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How can I get a visa to visit Kenya?

How do I get a visa for my girlfriend's sister to visit from Kenya?

  • She is in her early 20's and her age seems to be the sticking point.  Besides visiting we are also needing her help to be a nanny for our children while we both work and go to school.  My girl friend is here on a student visa, and we plan to wed next year. Her older sister and mother have no trouble coming here to help out, but they cannot come for a while.

  • Answer:

    I think that really nails the central issue.  My only direct experience with applying for a visa at the Nairobi embassy was incredibly frustrating.  This was for a conference visa and the applicant would have traveled to Colorado for a month long conference on business development and then returned to Kenya to apply the principles to his start-up (in Nakuru).  Even though it was very clear that he was very low-risk to stay in the U.S. beyond his visa [1], the visa was denied (but of course, the fee that he paid just to submit his application wasn't refunded).  The outcome of this was that the conference organizers decided that it would be easier to hold the conference outside the U.S. so that qualified applicants would not miss this opportunity on the whims of the U.S. State Department. On the flip side of this, I do have a friend who recently got a fiancee visa for his bride-to-be.  It was a nervous process at the Nairobi embassy, but everything went through without a hitch.  However, for every success story, it feels like there are more stories of visas denied.  You can try to write incredibly persuasive letters, but you shouldn't get your hopes up. [1] An Ethiopian man, a Rwandan man and a Zambian man in the same age group all received their visas for the conference, while a Ghanaian, a Sierra Leonian and a Peruvian were all denied their visas.  It's not a transparent process at all.

Daniel Mokrauer-Madden at Quora Visit the source

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For which country is this? The question doesn't specify... Anyway, if the country is anything like Germany in this regard, you should be able to get a visa fairly easily if you write an "invitation letter". That letter would outline how the sister could sustain herself while in the country (e. g. that she would get room and board from you) but it would also mean taking responsibility for her financially. By inviting her, you will be held responsible for the cost of a forced deportation if she isn't willing to leave the country later, and also for any costs she leaves behind even if she goes willingly, for example if the landlord claims that she damaged the apartment and can't sue her because she's gone. So it's potentially a very big risk, but if you trust her with your life, you could do it. I have done so in the past, and I have also been on the organizing team of an event that managed to get German visas for youths from Kirghistan, Iran and Senegal by writing invitation letters for them.

Judith Meyer

The likely problem is that the girlfriend's sister falls into a very high-risk category, as mentions. State Dept is just worried that the sister will stay in the US once she comes, and will never return to Kenya. People from less developed countries fall into the high-risk category, especially if they are young, unmarried, don't have children or property that's left at home. My friend has similar issues with his wife's relatives coming from Belarus, for example - they are all considered stay-behind potential visa violator risks and are oftentimes denied visas for long stays. You may need to involve a lawyer, but at this point it may be cheaper to find a local nanny instead. ps: Congrats on the upcoming baby and wedding.

Toli Kuznets

As others have indicated the main hurdle is overcoming the presumed intent to overstay in the U.S. This will need to be done through whatever ties she has to her home country. Assets are the strongest ties - property. Family and employment are also strong ties. A job letter from her employer will help. Ultimately it comes down to the discretion of the officer, whether he or she believes the person has the intent to return to her home country.This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship wi...

Jason E. Feldman

I know a dentist who married a nice girl from Costa Rica. He is now living with her and her mother and her 3 sisters. I had a lawyer in La Jolla who married a nice Brazilian girl. As soon as she had aquired what she really wanted, US residency, she left him. This lawyer was a millionaire, he was good looking, he was in shape and she left him. What are your chances? The BBC did a documentary on the life of a British consul in Thailand. All this person did in life is create obstacles in the path of some love-stuck Briton who wanted a visa for his Thai girlfriend. I have relatives who have spent  the better part of their lives in Kenya. Whatever cases may exist of people from Costa Rica or Brazil using a US citizen as a way to get US residency multiply that by 100 in the case of Kenya. To get her a US visa you would have to assume financial responsibility for her. It means that if, once in the US, she decided to move into a hotel with her boyfriend, YOU are stuck with the bill. The US gov is in exactly the position as the British consul in Thailand. They have seen this before, they want to create obstacles, and if you persist, make sure any financial cost is on you and not the taxpayer. If you had been married 10 years, maybe. As you describe it, it is a really bad idea.

Fred Landis

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