Business Visa - B1

guys i m going to interview in october 2012 so plzz give me some importanr tips help me out plzzz

had applied for 17th in chennai but due to protests it got cancelled

scheduled it for today 24th nad a hug line awaited with a lot of police personnel and tv news crew covering

added up to all the more anxiety

went in did all the initial check ups

went to the VO

VO :hello how are you
me :am gud how are you

VO:why r u going to US ?
me :to appear for my USMLE Setep 2 clinical skills exam

VO:how long will you be staying ?
me:2 weeks

VO:who is sponsoring for your trip?
me: my dad

VO:you will be recieving ur passport in a weeks time
me: thank you so much

he didnt ask for a single document
intially i forgot to giv him the passport that was my only hiccup apart from that it was a piece of cake
be genuine and stay confident (i was wearing a suit & it boosted me morally)

hyderabad:

9am.,

q1: why you are visiting usa?
ans: 2 attend a trade fair
q2: what products 2 import
ans: x,y,z
q3: what all the countries u have been?
ans: 8 countries.,
q4: show me your BL for x shipment?
ans; sh0wn
q5: what is ur income?
ans: xxx
q6: is this ur company?
ans; yes

ur visa appr0ved and in 7 days u will recieve it.,


i n0ticed:

   she writing so many things in c0mputer and seeing s0me thing in the c0mputer.,

  be c0nfident and try 2 answer str0ngly.,

First of all I would like to appreciate this site. It was very helpful in preparing for the interview.

My VISA interview is scheduled today at 8.00AM at Hyderabad. I went to consulate office at 7.30AM. Security was very tight due to the disturbances happening at Chennai Consulate. There was no queue when I reached there. They opened the fates allowed inside at 8.00AM.

At outside gate they have checked Passport and Appointment Letter. Security person cross checked the name in passport and appointment letter and appointment date and time.

After entering inside the consulate they have asked us to sit for 5 mins. After that they have 8AM appointment persons and asked to stand in a queue and they asked to put all the belongings in a tray. The items in the tray were scanned and they have given back to us. After that one young Indian lady reviewed the documents and helped to put them in an order and we were asked to go to a window for documents checking and barcode verification. After barcode verification they have redirected to fingre prints. After that a token was issued and asked to sit at a common place.

We have sat there idle for about 15-20mins. After that display started with the window numbers. I have waited for another 15mins here to get my chance. Here You Go....

VO: Good Morning
Me: GM, How are you?
VO: Good. Please give me your passport.
Me: Sure.
VO: Which company you are working?
Me: XYZ Company.
VO: What is the purpose of the travel?
Me: Going to my parent company for attending training on new processed and projects.
VO: How many days?
Me: 30 days.
VO: Do you have a training schedule with you?
Me: Yes, please (Handed over the training schedule).
VO: (Went through the schedule) What is your designation?
Me: Sr. Database Administrator.
VO: Since how long you are working in XYZ Co. (He is looking at my BEP).
ME: since 1 year.
VO: Being a Sr. DBA, why are you going to training now.
ME: blah...blah...blah....
VO: What is your annual income?
ME: X lakhs XX Thousand X Hundred and X Ruppes. (VO Smiled for my answer).
VO: Which College?
ME: ABC College. ZZZ.
At this point VO has placed my Passport in a tray. I thought he is convinced, but he started asking other questions also.
VO: What is your highest qualification?
ME: Masters in Computer Applications.
VO: Are you Married?
ME: Engaged and my marriage is on ZZZ. XX
VO: What is your fiance doing?
ME: Working as YYYY XX.

And the Golden Words.....Your VISA is approved, you will get your passport within 7 days.

Total interview was about 2minutes...I felt like a rapid fire round.

My Suggestions, which may be useful.
1. Be in a formal dress. Tie is not required and I did not had my id card hanging to my neck.
2. Be Confident. Make Eye Contact.
3. Put up a smile as per the situation.
4. Dont mug up with frequently questions and answers, maintain clarity on what you are going to tell the officer.
5. Dont get tensed whether it is first time travel or if you are single. In my case I am not married and this is my first time.

All the Best folks!!!

I am really thankful to immihelp, experience shared on this site were really helpful in understanding the interview process and for preparation for the interview.

My Visa interview was on 14th Sept 12 for 7.45 am slot. I reached there at 6.45 and they let us in at 7.10am

Visa interview process -

Step 1 - Security check

Step 2 - Get the token number by giving passport and confirmation letter at the counter.

            Person at the counter will return passport with token number.

Step 3 - Give your fingerprints at finger print counter.

Step 4 - Wait in a hall where on LED monitor you can see the token number and respective counter number.

             When token your number gets displayed go to respective counter.

Note - There are some Indian assistants who can assist us.

I greeted the officer with a smile and then he started my interview.

VO: Why are you going to US?
ME: I am going to attend the requirement gathering discussion for new project "Project name".
  
VO: Where are you going in US?
ME: Answered

VO: How long you are with your organization?
ME: Answered

VO: How long you are going?
ME: weeks

VO: Have you traveled outside India before?
ME: No sir.

VO: What is your designation?
ME: Answered

VO: Why only you are going?
ME: I have a system expertise as I am working for my project since more than 3 years. I am familiar with the current functionality of the project.


VO: Explain the project for which you are going?
My Visa officer was a cool man. When I asked him to repeat what he said he asked me same thing in Hindi “ Project me kya hona mangata he ”.

ME: I explained my project and mentioned that I have to go to analyze the current process and to define the new approach needed to increase the efficiency of the system.
  
After this answer officer said those golden words "Your visa is approved :), you will get it in 7 days by courier".

I said with a big smile, “Thanks a lot sir and have a great day ahead”.

I got the message at 4 pm that my visa is couriered and I got my US visa on Monday.

Hi Friends
I am really grateful to Immhelp, which ease my preparation of B1/B2 VISA interview preparation.
The plus point for me to get my VISA approved is, I authentically honor the way Immhelp guides me and get prepared by working on my weakness and strengths. It gives me a nerve in such way that, when the USA consulate officers asked to make a 7.30 and 7.45 am non immigration candidates queue, I stood first in the queue, I am really grateful to me to take such attitude and present with me till my interview complete and get my VISA approved hardly in 3 to 5 minutes. My Exit from USA consulate was at 8.40 am with wide smile on my face.
I attended interview on SEPT 10 Monday in Mumbai. Questions asked me are as usually asked for all the candidates based on my application request.
I suspect that, Interview counter has a camera and allow VO to watch a candidate in the system simultaneously reading and typing something in his system, he looked at me, when I entered and leaving the counter. While asking questions never a single glance at me but I consistently keep my eye contact at him with full confidence, did not give a chance of mistake in expressing my answers to impress VO and get convinced.
VO: How are you?
Me: Silent 30 sec, then replied and asked, How about you
VO: just smiled and asked me to give passport
Me: Pleasant smile then pass the passport through window.
VO: Why you are going to USA?
Me: Answered attending series of business meeting related XYZ project, the meeting includes the discussion of so and so related to the project.
VO: Stopped me and immediately asked whom you are going to meet?
Me: Answered as mentioned in the application
VO: What do you do in your company?
Me: Answered my role with designation
VO: what is your Salary?
Me: < INR > annually
VO: Asked again Designation?
Me: Said my designation
VO: Are you married?
Me: Yes
VO: Superb words, I am approving your VISA; you get your passport in 3 to 5 days and kept my passport in backside tray and looked at me.
Me Thank You very Much and exit from the counter with pleasant smile.
 Hope it helps
Cheers
Shiv

Hi Folks,

Immihelp has helped me immesely in preparing for my B1 visa interview. However, what i noticed is that my B1 was approved in less than 30 seconds which leads me to think that before you even attend your interview, your fate is determined. By this i mean that your applications are screened well before your interview and based on that the consulate determines wether you need to be granted a visa or not. I had many negatives (single,no prior travel experience, less than 2 months in my present org) against me. I was asked the same set of questions as you would find in this forum. Not even a single document for verification was asked for me. What I feel is that the company for which you work for holds a lot of weightage. I work for a Prod Dev company in Blore and guess this was on my favour.

I saw a visa rejection for the person just in front of me in the queue. The mistake he did was to show how critical he was for his client which indirectly gives a hint that he could pursue a H1/L1 once he goes to the US. He started answering all his questions from a technical perspective and the VO was so sceptical that the VO asked for a techincal panel to come over to the counter. This was something new to me, I never knew US consulates have technical panels. The technical panel asked that guy technical questions which he answered promptly. He was reiterating the fact that he was extermely critical for his company/client. His visa interview lasted for almost 15 mins which was kind of shocking for me cause usually B1 interviews dont last for over 2-3 minutes. Finally he was rejected and given the blue slip which signifies that he would not be able to attend a visa interview from that consulate anymore. I wanted to help that guy and give him some tips but he was screwing up bigtime and things were too late. Hope he gets his visa successfully in the next attempt.

Regards
SJ

Dear Friends, I'm posting my experience of the visa interview I took on 6th September in Chennai. I really want to thank immihelp for having such a blog. This blog helped me to prepare myself!!

Questions asked to me during the Visa Interview
Visa Officer- Good Morning Sir, how are you?
Me-- Good thank you, How are you?
Visa Officer- Good, Can I have your passport and DS-160 confirmation?
Visa Officer- Who is your client in the USA?
Me-- I told him the client name
Visa Officer- How long will you be staying there in the US
Me- I will be there for 3 weeks!!( with a smile)
Visa Officer-What will you do there for three weeks?
Me- I told him I going for KT and transition and explained him in short to the point.
Visa Officer- You are good to go Sir!! Your passport will be courired in a weeks time!!

Tips: Pls dont show that you are nervous at any cost. Dont explain your answers just answer the question in a single line, if the visa officer wants explaination he will ask you to do so. Wait for your turn. While during the interview have eye contact with the visa officer. Dont worry about your salary the officer dose not look at your salary he just wants to confirm that you will get back to India after your work is over in the US.

All the best
Regards,
Hidhayathullah

I appeared for B1 visa interview in chennai on 5th Sep and my visa got approved. I would like to thank immihelp for presenting wonderful experiences. I have given my experience as below,

step 1: Reached consulate with documents and i was asked to stand in a line depends on my appointment time. Mine was 8.15am

step2:You will have to proivde your appointment confirmation letter in a counter and they will verify that and give you a token(a small slip)

step3:One security person will verify your documents to see if you carry any materials which are not recommended by the consulate

step4: You will be asked to wait in a hall and there will be a LED monitor where you can watch your token number and the counter where you need to go.

step5:As soon as you see your token number in the monitor you can go to corresponding counter. In the counter, you will be asked to give your HDFC receipt and passport(indians will be sitting in this counter for document verification). Once your documents are verified, they will put a rubber band combining your passport and interview confirmation letter.

step6:Now you have to go to other counter to give your finger print. One person will clearly guide you how to give your finger prints

step7:You will be asked to go to another building(which is inside the same building) there actuall visa interview happens.

step 8.There will be a mointor where you can see your token number. as soon as you see your number, go to the counter.

step9:Now the interview starts.

My interview questions asked by the officer,

1.Have you ever been travelled to U.S?
I said No

2.Which company are you working for?
Said my company name

3.What is your purpose of Visit?
For attending business meetings

4.What kind of business meetings?
To attend project discussions and orientation program for a project

5.what is your salary?
said my annual salary

6.are you married?
yes

7.do you have kids?
Yes, i have a daughter

8.How long will you stay in U.S?
2 weeks(avoid putting more than 2 weeks....again it depends)

9.are you taking your wife with you?
No

10.How long have you been working with your current employer?
I said 2 months and visa officer asked me....Just 2 months.... I got so nervous after the officer asked this.

Finally she said....Sir your visa is approved....I said thank you to the officer.
Some of the tips i would like to give,

a.Hide your nervousness. Don&#39;t be afraid. We will definitely feel nervous but this is not the place where you can show your nervousness.

b.Just watch what is the step being done by others who are standing infront you(at the queue) and Just watch what visa officer asks others who are standing in front of you.

c.Try to look confident even if you are not confident. Thats the mantra.

d.Try to smile a bit during your visa interview(whenever possible).Smiling too much is also not good.

e.The most important thing is, ask visa officer if you are not clear about the question. Don&#39;t worry even if it is twice or more times. Answering without understanding the question is too dangerous. Don&#39;t interpret questions yourself. Listen the words carefully

f.I collected frequently asked questions and recored in a american voice and listened many times to avoid accent problems.(google it for speech to voice conversion)

All the very best guys. If you dont get visa, thats not the end of the world. so dont worry. My visa got refusted in 2007 and applied in 2012 and got it. Visa officer didnt ask anything about my previous refusal.

My interview was scheduled on 28th August 2012 at Mumbai 7.45am slot. Process starts at around 7 am. I joined the queue. Around 100 people already in the queue. Waited for around 15 min in the queue. Meanwhile consulate representative told to ready with passport and interview letter. Then I entered in the first room. Security checking done in this room. Then I entered in the big hall. There first I took my token and then joined the queue for finger prints. After finger prints, I was waiting for my turn. No one checked my single document. Waited for 5-10 minutes for my turn. Here goes my interview.

VO was a gentleman having soft spoken skills.
VO: Good Morning Sir. Please Come
Me: Good Morning Sir.
VO: Passport please.
VO: Why do you want to go to USA?
Me: I told him about my project and the reason to visit USA that is training.
VO: What is the duration of this visit?
Me: 1 week
VO: What is your experience in current organization?
Me: I told my experience.
VO: What is your designation?
Me: Told my designation.
VO: What is your salary?
Me: Told my salary per month in INR.
VO: What exactly your role in your project?
Me: I told about my role in my project.
VO: Which part of USA you are supposed to visit?
Me: CA
VO: Who is there in USA to take care of your visit?
Me: I told them my associate company is responsible for my visit.
He kept my passport with him and told me to leave the counter.
Around 8:10 am I leave of the consulate and next day I received my passport via courier with approved USA visa.
Be confident. Make eye contact. Give answers short and satisfactory. Be well dressed. I wore tie and blazer that might helped me.
Here some of the experiences mentioned that ignore the word “Training” but I told them I want to go USA for training. Still my visa is approved.