B-1 For Recent Chinese Graduate

• Ju has only just graduated from college, meaning she could be considered under-qualified for the B-1 Business Visa
• Despite having never traveled abroad, the company is asking her to lead negotiations overseas, which could be seen as hard to believe
• Ju needs to prove that she has strong ties to China but in reality, she doesn’t have a definitive motivation to return home
• Ju’s company originally intended to send four of her colleagues to the U.S. but three of the four were refused entry

BACKGROUND

Fresh out of college, Ju was ready to take on the world. Like many of us, she wasn’t entirely certain what the future held for her, but she was determined to succeed. Ju was a hard worker and a diligent student, always sacrificing her Friday nights and weekend hours to homework and unsolicited studying. Her vigilant effort came with its hardships and its rewards; on one hand, Ju had few very close friends and had very little time for dating. But on the bright side, Ju had been offered a Sales Manager position at an up-and-coming foreign trade company.

Her new place of employment was growing fast; they had recently launched a website for their clothing store and orders came in faster than any of them expected. Most of the orders were coming from the United States so it was important for the company to make relationships with their America-based retailers. They wanted to send some of their managers to the states to ingratiate themselves with their new partners. They went around to all of their best new Sales Managers and asked if they would be willing to be an envoy for them overseas. Ju was eager to prove herself and to cement her place in the company, so of course, she agreed, although she didn’t realize just how hard it would be to get the business visa she needed just to arrive there. In fact, three of her other colleagues who tried were already denied. Because of this, she was worried if her colleagues were denied, how would she ever get her case approved? She did not know where to start until she found Tsang & Associates.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

When Ju first approached Tsang and Associates, we prepared her for the worst. To be eligible for a B-1 Temporary Business Visa, she would have to demonstrate that she had “binding ties” to her homeland of China, but unfortunately, Ju didn’t have much at all back home. Her dedication to her schoolwork and her recent entry into the workforce meant she had no property, no significant other, no children, no expensive possessions, and few important relationships outside of her work and family. She would also need to prove to the USCIS that she was an integral part of her company that needed her to travel abroad on the company’s behalf, which some would find hard to believe since she was a new hire with little work experience.

Ju would have to go through a difficult interview process that would prod into every tiny suspicion. As a young, single woman with few ties back home, agents might think that she is coming to the U.S. to find an American to marry, resulting in her permanent residence. Seeing that she’s new to the company, they might suspect that Ju is not actually performing any duties of importance for them but just some rudimentary errands. Lastly, with a B-1 visa, Ju would not be allowed to legally work in the U.S. and with the company’s many new locations and branches opening in the States, she could be suspected of working at one of these stores when she isn’t supposed to be.

The very idea of doing a full interview about her trip filled Ju with anxiety. She didn’t speak English at all and she had never traveled abroad let alone negotiated deals with retailers overseas. She didn’t really know what she was doing, like many of us, she was just figuring it out as she went along, but still, she was determined to succeed. With the help of Tsang and Associates, we created a detailed three-pronged approach to combat the above-mentioned suspicions by helping her pump up her business acumen, telling her how to strengthen her ties back home, and creating an in-depth schedule to show USCIS that she had no time to create ties to the U.S.

Lastly, Tsang and Associates prepared a detailed document that covered any questions that the consulate officer could ask Ju in her final interview. One small misstep and she could be denied like her other colleagues. Ju did what she does best: study. She read and re-read the document over and over. On the train, on her way to the Guangzhou Consulate, she reviewed the document over and over, preparing for her first big test since graduation. If she could pass this, then she was ready to face the world.

OUTCOME

The consulate officer was strict and grilled Ju for two hours. He never veered off-topic and always kept his questions pertinent to her work, travel and home life. Ju stuck strongly to the points that Tsang and Associates prepared for her. She repeated the points in her head like a mantra; “temporary visit”, “I’m a permanent employee in China”, “I have strong financial and career ties in China” and “mere suspicion is not a reason for refusal”.

If it’s one thing we know about Ju, it’s that she knows how to pass a test. An excellent student, now an excellent Sales Manager, Ju was approved on the spot for her B-1 Visa. She’s currently visiting the U.S., on a three-month tour of her company’s retailers. When she returns to China, she’ll be an amazing Sales Manager she was destined to be, ready to take on the world.