Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Tourist visa denied

On Jun 13, 7:12 am, vad...@gmail.com wrote:
> Hello,
> I am a US citizen. My wife is a Green Card holder. She invited her
> father to come and visit us back in December. So he did. We wanted to
> do the same for her mother but mother got her visa denied (in Eastern
> Europe). I believe this is unfair and I demand justice.

Unfortunately, the operative word for issuance of entry visas for non-citizens such as your mom-in-law is "unfair", especially in these days of post-9/11 paranoia and security clampdowns on anybody with even a tenuous connection to "terrorism" or to a region of the globe that is experiencing "terrorism."   Which these days is just about everyone and everywhere.

Even before that, however, people from different parts of the world were treated differently by USA immigration law, and that is perfectly legal.   The Congress can determine, by statute, how many people to let in from which countries, and for some countries, the quota is zero or close to it, while other countries have a relatively open door.  This applies to tourist visas as well as to permanent residency (green card) permits.  In addition, particular individuals can be banned from entry into USA if the government, with or without cause, feels they may present a danger or otherwise be undesirable.  I am aware of more than one instance where, e.g. distinguished scholars were banned entrance to USA to attend academic gatherings because the government didn't like the views they had expressed.

You say nothing in your post about what reasons were given for refusal to let your wife's mom into the USA, and that could make a big difference.  If there is some genuine reason why they won't let her in, all of your efforts may be to no avail, and then there would be nothing you could legally do to have a court force the agency to change their mind if their classification has a rational basis and serves a legitimate governmental purpose.

> what I can do to invite my mother-in-law. Can I contact the
> Department of State or should I contact the counselor of US embassy in
> Europe directly?

You could do all of the above, and in addition contact your congressional representative and both of your senators.  Not that it is guaranteed to do any good, but there is no cookbook for this; you've got to be assertive because you're dealing with an inward-looking and fearful bureaucracy at Homeland Security and national policy.   I don't have a roadmap for you, but it probably makes sense to start with agencies relatively near your home (to save on long distance phone charges, or so you can go there in person and walk it through) and all I can tell you is that it will probably take a lot of time and effort and persistence to get anything to change.   Start calling. and keep calling different offices; that's how you will learn more, and find out who can help you and who will just pass the buck.  Good luck,

--
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Mike Jacobs
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