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[mejms]

Does anyone have any experience applying for a visa for their husband or wife to travel to the US or relocate?

[MotherF]

To travel.
He applied twice.
First many years ago then again several years ago now.
It was denied both times.
You need to prove two things for a US tourist visa.

The first is finacial ablity to travel, they have some ridiculous estimate of how much you would spend a day, like staying at the Ritz in New York and eating at fancy restuarants every meal. All finacial documents must be in your name or your parents, you can not be a finacial dependant for visa purposes of anyone other than your parents, not your spouce, or your children--which is why you hear about grandmothers not getting visas. You can not say you will be staying with family or friends to help you reduce the cost, if you do they will ask you what you would do if you got there and found you were not really welcome.

The second is a strong tie to Mexico that will prove you will return at the end of your visit. Having American family members (like a spouse) works against you here. In their eyes that weakens your ties to Mexico.

Don't have any experience with applying for resident visas, but I know it can be a very long process. But somepeople I know going through it have strikes against them, like they were illegal in the US before they married an American. If that is not the case the process should be more straight forward. I also know some people who try to save money by not using a lawyer and it takes them several years longer than the people who do use a lawyer. So the fees kind of seem like they'd be worth it.

[mejms]

[Guy Courchesne]

I have a Mexican friend with an American wife who is this very day in Juarez for an interview to get a spousal visa (not sure what the technical name is). He speaks English, has previously held a travel visa for the US, and is legally married. He's back next week after the interview and some kind of medical exam...I can run any questions by him that you have and report the answers here.

[mejms]

[Guy Courchesne]

No problem...I'll post the answer next weekend as I'm away for the week.

[Guy Courchesne]

Oh, looks like I was able to get an email update from Juarez and some info from his American wife.

He is applying for the K1 fiance visa (I was mistaken in saying they are legally married). He reports that he did not need to speak in English. He could not be accompanied into the interview and did not use a lawyer or get any specific legal consultation.

They are applying for this fiance visa, then will marry in the US. Only after they marry will they apply for a green card from within the US, and intend to use a lawyer for the process.

They also looked at the process that you would use, for a spousal visa, thinking if it were easier they could marry here first then go to the US. For the spousal visa, your wife needs to be sponsored by you or an American family member living in the US. You as husband need to show that you have been filing your taxes even as you've been living in Mexico and that you have a job and/or resources in the US to be able to support her there.

There are medical checks to be done in Mexico as part of the visa application process. If your wife has ever been caught entering the US illegally, then she will not get past step 1. Or if she was ever in the US illegally but not caught, it goes without saying that she should stay mum on that.

They will give me more details when he returns. Not the same case as yours but I hope some of that is helpful.

[jaimem-g]

Regarding the tourist visa, that is exactly what I know of it and my wife wouldn't be eligible for several reasons.

Which leads me to believe that we wouldn't be able to visit family in the US and the only way to take a trip there would be to begin the process for a Green Card and go live there for some time.

We weren't definitely planning on leaving Mexico permanently any time soon, but we would like to at least go there. If we do considering actually relocating, I'll consider an immigration lawyer. Does anyone know if someone going through this process needs to speak English? I hadn't realized until recently that taking my wife for a trip to the US would be, well, impossible.[/quote]

I was a little taken aback with the difficulty with a tourist visa you are describing, but I did a little do a little checking with some friends before I began this reply and realize that things are getting tighter and tighter with USCIS, but definitely misdirected if all you want to do is come for a visit with your wife. I have family members who have relatives come for visits frequently from Mexico, but they have a track record of going back home (which is the DF) so that's probably why they have no problems even now. You don't explain why you think your wife wouldn't be eligible, but the fact that YOU are regularly employed and if you have a home together, etc. that should make it easy to prove a lot of the criteria for the [/quote]ties to Mexico" an interviewer will want to know about. Once you've both returned home, subsequent visits should be a lot easier to arrange.

Of course. a lot depends on the interviewer. As I understand, some are just plain idiots. I ran into a number of these at an INS office that I will not name when I worked about 18 years for a large Citizenship and ESL program where I am now located. I've been out of the loop for about four years but still have a lot more people I can contact for more tips. And I also know an excellent, inexpensive immigration attorney if you do decide to file for residency for your wife. He recently took care of a very complicated case for a good friend of mine who married a woman who was abandoned by her husband after he brought her and their children into the US and didn't follow through on her permanent residency. Since they did get married first, she fortunately only had to spend three months in Ciudad Juarez, a bit like the case that Guy mentions. English proficiency is only a major factor for citizenship BTW.

The key seems to be to keep everything clear and simple with the paperwork and hope for a good interviewer. PM me if you think I could be of help.[/quote]

[mejms]

After speaking with someone at the American Consulate in San Miguel de Allende, I have been assured that getting my wife a tourist visa is not difficult at all, which flies in the face of so much that I've heard that I'm skeptical.

But... according to the rep at the consulate, the fact that my wife doesn't work and doesn't have any property in her name isn't an issue at all. I can prove our intent to return to Mexico by the fact that she is a Mexican citizen and I have an FM-2 and proof of my income here. She said the whole process would only take 2 months and costs about $2,000 pesos.

And when we arrive to the US, if we choose to remain there, we can apply for her Green Card. That's it.

It sounds bastante fac�l which makes me suspicious. Thought I'd throw that out there.

[Samantha]

I don't think anyone in the San Miguel Consular office would have any idea of how easy or hard the process actually is. It's on a case basis, and seems to be no set rules. That's the difficult part. It was time consuming and my husband had to attend when they told him to, both the first visit and the day he had to go back and pick it up. He had to travel from Sinaloa to Hermosillo, Sonora which is a great distance, but now I understand it can also be done in Guadalajara so a bit closer for those in southern Sinaloa. We have a consular agency here too, but they don't handle those sorts of things.

It can be costly from start to finish. The problem is that if they set the appointment for 7:30 a.m., you likely need to stay in a hotel as he did, the night before. Then get inside and wait. They don't allow spouse or friends in with the applicant, and no bags or cases. Those all have to be left somewhere before the applicant enters the building.

A lot of it has to do who your wife gets to interview her on the day she is called for her appointment. And some luck. But being prepared is the key. He took a huge file folder with copies of all sorts of things, and likely the fact that he is married to a Canadian made it easier, since we have no ties in the USA.

And wow, has the price really gone up that much? How do families afford to get tourist visas these days? That money is forfeited on rejection. The process for permanent visas in Juarez is entirely different than the process for a visitor's visa. It's even more difficult. We have an American friend who tried to get that process done with his Mexican wife, in Juarez, and it did not end well. They were put through the wringer, and then accused of fraud, and it cost them a fortune in travel expenses with the trips they had to make back and forth.