appt on 18th Aug - help plz

[pspreddy]

Hi,

My MIL is rejected visa once on Jul 18th. I'm really not sure on the reason. My MIL is not very good with English but we had an appointment in English. The VO asked her 2 questions
1) What is ur husband
2) What does your son-in-law do in US?

for which she answered. And then the visa was rejected. She tried requesting for a Telugu translator right from when she entered the consulate but none of them appreciated her request including the VO.

Last time when my MIL appeared for the interview I am blessed with a kid here in US which we did not mention in the affidavit.

Me and my wife are feeling it tough to manage with out a family member's support in this situation. My MIL has another appointment on 18th Aug. Thsi time we requested our doctor to give us a medical certificate which she gave stating my wife needs complete bed rest for atleast 3 months due to some medical problems she developed (which are true to some extent. She needs complete rest). And we requested the doctor not to mention about the delivery and the kid which she did.

The question that I have now is
1) Do I need to mention about the kid now in the affidavit. We didn't mention it the last time.
2) Will the consulate be able to track my dependent status here in US?
3) Is it better to stress on the doctor certificate that we have. And will a mention about the baby help here?
4) we have the appt again in English and not in local language. How shall my MIL overcome this problem?
5) any othe interview tips to help with the situation that we have

Please suggeset me as soon as possible as my MIL has her appointment in just a few days from now

Thanks
Siva

[jaya06]

Hi,

Sorry to see you going through so much pain. I just wanted to share my Mother-in-law's experience at Chennai Consulate.

My MIL came to USA 5yrs ago on a 6-month single entry visa and left to India within 4 months - those were the golden old days when our parents did not have to travel to Chennai and could just send papers by mail. She tried for visa last year in Jan-05 and the visa was rejected - we were heart brokened as we were very confident that she will get it - because she had all her other children in India except my husband. The reason code was 214b as usual. She tried within 1 month in Feb-05 (I travelled to India around the same time and wanted to bring her with me as she can not travel alone at her age. That is why we tried right away). The only question the visa officer asked her was "how could you get an appt within 1 month when others are having 3-4 months back logs". My MIL did not know the answer and she said "I dont know anything about these. My son sent me all these papers and asked me to go for this appt" (Telugu translator). When TTS was in charge of the process, they had 'waiting list' feature where we could put the passport number on waiting list. We originally got a slot 4 months later, but then we received an email from the TTS website stating that our wait list was confirmed. We should have attached that email as a proof or at least would have informed my MIL about the waitlist feature. That was the only question the visa officer asked and denied her visa again. After 1.5yrs break, she tried last month and for the 3rd time they rejected her visa. The visa officer would have placed a note in his computer stating that this applicant would have bribed a travel agent or something like that to get an appt within 1 month.

The reason I am writing this is: 1) Make sure your MIL can answer the question for why/how she came for an appt within 1 month when there are several months of backlogs for others. Visa officer shouldn't get any doubt on why she is so desperate to go to USA. I know how important it is for a daughter to have her mother when she is going through the life's biggest change of becoming a mother herself. But, VOs don't seem to understand all that. I suggest you to not mention about 1) baby 2) medical condition or the doctor letter. They neither understand nor care for the baby/medical reasons. The only key is to prepare her very well for the interview and ask her to be very confident in her answers. Mainly, she should have a valid explanataion for 'why she is trying for the visa right away and why she is desperate to go to USA'.

Good luck and I truly wish your MIL gets the visa this month without any hassels.

- Jaya.

[pspreddy]

Thank you jaya for a detailed response.

A quick question. Now as the visa appointment process is made online isn't there a fair chance that anybody could grab a vacant slot as soon as it is available? Can we say like my brother-in-law tried hard for a date and was successful. Is this not a valid reason and infact that is how we booked the date.

And secondly, I was under the impression that the doctor certificate would help much as the doctor herself said that one of her patients relatives were granted visa with such a letter she gave. I'm confused now

And when my MIL appeared for the first time, we did not mention anything abt the helath condition of my wife and now we thought we would attach this doctor lette rnow. Not sure how they are going to treat this. Will they raise any doubt on this?

Appreciate your help

Thanks
Siva

[jaya06]

Hi,

Last year when we tried for my MIL, everything was online and we stayed up late at nights hitting the refresh button to move the appt closer. At the end we were able to secure a slot for 17-Feb and we received an email from TTS stating that they had a vacant slot for 4-Feb (waiting list) and hence we took it.

The intention of my post was to ask you to inform the whole process of 'how you got an earlier slot' to your MIL. If she is informed of the specifics, she will be able to better answer the question. Doctor letter might help her for the question 'why do you want to go to USA deperately?'. But, make sure you don't use the word 'tourism' in the purpose. If you decide to use the doctor letter, say "to provide moral and physical support for my daughter while she is sick and to tour some places if possible' or something in those lines.

If your doctor said that other patients got visas successfully with that letter, you may use it. Good luck with whatever you decide.

- Jaya.

[pspreddy]

Thank you Jaya. You are right..I shall explain the appointment process to my MIL

Thanks
Siva