'The consul didn't even look at my documents!'

Dear Attorney Gurfinkel:

I recently applied for a visitor’s visa and was denied. Before the interview, I gathered and organized all my supporting documents, including bank statements, land titles, my employer’s letter, children’s birth certificate, etc. When I tried to offer these documents to the consul, he said that they were not necessary.

How could the consul deny my tourist visa, without even looking at the documents that I brought?

Very truly yours,

FJ

Dear FJ:

Whenever a person applies for a visitor’s visa, the consul has to quickly size up and evaluate a person’s intent and intentions, to determine whether the person has “immigrant intent”. The reason is that under US immigration law, applicants for certain visas (such as visitor’s visas) are presumed to have the intent to immigrate, unless they prove otherwise. To be eligible for a visitor’s visa, a person must not have any intent to immigrate. Ordinarily, they must demonstrate sufficient roots and ties to their home country, so that they have a good reason to want to return. Such “roots and ties” could include a well-paying job, immediate family members, property, etc in the Philippines.

I agree that the types of documents that you described can certainly demonstrate roots and ties to the Philippines, and should certainly be brought to the interview, in case they are requested. However, it is not always necessary for a consul to review documents in order to make a decision on a visa application for the following reasons, among others:

• Sometimes documents are unreliable. Some people go to Recto Street and “buy” bank statements, land titles, college degrees, business licenses, employment letters/certifications, and the like. While you may say that your documents are true and genuine, other people have submitted fake or altered documents.

• Financial documents may not necessarily prove that the person has no “immigrant intent”. Even if a person owns property and has actual land titles, but the property is barren, empty farm land in the province, owning such property may not be a strong enough incentive to return to the Philippines. Similarly, bank statements showing money in the bank could also be withdrawn once the person is in America. In fact, some people are willing to leave behind their property and family and remain in America.

• The Embassy forms that you do submit already provide a lot of information to the consuls. For example, the DS-160 (non-immigrant visa application form) contains information about a person’s marital status, travel plans (such as the purpose of the trip and who will pay for it), information about your immediate family members in the US, present employment and monthly salary, such that the consul can get a pretty good idea about a person just from the information on the DS-160. (I know that in my office, when a person comes for an initial consultation, they fill out an initial intake questionnaire. I know that I am able to pretty much size up their situation from the information provided in the questionnaire alone.)

The most important thing to remember is that even if the consul did not look at your documents, he did interview you. He asked you questions, listened to your answers and probably studied your body language – whether you hesitated in answering relatively simple questions, fumbled around before answering a question, or may have given an answer that showed that you are not eligible, such as when asked if you would like to live or work in the US, you may have responded “yes”, which affects your eligibility for a visitor visa. So visa applicants should not be mad or angry if the consul did not review the supporting documents that were brought. Often, based on the verbal interview - there was no need for him to do so, to make a decision.

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