US green card denied 8 years ago - can one travel to the US?
Discussion
long story short my wife who is a dutch citizen had a green card denied 8 years ago because her lawyer who turned out to be a crook did not supply appropriate paperwork
ive just completed the online visa waiver application and did disclose that a previous visa application has been denied
unsurprisingly the status of the application is now pending as i expect they are running their customary checks
if the visa waiver is not given then next step would be to go the consulate in london
has anyone been here before - any experiences good or bad?
would be good to know as ive just booked the flights for the family but we have a few months!
ive just completed the online visa waiver application and did disclose that a previous visa application has been denied
unsurprisingly the status of the application is now pending as i expect they are running their customary checks
if the visa waiver is not given then next step would be to go the consulate in london
has anyone been here before - any experiences good or bad?
would be good to know as ive just booked the flights for the family but we have a few months!
As long as she has no criminal convictions your wife should have no problems getting a US tourist visa.
Never been to the US consulate as a tourist ( having US nationality) but there is always a long line there, but no worse than the line for non EU arrivals at the airport.
Never been to the US consulate as a tourist ( having US nationality) but there is always a long line there, but no worse than the line for non EU arrivals at the airport.
Edited by santona1937 on Tuesday 31st December 22:26
You are about to enter a "Minefield", danger Zone!the crazy world of the US Gov't.
If your ESTA is denied,it is not possible to board the plane.So you lose your place/money ,the trav-agent probably will not refund your deposit if you try to cancel the booking (I lost £500 down payment) Failure to meet the requirements of ESTA are not grounds for refund (so they say?).YOUR next move is to contact US embassy Grovenor Square London and ask for an information package which will cost you $150 cash (no cheques allowed),this will enable you to make an appointment to interview later in the year. If you apply in March, your appointment will come through by about Sept (if your lucky)don't count on it thou.
When you finally show up for the interview be carefull because it does not work like that, if your time is listed as 3pm and you arrive at 2-30pm you will be told "we only let so many in first thing in the morning and then close the doors for the rest of the day , you will have to come back tomorrow and join the queue but make that early ,suggest 3-30am (come rain or sunshine) and if you don't get in come the next and the next day.believe me I did all of this and more and still got a refusal.
If your ESTA is denied,it is not possible to board the plane.So you lose your place/money ,the trav-agent probably will not refund your deposit if you try to cancel the booking (I lost £500 down payment) Failure to meet the requirements of ESTA are not grounds for refund (so they say?).YOUR next move is to contact US embassy Grovenor Square London and ask for an information package which will cost you $150 cash (no cheques allowed),this will enable you to make an appointment to interview later in the year. If you apply in March, your appointment will come through by about Sept (if your lucky)don't count on it thou.
When you finally show up for the interview be carefull because it does not work like that, if your time is listed as 3pm and you arrive at 2-30pm you will be told "we only let so many in first thing in the morning and then close the doors for the rest of the day , you will have to come back tomorrow and join the queue but make that early ,suggest 3-30am (come rain or sunshine) and if you don't get in come the next and the next day.believe me I did all of this and more and still got a refusal.
I went through the "green card" process in the late 90's (after getting married to an American and both of us living in the UK for 2 years before wanting to move to the US). Her getting a UK visa was a doddle!!
It took me 6 months to get it - if your application isn't perfect they WILL turn you away. Just make sure you follow the instructions for applying for a visa to the letter. Even things like a passport type photo can be cause for rejection if it's not exactly right.
Good luck!
It took me 6 months to get it - if your application isn't perfect they WILL turn you away. Just make sure you follow the instructions for applying for a visa to the letter. Even things like a passport type photo can be cause for rejection if it's not exactly right.
Good luck!
Try not to rely on immigration lawyers if you can possibly avoid it, lots of my friends/employees and business associates have experienced no end of problems relying on these charming guys, they never seem to be on top of their form ?. The information requested by the embassy is quite straight forward and can be submitted direct by yourself much quicker and cheaper. If you are certified married, ok, but if your only partners/co-hab you may need the assistance of her embassy to obtain approval by the US. The interviewers at the embassy can be very picky on the smallest detail and can take a age to resolve the case so be calm !!
yes i did wonder whether strictly speaking the green card qualifies as a visa but didnt dig deep enough. there is some language in the esta application that asks whether previous applications have been rejected but i think it specifically relates to visa applications.
not sure on the specifics re why the original application was denied but i fear its more to do with the unscrupulous lawyer than anything else. he was convicted and barred from practising for a series of similar dodgy dealings. my wife will need to track down the file.
in the next step i think she will need to call the consulate just to see what they say.
in the meantime ive cancelled the flights which is a shame as i got a great deal!
not sure on the specifics re why the original application was denied but i fear its more to do with the unscrupulous lawyer than anything else. he was convicted and barred from practising for a series of similar dodgy dealings. my wife will need to track down the file.
in the next step i think she will need to call the consulate just to see what they say.
in the meantime ive cancelled the flights which is a shame as i got a great deal!
If it's not a visa then she would probably have been eligible. The system will automatically spew out a "DENIED" message if you answer yes to any of the questions unfortunately. There is a way to get that "DENIED" fixed if it can be:
http://www.dhs.gov/one-stop-travelers-redress-proc...
http://www.dhs.gov/one-stop-travelers-redress-proc...
davepoth said:
If it's not a visa then she would probably have been eligible. The system will automatically spew out a "DENIED" message if you answer yes to any of the questions unfortunately. There is a way to get that "DENIED" fixed if it can be:
http://www.dhs.gov/one-stop-travelers-redress-proc...
This is what happened, I pretty much guarantee it.http://www.dhs.gov/one-stop-travelers-redress-proc...
You do not need to go to the consular in London. You can go to another one if you like. The web site will suggest otherwise but I have experience of going to other embassies to get visas. I went to Ottawa in Canada but others have been all over the world. It used to be the case that those in the US wanting to extend their visa could do so at a location in the US. They changed this meaning we had to leave the country. Originally, the US were insisting on returning back to you home country to do this but that is a massive pain in the balls for me. Especially because f the waiting times in London. There is a web site that has all the available appointment times on it for the various locations around the world and when Ottawa came up I booked it. For me I can drive there so not a nightmare and my alternative was Montreal.
In emergencies, you can call the location direct and ask to see them. It is possible to get next day appointments as long as you can show that it is an emergency. In the case of Ottawa, it was also possible to pick up my stamped passport the next day and travel to the US.
I have found all immigration officials to be very nice with the exception of 2 people. One in Canada and one in an NYC jail I had a brief stay in. (but that's a story for another thread)
In emergencies, you can call the location direct and ask to see them. It is possible to get next day appointments as long as you can show that it is an emergency. In the case of Ottawa, it was also possible to pick up my stamped passport the next day and travel to the US.
I have found all immigration officials to be very nice with the exception of 2 people. One in Canada and one in an NYC jail I had a brief stay in. (but that's a story for another thread)
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