Why was the Togolese citizen I invited to the U.S. denied a visa?
When visas are denied, it is normally due to the fact that the applicant failed to qualify for a visitor’s visa under Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952, as amended. Section 214(b) of the INA is the most common basis for denying a nonimmigrant visa. It stipulates that every applicant “shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officer, at the time of application for a visa, . . . That he is entitled to a nonimmigrant status under section 101(a)(15).” Section 101(a)(15) states that a nonimmigrant is “an alien having a residence in a foreign country which he has no intention of abandoning and who is visiting the United States temporarily” for a variety of purposes which the law delineates (business, pleasure, student, etc.).
