Advice needed for obtaining a vistors visa for the US frm UK

Hi , i have been looking all day at the American embassy website and to be honest can not make head nor tail of it all.
We are planning to visit the US early next year as a family and want to obtain visa's.I have a british passport,as does my 2 children,however my husband has an african passport but limited leave to remain for the UK.
Can someone help me with the following questions..
1- Do we have to book our flights and hotel before applying for our visa's?
2- Can we all apply online or will we have to visit the embassy
3- will our visa applications be treated the same as my husbands?
4- Will our financial situation be taken into account when applying?
Any help would be much appreciated.We have tried to obtain a telephone number for the US embassy in the UK but its all automated and they advise to call a £1.50 per minute number for info :-/
thanks

have you looked Visas you want a B2

1.The advice from the embassy is not to book flights / hotels without a visa. It does in my opinion help to show that you have actually looked at the costs of hotels / flights etc by showing some itinerary. no need to pay for anything but you could go on websites like expedia, lastminute.com etc and search for flights hotels and make and print out itinerary and also more importantly these can used to show you have ties
2. Only your husband needs to apply. infact if you apply you are likely to be denied as you can travel using British passport without visa. You may want to look at doing ESTA to makesure you qualify. you do have to pay about $14 per application
3. n/a see 1. only husband to apply. in the event that the whole family were to apply i doubt that 1 would get whilst others didnt
4. i believe it will be taken into account as you have to show you have sufficient funds to cover trip, this why my point about doing itinerary is important.

the most important thing will be to show (your husband) that he has ties in the UK, so fact that he has family is helpful, if he has a permanent job that will be useful too so confirmation letter from employer would be ideal, if you guys own your own home details about this would be usefull.

How many years has your husband been in the UK for?

only call the number when you are ready to book the appointment and have passport and ready before you dial. i have paid close to 20 pounds on one call before

Hi thank you so much for your reply.
My husband has been here since 2008 but was orginally on a student visa,we then tried to change to a spousal visa,which we had a number of problems,so in the end we had to appeal and go to court.He has been granted decretionary leave to remain now for 3 years.Hopefully after this he can apply for LTR.Its all been a nightmare to be honest but we got through it! I hope all this wont effect him gaining a visa to the USA. He was only issued this a few weeks back so is now looking for employment.I am currently employed but on maternity leave.
So if you are a british citizen you do not need a visa to the USA?
Another thing i wanted to find out is whether to tell the 100% truth on the visa application for my husband.His mum , sisters and literally his whole family live over there but they are worried about declaring this as the US embassy may think the fact he has 99% of his family there,will we come back.We really dont know whther we should give this information or whther to just say we are going on a holiday.We are only planning to go for 2 weeks and even though we are visiting family,we are staying in a hotel.Its really hard to know whther honesty is the best policy :-/
Any advice would be much appreciated

f2k gave you good advice. Given your husband's current situation (especially his lack of employment) I think it's unlikely he will be granted a visa.

By the way, your husband must answer all the questions on the visa application truthfully, including the ones on his relatives living in the US. Lying to immigration can result in a permanent ban from the US.

Would thi sbe the case even though im employed and will be back to work by then? Hopefully he will be in employment by then.We are going as a family.Him,myself and our 2 children.Surely that is enough tie to the UK.Our eldest daughter is in school and is 9 years old.All my family are here in the UK.So im sure this is plenty of ties :-/
I can just see the US embassy seeing the fact my husband has his mother and sisters in the US as a bad thing,which is why i asked advise on whether to declare this.I know what these people are like,the fact we want to visit our family in the US would be looked as like we want to live there.Im sorry but the US is the last place i want to live,we are happy here but simply want to see my in-laws and my children have never met there grandma and aunties.
We will apply for the visa and see what happens.If my husband was travelling alone i could understand why they would be cautious,but we are going as a family :-/

I stand by my earlier comments that a) your husband is unlikely to be granted a visa without employment and b) lying on an immigration form can have very serious consequences, and your husband should not do it.

That is correct - British citizens do not generally need a visa to visit the US.

stacey1 wrote:Would thi sbe the case even though im employed and will be back to work by then? Hopefully he will be in employment by then.We are going as a family.Him,myself and our 2 children.Surely that is enough tie to the UK.Our eldest daughter is in school and is 9 years old.All my family are here in the UK.So im sure this is plenty of ties :-/
I can just see the US embassy seeing the fact my husband has his mother and sisters in the US as a bad thing,which is why i asked advise on whether to declare this.I know what these people are like,the fact we want to visit our family in the US would be looked as like we want to live there.Im sorry but the US is the last place i want to live,we are happy here but simply want to see my in-laws and my children have never met there grandma and aunties.
We will apply for the visa and see what happens.If my husband was travelling alone i could understand why they would be cautious,but we are going as a family :-/

If YOU were applying then i dont thing there would a be a problem, but seeing its HUSBAND alone who needs to apply I am not so sure. Like Marco72 the fact that he is not working might be a problem. The thing with US visa application is that Hubby applies and then only HE goes to the interview (you wont be allowed into the building) and so most questions fielded will be about him not you.
The other problem that might come up is the fact that your Hubby has had a complicated immigration history. In my view it may be a struggle (for your hubby) to explain why he has discretionary leave instead of a spousal visa. the fact that the British authorities would not give him a spousal visa even after the appeal will take some explaining. Also when does his current visa expire?

The fact that he has family members there can be both good or bad. Are his family members there legally or illegally? If he doesnt mention it and they find out then that could be that as he could probably kiss the 'American Dream' goodbye, cause even when he gets British passport he he will need to apply for a visa and mention that he lied to them before and they dont take lying to federal employee lightly.

Hi,thanks for your reply
This was my exact fear.I have spoken to the trvale agents and they said that if my husband has an appointment for the visa,we can al get our visas at the same time.Whether or not there is any truth in it i dont know,as all they want to do is sell you a holiday isnt it!
I think the best course of action is to wait til my husband gets a job,hopefully very soon as he has a few interviews coming up.
In answer to your question,yes all this family are legal and have green cards,his sisters were born there and his mum been there for 20 years!
They are all working also.
The only reason he was refused a spouse visa was because there was a 2 weeks delay in his visa running out and them receiving the new application.The judge advised us at the appeal that will not not issue spouse visa as we have been married for over 2 years,so they just gave discretionary for 3 years,then he can apply for leave t remain.All is so complicated and i know how the amercain embassy will look at it,even though all we want to do is go to the USA for 2 weeks on holiday :-/
At this rate we will have to settle for spain or greece lol we had no problem at all getting a visa for there.
Thanks again for your advice

i think you need to investigate more about your changing your husbands visa to a spouse visa. with what you have said so far I am not convinced that he cant be on a spouse visa. You can have a look at the 'Immigration for Family Members' section on this forum.

f2k wrote:i think you need to investigate more about your changing your husbands visa to a spouse visa. with what you have said so far I am not convinced that he cant be on a spouse visa. You can have a look at the 'Immigration for Family Members' section on this forum.

After the stress and money we have spent to get this visa i wouldnt even attempt to change it.Its what the jdge ordered and thats what the Home Office gave.He has 3 years limited leave to remain.After that 3 years he is entitled to apply for indefinate leave to remain.A spousal visa is only given for the first 2 years of marriage,then leave to remain is given.But as we have been married over 2 years and living together over 3 years it wouldnt be appropriate.He was granted limited leave to remain under the children's act law as we have children.Again this was by judgement of the tribuneral.
We will either wait til he gets his indefinate leave to remain or risk it and apply when he starts employment.I cant see how his visa is any different to a student/spousal/work visa.He has plenty of ties to the UK, including his wife and children and will soon have a job to add to the ties.We just dont want to risk having a "rejected" stamp in his passport.

f2k wrote:i think you need to investigate more about your changing your husbands visa to a spouse visa. with what you have said so far I am not convinced that he cant be on a spouse visa. You can have a look at the 'Immigration for Family Members' section on this forum.

op's husband did not qualify for a spouse visa because he didn't have leave at the time of his application.

stacey1 wrote:

f2k wrote:i think you need to investigate more about your changing your husbands visa to a spouse visa. with what you have said so far I am not convinced that he cant be on a spouse visa. You can have a look at the 'Immigration for Family Members' section on this forum.

After the stress and money we have spent to get this visa i wouldnt even attempt to change it.Its what the jdge ordered and thats what the Home Office gave.He has 3 years limited leave to remain.After that 3 years he is entitled to apply for indefinate leave to remain.A spousal visa is only given for the first 2 years of marriage,then leave to remain is given.But as we have been married over 2 years and living together over 3 years it wouldnt be appropriate.He was granted limited leave to remain under the children's act law as we have children.Again this was by judgement of the tribuneral.
We will either wait til he gets his indefinate leave to remain or risk it and apply when he starts employment.I cant see how his visa is any different to a student/spousal/work visa.He has plenty of ties to the UK, including his wife and children and will soon have a job to add to the ties.We just dont want to risk having a "rejected" stamp in his passport.

Not related to your current thread but just think a few things need to be clarified here-
Stacey1 from reading your previous posts your husband was given discretionary leave because he was an overstayer when he applied for leave as your spouse and therefore did not qualify under the rules. It is not correct that they only grant the spouse visa for the first two years of marriage and that they granted your husband discretionary leave because you had been married for over two years. Finally your husband will need to complete 6 years discretionary leave before he can apply for ilr.

Greenie wrote:

stacey1 wrote:

f2k wrote:i think you need to investigate more about your changing your husbands visa to a spouse visa. with what you have said so far I am not convinced that he cant be on a spouse visa. You can have a look at the 'Immigration for Family Members' section on this forum.

After the stress and money we have spent to get this visa i wouldnt even attempt to change it.Its what the jdge ordered and thats what the Home Office gave.He has 3 years limited leave to remain.After that 3 years he is entitled to apply for indefinate leave to remain.A spousal visa is only given for the first 2 years of marriage,then leave to remain is given.But as we have been married over 2 years and living together over 3 years it wouldnt be appropriate.He was granted limited leave to remain under the children's act law as we have children.Again this was by judgement of the tribuneral.
We will either wait til he gets his indefinate leave to remain or risk it and apply when he starts employment.I cant see how his visa is any different to a student/spousal/work visa.He has plenty of ties to the UK, including his wife and children and will soon have a job to add to the ties.We just dont want to risk having a "rejected" stamp in his passport.

Not related to your current thread but just think a few things need to be clarified here-
Stacey1 from reading your previous posts your husband was given discretionary leave because he was an overstayer when he applied for leave as your spouse and therefore did not qualify under the rules. It is not correct that they only grant the spouse visa for the first two years of marriage and that they granted your husband discretionary leave because you had been married for over two years. Finally your husband will need to complete 6 years discretionary leave before he can apply for ilr.

I am only repeating what the judge told us in court and what our home office documents say.We have it in writing that at the end of the 3 year year period, he will qualify for ltr.Im not saying what i think,im only telling you what we have in writing.It also clearly states that the decretionary was granted in accordance with the childrens

stacey1 wrote:

Greenie wrote:

stacey1 wrote:

f2k wrote:i think you need to investigate more about your changing your husbands visa to a spouse visa. with what you have said so far I am not convinced that he cant be on a spouse visa. You can have a look at the 'Immigration for Family Members' section on this forum.

After the stress and money we have spent to get this visa i wouldnt even attempt to change it.Its what the jdge ordered and thats what the Home Office gave.He has 3 years limited leave to remain.After that 3 years he is entitled to apply for indefinate leave to remain.A spousal visa is only given for the first 2 years of marriage,then leave to remain is given.But as we have been married over 2 years and living together over 3 years it wouldnt be appropriate.He was granted limited leave to remain under the children's act law as we have children.Again this was by judgement of the tribuneral.
We will either wait til he gets his indefinate leave to remain or risk it and apply when he starts employment.I cant see how his visa is any different to a student/spousal/work visa.He has plenty of ties to the UK, including his wife and children and will soon have a job to add to the ties.We just dont want to risk having a "rejected" stamp in his passport.

Not related to your current thread but just think a few things need to be clarified here-
Stacey1 from reading your previous posts your husband was given discretionary leave because he was an overstayer when he applied for leave as your spouse and therefore did not qualify under the rules. It is not correct that they only grant the spouse visa for the first two years of marriage and that they granted your husband discretionary leave because you had been married for over two years. Finally your husband will need to complete 6 years discretionary leave before he can apply for ilr.

I am only repeating what the judge told us in court and what our home office documents say.We have it in writing that at the end of the 3 year year period, he will qualify for ltr.Im not saying what i think,im only telling you what we have in writing.It also clearly states that the decretionary was granted in accordance with the childrens

What does the letter from ukba actually say? 'ltr' means leave to remain and is not the same as indefinite leave to remain. Ukba policy is that a person needs to complete 6 years discretionary leave to qualify for ilr the reasons for grant of discretionary leave do not change this.

Greenie wrote:

f2k wrote:i think you need to investigate more about your changing your husbands visa to a spouse visa. with what you have said so far I am not convinced that he cant be on a spouse visa. You can have a look at the 'Immigration for Family Members' section on this forum.

op's husband did not qualify for a spouse visa because he didn't have leave at the time of his application.

Probably the wrong place to be discussing this now hence why I posted the link to the other section.

the reason why i said i was not convinced is because i am not sure of the reason (hadnt been married for 2 years). Also not sure about the reason about it an being out of time application as the OP suggests that they application was posted on time but received late.

Anyway my other point would be to question why (other than the application fee if that is an issue) can they not apply for spousal visa now either here or even from the husbands home country rather than staying on the discretionary visa which they would need to extend in 3years time