B-2 Visa for Vietnamese Woman with Prior Denial

• Applicant: Mrs. Pham
• Nationality: Vietnam
• Applying for: B2 Visitor Visa Application
• Challenges:
  • Establishing no intent to abandon country of origin.
  • Demonstrating strong social and economic ties to Vietnam.
  • Prior denials established precedent.

BACKGROUND

Mrs. Pham hoped to visit her husband and daughters for two weeks during the Chinese New Year, but she wasn’t optimistic. She lived in Vietnam, and her family resided in Seattle, Washington. The fifty-two-year-old woman had been turned down for her B-2 Visitor Visa application before, and it seemed that once Ms. Pham was in the system and marked for denial, she could never reverse their mindset. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers (CBP) always wanted her to provide a detailed agenda of her activities when she would attempt to come to the United States, but she could never make definitive plans because she didn’t know if she’d even be allowed into the country. She was stuck in a Catch-22. Fortunately, she turned to the immigration experts at Tsang and Associates.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

Tsang and Associates held a phone consultation with Mrs. Pham and laid out a strategy to resolve her visa issue. The team quickly and carefully drafted a letter to the Non-Immigrant Visa Section at the U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. As immigration experts, the firm recognized the inherent bias the CBP has for visitors from Third World countries. When income is so much more attractive in the U.S. and the standard of living much higher in comparison, there is a tendency for visitors from those impoverished regions to overstay their visa. Our team needed to demonstrate Mrs. Pham’s sincere intention to return to Vietnam after her two-week vacation.

The letter included exhibits establishing Mrs. Pham’s deep social and economic ties in Vietnam. She was born in Vietnam and did not possess any other nationality. Ms. Pham has extended family in Vietnam and would be unwilling to leave them permanently. She has financial commitments including owning a home in Ho Chi Minh City where Ms. Pham has lived for eight years and also owns multiple real estate properties in Vietnam. The letter established that she makes her living renting and managing those dwellings and earns $3,000 a month.

Mrs. Pham also produced her I-94 Form travel records proving she is a cosmopolitan traveler, has not overstayed her previous visits and has a consistent history of respect for the legal parameters of her visa requirements.

Mr. Pham, who lives in Seattle, wrote a signed affidavit explaining Mrs. Pham wouldn’t need to abandon Vietnam to see him because he’s retired and has the financial wherewithal to fly back and forth to Vietnam. He also confirmed his wife had sufficient funds to pay for her expenses and that she would be staying with him.

OUTCOME

The strategy devised by Tsang and Associates worked as anticipated. Because of the carefully planned letter, Mrs. Pham had her B-2 Visitor visa approved in time to spend the important Chinese New Year holiday with her husband and two daughters. Tsang and Associates is honored to have played a vital role in making her and her family’s special moments possible.