Business Visa - B1

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.

I am sharing my interview experience ,unfortunately I cudn’t make it.
My appointment was scheduled at 7.45am for 28th Aug. I reached consulate at 7.00am.
After all formalities doc verification, finger print etc. I reached to VO for interview-
Me: GM !!
VO: GM!!

VO: Passport please
Me : I have given my passport to her.

VO: which company do you work for?
Me: told my company name

VO: How long you are working with company?
Me: More than 2 years .

VO: What is ur salary?
Me: told annual gross salary .

What is purpose of visit?
Me: Technical discussions & training.

VO: Have you ever been travelled outside India?
Me: I said NO.

VO: Are you married?
Me: No , I am single.

Then she started writing & handed me 214 b.

My interview was scheduled in Chennai for the 7:45 slot on 24th Aug. As expected the document verifications and the bio metric scans , took up majority of the time.

I saw two rejections before me, and I crossed my fingers :). My token was displayed on the same counter wher I saw rejections.

Me : Goodmorning
VO : Goodmorning how r u?
Me : I'm finr hw abt u
VO : very good :) thanks for askin
VO : Lets finish this up soon. So u going to YYYY state
ME: YES

VO : What will you be doing ther
ME: Told the purpose of my visit, but the VO looked in a bit of a hurry, and I had mentioned that I'm going for migration project. He repeated my purpose saying -ok so u r going for migration pjt :)

VO: What is the duration of your stay
ME : 4 weeks

VO : Whats your role
ME : Told my designation. He was just expecting the designation and nothing else

VO: What isthe team strength in India
ME:Told the number of ppl in my ojt

VO: what is the team strength in US
ME : Told the team strenth of my pjt in US

and then the GOLDEN WORDS - " YOU ARE GOOD TO GO! UR VISA IS APPROVED!!"

My Take: Please don't get tensed or worried seeing the rejections. Every case is unique, and as someone has posted here- the VO's are nt there to reject you. If there is nothing wrong in ur application, and you appear confident and answer coherently, there should be nothing to stop you from getting the visa.

Concentrate on the Purpose of visit question, do not mention anything which would suggest that you are going there for productive work. Give them wide smile like this :) and remember that the only preparation which you need to do is - being confident.. that is all really that matters.

I would like to thank immihelp for the huge knowledge base :) the experiences posted here have been very helpful in the interview preparation:)

Hi All

3 month back my L1B blanket petition was rejected ,Now my employer want me to travel to US for requirment gathering on B1.I want to know the chances of getting B1 after L1B rejection ,my Experience is 5 year and i have been with current employer for more than 2 years .

Please advise.

Thanks in advance

My appointment was scheduled for today(16-Aug-2012) at 7:30 AM.
reached consulate @6:55. As usual there was considerable queue.
After all the formalities(document verification, finger print) I entered next building.

Waited for around 40 mins for my turn. Here goes my interview:

VO was an elderly lady(around 45+)
She was asking way too much questions than any other VO :-)

My turn:

Me: GM
VO: GM
VO:Ur name?
Me: Told
VO: Company?
Me: XYXY
VO: What do you do?
Me: Explained about my role
VO: Where are you going?
Me: ZZZ,YYY
VO: What kind of training?
Me: Started explaining briefly but she was asking for more hence told a lengthy version of it :-)
VO: Salary?
Me: X.YZ lpa
VO: Why cant this interview be done here?
Me: Again Explained in detail. Mean time I asked her if she wanted to see my Training schedule.
She said "No".
VO: Where are you from?
Me: Bangalore
VO: Your address
Me: Gave my complete residential address
VO: Are you going to work US?
Me: No
VO: Do you know if we know that you are working there your visa will be canceled?
Me : Yes I do know that

I have not mentioned 2-3 questions here since they were specific to my project and are confidential
Then atlast after ~15 mins and around 15 questions, she finally said "Your Visa Approved. You will receive it in a week" :-)
I was out of consulate by 8:45AM.

Pheew quite a long interview I must say. My colleague who was in some other counter also got approval and that too within minutes(hardly 4 questions).

Million Thanks to Immihelp for providing such a huge knowledge base us.
Verdict:
Be confident, keep make eye contact and be honest is what I can say
Best of luck to all the new applicants

My slot was the first slot in the morning- 7.45 AM.
Reached consulate at 6.50 AM.
They have started the queue to enter inside at 7 AM. I was in the first 10 applicants in the queue. The queue is common for all applicants. So be quick to be in the first few in a queue.

Note: In rainy season please have an umbrella with you. The queue for entry started outside the consulate. They are allowing an umbrella inside the consulate.
Do not carry any metal items with you like belt, watch, coins, keys apart from umbrella that too in rainy season.

Be well dressed. Formals are must, with light colour shirt. Be ready with Appointment letter.

Interview:
I was first in that particular window. Lady officer greeted me with a nice smile.

VO: Good Morning.
Me: Good Morning.
VO: your passport please.
Me: (I have given my passport)
VO: What is the purpose of your visit?
Me: Going to the parent company - our Home Office to attend series of business meetings with stakeholders including me.
VO: Are you going to client side?
Me: No, I am going to the parent company.
(In entire interview lady officer continuously typing something on her computer. This was basically to set a casual atmosphere. Be careful about being too much casual).
VO: Who is your employer?
Me: xyz.
VO: What is the relation of your employer with the company where you will be going.
Me: My employer is wholly owened subsidiary of company where I'll be visiting.
VO: How much time you will be working over there?
Me: I am not going to work over there. I am going there to attend series of business meetings. My stay will be of 2 weeks. (Here please make sure you have very strong reasons/answers if your stay is more than 2 weeks)
VO: What is your annual salary?
Me: I told my CTC in INR.
VO: Are you married.
Me. Yes, since last xxx years with a beautiful kid.
VO: Why only you?
Me: I am QA lead for my project. Other members in my team have only partial knowledge of the system undergoing changes.
VO: So are you a team lead? (She might not understood the term QA lead).
Me: Yes
VO: Is it a new project?
Me: Yes
VO: Your visa is approved. You will receive passport in 4-5 days.
Me: Thank you. Have a nice day.
VO: You too.


Be confident.
Let it come in the conversation that you are Team Lead or Manager.
Be careful as they keep asking questions in a casual manner, to make us comfortable first. And then as googly ask you work related questions.
Avoid words like Work or Training or Client.
Give a feel like its US Company's benefit if you will be going there.