Visa Update: Injustice Prevails

Our friends in Mexico wrote us a detailed letter this morning about their experience at the U.S. Embassy, what they took with them for supporting documentation to prove they were going to return to Mexico.

They took:

  1. the last three checking account statements
  2. a summary of the family business
  3. the paid electric and telephone bills for their home and business
  4. documents from the municipal village president outlining the head-of-household commitment to community service for the next two years.

Here is what they spent:

  1. $540 USD ($140 per family member) for the visa application
  2. 3,400 pesos for Mexican passports for four family members
  3. 3,600 pesos for bus tickets for four family members
  4. A total of 14,000 pesos (about $1,100 USD)

Our friends say that maybe the consular officer thought they looked like Latinos who wanted to go to the U.S. and not return to Mexico.  Our friends showed our letters of recommendation first, but the consular officer didn’t read the letters, gave the “denied” decision immediately and there was no time to show the rest of the papers.  Our friends feel their treatment was unjust.  We agree and are ashamed of how our immigration policy hurts people emotionally and financially.  They don’t want to go through this again, risking another chunk of money only to be denied.

2 responses to “Visa Update: Injustice Prevails