Tourist visa question

[jeanchris101]

Hi!

So here is our situation,

I am Canadian (29yrs old) my GF is 24yrs old, we have a baby together (1year) and have been together for a while. I pretty much live in DR the entire year and I have been there over the past 5-6 years.

I would like to visit the USA this summer for 2-3 weeks with them if possible, me and my baby not a problem since we both have our Canadian passport and citizenship (done in DR)but i'm wondering if we have a valid shot for her.

She doesn't have a house/business etc under her name. She does have a bank account with money in it for a while (around 10k usd), credit card with a bit of a cash flow etc but nothing too serious.

Currently she is not working but was studying over the past 2 years, she just had her diploma in the profession she was studying (kitchen/chef's) in one of the best school in Santo Domingo and she just started another course. No idea if this help at all, she speaks english, never have been married, jail or anything bad in general that could be a red flag for the USA. Also we are not married.


- Is there any chance that she get approves right now for a tourist visa?
- If she is married to me (Canadian) does that help to get a tourist visa or doesnt change anything at all?

[D-mo]

Hi!

So here is our situation,

I am Canadian (29yrs old) my GF is 24yrs old, we have a baby together (1year) and have been together for a while. I pretty much live in DR the entire year and I have been there over the past 5-6 years.

I would like to visit the USA this summer for 2-3 weeks with them if possible, me and my baby not a problem since we both have our Canadian passport and citizenship (done in DR)but i'm wondering if we have a valid shot for her.

She doesn't have a house/business etc under her name. She does have a bank account with money in it for a while (around 10k usd), credit card with a bit of a cash flow etc but nothing too serious.

Currently she is not working but was studying over the past 2 years, she just had her diploma in the profession she was studying (kitchen/chef's) in one of the best school in Santo Domingo and she just started another course. No idea if this help at all, she speaks english, never have been married, jail or anything bad in general that could be a red flag for the USA. Also we are not married.


- Is there any chance that she get approves right now for a tourist visa?
- If she is married to me (Canadian) does that help to get a tourist visa or doesnt change anything at all?

Hi Jeanchris,

Tourist visas from DR are a long shot in most cases. To help you understand better how the US visitor visa process is adjudicated; The petitioning intending visitor must prove without a doubt to the Consulate Officer that while visiting the US, there is no intent to stay, or overstay their tourist visa. I.E., no intent to come here and stay illegally or come here to try to find someone to help them commit visa fraud in some way (usually find someone to marry and try to adjust status to stay). This is why many visitor visas are shot down out of DR...AND the fact that visa fraud cases from Dominicans are very high, maybe one of the highest fraud rates in the world.

While it is certainly not illegal to find someone and fall in love while on vacation and decide to marry. It would be illegal to do that with the pre-tense of obtaining US residency.

 She is with you and you have a child together, but you're not married. If you guys WERE already married it would probably be a plus to her case, but getting hitched at this point to help the case, is probably a big red flag in a C.O's eyes. Another red flag to consider is just the thought of trying to get her into Canada without proper process VIA U.S. Soil. What I'm saying here doesn't mean that I think this would be your goal, but if the thought crossed the C.O.'s mind, you'd have to find a way to prove that it isn't the goal. Credit lines won't help out, those can be paid off quickly or just plain out left behind. A USD bank account could be construed as another red flag even though many Dominicans do have accounts like that for the purpose of exchange rates to make money.

She doesn't have much proof at all that she has ties to bring her back home as agreed. She actually has more to show that she would NOT necessarily stay in the U.S., but possibly flee to Canada with you once on U.S. soil. Remember, it doesn't mean it would happen, it's just the possibility of it that would cause a denial. These are some of the things that C.Os have to consider while adjudicating these types of cases. If the risk appears too great of a non-return, they have to deny.

Ofcourse, none of this means that they WOULD deny her. These are just possibilities of their reasoning for denial. The good thing is that the process is NOT terribly difficult nor expensive. And if she were denied, it doesn't mean she couldn't try again. I have many friends that have applied several times and eventually got approved and currently travel here to visit.

D-mo