My application for a student visa to study in the United States was refused twice be-cause of the following reasons ,according to the visa officers who interviewed me：
1. My wage is low so I would not return to China.2. I already have a Master's degree so I need not go to the United States for anotherMaster's.3. I have worked for seven years at the Shandong Agricultural University (SAu)With all due respect to the visa officers who interviewed and rejected me ,I would makethe following argument as why the refusal to my application is not reasonable and notfair.
l. As a scientist at a Chinese educational institute ,my monthly salary IS low ,and verylow. But the low income is definitely not the reason why I want to study in yourcountry. Compare to US salary standard ,Chinese senior professors in this country'sleading universities are unbelievably poor (professors at Shandong Agriculture Uni-versity has an average $ I00US per month). But low wage has never deterred somany Chinese scholars from coming back to China after they finish their designedstudies in the US. Take Dr. Qian Yongqiang a colleague of mine at SAU as an ex-ample,he left China with a salary of 60RMB in 1982 ,studied at Maryland State U-niversity for six years , and returned to his school-my school the Shandong Agricul-tural University in 1988. The salary waited for him in the year of 1988 was no morethan 120RMB while he could have made more than that amount in merely one daywashing dishes in US! He didn't stay in your country just because of his expectedlow salary in China. Now he is a dean of one of the colleges at the Shandong Agri-cultural University. Denying my visa on this ground is an insult to my conscientiousas a proud Chinese intellectual.
2. The second reason to refuse me can't be more unreasonable. I quote Dr. Mike Has-san , Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering at the Maryland State Univer-sity in the United States here for you as why I was admitted to their Master's pro-gram at the Maryland State University :
"You have been admitted to the MS program because when you applied and admit-ted you did not have the MS degree which is required for admission. for Ph. D. here.I intended to have you as a doctoral student not masters, your assistantship is at thelevel of a doctoral student ,not Master's. "Any one reading this passage would agree that I entered this Master's program isjust because of a strict academic standard at the Maryland State University when re-cruiting graduate students, a standard I am very proud of. My only intention is topursue a Ph. D. degree at the MSU, so is the intention for Dr. Hassan who will bemy supervisor at the MSU. They would not be so irresponsible to waste Americantax payer's money to sponsor a student who has no academic merit. Refusing myvisa on this ground (I have a Master's degree, so I do not need another Master's de-gree) is not only a grand ignorance to my true intention but also a suggestion thatDr. Hassan ,a well-known professor in his area in the United States ,was irresponsi-ble in awarding me such a prestigious financial assistance.
3. During the last seven years ,I had been teaching at the Shandong Agricultural Uni-versity for four years and then was sent by my University to do a Master's programat Tsinghua University ,China's top engineering school. It is very clear that I did notapply for a US school during the last three years is because of my on-going TsinghuaMaster's program, which I cherish very much. It is a perfect time for me to realizemy dream for a Ph. D. degree from a US university after my Master's degree ,whichwas awarded to me on July I0th , 1996. You can refuse people's visa application formany reasons, but refusing my visa on this third reason is a denial tn eaehindividual's right to design their own future. Seven year's working and studying inChina should not be a legitimate reason to reject my visa application as so many peo-ple over 30 are coming to America to pursue their academic dreams all the time.I respectfully request that you review my case on the basis of the above three convincingreasons as why I deserve a student visa to study in your country. I am confident thatyou will give me a favorable consideration alter reading my reasonable and fair argu-ments.
In support to my student visa application, I am writing to explain my particular situation to you.
Graduated from China’s top university for finance training program, Renmin University, I have been working as a Foreign Currency Exchange Dealer at China ABC Trust & Investment Corp for four years since graduation. With a fascinating job, a decent compensation package, a high social status and a comfortable life in Beijing though, I am always aware of that if I am to promote my career into a world standard, an MBA specialized in finance from North American universities is invaluable.
With this idea in mind I started my preparation for a North American MBA program two years ago and took GMAT in April, 1996. During the lengthy and boring procedure I never thought that there is an opportunity available for me to apply for Independent Immigration to Canada and to work as a foreign exchange dealer in Canada. I would LOVE to become a permanent resident in Canada and surf the world class financial wave in Toronto’s financial community. However, unaware of such an opportunity my only plan was to get myself gold-plated with a North American MBA and then come back to China digging my gold. I love Canada, but I don’t see a good reason to stay there and just for the sake of staying there if I do not have a permanent status allowing me to work in my professional field legally in Canada. The only thing in my mind was to get an MBA at that time.
My ideas and future plan was changed in the summer of 1996 when I heard the news about Canadian Independent Immigration program. With the help of an immigration consulting firm, I filed my application on August 1, 1997(file number: B 123 456 789). I know my professional skills are needed in Canada and I can develop a great career in Canada because of my skills in financial field.
However, on the other hand, my application for immigration is sitting in your Embassy’s office. It may take another year to finalize the case. And
most importantly and I think you also agree, there is a chance for my immigration application being refused. Therefore, I can not rely my life on the uncertainty of my immigration future. If the visa officer decided that my qualification for Independent immigration is not good enough, I then will return to my company and continue to dig my gold in China, instead of in my intended country of destination, Canada.
For the above understandable reason, I continued my application for MBA admission even after my immigration was submitted. And to my stunning surprise and greatest proud, the highly prestigious University of British Columbia offered me a full fellowship! That is an honor that is extremely valuable to me.
Eager to test my talent in Canada’s financial market and make a fortune if my immigration application gets approved, I am not crazy for a degree in Canada or if I do need it I can accomplish it studying weekends. But a MBA degree from Renmin University will mean a huge lot more to my future if I bring it back to China and work here permanently.
Now you know I am caught in a catch-22: For a better future in China, I need an MBA from North America; for an independent immigrant, I should not have applied as a student. I can not give up my MBA opportunity because my immigration application is not guaranteed; and because there is no guarantee for my immigration then a refusal to my student visa just on basis of my open immigration intention will be NOT fair because it depresses my future in China.
I am a successful and well-off young professional in China’s emerging financial industry. I am confident that I can work in my field in Canada as successful as I have been in China if I do get my immigration visa. If by any chance a visa officer does not approve my immigration application, with all due regret I can still make a great career in my field, particularly if I have a MBA from such North American schools like UBC.
Therefore, I respectfully request that you grant me my student visa application to allow me attend UBC MBA program. If in the future Canada give me the permanent status, I will be living and working inCanada for good and if not, I will be coming back to China because of what I have achieved so far in China.
Your general consideration is much appreciated.
Sincerely,
PS. My MBA program at UBC takes only one and half year. It is highly possible that by the time my landing paper expires, my program will have finished for several months.
With great honor and excitement, I received a York University fellowship for a Ph.D. program in finance. The program will take me about five years. I have submitted my application for a student authorization to your office. I am writing this to explain a situation surrounding my visa application.
I married a wonderful man who happened to have applied for Canadian immigration under independent category (file number: B 012 345 678). He sent in his application on July 21, 1996 and I married him in February 1997. I did not marry him for his uncertain future in immigrating to Canada but for the fact that he was my college sweat heart, as well as for his proven success in the finance industry in China.
To our utmost gratefulness, your office granted my husband a student visa after he received a fellowship for his long desired MBA program from the University of British Columbia, while his immigration application is sitting in your office (visa number E1234567890). Our love to Canada is reinforced by your graciousness and generosity in allowing him pursuing his study in Canada while waiting for his immigration processing.
Needless to say, as a successful financial professional, my husband will honor the trust that you gave to him by complying with all the terms and conditions stipulated by his student authorization no matter the outcome of his immigration application. Canada is the country we do want to make our home in, however, our career and job future in China are also very promising. An immigration visa will be an invitation for us to join the Bay Street professionals in Toronto, and a refusal, albeit we hope not, but if there is a refusal we will take it as a hometown party appointment and return to China to develop our future.
Enough said about my husband, here comes my situation: I myself am a senior accountant at China National Bank in Beijing. The reason I wanted to pursue a Ph.D. degree in York was aimed at my career back to China.
Since the marriage to my husband who applied for Canadian immigration, this purpose has not really changed because we both do not know our immigration future yet. I would rather commit myself to my original plan while just keep one eye only on the possible future of receiving an immigration visa. Like my husband, I have a bright future in both great countries. When I receive my Ph.D. degree from York, my future in China will be much, much more exciting. Leaving or staying in Canada, the only determining factor is our legal status. Our very successful past and promising future in China will veto any possibility for us to hide in Canada doing some dishwashing jobs if our immigration application is refused.
My Ph.D. degree at York takes about five years to complete. As dependent applicant I know that I do not have to look for work immediately after landing in Canada that means I will continue my study at Canada’s prestigious York University. I will see if I need to do anything to make myself more adapted following a favorable decision for our immigration application. But whatever I do, I will do it right, do it legally and do it by the rules.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
说够了我的丈夫，这才是我的情况：我自己是北京中国国家银行的一个高级会计师。我去加拿大读经济学博士的目的，是为了回到国内的前途。自从我和这个申请了加拿大移民的丈夫结婚以来，我的这个目标并没有什么变化，因为我们并不知道到底移民申请能不能成功。我宁愿坚持我的原先的计划，同时捎带着（keep an eye on it）考虑万一获得移民签证后的种种可能。同我的丈夫一样，我在中国和加拿大都会有了不起的前途。当我获得约克大学的博士学位后，我在中国的前途将会极其令人激动。是离开还是居留在加拿大，唯一的决定因素将是我们的合法身份。我们在中国非常成功的过去和非常诱人的未来将否决这个可能，即万一我们的移民申请被拒绝后我们会躲在加拿大什么地方干着洗碗的营生。
对加拿大给他们奖学金和给她丈夫签证这样的事情，表示了充分的欣赏和感激。欣赏和感激别人的好意（Favor, help, and kindness），并强烈地当面表达出来，显示给给予者看，是西方文明和中国文化的区别之一。作为中国女子的葛奇，把这种西方感情表达得淋漓尽致。对于能够显示如此良好的西方教育素质，透明的西方意识的申请者，签证官不可能不喜欢。这一方面的精彩句子有：
With great honor and excitement, I received a scholarship from …
To our utmost gratefulness, your office granted my husband a student visa…
Our love to Canada is reinforced by your graciousness and generosity…
Canada is the country we do want to make our home in , however, our career and job future in China are also very promising.
When I receive my Ph.D. degree from ABC University, my future in China will be much, much more exciting…
An immigration visa will be an invitation for us to join the Bay Street professionals in Toronto, and a refusal…we will take it as a hometown party appointment and return to China to develop our future.
Our very successful past and promising future will veto any possibility for us to hide in Canada doing some dish-washing jobs if our immigration application is refused.
As a Ph.D. student at the Chemistry Department of Peking University, I have been dreaming of going to the United States to complete my graduate studies. My graduate supervisor at Peking University, Dr. Qian Yongqiang, who returned to China after he obtained his Ph.D. degree from Stanford University, also encourages me to pursue my advanced studies in the US because, according to his own experience, a Doctoral degree from the United States for a Chinese student will be shining much brighter in China, thus brings better life to him when he returns. Needlessly to say, chemistry departments in many American universities are the Mecca for chemistry students all around the world.
That is why I feel very disappointed when my application for a student visa to study chemistry in your country was refused on June 17th, 1996. The consul who rejected me assumes that I would not return to China after I finish my studies in the United States. Her decision is not fair because her opinion on my intention is wrong.
1．Thousands and thousands of Chinese students go to the US for their advanced studies each year. Among them were many of my schoolmates from Peking University. More chemistry students went to the United States each year than from other disciplines. As a top rated student at China’s most prestigious Peking University, as well as a student whose graduate supervisor was once too a US visa student returning to China, I should be among the very first to be allowed to come to the US pursuing my academic dreams.
2．For many years, I have loved and studied chemistry in China. My achievement in the field makes me one of the most promising young chemistry scientists in my country. I have ambitious plans to help boosting China’s chemical industry, to stimulate China’s R & D chemistry, and to expedite commercialization of research findings in my major field. All of these passions are on hold deliberately by myself because, as you can appreciate, it will make yet a huge difference to my personal and professional ability if I could spend a couple of years in one of America’s finest chemistry campuses.
3． Finally, I have to admit that an American Ph.D. is a final golden touch to my outstanding academic life so far. It has been a dilemma and
embarrassing reality for Chinese young scholars that a Ph.D. from the United States does attract preferential treatment from all levels of governments and all sorts of employers in my homeland. That is part of the reason that I would like to complete my graduate program at the University of Kansas, where physical chemistry is very well known in our professional community.
On basis of the above reasons, I respectfully request that you reconsider my visa application. Your favorable decision will be greatly appreciated.
My application for a student visa to pursue my graduate studies in the United States was rejected by your visa officer on July 18, 1997. The main reason, according to my interview with the visa officer, is because I have a brother who is now working for the United Nations in Canada and is sponsoring part of my cost for my graduate program in the U.S.. Therefore the visa officer rejected my application on the ground of immigration intention (214b).
Although I understand that it is up to the visa officer to exercise his or her discretion on whether an applicant has immigration intention, I believe in my case that the visa officer has made a wrong judgment. I would like you to know the following facts:
My brother, Qian Yongqiang, a prominent economist from China State Council, came to the United States as a visiting scholar to Yale in 1993 and now is a United Nations specialist positioned in Canada. A powerful fact is: my brother NEVER EVER sought for the immigration status to The United States nor to Canada during the last four years he has been living there (and of course he could if he would!). As a well-known economist, his career ambition is in China and he does not want his opportunity in Chinese high level government to be spoiled by his American immigrant status. (His term position with the UN was consented by his former employer: China Development Research Center at China State Council). My brother is a living proof that, besides seeking for an American green card, people do have other options on their itinerary for their journey of life. While too many people did break their promises to the United States in light of visa conditions, my brother kept his! You refused my visa for the reason of my brother who had played by rules while you must have issued visas to people whose siblings had NOT. Is this a fair decision? I think not.
Graduated from one of China’s leading universities (Jianghan University) and majored in Management Information Systems (MIS), I have been working in a couple of rewarding jobs upon graduation. Currently I am employed by a major investment consulting firm as its MIS specialist. Young technology elite people like me have many money making opportunities in today’s China particularly in the high-tech industry. I know computer people can make forty or fifty thousand dollars or more a year in the United States but it will be my ultimate future in a foreign country, while my career and business opportunities in China is limitless. With my brother’s government contacts, my family’s social network, and with a valued American Master’s degree which will give me a golden finger to touch China’s high-tech market, I would be stupid not to pursue my FORTUNE and my FUTUER back in China after I complete my graduate program in the United States.
I respectfully request that you give me a position consideration on basis of my above statement.
格式和英语文字不好， 这是签证官拒绝阅读的主要原因。许多信不符合美国商务信件的基本标准，一眼就看得出作者没有起码的写作知识和英语表达能力，许多学生把自己写的申诉信拿给我看，我也从来看不下去，不忍卒读。面对英语文字糟糕的信，签证官的心烦意乱的程度可以想象，当然会拒绝给你一个公平的申辩机会，因为你的文字水平是不合格的。以小学生的文字水平来申述一个研究生的前途大事，是不对的。
在给签证官申诉信的时候，没有以相应的语言包括表情和身体语言显示你的信心和优秀。申诉信只是你再次申请时的申辩手段之一，而不是唯一的手段。有过这样一个案例：签证官看完申诉信说还是不能给签证，说完就离开窗口，这时申请人由于准备充分，就把信中的观点和辩论大声说了出来。签证官听了，被她的气势和自信震住，就给了签证。还有一个成功的故事：一个条件非常不好的申请人，在签证官看她的申诉信的同时，口中念念有词地把信中的内容重复说了出来， 由于说的内容经过精心准备，非常感人，签证官看完申诉信抬起头来，申请人口中还在呢喃不停。申请人最后看见签证官在听她说话，就停了下来，但是没想到签证官已经被她说的话迷住了，说”go ahead”。当然就给了她签证。另外一个失败的故事：签证官看完申诉信，说：已经被说服准备给申请者签证，但是心有不甘，在问了好多问题后，最后说：How can you convince me that you will come back? 对于这样的好问题，申请人的答案没有使签证官满意，惨遭拒签。以上三个故事不是街上的传说，第一第三个案例，是徐小平老师咨询过的新东方学员，第二个故事，是俞敏洪先生为他的一位北大同事精心策划的杰作。
签证官心情不好。心情不好有可能导致签证官拒绝读信，但是如果你的信质量很高，读了信，他的心情就会好起来，陶醉在信中漂亮的行文和强大的逻辑中。最后，签证官心情不好，你也不应该退缩，而要理直气壮表达你的申述。具体如何反败为胜，本书其他章节有详细讲解，请仔细阅读。作者: 闲情 时间: 2003-4-2 22:11:36
My dream for an American MBA degree was shattered three times when my application for a student visa was rejected three times by your visa officers. I believe that the refusals are not reasonable because I have a solid plan for my study in the United States and return to China to develop my future, where I am making a great living at this present. Please allow me to show why your rejection to my visa is unfair to me:
1. Having worked for an American company, Mellon Central Air Conditioning Co. of its China venture for more than two years as the first marketing assistant to the Director of Marketing Department, I have not only achieved great experience in American style marketing and sales, but also accumulated enough money to be invested into a valued American MBA. Money is not a problem for me but an MBA is critical to my better life in China a few years later. It is this company from the United States who has given me strong experience of business and sufficient financial rewards, an MBA from an American school is a logical decoration to my already fulfilling career. I would be very much appreciate it if you grant me a visa to realize this dream of mine, a dream I can financially afford, professionally deserve.
2.My father, a national famous expert in power industry as well as the co-sponsor for my American MBA project, is the president of the Chinese joint-venture of Mellon Central Air Conditioning Co. of America, the world leader in cooling system industry and the largest in the United States of its business. My father is also the general manager of another American company’s Chinese operation, Beijing Air Conditioning Tech. Co., Ltd. He has made a good fortune during the last few years working in these American companies after he was granted an early retirement from his senior positions at some major state-owned corporations. Like father, Like daughter. If my father can be this big even without an American education, what could I possibly achieve after I receive my MBA degree from the United States? Please do not deny my great future in China by denying me the student visa to my American MBA. My father is the living example as why I will return to China! Accusing me has the intention to stay in your country is the ignorance to my unique situation in which I have been working for this American company for about three years and my father is leading the operations of two companies from the United States!
3. Everybody knows that MBAs in the United States can not find a job, except for those from top twenty schools. The University of Wyoming is ranked number 70 for its MBA program. However, an American MBA degree is the golden key in China to young people’s future because of China’s economic situation where hundreds of thousands of MBAs are urgently needed. Taking into consideration to my strong credential as well as to my father’s great success in Chinese society you will believe that I am among those who would definitely return to China for the great China gold rush in the next century!
On basis of my previous argument, I sincerely hope that you will reconsider my application and grant me the student visa. I appreciate your job duty to prevent bad people from coming to the United States as well as to allow the eligible person coming to your country for American education. It has been the great tradition for well-off Chinese families to send their children to the United States for American education. My application is only one of the exercises of this tradition.
(Industrial air conditioning and cooling is big business which is easily involved in multimillion dollar deals. As the daughter of China’s leading expert in this field, and with my own experience in some American companies in this business, my American MBA will fly me to the top of the business back in Chinese market. China is really a massive market! But the experienced people are in bad shortage. It has a even worse shortage for those who not only knows about the technology but also understands American way of doing business. And it must be a really rare combination for a person who has an American MBA on top of all the above mentioned qualifications and this person must be really EXPENSIVE to acquire! Without American experience, my father has been sought after by those US companies. When I receive my American MBA, I guess there must be a bidding war for me between those who are planning to enter Chinese market! This is a brilliant future in that I will be guaranteed a six figure salary and for that I have started longing even without leaving China yet!)