Immigration Corner | How can I appeal my visa denial?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

I applied for a visitor visa to the US and was denied because of an arrest for drug possession that I was found not guilty of. How can I appeal this decision?

Please help

IW

Dear IW,

In responding to inquiries about non-immigrant visas, including visitor’s visas, I always remind the public that a non-immigrant visa is a privilege, it is not a right. The process by which non-immigrant visas are granted is highly subjective.

The consular officer has wide latitude regarding granting and denying a visa and makes his/her decision on several factors. One, the main factor is whether the person applying for the visa will return to their home country after their visit. The other factor that is heavily weighed is whether the applicant is a desirable visitor to the United States.

In making that determination, the consular officer looks to the person’s criminal history. Depending on the person’s background, a denial followed by a non-immigrant waiver can be considered and may or may not result in the eventual grant of a visa. There is no appeal from the denial of a non-immigrant visa, but a non-immigrant waiver can be pursued in some instances.

When it comes to controlled substance violations (drug charges, etc), the US immigration laws view these situations very seriously, and in most cases, even in an immigrant visa application, where there is a denial and there is no waiver. A person does not have to be arrested for a controlled substance violation, much less convicted, for a ban on entry to the United States to apply.

There is an immigration law theory ‘Reason To Believe’ that is, frankly, just that. If US immigration has reason to believe that you are involved in drug use, trafficking, money laundering, etc., you can be denied a visa (both non-immigrant and immigrant). The evidence for the reason to believe can be an arrest even if that arrest did not lead to a conviction.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq. is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a diversity and inclusion consultant, mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com