Visitor Visa - B2

I am venkat and living in usa from past 5 years on H1b visa.. I want my father and mother to visit USA. I am in process of preparing docs .. My father is a farmer in india. But, he does get around 2lakhs income per yer. As per Indian rules, he does need to pay any Income taxes on agricultural business. Hence he does not pay ..

My question is here that if i want to sponser my father to come USA then does he needs to show income tax papers to visa officer at Madras consulate ??? Do they ask like that ?

please suggest me, I will appreciate your reponse..

Hello, My parents had their interview in mumbai consulate on 08/27. They were asked some common questions like 1> who is there in US 2> How long you are going to stay in US 3> What purpose are you going there 4> What are the places you are going see.. This site helped me in preparing my parents with typical interview questions. My dad is a bank executive & he told them that they will be coming here for a month visit. They got only 3 months visa. I guess their length of stay here depends on the I-94 stamping at the POE. I am excited to see them in October. Thanks to this site & All the best to those who are seeking visa.

Just wanted to drop a quick note. This website helped us immensely on preparing our in-laws for their visa interview and they got their visa approvals at Chennai this morning. We had prepared all documentation per this website and prep'ed them on the possible questions. They asked FIL four questions and no questions for MIL.
Questions were:

1. What do your son-in-law and daughter do in US?
A. Both are working..(details)

2. What do you do in India currently?
A. Retired with pension details, house details etc.,

3. What is the reason for your intended visit?
A. Sight-seeing and social visit (to see daughter and son-in-law)

4. How long do you want to stay in US?
A. Prefer 6 months so our son-in-law and daughter can take us around over many weekends. However if you feel less than that is appropriate then that is fine too.

Officer approved visa and told them to enjoy their visit.

Thanks
-Bhola

Just wanted add some more info.

The detailed explaination / experiences provided by some folks here have really helped us a lot. Especially the experience posted by LocalMadras below is excellent, described with great detail. Thanks LocalMadras!

Good luck to all folks and your relatives for the interview.

Just wanted to share the good news for the folks here at immihelp. This is an awesome site with lots of information and "Immihelp", please keep up the good work :-)

Both my Parent-in-laws attended the interview at Chennai consulate. The officer just glanced over the documents and asked just 3 questions to my Father-in-law, before issuing the visa. No questions were asked to my mother-in-law. An interpreter was present during the interview.

1) Where is my Father-in-law working ? Which company ?
Answer :
xyz company

2) Why do they need to stay for 6 months in US ?
Answer :
Visiting tourist attractions in USA.

3) Can the company grant/extend the leave for my Father-in-law ?
This question was a specific one, directed to my F-I-L, since the leave sanction letter from my F-I-L's company had mentioned just 3 months of vacation. So the officer wanted to know whether the leave can be extended beyond 3 months and whether they intend to stay beyond 3 months in US.
Answer :
Yes. Leave can be extended beyond 3 months.

Not sure yet, whether the visa has been issued for 3 months or 6 months. Probably it has been issued for just 3 months.

Just curious, I have read here at Immihelp website, in some postings, that the Immigration office at the Port-Of-Entry can grant 6 months, even though the visa is valid for 3 months... Is this Correct ? Please let me know if anyone of your folks have faced similar situation.

If the Immigration officer issues a 3 months stay, then can we apply visa extension ? Please advise.

Lastly, we do not know when the Passports with visa stamp will be arriving Bangalore from Chennai thru ttk services..I hope soon..

Hope this information helps others.

Jai Kannada.

My father went for the personal interview on Aug13. He paid the visa issuance fee..which means visa is guaranteed. The DIRTY,SUCKING TT services takes 300Rs to send my dad's visa through an ordinary registered post instead of a courier. He had booked his airticket for today which is 20th but still he hasn't received his visa. When contacted tt services said they have sent his Visa on 14th itself by speed post... i haven't seen any speed post not reaching the person for 8 days... that too from chennai to bangalore. He is having an irrepairable loss of money for airticket. Why don't this dirty poor tt service give a tracking number so that you know where is your passport? He has sent hundreads of fax to find out where his passport is.. but no response from either postal department or tt services.

My parents applied vistor visa in May 03 at chennai US consulate, it took 10-12 business days...they gave visa for three months, till August. They applied thru drop box as my father was 60+ but mother 50+. Maybe they gave three months b'coz he said profession as business???. Its important that no documents are missed, make ur checklist. They did not come to US, so again applying (NOT extending as i was told).

My parents visa got rejected under 214B. I have told them not to mention about my pregnancy during their interview. But now I heard from a travel agent in Kerala that if we are greencard holders, I have a right to say that it is my desire to have my parents during the time of delivery and with doctor's letter and a senator letter, they will give you visa out of human consideration.

He says many people have got visa like this from his experience. But I don't want to risk this second chance. So if anybody has any information regarding this, pls reply.

Hello,
My Mother in Law recenlty got a 10yr Multiple entry visa. Sharing the visitor-visa experience she had.

List of document i sent
0) TTS web-appointment printout (with the barcode)
a) Notarized Affidavit of Support, Form I-134.
b) Notarized Letter of employment.
c) Copies of salary statements (last 6months).
d) Bank Account verification letter.
e) Copy of recent Bank statements.
f) Copies of Tax Returns statement (last 3 years)
g) Copy of husband & wife’s Green Card & Passport OR H1 and H4 papers.
h) Husband & wife’s Birth Certificate.
i) Marriage Certificate
j) a letter to PortOfEntry officer requesting him to provide a 6months+
stay when my MIL enters USA.


Sent 1 original & 2 duplicate copies.


Very Important:
Photocopy all pages including blank pages in the passports.Chennai consulate confirmed this as a requirment. No need to color-photocopy the passport. Regular Black/white will do.


List of documents i asked my MotherInLaw to secure
0) DS-156,
1) passport
2) Photos (taken at cameraciti (Konica color labs) opp. to Chola Sheraton,chennai. For 100Rs 16 photos)
a) home deeds/documents
b) local SBI bank statements
c) Father-in-laws Employment letter
d) My brother-in-laws college certificate
e) family photos(to prove my in-laws have ties in india)
f) Note: add anyother documents that will help the officer to give you visa based on the home-ties you have.


Preparation for the interview
-- called MIL 2 days before the interview, went through the FAQ & most-asked questions, to make her get familiarized with the questions the officer might ask during the interview.
-- made her fill the DS-156 forms more than 2 times
-- made her go through the list of documents to get familiarized.
-- Preparing your parents / in-laws is the key to secure a visa.



Inside the Embassay @Chennai:
-------------------------------------
-- She went there 30 mts before the interview, joined the long-line. At the first guard-gate, they verify the TTS appointment letter & passport.
-- Next guard-gate, they verify the contents you carrry. She carried just a transperent FOLDER. (NO HANDBAGS ALLOWED or check chennai.usconsulate.gov for restrictions)
-- They gave her a Pink-Slip stamped #212 and mentioned TAMIL translator needed. #212 is the number they assign you & will be called upon during the interview


At the 1st building
-------------------------------------
-- a lady at the counter, collects all the documents.
-- There is no queue system, and everybody has to stand (limited chairs available).
-- verifies & scans the needed-document quick.
-- collects the 300Rs for courier.
-- collects the 4900Rs for Application fees. (MIL signed her name&passport number back of the DD)
-- returns most of the documents back
-- didn't return passport, ds-156, photos, my emp letter, i-134.
-- Asked my MIL whether she had passport-copies of daugther & son-in-law. Verified that and returned it back
-- The lady@the counter was scanning some documnets, we hope that she is making few documents available electronically before she returns those to us.
-- MIL was asked to proceed to the next building.
-- Bottomline, the 1st building they verify all the documents.


At 2nd building
-------------------------------------
-- this had Airconditioner and chairs to sit.
-- Can notice students,other visitors pleading for visas.
-- MIL waited till she was called upon. Number assigned was #212.
-- An officer & a translator called her after 2hours wait at counter 4.
-- the officer had a folder, which contained the DS-156,
passport,photo,emp letter, & i-134.
-- the tamil-translator wasn't available, so there was a kannadiga transalator.
-- since the kannadiga translator had difficulty in translating tamil, my MIL spoke directly to the Officer.
-- we choose tamil transalation to make sure that there is no communication issues.But, surprise is always in the waiting. Be ready for that.
-- Below are the questions asked during the interview process.
        What kind of questions did they ask her?
        a) Why do you want to go to US?
        -- For tourism and to visit my daughter & son-in-law.
        b) Who is there in US?
        -- Again the same as answer as (a).
        c) How many issues do you have?
        -- My mom said me and my brother.
        d) Where is my brother and wht is he doing?
        -- She replied he is studying in India.
        e) Why is your husband not visiting with you?
        -- He is yet working and cannot take leave for 6 months or so

-- Finally, the officer asked her to pay the fees(3675 Rs) at counter1.
-- He gave back the i-134 form.
-- DS-156, passport,photos & emp-letter, they didn't return.
-- That means visa is secured. WOW !!!
-- The interview was over, MIL walked out at 5:00pm.
-- Since we live in chennai, the VISA WITH THE PASSPORT came the same day @ 8:00pm.
-- MIL received a 10 year Multiple entry visa.


Note: Provide all the documents at the building 1. Let them return whatever they don't need. Don't think that "officer will ask and then letz give it". The officer will never ask. What happened for a couple was,
they had all the documents with them , the officer rejected their visa saying "insufficient documentation". Eventhough they said they have it with them, he rejected it. For sure, in Building-1 they are doing some
special scanning to make sure all the documents are provided.



Few rejections my MIL noticed on that interview-day
a) photo was not in the correct dimension, the couple were sent back. (not rejected)
b) passport photocopy for daughter/son not avaialble, sent back. (not rejected)
c) home-deeds/documents not given during the verification-process. Rejected.
d) all-documents were in place for some lady, but still Rejected, don't know what was the reason.
e) during day-session, most of the visa were rejected.
f) during a.noon session, everyone was granted visa. (students & visitors included).


--LocalMadras.

My mother got her visa today. I am yet to find out for how long. The information provided on immihelp is sufficient and complete.

Thanks for maintaining this awesome site ..kudos to you.