Legal Question in Immigration Law in New York

Invitation for Relatives

Hi I am not sure where to turn to ask this question and hoping you will be able to provide me with some useful information. I am a US citizen and so is my family. We immigrated to US from Russia back in 1993. We have not had ANY family or relatives come to US to even visit. I am getting married in June and since I have zero family here and no grandparents left in Russia , my only request is for 2 of my aunts to come to my wedding. We filled out an official invitation and today, they went to the immigration services in Russia and the American consultants there DENIED their request. They are women with FAMILIES and jobs where they've been for the past 36 years. They have children and grandchildren. They are NOT looking to immigrate here to US and stay here to live. All they want is a pass for a few week for my wedding. My family pays US taxes in this ''LAND OF THE FREE'' .... what do we have to do to have my 2 aunts be permitted to come to my wedding????

I am not asking for them to live here, they wouldnt want to, their whole lives are in Russia, all they want is to be there at my wedding, they are the only family i have.

Please tell me the appropriate people to turn to !!!!


Asked on 4/10/06, 9:49 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
William Frenkel Frenkel Sukhman LLP

Re: Invitation for Relatives

U.S. Consular officers have total discretion over visa decisions and their judgment as to "immigrant intent" is final and not appealable.

However, in problematic cases, such as the one you describe, there is usually an opportunity to re-submit the visa application with stronger evidence of ties to homeland for the visa applicants and to prepare your relatives for a consular interview they had previously failed. I am not sure about the procedures at the consulate where your relatives applied, but normally they can re-apply and try to address the issues that caused the consular officer to deny the application through appropriate evidence.

Contact a qualified immigration attorney to get assistance with this problem.

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Answered on 4/10/06, 10:11 am


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