Visitor Visa - B2

Hello everyone,

So I applied for a US visa in Ottawa, Canada a few months back and I wanted to share my experience with you all. i'm an Indian citizen and at that time I was working on a post graduate work permit in Canada, also known as PGWP.

Concerns: I was below the age of 25, single, also I was working at a Pizza restaurant while my education was actually in a totally different field.

Positives: I was in Canada for over 3.5 years and my education was done in Canada. Also my hourly wage was decent.

Please note: The process for a US visa in Canada is not as stringent, as long as you have a decent profile. Please don't expect to get a US visa in India or any developing country if you're working at a Pizza restaurant.

So you basically fill out the DS 160 and then go to the US visa appointment website in Canada and pay the visa application fees. They've started to accept cash but when I applied, I don't think it was an option. I paid via a credit card but you can also pay via Interac online as this is a facility available in all Canadian banks. As far as I know, they also accept temporary prepaid credit cards that you'd find in most Canadian gas stations such as a Petro Canada or Esso. After that you select the loomis courier center in your city or the nearest city if you're in the country. This is where your passport will arrive if your visa is approved. Loomis is the only courier service the embassy uses for returning documents in my knowledge.

Please make sure that you have correct specification for the photos if you're not uploading one online. I got one at shoppers drug mart store in my city but please do not that many of their photographers are incompetent and I had to take my picture twice.

So I picked Ottawa because the dates in Toronto are really hard to find. Usually it's around 20-25 days to get an appointment. In Ottawa, I got one in 5 days. I drove to Ottawa and stayed at a hotel 8 overnight.

I was at the embassy gates early in the morning, alongside me were a couple of Somalians waiting for their appointments. The security staff were okay but as I went inside, I met a sarcastic lady, but I quickly shrugged off whatever she said. As you enter you see a medium sized room with 4-5 windows. When I went inside, an Indian dude was getting scolded for some silly reason. When my turn came in the lady's attitude was not that bad. She basically took my DS-160 and wrote PGWP on it.

Unlike India, you have to do your fingerprints on the same day. The lady gave me a token for the fingerprinting and then the fingerprinting personnel gave me the token for the actual interview.

Most visas were getting approved, once was a Indian student at a college in India and he was approved relatively quickly. As far as I can remember, only a Jamaican lady got rejected because she was only a Canadian PR for a couple of months and didn't had much ties to Canada.

My turn!

Me: How are you doing?

VO: I'm great, how about you!?

Me: I'm great, thanks for asking!

VO: How long you've been in Canada.

Me: 3.5 years.

VO: What's your status in Canada?

Me: Right now, I'm on a PGWP and before that I was a student at xxx college in Ontario.

VO: What were you studying?

Me: Accounting.

VO: What are you doing right now?

Me: I'm working as a cashier and a cook at a Pizza restaurant.

VO: Why is your job different than your studies?

Me: Because I was unable to find a position in my field and right now I'm able to work full time at this job and the pay is decent. (I was absolutely expecting this question)

(It was a bit weird because I applied for a visitor visa but the VO was asking me about my career choices, etc. But I understood why he was doing it and also I was expecting this question from the get-go.)

VO: Do you have any friends or family in the US?

Me: No I don't!

VO: Any in Canada?

Me: I have several friends in Canada.

VO: Why do you want to visit the US?

Me: I was just like to drive to Buffalo to do some cross border shopping on the weekends. And maybe just see the city and the downtown and that's pretty much it.

VO: Have you ever been to the US or applied for a US visa?

Me: No!

VO: Who supports you?

Me: I support myself!

And then promptly he gave me a white sheet saying that my visa is approved. The interview may seem a bit long but in reality it didn't felt like it.

The passport arrived at my city's Loomis center in 3 days with a 10 year visa. :)

The process in Canada is not as intense as it's in India. Just be confident and calm when giving answers. Hopefully my experience will give some insight to people who want to apply for their US visa in Canada. If you're not in Canada, It will hopefully also give you an insight how the US visa process works in Canada. Good luck folks!