B2 Visitor Visa for Pleasure
The B2 Visitor Visa For Pleasure is designed to allow foreigners
to visit the U.S. for a limited period of time for non-business
activities. Acceptable purposes include:
1. Visiting friends and relatives, tourism or vacationing;
2. Visits for medical treatment;
3. Participion in conventions, conferences or convocations
of fraternal or social organizations;
4. Participation by an amateur in sports, musical,
and other events or contests, who will receive no money
or other remuneration in return.
Visa Waiver Program
Citizens from developed countries such as Germany, Japan,
Australia, et cetera, can enter the U.S. without a visa under
the Visa Waiver Program ("VWP"). The VWP affords relatively easy
access to citizens from program countries for purposes of
tourism. VWP citizens may enter the U.S. by
providing little more than a valid passport and a promise
to stay in the U.S. for less than 90 days. Most of the rest
of the world has to fight the U.S. consular bureaucracy and
obtain a visa before entering the United States. By law, the
foreign citizen is presumed to have immigrant intent.
Presumption of Immigrant Intent
All nonimmigrant visa applicants are presumed to have immigrant
intent. This means that the burden is entirely on the applicant
to convince the consular officer that the applicant does NOT
want to stay permanently in the U.S.
Predicting Success
A consular officer is forbidden by law to make an assessment
or predication of any individual applicant’s chances
of receiving a visa. This reticence causes many persons to
go into the applications process without realizing that they
are wasting their time and money. A cynical observer might
note that visa fees are a major source of income for the U.S.
State Department. The State Department therefore does not
have a strong incentive to tell applicants that they might
be wasting their time.
Finally, attempting to obtain a visa by the willful misrepresentation
of a material fact, or fraud, may result in the permanent
refusal of a visa or denial of entry into the United States.
|
