B2 Visitor VISA to USA for my sister to be with me during and after surgery

Samanta20_2001

New Member
Hello, I am a US Citizen but I have never had any of my relatives visited me in the US. I applied for my sister B2 Visitor visa and now we are in the process of getting an interview.
She is 34, has education and a job has property on her name and kid and domestic partner.
She is not planning on living in the US but just to be here with me during and after my surgery.
I am getting spinal fusion surgery and I am quite scared.
What are the chances that they will approve her visa? Does she have any chances?

She travels quite a bit all over Europe for tourism purposes only. She has never considered leaving her country nor she has lived anywhere else long term.
If they reject her visa application I will be quite devastated as I really want her to be with me during this very difficult for me time.
We were only wanting for her to visit for about a month as she can’t take any more time off from her job anyways.

Even though I am also not working right now due to my medical issue, I am employeed and I am willing to cover all her expenses.
Any tips or advise in this matter will be highly appreciated.

Thanks
 
No one can assure your sister a visa, all she can do is to apply for a B2, and present her purpose of visit (moral support to a USC) at the interview. There are no do/don't tips for a B visa. Her previous visits don't count for much, but she may opt to mention them at the interview.

Does she have a pending immigrant visa or DV lottery petition? Her country of residence could be relevant too.
 
Thank you for your response. She does not have pending immigrant visa nor DV lottery application. I have never applied before for her as she doesn’t have intends of moving abroad. Her country of residence is Bulgaria. She is literally just trying to come and stay with me for the surgery and care for me afterwards so I wrote an invitation letter telling them our plans. She can’t take much time off work so we only estimated 45 day visit as my surgeon said that I will be administered opiates for 45 days post my surgery. Which is also the estimated recovery time. I would be really disappointed if they reject her. She will be leaving her 12 year old son and spouse and home and job behind. She will be on unpaid vacation leave from her job if they grant her the visitor visa. They travel a lot around Europe with her family but it’s all been few days at a time strictly for vacation purposes. She has never been in trouble with the law or any immigration country’s.
What would be some tips that you might have for a stronger case to show her ties with her home country?
I submitted an invitation letter for her, sent her my documents from doctors to verify surgery dates and even my employment medical leave papers and bank statements for the past 12 mo.
On her end I told her to show her ownership of her home, job letter, her son birth certificate and her bank statements to show her income from her job and she will get a letter from her employer showing that they allow her to take 45 days unpaid leave from her job.

I can’t think of anything else... but any tips are highly appreciated.
 
P.S: She has never been in the US nor she has ever applied for a visitor visa before. This is our very first time and initially I was going to have my domestic partner care for me during and after the surgery but I caught him with another woman so I am going through a breakup on top of surgery worries, so we literally decided to apply for visitor visa in the past few days as I don’t see another option nor anyone else I can trust with my daughter or to care for me during my recovery. I am a US Citizen but I am literally alone in this country and it sucks when you don’t have family around to be here for you in times like this. Not to mention I am so so scared with this surgery... there is a lot of risks involved and I just pray that everything goes well but I have never had surgery before neither and I am going to be under full anasthesia for approximately 3 hours and hospitalization afterwords.
 
Let me add to this that I have obtained my US Citizenship appropriately. I have complied myself with the law and rules and I have never overstayed my previous visas nor I have been in any trouble with immigration or the law in the US. I am not sure if they check my background but if they do they will not find anything wrong on my record. Our parents have raised us to be honest and to comply with the law, so I am hoping they can see this if they check as it does speaks volumes of a character and it takes years to build a good moral character. I have my hopes high right now and I am just trying to make sure we are prepared with everything she might need on the interview. Does she need to obtain her background check clearance or do they do that themselves is another question I have? I remember when I applied back in 2001 they asked me to submit background clearance letter that I had to obtain myself from my local police department- I am not sure if they require this nowadays? I also remember I had to undergo different medical vaccinations too but I was applying for immigrant visa and I got it granted at my very first interview so it’s deffinitely different than a non immigrant visitor visa. Sorry about all the details and questions I have but I want to make sure I don’t miss any details. Thanks again in advance for your help.
 
One more question - should I buy her a round trip plane ticket before the interview? I was going to wait for the ticket until after the interview so I don’t have to deal with return of plane tickets in the event that she is not approved but if it’s better to have a round trip plane ticket at the time of the interview I can buy it now and add an insurance so that I can cancel it if she doesn’t get approved. Which scenario would be better? Wait to buy the round trip ticket until after the interview or buy it and have her take it with her at the interview to show her intended return date? Thanks again.
 
Your sister will have to qualify for the NIV on her own. Your immigration history will not be taken into consideration. Your sister is applying for a NIV, she’s not expected to present a PCC or undergo a medical exam in order for the visa to be approved. She will not be expected to present a flight ticket either as evidence of her plan to return.
 
B2 visa approval/denial comes down to the strength of ties to home as viewed by the CO. The information on the ds160 application and the interview helps determine an applicant's odds.
It's recommended not to purchase plane tickets in advance.
 
Thank you all for your help! She has her interview coming up so we will see and I pray they will grant her the visitor visa. She has every intention to return back to her country of origin and not to stay in the US, so I truly hope they will see this and understand the sensitivity of why I am asking her to come be with me during this difficult for me time.
 
Just a quick update to all - her interview went well and they granted her the visitor visa.
She went prepared with the following documents - mine and hers birth certificate to show our relationship, all my medical records and doctor statement regarding the date of my surgery, copy of my passport and US citizenship, her kid birth certificate, ownership of her home, document that she was allowed to be on vacation from work, bank statements mine and hers, she also has a planned family vacation trip to Spain in the future so she took copy’s of flight tickets and hotel reservation to show that she needs to return by that date, and all those documents were also legally translated in English.
They took her documents first and about 10 minutes later they called her to the window, the consul asked her few questions about me and the surgery but most of the questions were regarding her kid, such as age and who will care for my nephew in her absence - his dad and her are domestic partners for over 12 years but not married, so they asked her about that too and after couple of minutes she was told she was approved. She said the consul was very polite and nice and now we are waiting for visa stamp in her passport. I hope it gets issued quickly as she stressed the fact that my surgery is next week but I have no idea how quickly the passports are ready. They told her they will do everything possible to issue it quickly so I am hoping she gets it by tomorrow as I still have not purchased her ticket. Ideal situation is get the visa by tomorrow and travel by Saturday.
How long does it take for B2 visas to be stamped in the passport after approval? Does anyone know? Thank you! I feel better but I hope she can get here on time as my surgery is next Wednesday and I have 3 days of pre op instructions and I will need someone to help me with that.
 
Glad to hear it worked out - I’m sure that she was so well prepared helped. Good luck with your surgery.
 
Congratulations on your sister’s successful interview and all the best with your surgery.

I can’t say precisely how long it might take to get the visa issued and for her to get the passport back. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be long. Just make sure you don’t purchase a flight ticket until she gets the passport back with the visa on it. She can of course pack and be on standby ready to fly out ASAP.
 
Just a quick update to all - her interview went well and they granted her the visitor visa.
She went prepared with the following documents - mine and hers birth certificate to show our relationship, all my medical records and doctor statement regarding the date of my surgery, copy of my passport and US citizenship, her kid birth certificate, ownership of her home, document that she was allowed to be on vacation from work, bank statements mine and hers, she also has a planned family vacation trip to Spain in the future so she took copy’s of flight tickets and hotel reservation to show that she needs to return by that date, and all those documents were also legally translated in English.
They took her documents first and about 10 minutes later they called her to the window, the consul asked her few questions about me and the surgery but most of the questions were regarding her kid, such as age and who will care for my nephew in her absence - his dad and her are domestic partners for over 12 years but not married, so they asked her about that too and after couple of minutes she was told she was approved. She said the consul was very polite and nice and now we are waiting for visa stamp in her passport. I hope it gets issued quickly as she stressed the fact that my surgery is next week but I have no idea how quickly the passports are ready. They told her they will do everything possible to issue it quickly so I am hoping she gets it by tomorrow as I still have not purchased her ticket. Ideal situation is get the visa by tomorrow and travel by Saturday.
How long does it take for B2 visas to be stamped in the passport after approval? Does anyone know? Thank you! I feel better but I hope she can get here on time as my surgery is next Wednesday and I have 3 days of pre op instructions and I will need someone to help me with that.

In my personal experience it was 3 days for the passport to be returned with the visa stamp. My country has a low workload of visas, compared to other large countries.
 
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