Ineligibilities
How can I help?
What is a nonimmigrant visa (NIV)?
NIVs are for persons who wish to travel to the U.S. temporarily, such as tourists, students, exchange visitors and temporary workers. Click here for a chart of visa classifications based on purpose of travel. For immigrant visa (IV) information, please click here.
A visa does not grant the bearer the right to enter the United States. A visa allows the bearer to apply for entry to the U.S. in a certain classification (e.g. student (F), visitor (B), temporary worker (H)). The Department of State (DOS) is responsible for visa adjudication at U.S. Embassies and Consulates outside of the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immigration inspectors determine admission into, length of stay and conditions of stay in, the U.S. at a port of entry. The information on a nonimmigrant visa only relates to when the traveler may apply for entry into the U.S. DHS immigration inspectors will record the terms of the traveler's admission on the Arrival/Departure Record (I-94 white or I-94W green) and in the traveler's passport.
Other helpful websites:
DHS: www.uscis.gov
DOS: travel.state.gov or www.unitedstatesvisas.gov
Can I write a letter of support for an NIV application?
Due to our large volume of visa work, we cannot begin work on any case until an application has actually been submitted. Providing advance notice to us of an upcoming application does not expedite issuance of a visa. In addition, please note that we do not request nor require letters of invitation, offers of sponsorship and the like in order to make a visa application. U.S. immigration law makes no provisions for offers of guarantee or sponsorship. Each applicant must qualify on his/her own merits. If you have information in support of an application (or re-application), please send it directly to the applicant, who can share it with us during his/her interview, or who can include it with a mail-in submission. Due to our volume of mail and applications, we cannot store your letter and retrieve it at the time of application.
We cannot guarantee issuance in any case, and cannot guarantee a visa will be ready on a specific day even if the applicant is fully qualified. Note that re-applications, made after a person has been found ineligible for a visa, can take additional processing time. Therefore, no one should make unchangeable travel plans in anticipation that a visa will be available on a certain day. Like any of the other planning that goes into an important trip, applicants should apply for their visas well in advance of any intended travel.
Why are applicants found ineligible for NIVs?
We adjudicate each visa case individually in accordance with U.S. law to determine each applicant's eligibility. Because of this case-by-case method, the reason why an applicant is ineligible for a visa is quite specific to that applicant's individual circumstances. Applicants receive a written explanation concerning their visa ineligibility and what they may do, if anything, to overcome that ineligibility.
There are three main categories of refusals:
Section 221(g) : Applicants are ineligible under Section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended, because they failed to bring some information or document, or some further procedure or review by us or another U.S. government agency must be completed.
Section 214(b) : Applicants are ineligible under Section 214(b) of the INA, because they have failed to overcome the presumption of U.S. law that he or she is in truth an intending immigrant and is not a qualified nonimmigrant.
Section 212(a) : Applicants are ineligible under Section 212(a) of the INA, as amended, based on criminal records and other specific grounds listed in the statute that make them excludable from the United States. If you fail to admit a previous arrest or conviction (including for driving under the influence of alcohol) you may be found permanently ineligible for a visa. more
If you write us with a case-specific inquiry, please include the spelling of the applicant's name (as it appears in the passport), date of birth, Korean identification number (KID), if applicable, and date of application. If the person is a married woman, please also include her maiden name. Be sure to include your contact information (e-mail address and/or fax number).
Here is an example:
Please note that because an inquiry may ask for information we are prohibited from releasing by privacy laws, in some cases, our reply can only be general in nature.
Our Korean mailing address is:
U.S. Embassy Seoul
Consular Section
32 Sejongno, Jongno-gu
Seoul 110-710 Korea
Our U.S. mailing address is:
U.S. Embassy Seoul
Consular Section
APO AP 96205-5550 USA
Fax & Email:
Fax (all inquiries except E, H, L, O, P, Q cases): 82-2-725-6843
Email: seoulniv@state.gov
Fax (E, H, L, O, P, Q visa inquiries only): 82-2-736-6839
Email: seoulgoldteam@state.gov
For more information, or to schedule an appointment, please go to USA VISA Information Services at http://www.us-visaservices.com. USA VISA Information Services is available 24 hours a day, and can be accessed from both inside and outside of Korea.
For nonimmigrant visa (NIV) inquiries (excluding E, H, L, O, P, Q visa inquiries), please e-mail us at : seoulniv@state.gov. For E, H, L, O, P, Q visa inquiries, please e-mail us at : seoulgoldteam@state.gov.
The applicant, not the U.S. Government, assumes full responsibility for all documents and materials submitted in connection with any consular or visa matter, and for qualifying for the required visa or travel document in time to meet the applicant's needs.
This is an official U.S. Government source of information on the WWW. Inclusion of non-U.S. Government links or information does not imply endorsement of contents.
Updated 2007-06-11
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Non-Immigrant Visas
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Ineligibilities
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