Phil Jones Generalities. Obviously it's all levels of safety. U wouldn't walk into a favela in Rio at night wearing a Rolex and spout this.

@Ron ********

Get an account at Photoshop Bank

@Jose*****

i did my SEV with an outbound onward ticket, so i dont think they care. It's just paperwork really, like, say, hotel reservations.

I've gotten this. Just get a tourist visa next time, and do not try visa exempt.

you were blacklisted from boarding your flight...from where to where?

@Jackie **********

'only passport was hand[sic] over'

@Jackie **********

"That means a lot of people have succeeded in getting their documents examined and visas approved."

To be clear, I never claimed that one needs to have documents reviewed to get approved (or denied). Only that documents are hardly used for adjudication (because they can be faked).

I have countless other reports from actual applicants similar to this one (this is from applicants in the Philippines), but also in Thailand and other countries.

And yes, the process can look arbitrary, especially when seen from the point of view of a single person's application. The VO's decision making process is a black box, but with my fairly large data pool I've been able to discern some patterns, particularly in terms of which days of the week, and even appointment times (early in the day vs lunch hour) may yield higher approval rates, which are (a rather normal) reflection of the subjectivity of the humans behind making these decisions.

@Jackie **********

The hypoethesis I speak of was that he saw in your document folder that you were a former FSO. And as you now confirm, your wife actually did mention it, which may have warranted him checking for your file in the backroom (I'm hypothetizing that now). The point is really, if you were given professional courtesy, doesn't matter what documents you may or not have brought with you, as you stated, it is possible you were thrown in a bone as a former colleague.

99.99% of applicants do not share this past history, so on that token alone, your experience is different than that of us common folks.

As for documents, I am not relying on my solo personal experience - that is exactly what I say people tend to do, and who tend to apply it incorrectly as de facto 'reality'. As I mention, I run several groups for US Tourist visa, with over 250,000 aggregate members, across different countries. NOT being asked to show documents that applicants spent hours preparing, is a _recurring_ (and frustrating) experience shared by HUNDREDS upon hundreds of applicants, _both_ approved and denied, including on this same thread in this current group.

I promise you, many many, MANY people try to offer xyz documents, only for the visa officer to say they don't need to see them. That your wife had the VO take the a whole package and go review in the back for a full 10 minutes just doesn't happen (unless of course, former FSO.)

I have it also in good reference from (ex) visa officers that they are trained not to rely on documents, because they can be easily falsified. I constantly have to ban and block persons who come to my groups offering (fake) bank statements and any document requested for a visa application.

While I would like to defer to your past experience as an FSO, I simply know from personal and countless shared experiences that what I am saying is very accurate. Here, from an ex-visa officer's own mouth, on documents:



While I repeat that 99% of times documents are NOT requested or seen, I never suggest people not to bring documents, because you never know that 1% chance.

@Jackie **********

As I said, if you have data to back it up, then it backs up. Not very often I run into ex/FSOs on this topic, so it usually tends to be pointed experiences made into 'facts'.

@Jackie **********

Well I mean, if as you hypothesize he actually did take the docs (which in itself is a rarety, how'd you manage that without dropping names/FSO title??) and he was reviewing it in the back then very possible could've been professional courtesy, so all bets are off then as far as what actually helped.