And I have indeed heard from the horse's mouth that there is nothing anyone can do to intervene with an ongoing visa application. Not even within the State Department. The only recourse is to apply again, as unfortunate as that is.
What I recommend for everyone is that when applying for a nonimmigrant visa, be sure to demonstrate every possible reason why you only want to come to the U.S. *temporarily* and then return to your life back home. They feel more confident letting you into the country if they know that you have firm ties to your country such as career, family, property/lease, etc. that you would be leaving behind to try to live in the U.S. permanently. And, much to my surprise, it's not enough to explain that your entire trip is paid for, as none of us actually have the legal power to force you to go home. It is a bizarre and unfriendly system.
James
On Sun, Jun 24, 2012 at 2:18 PM, Richard Symonds richard.symonds@wikimedia.org.uk wrote:
I think what James means to say is that the 2012 Wikimania team has no special right to know what's going on with visa applications. I'm not sure what support they have set up for failed applicants.
In my experience, going through the US Embassy for a visa is expensive and time-consuming if you're not from a country with close relations with the US. The only recourse is to apply again and hope that you meet the requirements. It was difficult (and expensive) enough getting visas sorted in London; I can't imagine that the Ghanan embassy is less strict about it or any cheaper.
I'm not sure what support or advice the Wikimania team can offer, although they have the State Department's E-Diplomacy office as an official partner, so they might have some connections there. That would be up to them, though.
Richard Symonds
On 24 June 2012 18:58, James Hare messedrocker@gmail.com wrote:
No.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jun 24, 2012, at 1:55 PM, rupert THURNER rupert.thurner@gmail.com wrote:
would it be possible that you call the embassy what is going on, to have something like a "second opinion"? you wrote the letter of invitation, and have some right to know what happened?
On Sun, Jun 24, 2012 at 2:51 AM, James Hare messedrocker@gmail.com wrote:
The only recourse you have is to apply again, and it may be too late to do that now that we're 18 days from the conference.
James
On Sat, Jun 23, 2012 at 8:49 PM, rupert THURNER rupert.thurner@gmail.com wrote:
hi,
what is the proceeding if somebody from ghana, africa, got the visa for the wikimania denied at the us embassy in accra?
rupert.
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l