Business Visa - B1

Hey guys,

Just wanted to share my experience. Thanks to all others who shared their story, it helped me prepare better for my interview.

Here are some tips and information that was hard to find while applying for my visa:

- The account with the name "BANA MUMBAI US VISA SFA" where you pay your DS-160 fees is a Current Account (CD).
- If you pick Chennai as your location in DS-160 and then choose Mumbai as your interview location, you need to edit your DS-160 again and change the location to Mumbai. They won't accept your DS160 if it says a different location as your interview.
- Remember the answers to your security question (that you choose while filling DS160). Write it down somewhere. So if you have to make some last minute changes to your DS160, you can do it at a nearby internet cafe.
- Its your responsibility to show relevant documents to the interview office. After you give him/her the answer to the question he asked, tell him that you have a document do support your answer and if he would like to see it. In my case, the officer only accepted my request for invitation letters, but I think the fact that I had documents to support all my answers helped my case.
- Be honest. They write it all down and its a permanent record. So if you say you are married and say 5 years later they find out that you are still single, then you will be in trouble.
- Dress well please. It is just awkward to see someone dressed poorly while applying for a BUSINESS visa.
- Print your documents in color. Don't cheap out here.

So my case. I am self employed. Do not have a registered office or company, more of a freelancer. I don't think they care what you do or what you are. They are looking for these things:

- A valid reason to go to the US. I had invitation letters to prove my intend.
- Enough money to afford the trip. I had my bank statements. He asked me how much I earned monthly. I said a figure above 1lakh and I said, I have bank statements if he is interested. He said that's okay.
- Enough reason to come back to India. I have traveled to other countries before. Plus he asked me if I was married, I said I had a girl friend, which I do. In fact, I had documents of land and property owned by my father, my car, and fixed deposits in banks.

If you can satisfy the above three criteria, you should get the visa. Collect as many documents you can. Its better to have and not need than to need and not have.

I had:
- A one page covering letter that showed: the reason, my finances, and my immediate plans on return. I offered him this, but he didn't look at it.
- Invitation letters
- Pass to the event I am attending.
- Printout of the website of the event.
- My degree certificate
- Bank statements
- Fixed Deposit receipts
- ITR documents
- Photographs of my family and from events that I have attended in the past.

He only looked at the invitation letters and the event pass. But having everything ready gave me the confidence.

Note that you do not have to sound needy. They are not doing you a favor by giving you a VISA. They are just doing their job and wants to make sure that you are going to do what you say you are. If your real intention is to illegally migrate, then do not attempt this. It is because people have done it in the past that we all have to go through such tough visa application process and that India isn't eligible for the visa waiver program.

People have been going everywhere since the dawn of civilization to do business. So as long as your reasons are valid, you will get it.

I wish you good luck.