My Divorce From Argentina

[earlyretirement]

@ Early Retirement,

I agree with 99% of your comments on this forum. I find us quiet in sync with our views. But pardon me, I beg to disagree here with this view point.

People from 3rd world countries face lot of backlash at embassies for visas irrespective of their financial status, marital status ( to a first world country person) etc. I have spent lot of time living in third world countries in Asia, Africa and South AMerica....and more often than not the visa application is rejected. Only lucky few get visas. Its almost like a lottery.

Hey Ceviche,

Yes, I agree with your posts as well. I'm well aware that most people from poor third world countries are often rejected for tourist visas to the USA.

But do you actually know anyone that has been married several years to someone and been rejected for a tourist visa? I guess that is the point I'm getting at.

Does anyone know people in this situation where they have been married for many years and been rejected for a simple tourist visa?

 

[PhilipDT]

Hey Ceviche,

Yes, I agree with your posts as well. I'm well aware that most people from poor third world countries are often rejected for tourist visas to the USA.

But do you actually know anyone that has been married several years to someone and been rejected for a tourist visa? I guess that is the point I'm getting at.

Does anyone know people in this situation where they have been married for many years and been rejected for a simple tourist visa?

I don't know anyone other than El Queso either but it still doesn't surprise me. Marriage just proves commitment to your spouse and not even all that much by itself. What El Queso's wife needs to prove is commitment to Argentina which she doesn't really have. The majority of her family is in paraguay, so thats out. She can't prove that she's worked in argentina because she's in negro; I doubt though, that having her as a monotribusta paying taxes will make any difference. In the end her work is something she could have done in paraguay for less and something she could do in the USA for more.

My advice would be for her to get her name on the title of a piece of property and maybe enroll in a degree program at one of the local universities. That'd be a bit of a start to prove ties to Argentina.

 

[earlyretirement]

I don't know anyone other than El Queso either .

OK..that's the point I'm getting at. I'm not denying that most people from developing or third world countries will typically get rejected for a tourist visa if they have no ties to the country.

But there is a big difference between being married for 5 years to someone (even considering they don't have many ties on paper) vs. someone that isn't married or engaged.

I mean let's be honest. Any reasonable person is going to assume after 5 years of being married, it's most likely very clear this wasn't some quickie "marriage of convenience" to get a green card.

That's the point I'm making.

Maybe it's a situation of ElQueso not showing enough documentation or something but like I mentioned, I personally know several people that were in a similar situation of not having any ties to the country yet still getting a tourist visa to visit the USA.

However there was a lot of documentation, bank statements, proof of income from the spouse, and photographs, etc.

 

[Ceviche]

[quote name='Don'tMindMe']
I am sad to say that I'm not in the least bit surprised that your wife was not granted a tourist visa. I am a little surprised that you thought she'd get it, actually. Because no, marriage does not make a difference. She had nothing to show that she was tied to living in Argentina. If anything, the fact that you were supporting her and paying rent and her sister's tuition might have just made her look like an opportunist. And earlier you said that she did everything 100% legal to immigrate to and have a life in Argentina. Well, if she was working en negro, that's not entirely true. Because now, unfortunately, she doesn't have the years of work records to prove her case. Her only roots in Argentina are financed by you, her American husband. I don't think it matters whether you plan to stay in Argentina or not, since they have told you that the two of you being married makes no difference in her application. I wonder if showing your financial status did more harm than good, I guess is my point. As unfair and unkind as it may be, the two of you are going to get a lot of skepticism thrown at you from the officials due to the fact that she's young, poor and a Paraguayan immigrant, and you're older, considerably wealthier and American. If you were a government official who'd seen it all, what would you think? It does not look good on paper, and that's all they care about. They think she's gonna drop you like a hot potato as soon as she lands, to put it bluntly. It would not be the first time in the history of U.S. immigration, that's for sure. [/QUOTE]

@ EarlyRetirement

Few days ago, this member @Dontmindme made this comment above.

This is EXACTLY the reason why she did not get the visa as explained by @Dontmindme.

The embassy guys are EXTREMELY cautious, when issuing visas,

 

[allcraz]

Yeah, but how many people do you have that are US citizens that have been married 5 YEARS and still had their spouse rejected for a tourist visa??? I one only one know. ElQueso.

I agree with recently married people maybe having a problem but never heard of someone married so long being rejected for a tourist visa. Heck, I've met even just engaged people getting a tourist visa for their significant other even with one case where the guy had no assets and was working mostly in black.

The thing is, I don't know anyone who has actually used marriage as a reason to get a tourist visa. I have actually heard people warn against it for this very reason. When my husband goes for his visa, he does not mention the fact that he is married to an American. He shows his paperwork as an Argentine who wants to go to the States, not an Argentine married to an American who wants to go to the States. Not sure what other people's experiences have been, but I have always been warned against mentioning relationships.

 

[nicoenarg]

No one is rejected their visa BASED on their marriage to a US citizen.

Usually people who are married to US citizens tend to think that because they're married to a citizen, they should have an easier time obtaining a visa, so they end up using that as a "reason" for the embassy to issue them a visa. Its a psychological thing.

Allcraz's husband will probably get the same result even if he did mention that he was married to a US citizen provided that he gave the same documentation as he would otherwise. The US embassy staff usually looks for things like: Will the individual, regardless of their marriage to a US citizen, come back to the country where they're applying for the visa from? Do they have funds enough to support them throughout their stay in the US, including healthcare so they don't end up being a burden on the State that they're visiting? Do their plans show their true intentions of wanting to visit the US as a tourist as opposed to the intent of "I just want to be there, you know?!" Do they have a strong reason to come back to their home country (country of citizenship or residence)?

Apart from the above (not exhaustive) pointers, the staff is also trained to read people. If the people answering the questions seem like they're lying or hiding then the staff has every right to deny the issuance of a visa.

I don't know what ElQueso's wife's case is but the fact that you're married to a US citizen has no bearing on your tourist visa application either positively or negatively.

Source: One of the US consulate of Dubai staff

EDIT: If your spouse comes from one of the countries where its harder to get a tourist visa to the US, it might be easier to sponsor your spouse for permanent residency. Otherwise your spouse has to jump through all the hoops the rest of the world has to.

 

[KarlaBA]

The consulate is nervous about your wife entering as a tourist and then applying for permanent residency while in the USA. If her permanent residency were to be rejected (for a variety of reasons), then it would cost the USCIS a lot of money and time to deport her.

The two best options for someone in your wife's situation are:
1) apply for permanent residency now from Argentina based on your US Citizenship.
or 2) apply as tourist without mention of being married to you.

 

[prunes61]

lamarque - I actually can't think of one business here (done legally) that would return that large a profit.

A temporary maid service or a glossy magazine dedicated to real estate sales.

To cut long story short - She got divorced from him, court entitled her to a hefty alimony, gave her his house! And you know what she told the guy, why she did all this?! She told him " I married you because this was exactly what my perfectly planned aim was!"

2 words. Prenuptial agreement.

 

[nicoenarg]

A temporary maid service or a glossy magazine dedicated to real estate sales.

2 words. Prenuptial agreement.

I maybe a little off on this but my understanding is that the concept of prenups did not exist in Argentina up until very recently.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

Being married to an American and trying to get a tourist visa results in an immediate denial of the request. I went through this with my wife. She got multiple visas before we were married. After marriage, she had to wait for the spouse visa.