Refused b-2 visa can I still go on waiver program

1gunsnroses

Hi just asking this as I'm still not sure? Will I be interrogated at airport thanks

ProudDUB

Didn't you ask this already over in the Travel forum?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057555547

1gunsnroses

Yes

ProudDUB

Well you aren't going to get any different answers here than you did there. And the mods are probably going to close the thread.

1gunsnroses

ProudDUB wrote: »

Well you aren't going to get any different answers here than you did there. And the mods are probably going to lock the thread.

Thank you

Speedwell

Sweetie, when I was trying to apply for a green card for my Irish husband (a dual national), I participated in forums where many Americans trying to bring their foreign spouses home had exactly the question you posted here and in the other thread. Each of us wanted our spouse to be able to join us in the US for the often lengthy process (in our case it took eight months and that was considered relatively quick). Some of our spouses tried to go the B2 route in order to wait out the process, but with evidence that they had ties in the US and were trying to move there permanently, many of them were denied and told to wait, with unknown effect on their pending green card applications. We knew that trying to shuffle passports from both countries of citizenship didn't work. My own husband almost got sent back on the US side before a planned 30-day visit, with a return ticket in hand, except that he had his green card application paperwork with him, swore he would do nothing to jeopardize it knowingly, and showed them a letter from me also saying we wanted him to go back and wait for the final green card processing.

I know this is not your exact situation. But US immigration is serious business, and people get turned away all the time even when they have done nothing wrong and intend to do nothing wrong. An initial visa refusal is not a black mark on your record in and of itself, since you can almost always reapply and show that your circumstances have changed and their objection no longer applies. However, attempting to enter the country when you know you have been refused entry can mess things up for you so badly they require specialized legal help and up to a 10 year ban before your application will be reconsidered.

I know this sounds negative and makes you frustrated and sad, but it is nothing to how frustrated and sad you will be on that forced 10-hour flight back across the Atlantic if you don't act in good faith and follow the rules.

1gunsnroses

Speedwell wrote: »

Sweetie, when I was trying to apply for a green card for my Irish husband (a dual national), I participated in forums where many Americans trying to bring their foreign spouses home had exactly the question you posted here and in the other thread. Each of us wanted our spouse to be able to join us in the US for the often lengthy process (in our case it took eight months and that was considered relatively quick). Some of our spouses tried to go the B2 route in order to wait out the process, but with evidence that they had ties in the US and were trying to move there permanently, many of them were denied and told to wait, with unknown effect on their pending green card applications. We knew that trying to shuffle passports from both countries of citizenship didn't work. My own husband almost got sent back on the US side before a planned 30-day visit, with a return ticket in hand, except that he had his green card application paperwork with him, swore he would do nothing to jeopardize it knowingly, and showed them a letter from me also saying we wanted him to go back and wait for the final green card processing.

I know this is not your exact situation. But US immigration is serious business, and people get turned away all the time even when they have done nothing wrong and intend to do nothing wrong. An initial visa refusal is not a black mark on your record in and of itself, since you can almost always reapply and show that your circumstances have changed and their objection no longer applies. However, attempting to enter the country when you know you have been refused entry can mess things up for you so badly they require specialized legal help and up to a 10 year ban before your application will be reconsidered.

I know this sounds negative and makes you frustrated and sad, but it is nothing to how frustrated and sad you will be on that forced 10-hour flight back across the Atlantic if you don't act in good faith and follow the rules.

Thanks I will have to somehow get in touch with the embassy, the only reason I wanted to get the b-2 visa was that stay for 4 months, even tho I could fit it in, less than 90 days which is now a bitch

Speedwell

1gunsnroses wrote: »

Thanks I will have to somehow get in touch with the embassy, the only reason I wanted to get the b-2 visa was that stay for 4 months, even tho I could fit it in, less than 90 days which is now a bitch

It seriously is. That's one reason we used to counsel people to limit visits to <90 days and not to try to get a B2 at all, because in the event of a refusal, travel plans were dead in the water and the visitor could not go back and use the VWP. It may help you to have a detailed itinerary when/if you reapply, showing all of your plans, contact numbers and addresses at homes and hotels, people who will know your whereabouts, and sufficient funds to support yourself during the trip. You may have more ties to Ireland than you realize, as well.

Word to the wise (not just you but others reading this): There are always a few people who succeed at gaming the system, but it's less their victory than a fumble on the part of Immigration. Everyone has a story about someone that they heard of who tried something dicey and made it through. These stories are not stories about you. I would rather not see you potentially jeopardize your future (suppose you were offered a job in the US in 5 years?).