Albanian boyfriend living in Italy denied a tourist visa to the US. How should he reapply?

Question

My boyfriend and I did not research this as much as we could have and he was just denied a tourist visa on his first try.

I am a US citizen and currently a student. My boyfriend is an Albanian citizen living in Italy with a stable job and an apartment he rents. In the past year and a half of dating, I have been the one to make the journey over on 3 separate occasions. While I complete my last year at University, I wanted him to be able to visit over my week off for Thanksgiving and meet my family. Obviously, I would have to return to school so he would have no choice but to return home. He has no desire to move here yet, as all of his family and most of his friends reside in Europe, so quite frankly, as you can imagine, I am very frustrated. In his letter of refusal, they only said he was unable to demonstrate that his intentions aligned with a tourist visa (how could he if they only asked him 3 questions!). I understand the likelihood of reapplying and getting the visa for him to visit in November is very, very low considering not much time will pass between now and then for any "significant changes" to be made.

However, would he have more luck if he reapplied to visit in May 2019? This is when I graduate from university and I would like for him to be here. Our plans afterward would be that I return to Italy with him to begin my Master's degree at a university there. How can we prepare for this? What kind of documentation should we have? I figured a letter of his invitation, my confirmation that I will be attending a school in Italy... I understand none of it would be guaranteed but is it still helpful?

Update

I have been pondering this a lot more and I think he can reapply soon. His letter said he can reapply at any time, and I don't think any changes need to be made besides being a lot more specific about our plans. Any more thoughts about this?

Update

Would it seem strange if he then applied for a student visa to take English classes here? I still want him to attend my graduation, so should he apply for a tourist visa and then a student visa or just the student visa? We want to live together as soon as we are able without having to rush things with a fiance visa. I also just think his opportunities would be better if he lived here.

Answer 1

Plan B makes the best sense considering it allows more time between applications and also is for a more important event, i.e. your graduation. Additionally he will have more time (hopefully) to improve his financial/stability status.

For my graduation here in the USA I invited my brother, stepmother, and uncle who had all previously been denied US visas and they were all issued. Some say it is because I attended a prestigious university, however I also believe and have anecdotal evidence that graduations have greater weight with consular officers than ordinary visits.

In my case my school office of student services prepared the invitations. That's the only thing sent from here. They carried along their own bank statements. Like you noted, nothing is guaranteed however I believe the chances are better that way.