Immigration Corner | What will happen if I tell the embassy about my family in the US?

Good evening Mrs Walker-Huntington,

I had applied for a non-immigrant visa in 1991 and 1992 and I was turned down. I have two brothers and a sister living in the USA. I am planning to apply again. If I put them on the application will they have my application information from over 30 years ago?

Regards

A.D.

Dear A.D.,

The first rule of thumb in everything and in dealing with the US government – always tell the truth. Deal with the consequences of telling the truth on an application rather than the fall out of lack of honesty. We have an underlying belief spread by so called “visa Fixers” in Jamaica that an applicant for a US visa must answer questions in a light most favourable to obtaining a visa. Nothing is further from the truth. All questions must be answered truthfully – no matter the outcome. If your visa application is denied for telling the truth, depending on what that is – situations change, and a subsequent application could lead to a more positive outcome. Please remember that no one is entitled to a visa, it is a privilege and not a right – regardless of the applicant’s background.

If you are not employed, say you are not employed. If you are single, for goodness sake do not say that you are married. If you have family in America, answer that you have family in America.

Too often people are told that you can’t get visa if this, that or the other and it forces applicants to take bad advice and give incorrect information on their applications. False information given to the US Embassy in the pursuit of a non-immigrant visa is immigration fraud. This fraud never goes away and will prevent you from being approved for future non-immigrant as well as immigrant visas. If you have committed immigration fraud, you will need a non-immigrant waiver before the Embassy grants a non-immigrant visa. If there is immigration fraud and you are the beneficiary of an immigrant visa petition, you will need a qualifying relative before you can even apply for an immigrant waiver.

Immigration records and information are available to US immigration and the US Embassy indefinitely. If you failed to give information in the past, and you are applying now with different information – be prepared to explain the discrepancy. If the explanation is plausible and other factors are satisfactory, you may be granted the visa.

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 mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com