Business Visa - B1

Hello Everyone,

First of all , i would like thank this forum and everyone here for sharing experiences and making life easy for other B1 Visa Applicants.
My B1 visa was approved today , it was my second attempt , i'm sharing my experience from both visa interviews, hope it helps.

A brief about myself, i'm a Sr.Network Engineer for a multinational company working on mostly Datacenter Technologies.

Visa Interview 1 - 25th-July-2019 : Result: NOT APPROVED!!!

V.O:(Lady) Hello , Good Morning, can i have your passport please?
Me: Good Morning , Here it is .

V.O: Why are you travelling to US?
Me: I'm travelling to us for Business Meeting with multiple vendors.

V.O : What are these meetings about?
Me: These meetings are about the new datacenter project that i'm working on, and i'm going to meet the vendors to analyse the reqiurements
so that a decision can be made about which vendors can be finalised.

V.O: Where will you be travelling in US and How many days?
Me : Los Angeles( 2 week) , Michigan (1 Week) provided the details.

V.O: So approx. 1 month
Me: yes ma'am

V.O: Which other countries have you travelled before?
Me: I have travelled to Ireland( twice), Europe(spain)

V.O: What was purpose of your visit to Ireland and Spain
Me: I was invited to Ireland for an Interview, and Spain was tourism.

V.O: What is your salary?
Me: 1 lakh 50 thousand per month

V.O: how long have you been with current company?
Me: Its been 8 months now with Current Organisation?

Looks up and types something ...

V.O : Hands over 214(B) Form, "Sorry Sir, But i cannot approve your visa this time, here's the reason listed out in the form, thank you?"

I was shocked, i thought i had it covered, the travel details,Purpose,Salary,my visit to other countries, i thought all these were in my favor.
It took a day to sink it and then i spoke to my colleagues, checked this forum and analysed my experience and here's what i think went wrong for me?

1. Length of travel? (Although I'm not pretty sure, but try to keep your travel dates to a week or 10 days minimum, becuz in my view, a business visit is
    not more than a week or 10 days max, anything more than that, they might see it as work, specially if you are an IT background person)
    
2. Experience with you company:
Again, its my personal analysis that this is the prime factor that turned against me, 8 months in the current organisation,
I should have probably added as " My total work experience is 8 years and i have been in this organisation for 8 months now".

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Visa Interview 1 - 04-Feb-2020 : Result: APPROVED!!!

V.O(Gentleman): Good Morning Sir, How are you? ( I must say this V.O gave a very positive vibe)
Me: Very Good Morning Sir, i'm fine , thank you.!!

V.O: Can i have the passport please?
Me: Sure, here it is.

V.O: Why are you travelling to US?
Me: I'm travelling to US to attend Meetings with my Network Architect Team and with Management team.

He started looking into my DS160 on the screen and He looked into my passport and saw that i have visited Ireland and Europe.
 
V.O: I see you have visited Ireland and Europe, What was the purpose?
Me: Europe was for travel , Ireland was for Official Purpose

V.O: What was the Purpose again? i'm sorry?
Me: I gave interview from India and got selected into final rounds and hence they had me flew to Ireland for last few rounds.

V.O: oh , then it was Job interview?
Me: Yes, Sir

V.O : did you get the job,
Me: unfortunately No sir,

V.O: how long were you there in Dublin?
Me: First time 2 week, then second time 1 week.

V.O: Ok, tell me about your day to day job here in current company?
Me: I answered in detail,(** also made sure it matches exactly as I mentioned in DS160 form)

V.O: Ok, please wait , i will be back
He went and discussed something with his peers for about 5 mins.

V.O: ok sir, I'm approving your Visa,I will keep this passport for Visa stamping, here's the document on how to collect the Passport, Have a great trip.
Me: Thank you verymuch sir, you have a great day !

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Here's my insight about B1 Visa based on my both experience:

1. DS160 is the Bible!! Fill it with utmost attention and also , while describing about your duties, make sure you brief well about it.
   your job profile on DS160 has to convey the message that you are important for this project and its related to travel.

2. Purpose: This has to look like it falls in category of B1 Visa ( Business Meetings). So frame your words carefully, if you put it in a way where
it feels to them its more of work than business/meetings, they will deny you the visa.

3. Salary: It would help if its more than 1 lakh, but if not , nothing to worry, have a letter from company outright stating that all expenses will be
covered by them.

4. Be confident: Face it like its just another discussion, its not end of the world and yes, most of the V.Os are polite and that will start giving you confidence
as you speak , just speak your heart out with all the above points in mind.


All the Best to everyone going on Interview ! I hope you get the visa !!

Guys first of all I would like to thank you all for sharing your experience.

I had appointment for B1 visa on 28 Jan in Mumbai and below is the snippet of my experience.

Me - Good Morning Sir
VO- A very good morning to you. So how are you oding today.

Me - I am doing good sir, what about you ?
VO- I am good too. So why are you travelling to US?

Me - I am travelling to US to attend a Data and Analytics conference. Being Head of technology, it is very important for me to keep myself updated on the latest trend in technologies. By attending this conference, I would be able to increase my own as well as my team's productivity thus resulting in better quality of deliverable

VO - So how long you will stay in US
Me - 4 days and will travel back on fifth day.

VO- have you ever been to US.
Me - No Sir, only through Transit.

VO -- Ohh I see you have transited to mexico.
Me - yes sir, i was on deputation in mexico for 3 years from XYZ company.

VO - Where is your conference in US.
Me - Name of the city in US and State.

VO - Congratulations, your visa is approved. Have a happy learning in US.
Me - Thanks a lot Sir !!

Points to be taken care of

1. Please take utmost care in filing DS-160. Entire Interview happens around that only.
2. Please be honest and confident in your answers. it matters a lot.
3. Please show documents only when asked. For me, VO did not ask a single document.
4. Be very clear and precise about the purpose of your trip to US. Make sure your answer should be specific to B1 visa only.
5. Do not get worried if person before you got rejected. it does not matter. Every case is special and different.
6. Your role in current organization should match with your purpose of visit.

Hi all,
Total Experience : 6.5 years .
Experience in company: 8 months

My b1 visa got rejected and below are the details.

VO: good morning
Me: good morning sir

Vo: where are you going and how long ?
Me: told the location . For 15 days for so n so date

Vo: purpose of visit
Me: I am travelling as part of ** team for meeting with stakeholders and training on internal tool widely used in organisation.

Vo : why do u have to travel ?
Me: as I am leading team in offshore , it’s really imp for me to have deep knowledge of tool so that I can redesign tool in India.

Vo: Redesign what ?
Me: redesign the *** tool

Vo: how many team members ?
Me: 5

Vo: what is this *** tool?
Me: this tool is used for ***.

Vo: why can’t it be done on vc?
Me: since meeting is scheduled on availability of key member of team and stakeholders, also considering complexity n imp of tool , training on tool is done with sme one on one .

Vo: are u giving training or getting trained ?
Me: getting trained

Vo: are u travelling alone?
Me: yes , from India I’m travelling alone . But key memebers from team in other cities are travelling

Vo: annual salary in lpa?
Me: 11 lpa

Vo: do u own house ?
Me:yes

Vo: are u married ?
Me: no , I’m engaged .

Vo: do u stay with parents ?
Me: yes.

Vo: do u have agenda for these meeting n training ?
Me: yes. Handed over agenda

Vo looks at agenda in detail and inform unfortunately your visa is rejected .

May I kno the reason ? What could have gone wrong

i have a visa interview on i would like you help and corrections Purpose of the visit?Am travelling to attend a business conference Grain elevator and processing society exchange conference in Minneapolis on 21-24 march. Am working with district farmers association as a researcher and am currently leading grain for commercialisation project a project funded by www since 2018 and its ending in 2021 with a possibility of extension and i lead a team of 10 members and working with over 1000 grain farmers on this project, my attending the conference will not only enhance my knowledge and skills on grain farming but will also help me transfer knowledge to the community especially the farmers that am working with on grain for commercialisation project and because am directly involved and interact with grain farmers hence being the best fit for this conference.

I have ever travelled to Netherlands but lost my passport but i put that i have ever lost a passport in ds 160

Why should you attend?My attending the conference will not only enhance my knowledge and skills on grain farming but will also help me transfer knowledge to the community especially the grain farmers that am working with on grain for commercialisation project -i will be able to learn how to make low cost storage facilities because while working on grain for commercialisation project i have released that most farmers are facing a challenge of unaffordable storage facilities

In this era of global warming where climate change affects grain growth and production there is need to always think of new climate mitigation practices and climate smart agricultural practices and it is in this conference where grain top researchers and grain top professionals are to introduce the latest technology, practices, research and tools and ,this will help our project to be successful
-i will be able to learn how others in USA maintain the quality of their stored grains without using chemicals because I have realised that most farmers are using chemicals to maintain the quality of their stored grains a thing which has led to lack of market for their grains

Why can't it be done via video calls?Face to face interactions promotes stronger bonding and networking

Dear all,

I attended B1/B2 for the second time today and got approved, the first one is in the march of 2019.
Here are my findings on both

1. Fill the form DS160 properly, don't ever ignore a single thing mainly duties in the previous and current company, brief as much as possible.
2. If your a manager or lead that will be an added benefit and in the duties just fill out how of them are in your team.
3. If your salary is below 1lak per month you should voluntarily tell that who is your sponsor in your interview.

thanks and let me know if you have any queries.

Hi All,

My B1/B2 Visa got rejected and below are the details:

Total work experience: 3 Yrs.
Work experience in current company: 1.8 Yrs.

Interview date: January 27th, 2020.
Location: Mumbai.

Went to the interview counter.

Me: Hi, Good morning
VO: Ignored.

VO: Can I have your passport?
Me: Handed the passport.

VO: Why are you going to USA?
Me: To attend business meetings and trainings.

VO: Are you travelling alone or with colleagues?
Me: I am travelling alone.

VO: What is your role in your company?
Me: I am working as a Business Analyst.

VO: Is this the first time you are going abroad?
Me: Yes

VO: You never traveled any other country before?
Me: Yes, I never traveled to any other country.

VO: How much is your salary?
Me: It's 5,30,000 P.A which is like 42000 per month.

VO: You're not eligible to travel to USA under the laws and Handed back my passport along with a paper containing 214(b) law rules.

Why do you think my Visa got rejected? It happened as I described above not even one word added or taken off.

Hi All,

I will be appearing for my B1 visa interview soon. My first attempt of BI visa was rejected in Sep 2019.
The purpose of my travel is facilitating a global training program as a lead trainer. Also provide KT to the local trainers to handle the future training batches. The stay duration is for 5 days.
Please let me know what can be my probable questions for the interview.

PS : i am single and this is my first international travel

Hi All,
 
This is a step by step guide with some valuable pointers to go to Chennai for US Visa.
 
I live in Bangalore and had gone to Chennai for my US Visa (B1/B2) in Jan 2020 and eventually got it.
 
1. Fill the form DS 160 if you want to apply for US Visa.
 
2. Fill the form with correct information and follow the related steps to make Visa payment.
 
3. Once your Visa payment is received you can choose the slots online for Biometrics at the VAC centre and Interview at the US Consulate.
 
4. My recommendation is to choose the back to back available day slots so that you don't have to waste time and money in Chennai or travel back to Chennai on different days to get the Biometric and Interview done.
 
5. Try to choose a late slot for Biometrics (eg: Post 12 PM slots), to avoid rush ( Although this rush is subjective) and early slot of Interview at US Consulate (I chose 3:15 PM slot for Biometrics on 20 Jan and 8:15 AM on 21 Jan slot of Visa Interview next day)
 
6. Book a hotel in advance (via MMT, Agoda or other apps of your choice as they offer some brilliant discounts) which is closest to the VAC and US Consulate. (My recommendation would be Ibis or Park Elaza as these are the decent ones with good food and not too expensive as well).
 
7. Book flight, train or bus tickets so that you can check in the hotel at around 11 AM on the day of your Biometrics and you will get some breathing time before going to the VAC centre.
 
8. I took 6AM Shatabdi Express from Banglore to reach Chennai at 11 AM, took an Ola auto/cab or a normal auto (Charges Rs.200 approx for Park Elanza from Chennai Central Railway Station).
 
9. Goto the VAC centre for Biometrics 30 mins before your slot timings as it generally happens early. Carry form DS 160 confirmation page, with the appointment page and your passport (don't forget to carry your old passports as well, if you have one). Don't carry unnecessary documents, as nobody will ask for the same during Biometrics.
 
10. Mobile phones are allowed at the VAC centre but authorities will ask you to switch it off before going inside for Biometrics
 
11. There is no specific dress code recommend for Biometrics from my side. You can wear whatever you want. (I went in Jeans- Shirt)
 
12. Total Biometrics is max 30 mins process. They will take your pic at VAC, which will come on the US Visa and left, right and thumb scan. Post which a stamp is put on the DS160 which will be referred at the US Consulate during Interview.
 
13. Come back to the hotel and relax.
 
14. Go to the US Consulate for interview. Carry all the relevant documents (I will provide a comprehensive list of documents at the end of this post). Don't carry your mobile, although there is a designated place to keep your mobile there. My recommendation is not to take it as it will create unnecessary tension in you mind. Take an auto to the US Consulate (Rs. 100-150 approx charges).
 
15. Dress well for the Interview. Men should be clean shaved in formals (I recommend formals/suits with polished leather shoes if you are going for the business Visa. Women can also dress nicely in formals if going for a business Visa). Don't wear any digital watch as they will ask you to remove that.
 
16. Reach 30 mins before your slot. There will be a big line but do not panic. Check with the authorities standing there. They will guide you as people can only go inside slotwise.
 
17. Go inside as directed. First would be the confirmation Biometrics. Immediately after that you will be directed for the Interview
 
18. There will be a long queue again as no segregation is there based on the Visa type. There are some 10-12 windows of Interview managed by the native Americans (They have Indian translators with them for regional languages)
 
19. You will be redirected to a window on your turn.
 
20. Wait for your turn is somebody is already giving the interview.
 
21. Greet the interviewer. Be calm, confident, communicate clearly, listen well and give specific answers to the questions asked. Don't rush and narrate long stories. (I will share the list of questions asked to me at the end of this post)
 
23. There are two options of collecting your passport on successful Visa Approval and the provision to select this option there at the time of form filling.
 
1. Goto the collection centre to take your stamped passport for free.
 
2. Premium Delivery at home address via Bluedart for Rs. 500 (I chose the premium one)
 
22. You will be handed over a green paper if your visa is approved else a white paper. Interviewer will also tell you whether you visa is rejected or approved.
 
24. List of documents to carry for B1/B2
 
1. DS160 with Passport (Compulsory)
 
2. Appointment Letter
 
3. Invitation Letter from the client.
 
4. Company's cover letter
 
5. Appointment Letter (Current Company)
 
6. Last 3 months salary slips
 
7. Last 3 months bank statement
 
8. Last 3 years ITRs
 
10. All educational certificates (10, 12, Graduation & Post Graduation whichever applicable)
 
PS: They will not ask for any document but it is also recommended to carry these, to be on the safer side
 
25. My Interview QuestionsWhere are you going in US?
 
1. What is the purpose?
 
2. What is the duration of your visit?
 
3. Who all are traveling with you?
 
4. Why the client is calling you now? Are they doing anything special?
 
5. How many people are working for this client?
 
6. What is your designation?
 
7. How many people are reporting into you?
 
8. What is your annual salary?
 
9. From how many years you are working with the current company?
 
10. From where you did your MBA.
 
11. Are you married?
 
12. What is your wife?
 
13. Do you have kids?
 
14. I hope you are carrying all the relevant documents..
 
She asked me to step back…Looked at me and then said Thankyou Sir…"Your visa is Approved"
 

 

 

 

 

I have attended B1 Visa on 10th Oct 2019 in Chennai, outcome - not approved.

The questions as follows-

1. Good Morning & Passport Please?

Good Morning with a smile & given a Passport.

He took some time to review my DS -160

Which city you're traveling

Teach lead., Fumble.. then said Team lead..

What is your role?

Washington DC

how long you stay

1 week.

Which company your working

I am an associate with YYYY company.

what this company do

providing services to the client on the software..

How long your working..

since 1 year I am working with this company

Total how many companies you work

5 companies..

what was your longest work experience in these companies

3 Years.

why you're changing your company.

for better opportunities.

Do you have an invitation letter

Yes, provided..

Why your company choose you for this trip

I am most senior in the team and lead this team and having good work experience on what we support to the client.

Sorry.. We have not approve your travel.. given 214(b) form..

I am having an interview on 30th Jan 2020 for the second time..

Please could you help to present my self to get approval?

This time my company is not providing an invitation letter for B1 Visa.. is it fine attending interview without an invitation letter

First of all, thank you for this lovely portal because of which I was able to prepare well for my interview.
My interview was today in Hyderabad consulate.

Me: Good Morning
VO: Good Morning. How are you?
Me: I am doing good Sir. How are you?
VO: I am good. I see you had applied in 2018- Mumbai consulate
Me: Yes. (that made me nervous)
VO: I see you have travelled to Japan before
Me: Yes Sir. I have visited last year.
VO: Where all did you go?
Me: I visited Tokyo, Kyoto, Hakone and Japan Alps
VO: I have stayed there for quite some time. I love Japan.
Me: It's a beautiful country.
VO: You work as a Senior Business Technology analyst. So what kind of software do you design? (in my roles and responsibilities in DS160 I had mentioned designing software)
Me: I am a part of the XYZ team and designing XYZ product. For this, I need to collect all the requirements and get back to India and start working with my development team on the same starting March.
VO: Ok. THIS TIME YOUR VISA IS APPROVED
Me: Thank you so much, Sir.