From all around the world, people apply for visas to the United States for many different reasons: to unite with or visit family, to help the U.S. fill labor shortages, to pursue an education, or to get healthcare, among other reasons.

A lot of U.S. visa applications end up in heartache and trauma when they are denied: husband and wife, parents and children, siblings have been kept apart for years because of visa denials (we experienced). Students midway in education programs are unable to proceed with their studies because of visa denials. Former U.S. workers are kept from accessing their U.S earnings and benefits because of visa denials (we experienced).

Often too, visa denial cases involve an applicant that is directly related to a U.S. citizen (e.g. a spouse, parent, child, or sibling) who is in support of the visa being awarded. But the visa is still denied. In one such case (and there are many of these cases), a visa for urgent medical attention was denied a sibling of a U.S. citizen (we experienced).

The purpose of this petition is to express the heartaches and trauma resulting from U.S. visa denials as a humanitarian issue that needs to be addressed by the U.S. Department of State and its responsible subsidiaries. Also, describing an issue that encroaches on the rights of people all around the world, this petition calls upon the United Nations to help put a stop to visa procedures and outcomes that infringe on human rights: right to live with family, right to access work earnings and benefits, and so on.

Here are applicable excerpts from UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 

Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 16.
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
...
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17.
...
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 22.
 Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Full Declaration: http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

In this light, the United States needs to review and improve its processes and logic for awarding or denying visas and immigration applications, looking at the following non-exhaustive list:

1. Applicant's Family Ties to US: If a U.S. citizen directly related (spouse, parent, child, sibling) to an applicant supports award of a visa, from a humanitarian point of view, the applicant should be given very strong consideration for a visa and speedy processing in order to unite with family, where there is no criminal reason to prevent award of the visa.

2. Applicant's Economic Ties to US: An applicant who has worked or done business for a considerable period in the US, and has therefore acquired finances, property, and social security benefits in the US, should be given very strong consideration for a visa in order to be able to access his/her US assets, where there is no criminal reason to prevent award of the visa.

3. Other Evidence Presented by Applicant: As applicable, evidence of non-immigrant intent brought into visa interviews by applicants should be thoroughly evaluated when arriving at a visa approval or denial decision. It is commonly known that during visa interviews, such evidences are often not looked at in making a determination on the visa application i.e. applicants often are not given the chance to completely present their case.

4. Visa Fees: Applicants should receive value for money paid for visa services. In other words, an applicant should be allowed to completely present case and evidences which in turn should be reasonably evaluated by the visa processing office. When visa applications are denied without good logic and applicants are asked to (or have to) apply again, the applicant has not received value for money paid. Some visa denials also require hiring of a U.S. immigration lawyer, which further takes a toll on applicants' finances and is even more traumatic when the visa denial was unwarranted.

5. Appeals: Consider, in the least, allowing automatic appeals for an applicant with family ties to a U.S. citizen, and for an applicant with economic ties to the U.S. through work or business. Further still, consider, as done in most legal courts, ability to appeal any visa denial.

At link https://www.change.org/search?q=uscis one can read through a number of Change.org petitions that heartbreakingly express the situation with U.S visa/immigration denials. And there are numerous other such stories undocumented (we have experienced). This petition aims to bring closure to all these.

A victory on this petition would be the U.S announcing new good-natured procedures and sensible logic for processing visa applications and immigration cases, plus a plan to speedily fix cases which are traumatic for applicants and their families.

 

(TO PERSONS SIGNING THIS PETITION: Thank you in advance for signing and supporting this humanitarian cause! If you’d like, please write your visa denial story (if you have one) in the 'reasons for signing' comment box, to give people the opportunity to read and feel your story. Let’s change this decades-long practice and bring unity to families, and benefits access to workers, to name a few wins.)