US B2 visa advice - please help!

[marie1987]

Hi all,

I’m wondering if you can offer me some advice. I’m 25 and a UK citizen by birth. I travelled around America last year and made lots of good friends, so now I am hoping to go back for 6 months on a B2 visa and stay with one of these friends, from November 2012 to May 2013. But I’m panicking about my interview!

Here are my circumstances:

Family
I have a boyfriend of 18 months (my lifelong best friend ☺) who is not thrilled but supportive no less about my plans! I have
I have 5 young siblings whom I am very close to, especially my baby sister.
I am close to my mother who suffers from quite serious depression and would be devastated if I were to do something like overstay my visa and not come home.
I have photos of me and my family and boyfriend, would this help?

Career
I have a degree and plan to study for my masters when I return, although as my planned enrolment date is October 2013 I am not yet able to apply for this course. I have my degree certificate and my most recent and previous job contracts.
I have worked in roles relevant to my degree since my graduation 3 years ago and my masters is in a related field – I am serious about my career and am taking this break as my last opportunity to do such things before I am tied down by my masters!
I am currently in a full time position that I would be leaving to travel. My employer hopes to keep my position open but is unable to guarantee this and understandable reluctant to commit to any specific course of action.

Home
I currently live with my father and do not own any property or have a rental contract. I have bank statements going to this address and a letter from my dad to say that I am living at this address and will continue to do so upon my return, but that’s all.

Finances
I currently have savings of £2000. I plan to save a further £2500 between now and my departure and have a copy of my savings plan and payslips to support my ability to save this money in the given time.
I also have a detailed budget with contingency built in showing how I plan to support myself on the savings I have stated.
My dad is happy to say that he can support me if anything goes wrong and show evidence of this, but I hear that’s not a good idea??

Plans
I have booked my tickets already. I don’t know whether this was a good idea or a bad one as there is lots of conflicting info out there on this one, but I hoped it would show that I intend to return to the UK and have made plans to do so.
I have a letter complete with ID from my friend whose home I will be staying at, explaining how she knows me, how long I’m staying for and that she won’t charge me, she owns the home, etc etc.
I have an itinerary of things I want to do, friends I plan to visit, timetable, flight quotes, contact details, photos of me and these friends, how I know them, their contact details etc.

Finally, my reason for staying 6 months is that there are lots of things going on in the city I want to visit across a 6 month period such as festivals and events, so my timetable would be dependent on this, and also I want to fit in visits to other parts of the country, take my time and kind of have this city as a base. Is that a good enough reason?

Sorry if this is an essay but my appointment is Wednesday and I’m seriously panicking! What do you guys think? Do you have any advice on how I could strengthen my case? I’ve put my heart into this trip and can’t bear the thought of losing it now!

Thanks

[AlexS]

Don't know if I'm telling BS, but is it possible to leave the US to Mexico or Canada after 3 months, spend a couple of days, and then come back and spend 3 more months?