IMMIGRANT VISA DENIALS AT THE US CONSULATE IN SAIGON

Two years ago, the US Consulate in Saigon reported that about one third of all spouse and fiancée cases were denied at the interview. After a recent study of RMI cases, we were very pleased to find that during the past three months, RMI had an 87% success rate for spouse and fiancée cases.

What are the most frequent reasons that the Consulate denies cases? There are mainly two categories of denials: the Consulate wants more evidence of a relationship, or, some documents were missing at the time of the interview. 

When consular officers are suspicious about a relationship, they don’t spend a lot of time questioning the applicant at the interview. Instead, the easiest thing for them to do is deny the case and ask for additional evidence. In a typical denied case, the Consulate asks for a Timeline of the relationship. Because of the high incidence of attempted fraud in Saigon, the Consulate also tries to find out if the relationship was arranged with financial consideration. That is why they often ask for a list of the wife’s relatives in America, or a list of all of the people the sponsor has lived with during the past ten years.

Some cases are not approved just because certain documents were not available at the time of the interview. For example, some applicants might forget to bring passport photos or current police clearance. If the medical exam results are not available or if they have expired, then the case will also be denied. Other applicants were denied because they needed to update documents for the Affidavit of Support. These cases could have been approved at interview if the applicants had received some good pre-interview guidance. That is why we have two caseworkers in our Saigon office who spend all of their time making sure the applicants have all the documents needed for the interview.

When the Consulate denies a case, they give the applicant a date to submit additional evidence or required documents. It is important to submit the items on the date that is given by the Consulate. It takes the Consulate at least three to six months to review denied cases.

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Q.1. Besides the usual documents, what else should applicants have ready at the interview?
A.1. Based on our study of the interview results, we recommend that spouse and fiancée applicants come to the interview with a Timeline of the relationship, a list of the applicant’s relatives in the US, and information about the sponsor’s residence during the past ten years. In addition to these, the applicants must have a thorough knowledge of the sponsor’s life in the U.S., including his work, his living arrangements, his city of residence, and his relatives in the US.

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Q.2. The Consulate says they will return my wife’s petition to CIS in American for review. I think it will take CIS a long time to look at my file. What can I do?
A.2. The Consulate is required to give you one year after the interview for you to submit additional evidence. If your wife’s petition is still in Saigon, you should ask the Consulate to keep it until you submit more evidence or explanations.
 
ROBERT MULLINS INTERNATIONAL www.rmiodp.com 
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