Paranoid Android
Elite Member
- Jun 20, 2010
- 2,864
- 4,209
THIS THREAD IS INTENDED FOR INFORMATIVE PURPOSES ONLY. I AM IN NO WAY LEADING (OR MISLEADING) ANYONE TO GET A GUARANTEED USA VISA. THE VISA ISSUANCE WILL BE AT THE SOLE DISCRETION OF THE VISA OFFICER. DO NOT TRY TO MISREPRESENT ANYTHING AND LOOSE YOUR CHANCES OF EVER GETTING A USA VISA IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFETIME, OR MANAGE TO GET A VISA AND SHOW UP THERE TO GET DEPORTED AND MAKE YOUR PASSPORT COMPLETELY USELESS WITH A DEPORTATION STAMP ON IT. THE APPLICATION FEE IS $160, AND IT IS NON REFUNDABLE. IF YOU MISS AN APPOINTMENT YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET IT BACK OR GET A CHANCE TO RESCHEDULE.
I made a post here, thought I'll make a separate post with a clear title and make some changes and additions to the original post there.
The journey is over and i have got my visa, so this is going to be a retrospective journey thread. Hope you all find it useful.
If you are from one of these countries you don't need a visa. Read more about the Types of US Visas.
If you are a full time IMmer i'd recommend that you go for a B1/B2 Visa. Don't go for just B1 or B2 separately. If you work for Infosys or some other IT Giant in India, you should probably know that their rejection rates stand at 50%. You can always apply for other visa types later even if you have a B1B2 on your passport already.
Here is a brief guide on what, after a fair bit of research, I think they are looking for to grant you a visa.
(Pasting with edits and capitalizations from the previous post here)
The most common visa type that people apply for is the B1/B2 Visa. B1 is for business is B2 is for tourism. Check out wikipedia for USA visa types if you wish to know what all you can do with your B1 and B2 visas. You can do almost anything with a B1 visa. This is usually granted for 10 years. Permisible and Prohibited activities can be found here
Indians are territorial. Wherever our people are, there is a little India. I was surprised to hear recently that there is one in Ghana filled with Indian restaurants. And though the Americans and the British love Chicken Tikka Masala, they don't want too many cooks flying in to spoil the broth. And thanks to New York's taxi drivers, half of whom are Indians and not being the nicest taxi drivers of all, who take the longest routes to destinations, never return change, demand $10 above meter etc., USA would like to look at all non immigrant visa applicants as Immigrants. Yeah there are plenty of Millionaires and Billionaires of Indian orgin in Silicon Valley, and thats exactly the sort of people they want. If they see the potential in you, they are not going to have a problem in giving you a visa. This is not just for Indians but for other countries that require visas too. Read more here
Its a huge country 3 times the size of India with a only third of its population. They find it an easier and cheaper thing to do to block all possible immigrants during the visa interview. So basically to get a visa, all that you have to do is let the interviewing officer know that you have business to take care of back home and you are going to come back. You don't tell him this to his face, but what you tell him should reflect this. You are going to come back.
Give them a reason not to deny your application
Visa applications are denied in most cases because the officer feels that you don't have enough ties to your homeland.
Read
and
I have a wife and a growing up son, a decent balance of property, stocks, insurance etc etc and some cash in the bank to pay for my tickets and buy maybe ham burgers 3 times a day when I'm there. So documentations for these should be justification enough to not refuse a visa for me.
If you're 20 years old, don't tell them that a cpa company has employed you and they are paying you or you're going to meet your affiliate manager. Don't tell them you're going to Vegas to party either.
If you haven't traveled anywhere else and your passport has been brand new with all pages empty, the officers might not want you to be visiting their country the first time as a tourist, or to take part in a conference. You might need a strong business requirement to be travelling to the US such as meeting Mark Zuckerburg or Matt Cutts. If you have travelled to a few other countries it is good.
Give them a reason to approve your application.
Now, why approve my visa? Do you really have a reason to go to the USA? Of course you do, the BHW conference. But it happens in Nov, and DD wants to close the early bird this Friday. If you apply for a visa today for an event thats happening in Nov, the officer might ask you why you have applied for a visa now for an event thats 7 months away. 1 or 2 months in advance is usually acceptable.
Therefore, look for other conferences happening in the USA. It doesn't have to be anything related to internet marketing. I have a relative who runs a Sodium Chloride manufacturing plant at Pondicherry. So with a letter from him saying I'm shopping for his requirements, I applied for an expo pass for $60 for a 2 day Chemical Factory Equipments event happening at Salt Lake City, and the organizers of the event were happy to give me a Visa Invitation Letter addressed to the Consular officer, Chennai USA Consulate. Bingo. Reason enough for the B1.
As for the B2, you are going to need another letter. A moderator and a good friend here on BHW was kind enough to give me a letter instantly when I asked him for one. The visa invitation letter that I got from the conference clearly states that all expenses will be my own. If you work for a company there will be a company sponsorship so you won't have much issues. But when you are an individual applying, you will need to let the officer know that you do have someone who will be there if you run out of money. So the letter addressed to the Consular Officer, US Consulate, Chennai should read something like this.
Here's what you are going to need.
1. Income Tax Returns for the last 3 years.
2. Last 1 years Bank, DeMat/Mutual Funds Statements, Insurance payment receipts, Property Tax Receipts and Paypal Statements.
3. Invitation letter for the event that you're attending on the organizer's letterhead.
4. Invitation letter from a Friend living in the US with his address and phone number.
5. An address of the hotel where you might be staying. Booking of tickets or hotels is not required before approval of Visa.
6. Business Registration, Service Tax registration (And returns/nil returns)
DO NOT LET YOUR BH BRAINS TO TELL YOU TO FAKE EITHER OF THESE LETTERS. IF YOU DON'T GET LETTERS DO WITHOUT THEM AND YOU HAVE BETTER CHANCES OF SUCCESS. If they do call later in the evening India time, someone should pick up the phone and say yes he has issued such a letter and confirm the address and the other details in the letter.
How to go about it?
Do NOT hire a consultant or anyone who claims to provide usa visa assistance on CL. Your getting a visa depends on how you present yourself and what the consultant tells you might put you off course. Take my advise and do not do it.
Go to
and register there. Fill up the application form. Be Honest with the questions, in the application form, you don't want to be misrepresenting anything. Fill up the name of the hotel and the address, and the date of expected arrival, which might be a day or 2 prior to the event date. Pay the fees and Schedule your Biometrics 2 days before the interview at your consulate.
Get your Income Tax Returns for the last 3 years, bank statements for the last 1 year. Paypal statements should be an added advantage. Demat Statements, Property Tax receipts etc etc as listed above.
Go get the biometrics done. They take your photo, don't smile, look right into the lens like you mean business. The Visa officer is going to look at the photo during the interview. Get your fingerprints done next, collect your passport and you're out of there.
Go to the interview with all the docs. Be sure to schedule your appointment for the earliest available time slot of the day. I had mine scheduled for 8AM. Later down the day they get tired. Also, get your appointment in the middle of the week. Nobody likes Mondays and these officers are no exception. Don't wait till Friday either, Wednesday should be good.
Get into the consulate, get your token number, and wait for your number to be announced. There is always a queue in front of the counter where 3 people might be waiting. The visa officer observes you the way you move in the queue, body language and stuff while he is interviewing the one right in front of him. They look at you and try to figure out how desperate you are to drive a taxi, and how nervous you are, what you're wearing and stuff. I was wearing my favourite semi formals. I wasn't overwhelmed by the Magnanimous US consulate, I wasn't desperate to get a visa, and not nervous either. And one problem I think a lot of people from our part of the world has is to rehearse interviews in your mind. Do NOT do it. Walk in there with an open mind. answer the questions you're asked, don't say anything that you're not asked, if there is a brief silence after you have finished answering wait for him to break it, and if he thinks you quality you get a visa or you else you don't, thats it. You will need to register this in mind and not behave like the 12 year olds who cried when a store ran out of Harry Potter books on the release date.
The 3 people standing in front of me in the queue had their visas rejected. I was looking at the counters nearby too and there were good amounts of rejections there too. Passports returned across the counter means rejection. I thought mine was going to be rejected as well, but I did manage to look into the eyes of the officer and answer his questions in a conversational tone, nothing exaggerated, nothing stressed and nothing over explained with excitement. I don't want to get into the questions part of the interview as its going to be different for every person, and I'm not sure if I would be breaking the law or something by putting up my questions and answers here publicly.
So what if you get a visa and don't show up for the event that you registered for?
Well I am going to the event that I registered for in early April. It is an event that I am interested in though not as much as the BHW Conf for sure. But since it is not mandatory to stick to an itinerary and since you are being issued a 10 years Multiple Entry Visa, I don't think you would be breaking the rules in any ways if you don't show up for the event that you register for, and only visit in Nov for the BHW conf.
The USA Visa on your passport is only good to let you board a plane and present yourself before an Immigration Officer at the port of arrival. Weather you pass through or are returned is at the descretion of the Immigration Officer. Carry your event tickets, have a clear plan of stay and travel within the country and your return tickets handy, and unless you get hospitalized or something, return on the date specified on your return tickets if you want to go back and enter smoothly the next time.
I made a post here, thought I'll make a separate post with a clear title and make some changes and additions to the original post there.
The journey is over and i have got my visa, so this is going to be a retrospective journey thread. Hope you all find it useful.
If you are from one of these countries you don't need a visa. Read more about the Types of US Visas.
If you are a full time IMmer i'd recommend that you go for a B1/B2 Visa. Don't go for just B1 or B2 separately. If you work for Infosys or some other IT Giant in India, you should probably know that their rejection rates stand at 50%. You can always apply for other visa types later even if you have a B1B2 on your passport already.
Here is a brief guide on what, after a fair bit of research, I think they are looking for to grant you a visa.
(Pasting with edits and capitalizations from the previous post here)
The most common visa type that people apply for is the B1/B2 Visa. B1 is for business is B2 is for tourism. Check out wikipedia for USA visa types if you wish to know what all you can do with your B1 and B2 visas. You can do almost anything with a B1 visa. This is usually granted for 10 years. Permisible and Prohibited activities can be found here
Code:
http://www.immihelp.com/business-visa/permissible-prohibited-activities.htmlIndians are territorial. Wherever our people are, there is a little India. I was surprised to hear recently that there is one in Ghana filled with Indian restaurants. And though the Americans and the British love Chicken Tikka Masala, they don't want too many cooks flying in to spoil the broth. And thanks to New York's taxi drivers, half of whom are Indians and not being the nicest taxi drivers of all, who take the longest routes to destinations, never return change, demand $10 above meter etc., USA would like to look at all non immigrant visa applicants as Immigrants. Yeah there are plenty of Millionaires and Billionaires of Indian orgin in Silicon Valley, and thats exactly the sort of people they want. If they see the potential in you, they are not going to have a problem in giving you a visa. This is not just for Indians but for other countries that require visas too. Read more here
Code:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_visa#Requirement_to_overcome_presumption_of_intending_immigrantIts a huge country 3 times the size of India with a only third of its population. They find it an easier and cheaper thing to do to block all possible immigrants during the visa interview. So basically to get a visa, all that you have to do is let the interviewing officer know that you have business to take care of back home and you are going to come back. You don't tell him this to his face, but what you tell him should reflect this. You are going to come back.
Give them a reason not to deny your application
Visa applications are denied in most cases because the officer feels that you don't have enough ties to your homeland.
Read
Code:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_visa#Requirement_to_overcome_presumption_of_intending_immigrant
Code:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_visa#Adjusted_Visa_Refusal_RateI have a wife and a growing up son, a decent balance of property, stocks, insurance etc etc and some cash in the bank to pay for my tickets and buy maybe ham burgers 3 times a day when I'm there. So documentations for these should be justification enough to not refuse a visa for me.
If you're 20 years old, don't tell them that a cpa company has employed you and they are paying you or you're going to meet your affiliate manager. Don't tell them you're going to Vegas to party either.
If you haven't traveled anywhere else and your passport has been brand new with all pages empty, the officers might not want you to be visiting their country the first time as a tourist, or to take part in a conference. You might need a strong business requirement to be travelling to the US such as meeting Mark Zuckerburg or Matt Cutts. If you have travelled to a few other countries it is good.
Give them a reason to approve your application.
Now, why approve my visa? Do you really have a reason to go to the USA? Of course you do, the BHW conference. But it happens in Nov, and DD wants to close the early bird this Friday. If you apply for a visa today for an event thats happening in Nov, the officer might ask you why you have applied for a visa now for an event thats 7 months away. 1 or 2 months in advance is usually acceptable.
Therefore, look for other conferences happening in the USA. It doesn't have to be anything related to internet marketing. I have a relative who runs a Sodium Chloride manufacturing plant at Pondicherry. So with a letter from him saying I'm shopping for his requirements, I applied for an expo pass for $60 for a 2 day Chemical Factory Equipments event happening at Salt Lake City, and the organizers of the event were happy to give me a Visa Invitation Letter addressed to the Consular officer, Chennai USA Consulate. Bingo. Reason enough for the B1.
As for the B2, you are going to need another letter. A moderator and a good friend here on BHW was kind enough to give me a letter instantly when I asked him for one. The visa invitation letter that I got from the conference clearly states that all expenses will be my own. If you work for a company there will be a company sponsorship so you won't have much issues. But when you are an individual applying, you will need to let the officer know that you do have someone who will be there if you run out of money. So the letter addressed to the Consular Officer, US Consulate, Chennai should read something like this.
Please don't use this exact format, use a spinner or something, unique content should work better at the consulate.
Here's what you are going to need.
1. Income Tax Returns for the last 3 years.
2. Last 1 years Bank, DeMat/Mutual Funds Statements, Insurance payment receipts, Property Tax Receipts and Paypal Statements.
3. Invitation letter for the event that you're attending on the organizer's letterhead.
4. Invitation letter from a Friend living in the US with his address and phone number.
5. An address of the hotel where you might be staying. Booking of tickets or hotels is not required before approval of Visa.
6. Business Registration, Service Tax registration (And returns/nil returns)
DO NOT LET YOUR BH BRAINS TO TELL YOU TO FAKE EITHER OF THESE LETTERS. IF YOU DON'T GET LETTERS DO WITHOUT THEM AND YOU HAVE BETTER CHANCES OF SUCCESS. If they do call later in the evening India time, someone should pick up the phone and say yes he has issued such a letter and confirm the address and the other details in the letter.
How to go about it?
Do NOT hire a consultant or anyone who claims to provide usa visa assistance on CL. Your getting a visa depends on how you present yourself and what the consultant tells you might put you off course. Take my advise and do not do it.
Go to
Code:
ustraveldocs.comGet your Income Tax Returns for the last 3 years, bank statements for the last 1 year. Paypal statements should be an added advantage. Demat Statements, Property Tax receipts etc etc as listed above.
Go get the biometrics done. They take your photo, don't smile, look right into the lens like you mean business. The Visa officer is going to look at the photo during the interview. Get your fingerprints done next, collect your passport and you're out of there.
Go to the interview with all the docs. Be sure to schedule your appointment for the earliest available time slot of the day. I had mine scheduled for 8AM. Later down the day they get tired. Also, get your appointment in the middle of the week. Nobody likes Mondays and these officers are no exception. Don't wait till Friday either, Wednesday should be good.
Get into the consulate, get your token number, and wait for your number to be announced. There is always a queue in front of the counter where 3 people might be waiting. The visa officer observes you the way you move in the queue, body language and stuff while he is interviewing the one right in front of him. They look at you and try to figure out how desperate you are to drive a taxi, and how nervous you are, what you're wearing and stuff. I was wearing my favourite semi formals. I wasn't overwhelmed by the Magnanimous US consulate, I wasn't desperate to get a visa, and not nervous either. And one problem I think a lot of people from our part of the world has is to rehearse interviews in your mind. Do NOT do it. Walk in there with an open mind. answer the questions you're asked, don't say anything that you're not asked, if there is a brief silence after you have finished answering wait for him to break it, and if he thinks you quality you get a visa or you else you don't, thats it. You will need to register this in mind and not behave like the 12 year olds who cried when a store ran out of Harry Potter books on the release date.
The 3 people standing in front of me in the queue had their visas rejected. I was looking at the counters nearby too and there were good amounts of rejections there too. Passports returned across the counter means rejection. I thought mine was going to be rejected as well, but I did manage to look into the eyes of the officer and answer his questions in a conversational tone, nothing exaggerated, nothing stressed and nothing over explained with excitement. I don't want to get into the questions part of the interview as its going to be different for every person, and I'm not sure if I would be breaking the law or something by putting up my questions and answers here publicly.
So what if you get a visa and don't show up for the event that you registered for?
Well I am going to the event that I registered for in early April. It is an event that I am interested in though not as much as the BHW Conf for sure. But since it is not mandatory to stick to an itinerary and since you are being issued a 10 years Multiple Entry Visa, I don't think you would be breaking the rules in any ways if you don't show up for the event that you register for, and only visit in Nov for the BHW conf.
The USA Visa on your passport is only good to let you board a plane and present yourself before an Immigration Officer at the port of arrival. Weather you pass through or are returned is at the descretion of the Immigration Officer. Carry your event tickets, have a clear plan of stay and travel within the country and your return tickets handy, and unless you get hospitalized or something, return on the date specified on your return tickets if you want to go back and enter smoothly the next time.
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