Have You Ever Been Denied a Visa or Entry to the United States? (I-485, Part 9, Items 10-11)

What these two questions ask

Both questions appear in Part 9 of Form I-485 and use the word EVER, meaning any time in your life, in any country. Item 10 is about a decision made at a U.S. border or port of entry; Item 11 is about a decision made on a visa application. They are two different events and are answered separately.

Verbatim · Form I-485, Part 9, Items 10-11 (edition 01/20/25, page 14)

“10. Have you EVER been denied admission to the United States?”

“11. Have you EVER been denied a visa to the United States?”

A visa is the document a U.S. embassy or consulate places in a passport that lets a traveler ask to enter the United States. Item 11 is about whether a consular officer ever refused one of those visa applications. Admission is the separate decision an officer makes at the airport or border about whether to let a traveler physically enter the country. Item 10 is about whether an officer ever refused that entry.

The two are distinct because a person can be denied one without the other. Someone may hold a valid visa yet be turned away at the border, and someone may have a visa application refused at a consulate yet never travel to a U.S. port of entry.

Form I-485 records prior denials in more than one place. Earlier in the form, Part 4 (Additional Information About You) asks whether you ever applied for an immigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad and, if so, records the decision (for example, approved, refused, denied, or withdrawn). Part 9, Items 10 and 11 are the direct Yes or No questions about a denial of admission or of a visa.