Thai Mother Of American Citizen Denied Tourist Visa

[scottydel]

Hello,

Alright you visa-immigration-forum wizards, I'm looking for a little magic! Or at least sound advice since Embassies and Consulates are magic-proof. 37-year-old American here with a 4-year-old mix son. I'm not married to the mother. We've agreed our son will attend school in the USA, and we'll visit Thailand each year so my son can see his Mom. I'd also like to be able to fly the Mom to the USA for short visits, if possible. I applied for a US Tourist Visa for his Mom about 2 years ago, and she was denied immediately (the interview only took a few minutes, maybe even seconds?). The only comment the interviewer made was that the application was for a 6 month stay in the USA, which seemed to long. In hindsight (you know, it's 20/20) I agree. I'm thinking about applying again, but this time only for a 3-week visit.

Basic facts:

-Already denied once for tourist visa

-Mom is 34-years-old and her personality is "shy" (but sweet, of course)

-Mom has very little money or assets

-Mom has had a steady job at a resort for 10 years

-Mom has another 12-year-old son with a Thai father

-My son and I recently returned from 10 months in the USA

-The 3 of us will hopefully be travelling to the USA together (son and I are in Thailand now, heading back to the states around October 2011)

-Mom doesn't really want to go the USA (scared of the return flight by herself) but I think it would be good for her and our son.

----> The reason her last application was denied: "The applicant has failed to show strong social, economic and family ties to Thailand". This is amazing to me, since she didn't want to go last time either. I had to twist her arm to apply. She is from a small village and the "big world" pretty much scares her. No chance of running here, but that obviously did not come across in the interview from what we had on paper. No economic ties in Thailand, I will give them that one for sure.

Any advince/thoughts would be appreciated (esp. by our son who has already expressed he wants her to come back with us!).

At some point in our son's childhood I think it would be cool for his Mom to be in the USA for a visit. Not sure how to express that on the magic-proof application.