Visitor Visa - B2

Had an interview this morning at US Consulate Toronto for Visitor visa for myself, my wife, my daugther and my father. My dad is on visitor visa to Canada and we applied for him too knowing that we are taking chances but we decided to tell the truth rather than beating around the bush.

VO: Good Morning
ME: Good Morning Officer, how are you doing
VO: I am doing very well thank you
VO: How many passports ?
ME: 4
VO: Who's father is he ?
ME: My father
VO: What is his status in Canada ?
ME: He is a visitor to Canada having multiple entry visa
VO: Who works in your family ?
ME: Me and my wife
VO: What do you do for living ?
ME: I work at XYZ company as ABC
VO: What are your father's long term plans ?
ME: Sorry officer, but i dont understand the context when you say plans ?
VO: What does he plan to do in long term ? Is he going to stay with you etc ?
ME: No. He is going back to his home country
VO: Who's back at your home country ? Any other kids to your father ?
ME: No, i am the only child
VO: Strange and you want him to go back and live by himself ? Would he not stay with you ?

At this point.. i already got a cue that the officer is trying to corner me to see if there are possible plans for my father and ours to immigrate / settle in the US

ME: My father is in good health and he doesnt prefer to stay in cold climate and he would go back in some time
VO: Who would look after your father once he is back to your home country since you are the only child ?
ME: We have maid back home who would look after cooking, cleaning and other household chores. Besides that my father has his sister and brother in law back home
VO: What does your father do?
ME: He is retired
VO: How much pension is he getting?
ME: Nothing. He used to work for a private company. I send him money every month for his day to day expenses
VO: Where do you plan to go in US ?
ME: New Jersey, New York
VO: How are you planning to go ? By flight ?
ME: We are going to drive
VO: How long you plan to stay in US?
ME: 2 days only
VO: Well.. it will take you 14 hours to drive and you might end up spending 2 days just in your car.
ME: A friend of mine told me it may take 8 hours for us to reach NY by car and thats why we thought of going in weekend and return before the working day

VO now turns to my wife:

VO: What do you do Ms. ?
Wife: I work for ABC company as XYZ

VO now turns to my 5 years old daughter:

VO: Hello sweetie; what is your name ?
Daughter: My name is ABC..
VO: How old are you ?
Daughter: I am 5 years old
VO: So you must be in your SK
Daughter: Yes

VO keeps typing and typing and typing. After few minutes.. she says I will approve your visas but your files are not opening on my system. Its taking a while. Have a seat and i will call you again...

We take our seats and keep waiting....... I was seeing that the VO was sipping coffee and typing a lot. Gets up from her seat and comes back after some time. Again sips coffee and starts typing. It took atleast 30 minutes for her to call me back.

And.............. when she called me she said I HAVE APPROVED YOUR VISAS. You will get your passports back in 7 days.

Moral of the Story:

1. Tell the truth all the times. The officers are trained to bump you with any questions to identify that you are not a possible illegal immigrant
2. Greet the officer and look into the eyes of the officer and be confident.
3. Telling the truth would take you less time rather than coming up with a false statement or explaination. They would know immdtly that you are making up stories
4. Be prepared for unexpected questions that has absolutely no relevance to you.

In my case, the officer didnt ask any questions that were relevant to me or my wife but probed more and more about my dad. I guess she was trying to gauge whether we would lie or not.

This was my experience. I am hoping that this may help you prepare well for your interview.

Last but not least.. thanks a lot Immihelp forum and the members here who posted their experiences who helped everyone. You guys are the real heroes.

Best of Luck