Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mr. positive]

I didn't find any discussion about this on this forum, so I thought I'd post on the issue and hopefully some other people will share their experience, too. The U.S. embassy website is very vague about who is granted a B-2 so I thought it'd be helpful if different folks would post their experiences to give others some idea of how it all works. Of course, this could all be moot if South Korea joins the visa waiver program, but here goes my experience for now. Of course, not all of my circumstances will apply to you and your situation, but hoopefully you will find some of this helpful.

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My (Korean) wife and I have been married for seven years. We got married in Korea, lived in Korea for about 2 years, and then moved back to the States for about 4 years. My wife moved to the states on an immigrant visa but we were not able to complete the naturalization process before we moved back to Korea. We gave up her permanent residency when we came back to Korea as our plans had changed and we did not plan to live in the U.S. long-term in the near future.

After being back here in Korea for about a year and having our first daughter, we wanted to go back to the States this summer to visit. However, if you want to travel in the summer, apparently you need to make an appointment for the interview portion of the B-2 (travel) visa application well in advance (about six weeks) so we were too late. Thus we got an interview appointment for August 22nd in hopes of Christmas travel instead.

If you go to the U.S. embassy website, it does not tell you exactly how they decide to grant B-2 visas except that 95% of Non-Immigrant Visa (NIV) applications are granted and tells you what supporting documents you need to bring. None of the documents they ask for are particularly suprising (some application forms, passports, family registry in Korea for your spouse, etc.). The only thing I was concerned about was that they asked for an income tax report for the previous year, which I did not have. However, NOBODY ever asked to see any kind of income tax report. This same kind of thing has happened several times to me in the past with this kind of visa stuff - they either tell you you need something that you don't need, or don't tell you about something that you absolutely must bring to apply.

So we went to our appointment with documents o' plenty but without an income tax return OR exact travel plans. We had planned travel dates, but had NOT purchased airline tickets. We breezed through all the document processing and went to wait for our interview.

The interview... was not what I expected. They looked at our forms, then wanted to see my U.S. passort and my wife's old passports since she had traveled quite a bit previously. They asked some questions about why we sought an immigrant visa for my wife to the U.S. and then abandoned it, and some questions about my wife's previous travels and our future plans (which were to stay in Korea for about one more year and then move to China). They NEVER asked to see our bank books or anything else relating to financial information. Neither did they ask to see my school contracts for my jobs (though they did ask about what I did for a living). Then they granted the visa and that was it.

Thinking back on it, I really don't see any pattern to the questions they asked. Just general stuff, perhaps they were just trying to verify that what we had written was true. I'm honestly still not sure on what basis they granted the visa to us as they didn't ask to see ANY additional documentation beyond our passports.

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So that is my experience. If others would share, too, I'm sure it will help some other folks out there.

[moosehead]

why?

everyone's experience is different as is every person who interviews does it differently as are the rules keep changing as well -

don't see as it would make that much difference. just got to buck up and do whatever they ask - if you (or someone else) wants to come - same as anywhere else, give'm what they want and hopefully it will all be ok.

why should it be any different? seriously.

[BreakfastInBed]

[Tobias]

I'm at a risk of sounding like a moron here, but why can't your wife and kid simply travel on a tourist visa? Understand I don't know all the ins and outs of what Koreans need to do to visit the USA. It'd be like when we (both Koreans and 'Meri-kuhns) visit Thailand. You simply go there and get the tourist visa at the airport. Last I checked, Thais can go to the US for a month on a tourist visa, which isn't hard to get. Or at least it wasn't hard to get, as in past tense. Why would Koreans have it tougher than this? Why would a citizen of a US ally be required to get an interview and jump through a hoop just to travel to the red, white, and blue for a week or two to spend money? Again, I'm just curious. I'm definitely not up on the requirements. Set me straight here.

Visa waiver to me means no tourist visa is necessary. Your passport is stamped at the inbound airport, and you have a certain time limit before getting out, kind of like it is when a US bloke goes to the EU.

[ttompatz]

Korea is not on the US's tourist visa waiver program (never has been) and unless something dramatic happens (in their favor) in the near future they are not likely to get on it any time soon.

Korean link here

Oh, and BTW, Thai citizens require a visa (and other entry requirements as well) to go to the states.


Thai specific link here

* non-compliance with entry requirements will result in fines
varying between USD 2,000 and USD 3,000 per passenger
and either deportation or indefinite delay for passenger

.

[Tobias]

I'll be damned.

Thanks for the info. One learns something new everyday.

[pkang0202]

Getting visas to the US is very difficult. According to Immigration, they assume everyone has the intent on STAYING in the US, so it is up to the applicant to prove otherwise.

The US is extremely anal when it comes to tourist visas. My friend got a 3 months visa to visit the US. When she got to the airport in the US, they asked her where she was traveling. She said NYC, Washington DC, and LA. Immigration immediately cut her stay to 1 month, stating she was "going to too many places on a single trip".

I mean, seriously, if someone is going on a 1 time trip to a bigass country like the US, you would EXPECT them to hit all the major cities.

My sister's friend was going to visit the US. My sister had her own business. When she got to the airport in DC, immi denied her entry and turned her away. Here's how the conversation went down:

Airport Immi: So, why are you going to the US?
Girl: To visit my childhood friend and sightsee.
Immigration: I see. What does your friend do in the US?
Girl: She owns her own business.
Immigration: Interesting, I'm sorry but your entry has been denied.

My sister talked to an immigration lawyer and they said Immigration assumed my sister's friend was coming to the US under the pretense of "sightseeing" in order to work at my sister's business illegally.

Why the hell does Immigration crack down on tourists, but turn a blind eye when Mexicans hop over the fence. You get a free pass to the US if you walk over, but if you pay over $1000 for a plane ticket, they send you back home.

[mr. positive]

Wow, I didn't know they could deny you entry even if you already have a visa. One more thing to worry about, thanks! :)

[Tobias]

[quote="pkang0202"]....Why the hell does Immigration crack down on tourists, but turn a blind eye when Mexicans hop over the fence. You get a free pass to the US if you walk over, but if you pay over $1000 for a plane ticket, they send you back home.[/quote]

Sigh. It's kind of a long post, Pkang. Bear with me and I'll fill you in on 'why'. It has to do with the powers that be wanting cheap labor that can be kicked out quickly and, most importantly, cheaply.

[moosehead]

[BreakfastInBed]

So as an American you know what you're talking about because... you travelled to America on a tourist visa? Is that where you're going with that?


I'm just kidding around. I do take exception to some of your assumptions about me however.

The op rightly points out that the embassy website is vague as to who is granted a tourist visa. Immigration and other websites as well tell you that they cannot tell you exactly what you need or how to argue your case to be granted a visa. I'm not looking for loopholes, just more information from people who have been down this road before me and can shed some light on the mysterious process.

I don't know how much weight you think I'm putting on anecdotal evidence, but when the dominant requirement they set is simply 'convince me you aren't going to stay,' then yes, I will take into account others' experiences when considering whether our particular case has a possibility of meeting with success. Why wouldn't I?

Granted they probably are all different; that doesn't mean there mightn't also be commonalities.

[Bigfeet]

[moosehead]

no, because as an American I'm familiar with the predictability of the lifer American bureaucrat as well as having dealt with a number of immigrants to America while living there.

the reason they can't give out specifics is because they don't want to be seen as discriminating when that's exactly what they are doing -

[BreakfastInBed]

[I-am-me]

My wife (Filipina) and I just appled for her tourist visa to the US. After gathering all kinds of paperwork they interviewer only asked about 3 questions, played on his computer and then denied her the visa on grounds that not sufficient proof for her to come back to korea. He didn't even ask for out paperwork we had gathered. So go figure! Going by way of Mexican border might be easier!!