Can Americans help their foreign friends get non-immigrant visas?

June 18, 2009 1:45 AM

A Bulgarian friend of mine has applied for a non-immigrant visa for the US and her application has been placed on hold indefinitely. Is there anything I can do?

She and I are both doing our PhDs in astronomy, and she has been invited to participate in a two-week summer workshop at an Ivy League institution in July. She applied for the visa a month ago and it was placed on hold a week later. The indications seem to be that it won't be processed before the trip.

The irksome thing is that, unlike many Europeans, my friend actually wants to visit America. She is a bright student, a nice person, a responsible citizen, a fluent english speaker. She is the opposite of the kind of person that the State Department would want to keep out of America. Moreover, many of our friends/colleagues will be attending the workshop because they come from countries with US visa waiver programs-- it's just so unfair.

I have tried writing to the US consulate in Sofia to ask for advice. I have written to the constituent services group for my Congressman. My friend's visa application included a letter of invitation from the Ivy League school and a letter of support from her home institution in Germany. Since it was put on hold, she has contacted the workshop organizers who seemed to think that there was nothing they could do.

As an American citizen, what can I do to help my friend? Would it help for her to come as a guest of my family? Can I offer a character reference (her's would be excellent!)? Are there any federal politicians with a soft spot for Bulgaria?

posted by emmykm to Law & Government (6 answers total)

Best answer: What was the congressperson's response? Calling or walking into the local office might be more effective than a letter. Perhaps try your senator too.
posted by mdonley at 2:11 AM on June 18, 2009

Absolutely call or walk in to the congresscritter's office. They probably even have an office local to your district that you could haunt.
posted by Netzapper at 2:32 AM on June 18, 2009

3rding calling or going in person, not writing. You don't have time to wait for them to take their time to respond. It's also probably easier to plead your case live.
posted by ishotjr at 7:19 AM on June 18, 2009

See if the university has an office that deals with this sort of thing. She may have to do this, and not you, for reasons of confidentiality.
posted by oaf at 9:29 AM on June 18, 2009

The irksome thing is that, unlike many Europeans, my friend actually wants to visit America. She is a bright student, a nice person, a responsible citizen, a fluent english speaker. She is the opposite of the kind of person that the State Department would want to keep out of America.

It's unfair, and stupid. But the fact of the matter is that she may exactly the sort of person the US worries about, since she could probably fit in quite well and want to stay. So before you contact a person in Congress, you should bolster your case by knowing - and including - information about her status in Bulgaria. They're far more likely to let her in if she:

1) Owns property in Bulgaria.
2) Has a reasonably good job there.
3) Is married and has kids there.
4) Anything else that would imply an obvious need / desire to return to Bulgaria. (Finishing her PhD, believe it or not, might be considered a weak reason.)

Young, ambitious, bright and unattached people from certain countries are generally discriminated against the most when it comes to this sort of thing.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 1:10 PM on June 18, 2009

Response by poster: Thank you for the responses. My friend's visa has been issued. The reason for the delay and the reason why it was eventually issued appear to be forever clouded in the mystery of the State Department. My congressman's local office was very supportive and they called the State Dept. I would suggest a phone call to anyone who has a similar issue.
posted by emmykm at 2:33 PM on July 7, 2009