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Hello all...first of all, thanks so much to everyone here for all the useful information we got in preparing for my MIL's visa interview. We went in there totally prepared.
After everything we'd read here about widows having less chances of getting a visa, we were really nervous about her getting it. So we made sure to stress the reasons she had to go back: she'd just bought her own apartment near my SIL, her own mother was still living, and she had three daughters and five grandchildren still in India.
We were unable to get her a Hindi interview and ended up booking her an English one even though she's not very fluent in English. We booked her interview for a day when we were going to be in India too, and when we went to the embassy we found out that since I'm an American citizen, I was allowed to go into the embassy with her (I had taken my passport with me). They told me at the door that I would not be allowed to go into her interview. I was able to stand in the (very long) lines for her while she sat down. Someone else in line told me that it couldn't hurt to try to go up to the interview window with her, so I did. And it worked! The interviewer asked me, "are you here for moral support, or to translate?" I said that I was just there for moral support.
First of all, after handing the interviewer the application and passport, my MIL also handed her a cover letter from my husband and myself (stating the reasons she'd go back to India), an email from our congressman's office that had been forwarded to the embassy and which the embassy had told our congressman's office that we should print out and bring along with us, and an invitation to my husband's PhD graduation at Virginia Tech. The next thing that happened was just pure luck--the interviewer saw the invitation and the first thing she said was "Go Hokies!!" [the VT team mascot]. It turned out that she was also from Virginia from a county a couple hours away from where I grew up!
The questions she asked were:
1. Where will you be staying in the US? [with my son and DIL in Virginia]
2. How long do you plan to stay there? [for one month]
3. How will you pay for your trip? [my son and his wife will pay]
4. How many other children do you have besides your son? [three daughters, and I also have five grandchildren. I help to take care of two of them]
5. Where do they live? [In India, and I recently bought a house very close to one of them]
6. What do they do? [two are homemakers and one works]
7. What is your marital status? [I am a widow]
8. How long has it been since your husband died? [three years]
9. What does your son do? Does he work anywhere else besides being a student? [he is a student and a part-time intern at X company]
10. What does your daughter in law do? [she is in software marketing]
While she was asking these questions, my MIL got a bit flustered and was having a hard time answering. I jumped in and started answering the questions for her when she was too confused. Then the interview officer said, "congratulations, your passport with the visa will be delivered to your home address." We were so happy! When the visa came, it was for a 10-year multiple entry visa. She will probably stay with us for two months on this trip (she came home with us).
Anyway, I hope that even though a lot of this probably was due to luck, that it will give some hope to other people whose widowed mothers are trying to get a visa. It really pays to be prepared using the advice on this site!
After everything we'd read here about widows having less chances of getting a visa, we were really nervous about her getting it. So we made sure to stress the reasons she had to go back: she'd just bought her own apartment near my SIL, her own mother was still living, and she had three daughters and five grandchildren still in India.
We were unable to get her a Hindi interview and ended up booking her an English one even though she's not very fluent in English. We booked her interview for a day when we were going to be in India too, and when we went to the embassy we found out that since I'm an American citizen, I was allowed to go into the embassy with her (I had taken my passport with me). They told me at the door that I would not be allowed to go into her interview. I was able to stand in the (very long) lines for her while she sat down. Someone else in line told me that it couldn't hurt to try to go up to the interview window with her, so I did. And it worked! The interviewer asked me, "are you here for moral support, or to translate?" I said that I was just there for moral support.
First of all, after handing the interviewer the application and passport, my MIL also handed her a cover letter from my husband and myself (stating the reasons she'd go back to India), an email from our congressman's office that had been forwarded to the embassy and which the embassy had told our congressman's office that we should print out and bring along with us, and an invitation to my husband's PhD graduation at Virginia Tech. The next thing that happened was just pure luck--the interviewer saw the invitation and the first thing she said was "Go Hokies!!" [the VT team mascot]. It turned out that she was also from Virginia from a county a couple hours away from where I grew up!
The questions she asked were:
1. Where will you be staying in the US? [with my son and DIL in Virginia]
2. How long do you plan to stay there? [for one month]
3. How will you pay for your trip? [my son and his wife will pay]
4. How many other children do you have besides your son? [three daughters, and I also have five grandchildren. I help to take care of two of them]
5. Where do they live? [In India, and I recently bought a house very close to one of them]
6. What do they do? [two are homemakers and one works]
7. What is your marital status? [I am a widow]
8. How long has it been since your husband died? [three years]
9. What does your son do? Does he work anywhere else besides being a student? [he is a student and a part-time intern at X company]
10. What does your daughter in law do? [she is in software marketing]
While she was asking these questions, my MIL got a bit flustered and was having a hard time answering. I jumped in and started answering the questions for her when she was too confused. Then the interview officer said, "congratulations, your passport with the visa will be delivered to your home address." We were so happy! When the visa came, it was for a 10-year multiple entry visa. She will probably stay with us for two months on this trip (she came home with us).
Anyway, I hope that even though a lot of this probably was due to luck, that it will give some hope to other people whose widowed mothers are trying to get a visa. It really pays to be prepared using the advice on this site!
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