How Hard to do?

[Sandra162]

My husband just became a perminent resident. We would like for his parents and 21 year old unmarried sister to visit us in the states. I have been told they should try to get a tourist visa, but how hard is this? They don't have lots of money, and I have been told they will have to prove they have some money in a bank account. They don't even have a bank acct., we will be paying for everything. Any suggestions? Should I just have my husband file an I-130 instead?

[Laura]

Well, if your husband isn't a citizen, he can't petition for his parents. Read this (http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=81c6194d3e88d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCR D&vgnextchannel=4f719c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1 RCRD). It sounds like it will be three years before your husband can become a citizen, then he could petition his parents and theoretically they would get appointments within 18 months after that. You probably don't want to wait that long.

A tourist visa will be tough to get, and I think you will have to have them set up a bank account and all that to have a decent chance.

From what I've heard (and we haven't attempted this yet), but you have to prove, for a tourist visa, that the people visiting have no intention of staying in the U.S.

So, for example, if your husband has younger siblings that are in school and are not going along to visit, you show their school records to argue that no parent would abandon their school-age child. It's good if the people own property or have a business or job that they would not abandon.

There are still a lot of cases where they deny these visas, but it's really your only option.