Bringing my wife to the U.S. for vacation

bueno_pues says on Jul 6, 2007, 20:32:

Una visa turista y buena suerte con eso.

Robert Jorge says on Jul 6, 2007, 21:45:

You guys are in for a big disappointment if you were planning on her visiting the US. Save the heartache, disappointment, and cash, and try to get your family to visit you guys in Medellin. The only way your wife will be able to get to the US, is a K3 spousal visa. As long as you guys are on the up and up, it is almost a sure fire deal - but will take 7 months, more or less. The tourist visa option virtually is no option. Somewhere in the ball-park of 2% of applications are granted a visa. Your wife would have to prove she has financial assets in Colombia, that she owns property, has close family ties in Colombia, etc. AND, she probably STILL would be denied - for no given reason. It sucks, it ain't fair, but that is the way it is. If you have a couple of hundred bucks to blow, give it a shot. Just be prepared for the disappointment, wasted time and effort. Wish I had better news.

If you have lived in Colombia for a certain amount of time, enough to be considered a resident (I think 2 years, maybe less), you can direct consular file for your wife to immigrate to the US. This process is much quicker than the K3, but I have no details ... check out visajourney.com. Good luck.

mranderson says on Jul 7, 2007, 06:29:

ok thanks for all the info. I don't want her to immigrate to the u.s. and she doesn't either, we are both happy living in medellin...just wish we could both vacation in the u.s.

Gator says on Jul 7, 2007, 07:58:

You can give it a try for a B visa-might be six or seven months. Usually allows multiple entries and five years' duration. Some B visas are annotated to note a specific purpose of your trip to the U.S. The expiration date of the visa is last day you may use the visa to apply to enter the United States. The expiration date is NOT the last day you are allowed to remain in the U.S. Every time you plan to travel to the U.S, remember to assure her passport is valid for at least six months from the time you plan to depart the U.S. However, you may travel with two passports -- one expired passport with a valid visa and a new passport.

The worst thing that can happen is the word, "No." If it were me I would give it a try.

"Brevior Sltare Cum Deformibus Mulieribus Est Vita!" .

bueno_pues says on Jul 7, 2007, 09:15:

Estoy de acuerdo con Gator. Para las visas turistas en la embajada, muchas veces es suerte.

BAQ says on Jul 7, 2007, 14:10:

SHE CAN GET A TOURIST VISA. I was in the same boat and my wife got her tourist visa without any problems.

That being said, ROBERT JORGE is correct on the point of proving financial assets and family ties to colombia.

LOTS of gringos think that the wife is automatically entitled to a tourist visa since the husband is a U.S. Citizen. NOT TRUE.

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, YOUR WIFE MUST STAND ON HER OWN MERIT to get her visa. That being said, YES it helps that you are an american but if you are living here and dont own property, have a bank account here ect then your value to her is deminished.

When my wife got her visa, I went with her, the agent spoke with her and then asked me two questions, WAS I LIVING HERE AND DID I WON ANY PROPERTY. As soon as he found out I had purchased a home here and my wifes name was also on the deed, there were no more questions, APPROVED.

There is an automatic presumption that she will NOT RETURN to Colombia and you must overcome that. In my case, the consular saw that we were legally married, that we owned property here, she was a professor here and that we had a bank account here.

Hope the info helps.

Semper Fidelis !

Colombian Services says on Jul 7, 2007, 17:10:

mranderson,

My situation is pretty much the same, I live in Colombia and at the moment have no plans to live in the U.S.

About 4-6 months before I was married (2 yrs. ago last April) my wife applied for a tourist visa just on a hope of possibly receiving one, explaining the whole nine yards, marrying a Gringo living in Colombia BLA, BLA, BLA, the visa was denied and my wife was told to come back after we were married.

She went back about 3 months after the wedding with all of our marriage documents, my visa & me. The visa was approved.

Yesterday, she was at a visa appointment for tourist visas for her two children, age 9 & 18, both were approved.

Next week, I'm filing for a CR-1 visa for the wife and kids with consulate filing here in Bogota, I will need to do this anyway in the future, but now the filing fee is $190.00, July 31st. the fee increases to $355.00, not knowing how long it will take was the reason just to go ahead and file for tourist visas for the kids.

My Internet has been down for the past week, and may be down again Monday, but feel free to PM me if you need any other info.

Bob - www.BogotaColombiaLodging.com - www.FlowersToColombia.com - www.Colombian-Services.com