bob saunders

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Cathwithac said:
My brother who lives in Bermuda recently married a gal from the Dominican Republic. The wedding was held in the DR. To get her to Bermuda to live with him as his wife, she needs a transit (flight tranfers in New York to Bermuda). She will only be in the US long enough to get on the plane to Bermuda but all of the sudden this is a problem. She can't get an appointment with the Embassy in DR until Jan 2006 and I can't get in touch with anymore in the US (where I live) to help me regarding DR issues. Can anyone help my brother? He has never been married until now (46 years old) and he can't even have his wife with him. What is up with that?


There doesn't seem to be any airline that flys from another carribean island to Bermuda. If he has money he could always try a private charter(approx $2500 US ) http://www.bermuda-online.org/airlines.htm
 

MrMike

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I don't think there is anybody that can help.

There is no quick way to get a tourist visa, the US consulate exists almost exclusively for the purpose pf denying visas, not granting them.

I have been dealing with the consulate for some time now for various issues, and while my efforts have been ultimately successful, I am generally not pleased with the service my government offers it's own citizens.
 

rellosk

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Mar 18, 2002
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MrMike said:
... the US consulate exists almost exclusively for the purpose pf denying visas, not granting them.
It's strange to hear that from someone who actually was able to get a visa.

Remember, a large percent of the visa applications are for novios/novias of gringos/gringas that have fallen in love/lust. If a visitors visa was granted for each of those cases, there would be many more illegals in the US, due to overstaying their visitors visa.
 

rellosk

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Cathwithac said:
My brother who lives in Bermuda recently married a gal from the Dominican Republic. The wedding was held in the DR. To get her to Bermuda to live with him as his wife, she needs a transit (flight tranfers in New York to Bermuda). She will only be in the US long enough to get on the plane to Bermuda but all of the sudden this is a problem. She can't get an appointment with the Embassy in DR until Jan 2006 and I can't get in touch with anymore in the US (where I live) to help me regarding DR issues. Can anyone help my brother? He has never been married until now (46 years old) and he can't even have his wife with him. What is up with that?
There are flights that go through Canada, but I think you might have the same problems with needing a Canadian visa.
 

ricktoronto

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Cathwithac said:
My brother who lives in Bermuda recently married a gal from the Dominican Republic. The wedding was held in the DR. To get her to Bermuda to live with him as his wife, she needs a transit (flight tranfers in New York to Bermuda). She will only be in the US long enough to get on the plane to Bermuda but all of the sudden this is a problem. She can't get an appointment with the Embassy in DR until Jan 2006 and I can't get in touch with anymore in the US (where I live) to help me regarding DR issues. Can anyone help my brother? He has never been married until now (46 years old) and he can't even have his wife with him. What is up with that?


Start looking at options without needing a transit visa - so strike off Canada and the USA. The qualfications are the same as a tourist visa, e.g. they say no more often than not.

Panama or Cuba are options on Copa or Cubana. As are possibly non stop flights to UK or France or Madrid if they have sterile transit lounges that do not involve going through immigration formalities.

Look at the Bermuda aiport web site if there is one , and look for arrivals, then you know likely what countries have non stop flights - then see if you can get there from the DR without a visa. It seems just Gatwick has non stop arrivals and departures today - doubtful if there are non stop SDQ-Gatwick flights. Might be non stop via other ports as I mentioned.
 

Conchman

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DianaC said:
CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Honesty is always the best policy... especially when dealing with immigration (or anyone else whose job it is to determine when people are lying).


Actually, people who go the legal way usually get fu**ed with US Immigration (at least when it comes to getting green card). Often they have 'amnesty' to illegals so they reward illegal aliens with green cards while people who applied officially and legally get left in the dust.

I was denied US student visa renewal while doing a US college foreign exchange program in Australia and accused of using Australia as a 'back door' to get into the US. (Yeah like I would leave Orlando to go to Australia to get into the US). I was given a transit visa to go to The Bahamas instead and had to travel for 4 days to get there. When I arrived in The Bahamas I was told by the US Embassy that there was a mistake made in Australia by their staff. They didn't even apologize after it cost me 2 weeks vacation, 4 days flying (spent Christmas in the plane and in airport), 3 days on the phone, and $5,000.
 
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