Let us Get Together for a Broader APPEAL

[desiman2004]

Thanks to immihelp for being a great resource. Inspite of all good intentions there are thousands of us who are denied Visitor's Visa for our loved ones. I think with all our contributions, it's time to get together to APPEAL at an Executive level. Your ideas and suggestions are most welcome. To all of you...who is willing?

[immihelp]

Nothing is going to happen.

[kulkarni]

Let us Get Together for a Broader APPEAL - I am with you

Hi,

I completely agree with you. Even after good intentions the respense is not positive from the consulate offices. I believe even the treatment to the people by the consulate officer is reported to be improved.

Do you have any thoughts.

Kiran

[Balu]

Let us Get Together for a Broader APPEAL - I am with you

Hi Guys ,

You are absolutely right.

What's there in rejecting Visitor Visas and dependent Visas. ?

Old parents can't come to USA to see their childern ?
Same things happening to dependents also . Even consulate also don't tell some times why they are not giving Visa to wife when husband is here in USA .

We should open an online petition for this.

--Balu

[kpadmanabhuni]

Nice to hear about unity

You need to remember that millions of people around the world apply for visas to enter US. And it is upto them to decide whether to allow or not. Unfortunately the reasons they show sometimes are not reasonable but we can't fight against it.

[mudboy]

its their country

they don't want elderly visiting relatives to fall sick - can't blame them because the system has been abused too often. also just think how hard it is to get a visa to visit India- forget about citizenship here if you are a foreigner. people work for years in the gulf and don't get immigration benefits there but no one complains about that, howcome?

[SharmaJi]

Sometimes real genuine cases are also rejected.

Yes .. I too agree that getting a visa from US embassy is just like draw of lottery system. They rarely look at the pile of documents you carry.

Sometimes they wont ask you even a single question !! Consular will just say "Sorry" , opens the last page, stamp it and hand the passport over to you.

No wonder .. that once in every week the window glass at the consular section get broken by some Sardarji !!

[gabe]

Some of you still have the Indian mentality. If you complain,then the situation will only get worse. This is a country of laws and people's concerns are often considered. I agree with “desiman2004”, if you don’t expose the problem collectively, then there will be no changes in the current situation.

How many Desi IT people are in the US? Are they getting their voices heard?
Do we have a good lobbying group in Washington DC?

Indians will never unite on any issues. Our cast, religion, and geographical location get in the way of our unity. May be is time for us to re-think our natural instincts.May be it’s time to think positive. Your suggestions are welcome.

[SharmaJi]

NRIs of US should learn from NRIs of UK. Many time they collectively objected and Govt. had to accept them.

US embassy/consulates are more interested in collecting visa fees then issue a visa. Compare their visa fee with other embassies/consulates.

In all other consulates there are cubicles, and visa officers give you atleast five to ten minutes to explain your case.

In US embassy they decide it in less then a minute.

US embassy dont even provide you drinking water though you pay them US$100 for every entry !!

[tsr0228]

I think if we fight then some improvments can be made. if not immediately atleast after a months. But we need to let them know our difficulties.

[seema_k]

Its not a one minute process!!

As many of the readers say that Visa officer denies or grnats VISA in "one minute"..Its not true. Before anyone goes to the consulate in person, there application and details reach there much before them. So the VISA officer already knows about their case and probability of being an immigrant or not. So when the people reache there, their VISA is already been decided. It looks like VISA officer hasn't even seen the documents but in reality they know all about the case.
Also getting a VISA to US is not a right, its a privilage. I personally know so many people( and heard of many) in US who have violated VISA rules, either by working while on H4, B1,B2, babysitting while visiting their children, overstaying etc etc.
Many comapnies in New Jersey process H1 VISA for H4 person and don't pay them, and after that the person questions why his/her GC is taking so much time etc etc..examples of cases like such is on immihelp forum questions themselves (they do it first and then complain about INS)
I agree, We should come together for broader appeal but with logicl issues and for legal rights. Unfortunately, some people break laws nad many innocent people have to suffer. But thats the way it is.

[shyna]

I kind of agree with Seema_K. I would go along with

an appeal of this nature if it is accompanied by a responsibility to ensure that folks that have been granted a visa do not overstay or violate the terms of the visa. Who among us have not heard about, or know someone who has violated the visa rules? And what are we doing about that?

And frankly, what incentive does the US consulate have, for providing every applicant with a visa? When viewed objectively, Indian visitors, especially parents, take more out of the US economy than contribute to it. A casual look at this forum and other forums on the net would reveal that the majority of parents are here for baby-sitting. The economy loses much more out of a six-month stint of baby-sitting than it would gain from a visit to Niagara Falls. Even if the whole visit ends up contributing to the economy, it probably does not justify the loses incurred from providing social services to the those who stay back.

So while there are flaws in the system, it would be better for us to treat this the way it was meant to be - a privilege, not a right.

As for as the treatment of applicants at the consulate, please take a moment to step outside the consulate and take a look at how we treat each other. Are we proud of the way we treat our own countrymen? Why would we expect any better while we are inside the consulate? Until we learn to respect and be courteous to each other, we are doomed to be treated as second-class citizens from a third-world country.

[gabe]

Since you know so much about the economies of how immigrants do and do not contribute to the society, let me ask you some thing, do you have any children?
If you did, your answer would be quite different.

What will happen to your contribution, if all these kinds were sent to India? What about the money lost in baby clothing, diapers,food, pre-school etc.

I agree withy you, some people are violating the rules by overstaying which has a negative impact on the system.

Why does't these rules apply for other nations? Are they Not manipulating the system.

Some people have genuine reasons for bringing their relatives, however, the supporting evidence for these reasons are often overlooked.

Let’s not blame each other but rather work towards a common solution


They are even rejecting parents of US citizens. For them, bringing immediate family is NOT a privilege rather a right.

[shyna]

Let's work towards a common goal. Civil discourse would

be a great first step.

Could 'Gabe' point me to the portion of my earlier posting where I'm criticizing the practice of baby-sitting by visiting parents? If you read the post one more time, you'll see that I'm not trying to pass judgment, but trying to look at the issue from the perspective of the US Consular Officer. See it?

As far as sending kids to India, I'll bet that number is miniscule - to the point of being irrelevant. I'm sure there's a slight difference between the number of people sending off their kids from US to India on a daily basis, and the number of prospective visitors causing stampedes at the US Consulates in India.

Trying to acquire the same preferred status as other nations is an exercise in futilty. I'm sure you remember that until not too long ago, India was an ally of the USSR, thus a rival to the USA. And we all know about the trade barriers that, until the past decade, would not allow for any significant US investment on Indian soil. So why would the US suddenly go out of its way to produce sweetheart deals with India?

As a US citizen, you have a right to bring your parents over on an immigrant visa, not on a visitor visa. The risks outlined in 214(b) are the same for the relatives of citizens and non-citizens. If they sense that the visitor is likely to violate the terms of the visa, however flawed their methodology for determining the same, they will deny your request. A visitor does not go through the same scrutiny that a potential immigrant does. If your logic is that parents of citizens should be allowed to visit here for infant-care, that logic is unsound.

By the way, Gabe, I have children. Two of them, the eldest being 5 yrs old. And no, I have not considered bringing my parents over for caring for them. I also own a car and have a bottle of booze at home. But I have not considered driving with that bottle inside of me.

[vjay]

Let's fix ourselves first before pointing finger at them

I agree with Shyna and others with similar point of view.

The fact is that we are guests in this country. It is a privilege not a right. I take into consideration the argument that overall the US economy is benefiting by having us working for them. But they also know that we benefit by working here. They know that we are not doing any charity to them. It is a two-way street. And being a superpower they are in a position to pick and choose who they want or do not want to enter in their country. Besides, after 9/11, the cost of allowing any potential immigrant in the US is just too high for them. And those who think that they are being taken advantage of should go back to India. US has dime a dozen to choose from.

Having said that, we should see our stay in the US with right perspective. We together represent our Indian community to the US. If we start abusing this privilege, we can't expect this country to show us sympathy and give us the respect that we want. We ought to earn their respect by respecting their policies.

Instead of marching to the consulate, we should do something about those who violate their visa rights. The problem is within us, not beyond us. Let's fix ourselves first before protesting against the injustice we think was done to us.