Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Travel Forum

why is it so hard for people in this country to receive visas to USA?

It is in general tough to get US visas. But if they give right answers to the questions and know precisely what to do, it is usually not that tough as Schengen visa.

As noted it is not just Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The US has a quota system. They will give so many visas to country X and so many to country Y. Then again if there is a member of one's family there already, they will not give a visa to another member of the same family.

Lots of other regulations too...

They do give visas to the members of same family. Once I had the worst passport you can imagine: "stateless" passport. I got 10-year visa and my wife also got the visa without any problem. We really did not wanted to travel that much to USA, we had to for business. They sensed, that they aren't that important and gave us the visa.

Somehow we got the impression, the chances to get American visa are much better if you do not want it. My friend from Serbia got it - he refused to immigrate many times before. I know people who dream about America and just cannot get the visa.

Sorry - I hadn't explained that clearly.

If someone from a family is already in the US on a tourist or student visa and then someone else from that same family, still in the home country, also wants a tourist visa they refuse on the basis that there is already a family member there.

They are thinking that the family wants to settle illegally. I am not talking long-term 10 yer visas, just a short visitor's visa.

My friends wanted to visit their son that was there as a 1-year student. They are well situated, stable people, both with good jobs, their own home and two more children still in school at home. There was no chance that they would want to 'over stay' a tourist visa, but were refused because their other son was already in the US with his wife. That was the answer they received.

yes, indeed, it can happen. Better to be careful what to say. In my experience, traveling to some professional shows and not relying on any relative in the States is a good idea. The goal: business and professionalism. It's how I got in the US (almost unwillingly) the first time and later we managed to stay there legally for almost two decades - ultimately becoming citizens.

Why it's so easy for people who are skeptical and reluctant regarding the States and so tough for ones who are completely exited - beats me, I would think, exited people would become much better immigrants, better fitting into the system ultimately than the skeptics. At least in our case as skeptical to the system and some of it's "values" we did arrive, so skeptical we departed 16 years later.