Business Visa - B1

OFC appointment : Just go there and get it done. They take your finger prints and a photograph. Took me 15 mins.

Some Tips :
* There is notice board that says "Currently serving appointments for 3 p.m."(3 p.m. is just an example). If that matches with your appointment time, get in the queue.
* Only 3 documents are required. Your passport, DS-160 conformation, appointment confirmation. Don't carry bundle of documents with you. That would be necessary for VISA appointment.

VISA Appointment : It was over within a minute

Interviewer : Good Morning.
Me : Good Morning (with a smile on my face)

Interviewer : Who is inviting you to the U.S.?
Me : Told name of the company in the U.S.

Interviewer : Is it your client?
Me : No, I work for same company India office (he gave me a big nod, I knew my passport was approved)

Interviewer : What do you do there?
Me : Explained my work in 1 sentence.

Interviewer : How long have you being working with this company?
Me : for 2 yrs 7 months.

Interviewer : How long are you going to stay in the U.S.?
Me : 4 weeks.

Interviewer : What are you going to do there for 4 weeks?
Me : Meeting with our xyz people(designations not names) in the U.S. office and....(didn,t let me complete)

Interviewer : Sir, your VISA is approved, you can collect your passport in 4 days. Thank you.
Me : Thank you very much.

Some Tips :
* when you reach the consulate, there may be a long long queue. Does not mean that you have to stand at the end of it. People towards the end of queue may have appointment for 10 a.m. If your appointment is at 9:30 a.m., you have to go forward and find people with appointment for 9:30 a.m. and stand with them.
* Greet officer with a big smile. Don't give him your grin look.
* Be confident(appear confident even if your are shaky inside). Answer to the point. Use short sentences. Don't explain unnecessarily(gives an impression that you are trying too hard to convince him). If officer wants he will ask for explanation.

Hi,

Can anyone here please help in explaining me the reason why my B1 visa got rejected.

I was asked following questions by VO -

VO-Goodmorning.....passport please
Me-Goodmorning Ma'am(gave her the passport).

VO-Why do you want to go to US?
Me-I need to attend some business meetings and.....(intrupted here with out completing the answer and asked next question)

VO- Who is paying for your travel?
Me-My employer(told company's name)

VO-What is your annual salary?
Me-Told in lakhs.

VO-Have you ever been out of India?
Me-No.

VO-For how long you want to stay there?
Me-4 weeks

VO-What is your designation?
Me-Told

and than she said sorry your VISA can't be approved this time and handed me a '214B' rejection reason paper.

Please help here why my Visa got rejected.

Hi,

My B1 visa is approved and I have received my stamped passport. But, due to unfortunate circumstances i have to cancel my travel plan for now and would be able to travel only after start of next year.

Is there a period within which one needs to travel to US after B1 visa is approved, at least once, after which the visa may expire?

OFC Appoitnment : It took just 15 minutes.

Interview: My interview was scheduled for 10.30. I reached the center at 9.45 and stood in a relatively long queue. Within 15 mins I was let into the main build which was a big relief since it was scorching outside. One inside the main building it felt better and I used to waiting time to relax myself by observing others waiting in the line.

Within 30 minutes my turn came, each applicant is randomly assigned to a interviewer. My conversation with the interviewer

Interviewer : Good afternoon
Me: Good morning sir (i was glad to find my interviewer to be pretty welcoming)

Interviewer: Why do you wish to go to US
Me: Trainings and meeting on xxx domain. I narrated a 4 line answer i had framed

Interviewer : what does you company xxx do?
Me: I gave a 2 line answer about my company's business area

Interviewer: Are you going to be accompanied by anyone
Me: No (I noticed that he was typing simultaneously)

Interviewer: How long are you going to stay?
Me: 4 weeks

Interviewer: What is you experience?
Me: I will be completing exactly 1 yr 11 mons tomorrow

Interviewer: Ok you visa is approved

Tip
1. Reach at least 30 mins early
2. Ensure while filling form and booking appointment that your name is as per the passport, the first name is equal to given name field in the passport
3. Always keep passport, confirmation and appointment letter handy
4. Stay calm and easy in front of the interviewer and throughout the process

Thanks immihelp and all the best to other applicants!

First of all I would like to thank immihelp.com, which helped me to prepare for the B1 Visa.
Coming towards my experience, here it is.....

OFC
This was scheduled on 17th April 2014 at 1:30 AM. I went around 30 min earlier and had to stand in queue.

Carry only the below documents-
Appointment letter, Visa Fee Receipt and DS160 confirmation letter from VFS.
(One very important point, the Name you have to fill on the DS160 form is as per your Passport. If it not as per the Passport, we need to retrieve the DS160 Form, make necessary changes and take print again. So please be careful)

After the security check and document verification, a label will be fixed on our Passport and we will be directed for Biometrics, which will be completed in next 5-10 minutes.

US Consulate Interview
This was scheduled on 23rd April 2014 at 10 AM.
Reach 1 hr before. Be in formals if you are going to B1 Visa.
Only document which was required for B1 Visa were the DS160 form with stamp which I got from OFC.
But I had carried few documents (Appointment Letter, Invitation Letter, Visa Fee receipt, IT Retrun File, Bank Satement)

After the security check, I was directed to counters, where the interviews were in process. The only document checked was the DS160 Form (with stamp) and nothing else.

The candidate before me was rejected, I was nervous from inside but tried to be confident while giving the answers

VO: GM
Me: GM Officer

VO: What is the Purpose of your Visit
Me: Product Training

VO: Whats your Company Name
Me: ABC Inc

VO: For How many days
Me: 1 week

VO: What is your Designation
Me: ABC Manager

VO: What is your Salary
Me: XX INR monthly (He tried to calculate for annual, but I quickly responded and mentioned YYYY INR annually)

VO: Thank you Gentleman, your Visa is approved and you can collect within 3-5 days.

Within a minute I was super excited.

Tip: Be prepared. Refer Immihelp & Rest is your luck.

I had the OFC appointment & interview for B1 visa earlier this week in Chennai.

OFC appointment Tips:

* I noticed that almost everyone who came for the OFC appointment had all the supporting documents with them. This is not required and you just have to bring the Appointment confirmation page, DS-160 application confirmation page and your passport. The supporting documents are meant for the interview day at the consulate only.

* You can bring your mobile phones inside the building but it has to be switched off. Its not allowed at the consulate building for the interview day though.

* When submitting the bio-metric fingerprints you might be asked to apply extra pressure. Use your other hand fingers to press them and if its proper then it will display on the small LCD screen attached to the machine.

Interview at Consulate:

My interview appointment was scheduled at 9:30 AM but it started only after 11:30 AM. We had to wait for 1.5 hours outside and about 30 minutes inside the building. I reached at 8:30 AM, so I had to wait for 3 hours in total! Now to the interview questions...

VO: Good morning, how are you doing?
Me: Good morning sir, I'm good, thank you

VO: Passport please..
Me: Sure (Handed over the passport)

VO: Where are you heading to?
Me: Miami

VO: What's up in Miami?
Me: I want to attend a conference and expo

VO: What is this conference about?
Me: (Answered)

VO: Do you have an invitation letter from the conference?
Me: Yes (handed over the letter and he read it for a few seconds)

VO: What is your designation?
Me: (Answered)

VO: For how long have you been working with this company?
Me: 5 years

VO: Will you be meeting any clients at the conference?
Me: No

VO: How many days will you be in the US?
Me: 5 days

VO: I think you have some brother in the US, are you going to visit him?
Me: It is a cousin. I'm not visiting them since they are in Maryland. (I'm not sure why he said "brother" as the name & address was mentioned under Relatives and not under Immediate Family. Maybe he was testing me or maybe the same middle name made him think so)

VO: What does your company do?
Me: (Answered)

VO: OK sir, I'm approving your visa now
Me: Thank you

I received the passport with B1/B2 visa (10 years multiple entry) at BlueDart within 2 days.

Tips:

* I think a decision will be taken before the interview itself based on your DS-160. As per the status shown on ceac.state.gov website, my case was created 1 working day before the appointment date. The decision may have been taken on that day and the final decision left to the visa officer in the interview.

* Hotel Savera (4 star) at R.K. Salai is a good option is you are looking for accommodation near the OFC building and consulate. It is 15 minutes drive from the OFC building and 15 minutes drive to the other side for the consulate. Auto rickshaws will always be available in front of the hotel though they will charge you no less than 100 bucks for one side.

* There is a locker in front of the consulate premises on the footpath.

* After getting the visa approval, Blue Dart will receive the passport courier before the tracking website is updated. They will call you when it is received there.

Hi Friends… this kind of sharing experiences is very much helpful to others.
  My scheduled date is 15 and 16th of April my first day appointment is at 4:00PM I reached there at 3:45 PM exactly they will take u inside at the scheduled time they will verify ur passport with the DS160 and they will take ur photo and fingerprints.
After document verification, second is ur importance day…. Next day morning 8:AM is my scheduled timings I reached there around 7:30 AM after physical security check they will send you for interview with the token . There are more than 10 counters with US people taking interview. U will have to ready with passport and other supporting documents. Here is my conversation.
Me: Good Morning Mam..
VO: Very good morning!! Give me ur Passport (Gave my PP to her)
VO: Why ur travelling?
Me: Business meeting and factory visit.
VO: For how long?
Me: 15 Days (always tell... very less days)
VO: u really need 15 days for meetings and factory visit?
ME: Yes I will be meeting people in different locations and factories in different states.
VO: where ur going?
Me: Orlando
VO: State
Me: Florida
VO : Ur married?
Me: NO
VO: who is depending on u in india?
Me: My mother
VO: how old is she?
Me:70
VO: where and does she owns a property in India?
Me: Bangalore and yes she owns a property.
VO: What is that meeting is all about?
Me: explained the purpose of the meeting and importance of my presence in that meeting. (this is where u can impress them)
VO: Give me the invite letter from the company
Me: Gave the letter.
VO: She read the letter and how can I trust that u will come back?
Me: I have my old age mother and next month I’m getting married, after coming back I will have to share and explain the MOM to other team members because we are trying to make some changes to our current process.
VO: then B1 is okay … Y u need B2?
ME: I have plans to visit US may be after 2-3 years with my wife…
VO: That’s good!!!Your visa is approved sir… have a nice flying.
Me: Thanks a lot…. By bye..
They just need confirmation that u will be back soon and your purpose of visited is very much true.

Hi All,,

My interview is scheduled for 21st and 22nd of this month. I heard that visa rejection rate is higher.

Considering my profile please provide your valuable comments.

Age - 24 yrs 1 months
Education - PG
Experience - 2 yrs + 1 yr onsite training (MS)
Package - above 8 lpa
International travel exp - China (last yr) for 2 times
Exp in current company - 2 months

what are the chances of getting visa

My interview was at 7.30AM. I was there around 6.45AM(already 50 people are waiting in queue).While standing in the queue, they're verifying the Ds160 serial number then security check then waiting for 15mins in queue to verify fingerprints.And then directed towards the interview window.

me: Good Morning Mam
VO: Good Morning, passport pls
VO: purpose?
me: Business meetings and trainings(exact words) - VO typed something
VO: Invite letter pls.
While reading invite letter, she asked me the marital status
me: Married
VO:Your visa has approved
me: I said, Thank you Mam and disappeared(She kept the passport with her)

Within 30 secs interview was over.

VO was very polite.

Here confident only works..luck matters also(Person in front of me is not answered properly..still his visa has approved)

First of all thanks to this site and the people who helped me with there experiences.

This process was for 2 days.
First day my interview was at OFC center by 2.30 pm. I went there by 2.00 pm. First got my name in Passport and DS160 Form verified. Then they stick a sticker on back side of passport, and i was given a token. Within 2 mins my token was displayed on screen. I went at counter. The OFC person at the counter took my passport, asked me my name and DOB. Then took my finger prints of both hands and then my photo. I was done with this all process in just 5-10 mins. Quiet Fast :)

Second day my interview was at 10.00 am. I went there by 9.00 am. Within 5 mins they asked to join in queue. Then there was a strict security check. Then by 9.20 i was in the area where actual interview was taken. Here also there about 20+ windows which take interview parallely. It looked like tourist VISA windows were different and Business/Study windows were different. Then i went at the window and then interview started

VO lady : Good Morning and Passport Please
Me : Good Morning Mam and then handed my passport.

VO lady: Why are you going ?
Me: XX reasons.

VO lady: For how long you would be in US ? (In short duration of stay in US)
Me: xx weeks

VO lady: She smiled and said Your VISA is approved :) and said have a nice day.
Me: I thanked here and also wished here the same :)

Within 40-50 secs interview done and got it approved. I think fastest interview :)

SOME NOTES - Be at consulate much before desired time. You may get a chance to get in early and finish early. I have seen at OFC people were late but still they were entertained. If you are not from Mumbai I will advise to come in way early if incase the taxi/rickshaw driver doesn't know exactly where it is. Don't panic looking at others who haven't got VISA. Stay calm, be confident and not over confident, don't mug up the answers, be yourself and give your best.

Best of luck !!!