Doesn't have to be, but chances at being approved are higher if applying from the country the applicant has the strongest ties to, this is a pretty good summary...

https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/us ... ulate.html

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 7:30 am The first thing the US embassy looks at is what ties does the applicant have to return to their country> ( job, savings in bank, land/house, family etc)
In ur case, stationed temp in CA, the Cambodian applicant would have NONE

Exactly what Australia looks for also, wether there is a risk of not returning.

PSD-Kiwi wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 12:41 am Doesn't have to be, but chances at being approved are higher if applying from the country the applicant has the strongest ties to, this is a pretty good summary...

https://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/us ... ulate.html

Like he says, you can apply where you reside, but when she is living in a country other than Cambodia, that can make it really hard to prove that she has strong enough ties to Cambodia to want to leave the USA. She could, of course try to show strong ties to the Latin American residence country that would give her a reason to return from the USA to Latin America, but that may be hard if her only real tie to that Latin American country is that she followed you there.

A lot will depend on her having the same legal status and residence visa that you do. If you both are legally living in the CA country with proper papers and you are legally employed/paying taxes then your supposedly on the same standing you'd be living in Cambodia. In fact you'd potentially have a stronger case that she would leave the country with you since she isn't a citizen of whatever CA country your moving to.

Now, if she is just "visiting" you for an extended period of time, then don't waste your time/money. She will be told to apply in her home country when she returns from visiting you.

The other thing I'd add is that from my own experience with various US embassies over the years, many embassies are "nicer", "more respectful", whatever adjective you'd like to use than our US embassy here in Cambodia. If nothing else, it would be worth a visit to ask the question yourself and to put a face to the potential application. Good luck.

Freightdog wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 1:34 pm The issue of sufficient ties and reason to return isn’t really a problem.

The airline will be operating to the US at some point, and it would be a shame not to make use of that to visit some of the attractions while we have the opportunity, but certainly not worth a 9000mile+ trip back to Cambodia just to make an application. Any application would be supported by my position with the operation, and my own Visa status (C1/D, B) hopefully would lend some weight to such things.
There’s little benefit in trying to apply now, as we don’t have enough detail on what’s happening.
But at least it’s not a requirement to apply from one’s home country, as it is with some countries/nationalities/visa types.

Where in Central America are you trying to base in?