Information on Visa Refusal

We adjudicate each visa case individually to determine each person's eligibility. Because of this case-by-case method, many times the reason why a person was refused a visa is quite specific to their individual circumstances. However, there are some common points why a visa was refused.

Many refusals are made under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act. These refusals are made because some important item, such as an I-20 form or a valid passport, is missing. If your case was refused for this reason, you will have been given a green information sheet, listing what is needed.

The most common refusal, however, is one under Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act. That section of the states:

Every alien shall be presumed to be an immigrant until s/he establishes to the satisfaction of the officer, at the time of the application for a visa... that he is entitled to nonimmigrant status...

This means that our officers are required by law to view each visa applicant as intending to immigrate until the applicant proves otherwise.

Proof may come in many forms, but when considered together, it must be enough for the interviewing officer to conclude that your overall circumstances, including social, family, economic and other ties abroad, will compel you to leave the United States at the end of a temporary stay. "Ties" are the various aspects of your life that bind you to your place of residence, such as your family relationships, employment and possessions. In cases of younger applicants who may not have had an opportunity to establish such ties, officers may look at educational status, grades and long-range plans and prospects in Burkina Faso. As each person's situation is different, there is no single answer as to what constitutes adequate ties.

Refusals under Section 214(b) are not permanent. If you have new information or if your overall circumstances have changed significantly, you may reapply.

One common misconception about 214(b) refusals is that overcoming the refusal is just a matter of providing more documents. The problem, however, is often not simply with the documents. Rather, your current overall situation was not adequate to overcome the presumption that you intend to immigrate.

A  letter, like other forms of written documentation, will be considered by the interviewing officer. However, a letter, even from a highly placed person, cannot establish the applicant's ties outside of the United States. U.S. law requires each applicant to qualify for a visa in his or her own right.

Many applicants wish to send us letters from relatives in the U.S. or other information they feel will be of use in obtaining a visa. Please do not mail or FAX such items to us, as we cannot store them and later match them up with an application. You should submit any information pertaining to your case at the same time with your other application materials.

Some students are confused when, after presenting an I-20 from their school, they do not obtain a student visa. Under Section 214(b) students too must show that they will leave the U.S. before their granted length of stay expires. In student cases, the applicant may intend to stay for many months and even years. Consequently, we must consider the overall circumstances when deciding whether to approve a student visa. Student visas must also be denied if the applicant's primary purpose of travel is not to study, but to facilitate an indefinite stay in America. That a school has admitted a student to study and issued the I-20 is only one of the factors we must consider.