The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Welcome and General Discussion => Topic started by: FrugalSaver on March 01, 2016, 09:37:50 PM
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How hard is this to obtain? How long does it take?
I have a friend that would like to visit the US but doesn't have a visa and is starting the process of trying to get one.
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Most of us here are US citizens, so we'd be going the other way. :)
Probably quickest/easiest to check with their Venezuelan friends (or on a Venezuela forum). :)
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Check out this site. It has forums for just about every kind of VISA and country specific forums. It was a great help getting my wife through the process. http://www.visajourney.com/ Good luck!
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http://www.ustraveldocs.com/ve/ve-niv-visaapply.asp
Depending on circumstances, and if you want to be helpful, you could call Department of State, and you could call your congress folks - Reps and Senators.
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I'm a retired FSO (Foreign Service Officer) who actually adjudicated visas in Caracas back in the day (25 years ago). Applicants for a tourist visa need to show that the ties they have to their native countries are strong enough to impel them to return (i.e., not stay in the U.S. as an undocumented worker). Due to Venezuela's economic and political situation, your friend is going to have his work cut out for him. Having strong family ties is a good start, but many parents leave their kids for years on end in order to get a job and send money back. Working in a job that one has had for a few years (shows stability) is also good, but depending on the salary this might not be a significant factor. One thing that might factor in positively is whether your friend has a history of traveling to other countries (and can prove it via the stamps in his passport) and then returning in accordance with the restrictions set by those visas. Of course if your friend has spent 52 of the last 60 months touring around Curacao, Brazil and Argentina, this just might backfire.
Good luck.
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A retired FSO who worked consular in Caracas. You can't beat her advice on this one.
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What the FSO is saying matches my anecdotal experience. The elderly father of a few family members is a naturalized Venezuelan citizen and they haven't been able to get him a visa to come to the US. Sounds like it looks from the outside that he has more ties to the US (two children, various grandchildren and great-grandchildren) than he does to Venezuela.
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That's a shame that we don't let people come visit out of a preemptive fear they won't follow the law (and leave when their visa expires).
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Check out the website for the US embassy in Venezuelan, the embassy website can be pretty good.
http://caracas.usembassy.gov/b1_b2.html
I'd also recommend visajourney.com, the people on the forums can be really helpful.