Establishing Visas for Citizens' Family Members to Visit

The Problem

Can you imagine that your mother, father, child, brother, or sister would be turned away at the border when you invite them to visit?  But welcomed as immigrants?  It's happening on routine basis.

Family members of US citizens from visa waiver countries can visit routinely for 90 days at a time. But those from countries where a visa is required are often denied a visitor’s visa on the statutory presumption that they intend to immigrate, rather than visit.

Parents are often denied visas because they are retired, of limited means, and without many, if any, living relatives at home.  Adult children and siblings can also be denied because they do not have family members living at home.

Even spouses of US citizens who live abroad are denied tourist visas, often in cases where family assets are held in the name of the US citizen, or if the non-US citizen spouse is retired or a stay at home parent.

Yet in all these cases, US citizens can sponsor their family members to immigrate.

It makes no sense -- after prolonged family separations, many family members immigrate to the United States only because they were denied the privilege of visiting.

The Solution

We propose the establishment of visa to allow US citizens to sponsor family members to visit.