I've done this a few times to get visas for my family from India (I'm not even American).
The consul is looking for:
1. Proof that the applicant will return home
2. Proof that the applicant will not become dependant on the state (U.S). They don't care if the money is his or yours, so long as he doesn't become an illegal worker in the US.

The burden of proof is on the applicant. Confirmed round trip flight tickets, an I-134 from the sponsor (you) and a letter of invitation from the sponsor are essential. The last time(april 2004), the consulate required my W2s for the last 3 years and pay stubs for 6 months. Aside from that, each American consulate requires different documents. Even within India, the US consulate in Chennai, the US consulate in Mumbai and the US consulate in Delhi have different requirements. Check if they have a web-site that lists necessary documents. Its pretty much pot luck

Also the borrowing money from friends may not work. Consulates in India now ask for bank statements for a couple of months to see if there was a large recent deposit that would indicate that the money is borrowed and not really the applicants.

Try this forum to see if you can find answers because this forum deals directly with immigration type issues.

http://murthyforum.atinfopop.com/4/OpenTopic

You've got several problems here. As everyone has said, the government is concerned about people overstaying their visas. My son who lived abroad in Eastern Europe told me that our consulate is really stinky until each country has a record that proves that fewer than 2% of their citizens overstay their visas. So, that is one issue. Next is the time it will take to get all this paperwork completed. I suspect that it is now too short of a time to get this accomplished before summer. Things with our immigation authories move like glaciers. I know a woman from Columbia who came here legally, married an American citizen and now has a child born in this country who is obviously a citizen. This woman's parents have been denied visitor visas 3 times even though last time they even had a letter from the woman's obstetrician documenting the fact that she was pregnant and would like to have her parents visit to see the new grandchild. With no school program to return to, no permament (and good) job, no bank account, and no wealthy family I suspect your friend is totally out of luck. I've seen up close what our immigration policies are and they stink. I don't think we as citizens realize how unwelcoming our country is unless we are actually involved with someone who is trying to come here.

Julies, what are you saying? Unwelcoming country? Let me put it this way: it took 10 years of waiting to get out of USSR and only 2 months (1 month delay because of the Earthquake in San Francisco) to get into USA.

Unwelcoming? Yes, to the visitors who come on a guest visa and demand citizenship.

Faina, no one is suggesting that the American INS is as bad as the iron curtain. We aren't talking immigration here. As one who has had to get visas to almost any country I want to go to: its been easier to get tourist visas to the european schenegan countries, UK and Japan than it is to America. OTOH, there are probably more people illegally entering the US than any of the other countries. We understand why the getting American visas is difficult, but it doesn't change that fact that it IS difficult.

One of my Russian friends told me that his aunt was allowed to come and visit the US, but his uncle wasn't, because she had young children, and the US govt figured that she wouldn't want to her children back in Russia for too long, and she would be least likely to stay permanently in the US.

I see a pattern that it appears to be a lot more difficult to convince the US embassy that a younger adult, like in the early 20's, to NOT want to stay permanently in the US because they have no ties back in their own country.