Visitor Visa - B2

I scheduled a US B1/B2 visa interview at such a bad time in Chennai. The purpose was for my dad (who already has a US visa) and I to visit my sister and her family who are US citizens.

Initially I applied for an interview on December 9, 2016. But a day before I was due to fly to Chennai, the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa passed away, and so the US consulate had suspended all the visa interviews happening a few days later considering the fact that Chennai could be unsafe to travel to, during that period. So I ended up cancelling my ticket and had to postpone my interview to January end, since I was going to Abu Dhabi for my December break to be with my family. Again in January end, just after Donald Trump swore in as the new President, there was another problem in Chennai where they were protesting about a bull fighting festival (Jallikattu) being banned by the Indian Supreme Court because it was violating animal rights, while this festival is supposed to be part of the culture in Tamil Nadu. The protests escalated when I just arrived in Chennai, but I was safe in the end.

So this was my experience in the US consulate on 24 January 2017. The moment I was at the venue, I could see so many people coming out with gloomy faces and the passports in their hands, so I got worried whether I will be in their same situation. As the queues kept moving forward slowly and slowly, I knew that my fate was near. I kept telling myself to be prepared if I get a visa rejection. As I knew which US consulate officer I was assigned to, I stood in that queue as the 3rd person. The officer looked friendly and didnt seem that intimidating as I thought he would be, though the first person from that queue got rejected, while the second person got approved. So it was my turn and I tried to look as confident and cheerful as possible. The officer smiled at me and we both exchanged pleasantries and I handed him my passport. He scanned the bar code of the sticker on the back of my passport (which was given yesterday when I went for my biometrics appointment). I briefly remember him just glancing through the application form and not asking me any questions for like a minute, and I could feel my heart pounding. Then suddenly, he asks “Oh, so you're a medical student?” and I said yes with a smile on my face. Then he was glancing through my old passports and saw my first passport photo and showed it to me and said “awww the little you" and I just briefly chuckled. And from here, this was how my interview progressed. And while I was answering his questions, he was glancing through all my passports to see the visas that I had in the past

Interviewer : So what is your purpose of visit to the US?

Me : To visit my sister

Interviewer : Where does she stay?

Me : xxxx, New Jersey

He didnt ask me details about my sister which I thought he would, though he would have known the necessary details about her through my application form

Interviewer : So your parents live in Abu Dhabi?

Me : Yes, they do

Interviewer : What do they do there?

Me : They are also doctors

Interviewer : How long you plan to visit in the US?

Me : Just 2 weeks

Interviewer : What do you plan on doing there?

Me : Just to visit New York and Florida

Interviewer : What are your future plans?

Me : I'm gonna come back to India to live with my family.

Interviewer : Have you been to any other country before?

Me : *with confidence* Italy, England, France, Qatar, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Singapore.

Interviewer : ALRIGHT, CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR VISA APPLICATION HAS BEEN APPROVED!

At that point of time, I wanted to jump up with joy and ecstasy that I got the visa but I just calmly smiled and said thank you, have a great day!!!

As you've noticed, I just gave crisp, short answers with a confident, clear voice and didnt give a lengthy story. In fact the Officer didnt even glance through many of the documents that I carried with me. But I guess that varies between officer to officer also, because the Officer was kind and patient, so the luck went in my favour as I'm sure even if I gave a similar interview to another Officer, I would have had a different experience and there could have been chances of getting my application rejected.

Now there were some points that would have gone in favour of and against my application

In favor of :

1. I was a college student so I had a bonafide letter that I will come back to India to finish my MBBS course
2. I have a strong travel history, so that reveals non-immigrant intent
3. Strong tie ups with my home country through bank statements and properties

All documents I carried were genuine.

A point that would have gone against me was just that my sister is a US citizen so they would flag me as a potential immigrant