Applying for a US Visa in Krakow? Good and Bad Stories.

Does anybody have any stories about applying for a US B1/B2 Visa in Krakow? My Polish girlfriend was denied, and it seems to be a COMPLETELY arbitrary process, depending on the consulate officers mood - Does anyone relate to this experience?

NOBODY here has tried to get a US tourist Visa?!! You've gotta be kidding me

it might take a little more than half an hour for someone to reply.

No. Let's be honest, she wasn't going to return home after 3 months, was she?

Honestly , she was going to return in 3 weeks - I left America (New York City) to live with her in Poland - We bought a very nice place here and are doing very well - MUCH better than I was doing in New York - We only want to visit my mother in Florida for 2 weeks, and spend tourist dollars

forum.usa.info.pl/topic/17877-wasze-wizyty-w-konsulacie-w-tym-roku/

Thanks for the link - but it's in Polish, and it looks like the same statistics that everyone knows - I am trying to compile recent experiences from people and try to get a consensus of negative or positive - I can't believe this is a Polish forum in English , and nobody has anything to say about the absurd process of getting a US Visa - everyone seems to be talking about racism and Hitler - Oh well!?

This topic has been discussed here and according to your fellow Americans the absurd process of getting a US Visa and high rate of refusal is only Poles fault.

There is always talk in the media about putting pressure on the US gov't whenever a top ranking official visits there, but so far without success. Our neighbours and former socialists such as the Czechs, Slovaks, and Lithuanians can now travel easy via the Visa Waiver Program

travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html

...Poland remains the only Central European country that is not a participating nation in the VWP as of 2010, due to a visa refusal rate above the critical threshold of 3%.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Waiver_Program

Funny enough, one would think the key criterion excluding a country from the Visa Waiver Program would be the overstay %, and not the rather ambiguous refusal %.

I am sure many people will have both good and bad experiences with the US immigration, consular, and customs services wherever if you were you to google it. I could tell you that I once had an unpleasant personal experience with a consular officer in London, and also from talking to some Aussie and Kiwis who had the choice when flying home either via US or East Asia, they said they would rather not have to deal with US customs/immigration again - but that would not really be specific enough for this thread.

It's either the Polish government or Brussels that do not want Poles immigrating to the US. There's no reason for the US to exclude the Poles.

That's what seems so absurd - if they deny visas based on the percentage of denials, umm, isn't that the same as saying I can't give you something today because I didn't give it to you last week - It's literally nonsense - I could understand if it were based on % of overstays - but it's not. And the 214b denial is also absurd - no visa for lack of sufficient evidence or establishing strong ties to your country, ACCORDING TO THAT PARTICULAR CONSULAR OFFICER - there is no criterium - I know of people who were denied by a consular officer and came back the next week with the same story, and granted a visa by the consular officer in the next booth (they can't give you the same one twice) - But that proves that the system is completely an arbitrary process. No guidelines or regulations - they really should explain minimum requirements to establish sufficient ties, and explain that under certain circumstances there is no way to get a B2 Visa (past overstays and statue of limitations) - By failing to provide guidelines or rules for people to follow, they make the process unfaire


I'm sure the topic has probably been discussed here quite a bit - I'm just trying to get the most recent advice and information about specific consular officers in Krakow right now - the last time my girlfriend was denied , which was 3 years ago, she went to the embassy in Krakow and had a guy who was impossible to reason with (214b visa denial) - she went back with the same information the next week, was interviewed by a different consular officer in the next booth (a black guy I think), and he was very pleasant and gave her a 3 month B2 tourist visa - which she of course, complied with and did not overstay.

I understand that all of the consular officers are highly trained and have a lot of experience, but some are perhaps a little less prickly than others - Does anybody have any RECENT information about which Consular Officer is most difficult to deal with (they are NOT all the same)

Trust me its totally arbitrary and if you are young don't posses good company, own paid home, job that pays you 10k pln forget about visa. I'm so sick and tired hearing idiots saying its all Poles fault. Someone wit 80's mentality who knows sh*** about Poland living in US. I know that because I've been denied twice its all BS I was going to visit my girlfriend back in 2008 (Krakow consulate) I had all proofs, addresses, contact info, pictures, invitations. I only heard NO, "your situation is unstable" in broken polish. Having completed my MS. in engineering and working 3 years in good company. some jerk determined I was gonna overstay or be involve in illegal activities I felt being discriminated against and treated unfair. As of now with polish passport you can visit any developed country without visa requirement (or easy to obtain) except for US.

Absolutely Right - As a US citizen I am DISGUSTED with how we're handling this - The Consulate gives people a 214b rejection letter, saying that you haven't proven ties to Poland regardless of what documents you bring - I know of several cases of people with way more than enough proof to tie them to Poland, no family in the US, and never applied for a visa before - and were denied under 214b after the C.O. doesn't even look at any documents- Then they tell you that you are welcome to come back anytime and pay another 500 zloty to try your luck - Christian, educated, middle class Europeans are denied entry to the US, while we give illegals who jump the Mexican border a free pass and benifits to "refugees" from radicalized Islamic States who later bomb us -

And anyone who says it's Poles fault are stuck in the 1980's - There are no Poles who would go to the US to work, and none that would stay with extended family who emigrated over 20 years ago - Poles only want to go as tourists and spend money

Everyone on Polish Form should check out this link : dropvisasforpoland.org/en/

Strange, my girlfriend has none of those things and she got a ten-year multi-entry visa with no problem at all.

Yeah, getting a visa to the USA is not a big deal anymore. Only around 10% chance of denial...

I'm assuming it was your girlfriends first time traveling to the US - so she had no problem - I'm glad for the both of you

I have been with my girlfriend for 13 years now - we didn't marry in the US because we have no intention of living there (we love Poland) - she has an extensive travel history with the US going back to 2001 - but never more visits than once every 2 years - the last time she was there was 3 years ago - So they tell her she will marry her American 'fiance' and change status as soon as she is there - DESPITE THE FACT THAT WE HAVE BOTH BEEN LIVING IN POLAND AND SHE COULD HAVE EMIGRATED 5 TIMES ALREADY

Merged: U.S. Citizen Living In Poland - How To Get Non Immigrant Spousal Visa From Poland?

I am a US citizen living in Poland, with my girlfriend. We have been together for 13 years, and did not marry in the US because it would require living there for a % of time, which we do not want to do. We do NOT want to live in the US - but we do need to visit from time to time. When she applies for a B2 tourist Visa, she is denied because of her 'travel history' (visiting once very 2 years since 2001) and she said once that her boyfriend was American, which is why she travels there. Since then the Consulate denies tourist visa, and says she needs a Fiance, or Spousal Visa.

The problem is, I have no 'nexus' in the US, because I now live in Poland. I can not file or petition from the US for the Fiance Visa, and it seems to me, that the "Non Immigrant Spousal" still requires an affidavit of support which I cannot provide (I don't earn $18,000 a year )- and I have no one to sponsor me. It seems that to enjoy rights as an American, you must have MONEY$$.

So, is there anybody out there who has a similar circumstance, or can advise me?

Yeah, unfortunately, the arbitrary decision belongs to the CO.

Not only do you need an Affidavit of Support, but you also need a proof of domicile in the U.S. or proof of intent to establish it. Otherwise you cannot be the principal sponsor at all, no matter the income. It's your right to sponsor, but the immigration benefit given is a privilege, not a right. The reason for the need of income is to overcome the public charge inadmissibility provisions.

What you need to do is:

- start looking for a place to live, a job, etc. in the U.S; collect all the proof you have been doing that, so that you can show it to the CO at the time of your fiance's/spouse's interview.

- find a co-sponsor (USC or LPR) that will agree to sign an Affidavit of Support on behalf of your significant other
- make plans to move permanently to the U.S.

But that is the whole problem - nobody seems to understand that I am an American Expatriot - I do NOT want to live in the United States, she and I live in Poland - but I should be able to travel with my wife, who I will marry in Poland - NOT the US -

I can not be the only American in the world who finds himself living in another country with a foreign wife who wants to visit his family once a year together.

What do other people do, who don't live in the US anymore?

And shouldn't need to do any of this, because they should just give us a tourist visa - but they won't because they say we will move to the US together, when CLEARLY we live in Poland (house , work, bank, etc.) -

So, they're telling us to do Spousal, which is not possible because I don't live in the US, because they won't give us B2 tourist because they think we want to live in the US - Doesn't anybody see how crazy this is?

And as a former United States Marine, YES, I definitely feel that my right to travel with my spouse has been violated.

Unfortunately, this is how the U.S. law works. She, as a foreign citizen, has no right to travel to the U.S., unless she obtains proper documentation. Even then it's considered a privilege, a benefit, not a right. The fact that you are her spouse does not change anything and doesn't give her any sort of a "free pass" to travel to the U.S. at will. Unless you plan on sponsoring her for a green card, all she can do is apply for a tourist visa with compelling evidence that her intention is not to violate her nonimmigrant status. And the decision always depends on the CO. Sorry.

From another discussion:

Applying for a U.S. Visa (Krakow)


Here: krakow.usconsulate.gov/visas/non-immigrant-visas/how-to-apply.html

And here: poland.usembassy.gov/poland/consular.html