Is there really a surefire way to to secure US visa approval? The head of the visa processing section of the US Embassy in Manila said "no." Consul General Mark McGovern on Thursday debunked what he tagged as myths in terms of securing either non-immigrant and immigrant visas for Filipinos. In a press conference after the first ever media tour of the US consular section, McGovern said "there is no magic checklist" to make sure that an applicant will go home with that much wanted visa. He said the chances of getting visa applications approved only depend on "individuals' circumstances when they actually apply for visas." There are even times when not all family members who applied are approved to get a visa. Debunking the most common tip for applicants, McGovern said, the amount of "money on the bank account makes no difference." Consular officers, he said, are aware that some people are just putting money on their bank account during their application or falsifying their bank statements to show they have money. Also, it is not true that single Filipino women will likely get rejected nor a third-party endorsement, for example from a government official, will secure an automatic approval. The ties that an applicant has to the Philippines that will compel him or her to return is what consular officers are looking for, McGovern said. But he offered advice to lessen the possibility of being rejected: 1\. "Always tell the truth\. We can tell very quickly when people are not being truthful to us about their intentions about what they want to do when they travel to the United States\." 2\. "Don't use a lot of these agencies that are\.\.\.scammers\." 3\. "Rely on the official information that are available on all of our websites and use that information to understand how the visa process works\."