US Tourist Visa for Spouse of US Citizen

[Vagrant Violet]

Hi, all...

My Argentine husband just got his new passport in the mail, and I am hoping that he will be able to get a tourist (B1/B2) visa so that he can travel with me to Ohio in the US to finally meet my family by the end of June (we´ve been married for 6 months and he hasn´t even met his suegros!).

I am concerned however, since people have told me that, because he is married to a US citizen, our relationship could be considered a liability, since this is a non-immigration visa, and also because it could be a motive for him to remain in the States if he likes it there.

On one hand, I know that we have a case, since he owns our apartment and has worked for the same company (belonging to his family) for 10+ yrs. However, he does not have a "recibo de sueldo" because he is a monotributista. He also traveled to the US two times in the 1990s as a teenager (to Disney and NYC/DC), but that was before everything changed.

For what it´s worth, I have a stable, en blanco job in Argentina, and my HR department told me that they can produce a certificate of employment for me to demonstrate my intentions to stay here.

I would ideally like to get the ball rolling ASAP with this paperwork, because I don´t know how long it might take. According to the US embassy website, I believe the required materials for his visa type would simply be a valid passport, previous passports, the fee, the photos, and the form with the biometric signature (http://photos.state.gov/libraries/argentina/48675/Cons PDFs/Required docs GSS new.pdf). I know that there have to be other documents that he could/should take with him (such as the deed to his apartment), but I did an internet search and wasn´t really able to find specific examples of other useful paperwork and documents. Moreover, I know that rules, regulations, and requirements for this type of thing are constantly changing.

Has anyone recently been in this situation before? Can anyone make any recommendations? Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[nikad]

I am married to a US citizen, when I got my tourist Visa a couple of years ago, the process was smooth, wasn't asked a lot of questions really and they gave me a visa good for 10 years. At the time I did not own property here and wasn't working for a company either. We just took some pictures of our wedding, which they didn't even look at.

 

[jimdepalermo]

I recommend he take anything and everything that might make a difference, including deeds, academic records and matriculaciones, monotributista inscriptions and payments, DDJJ, your employer's letter - use your imagination. They probably won't be looked at, but once he's in the interview it would be better to have documents at hand to demonstrate his "strong ties" to Argentina.

Consider writing a letter yourself explaining/demonstrating that you are a permanent resident here without strong ties to the US, with property/home in Argentina and none in the US.

Argentines I know who have been denied visas tended to treat the application process casually. Others with lesser qualifications who planned their interview well and took a fat carpeta to the consulate obtained visas.

 

[nikad]

I recommend he take anything and everything that might make a difference, including deeds, academic records and matriculaciones, monotributista inscriptions and payments, DDJJ, your employer's letter - use your imagination. They probably won't be looked at, but once he's in the interview it would be better to have documents at hand to demonstrate his "strong ties" to Argentina.

Consider writing a letter yourself explaining/demonstrating that you are a permanent resident here without strong ties to the US, with property/home in Argentina and none in the US.

Argentines I know who have been denied visas tended to treat the application process casually. Others with lesser qualifications who planned their interview well and took a fat carpeta to the consulate obtained visas.

Of course it might be better be safe than sorry, BUT as the husband of a US citizen he is already eligible for perm residency in the US, so really there is no need to show strong ties to Argentina, income, etc. If he simply wanted to emigrate he would start the Visa process for that purpose, so a tourist Visa should not be a problem at all.

 

[ben]

There absolutely have been cases where having a US spouse has been considered a liability. I have even heard of (unconfirmed) cases where people have been told point blank at the embassy that one cannot get the visa with a US spouse (which is not true). As far as the law is concerned, the issue is only that it is the applicant's responsibility to prove that he/she intends to leave the US, and having a US spouse makes it more probable that the person will stay, making it harder to prove the intention to leave.

Nikad's first comment, concerning her experience is encouraging. The second comment is flat out wrong; because the visa you are applying for is a B1/B2 visa, NOT an immigrant visa, the applicant absolutely has to prove that he/she will leave, including demonstrating a connection to their home country; indeed, as I explained, it is more important to do so in light of having a US spouse.