• Case:
  A person deposited 7 lakh rupees (700,000 rs. or about $14,000 as of writing this) into his bank account, just a day before applying for a visitors visa. Even after looking at that, the visa officer rejected his visa application.
  Reason:
  You will need to prove that you have strong financial ties to India and you (or your sponsor) have enough money to support yourself during your stay in the USA. If you deposit borrowed money into your bank account just temporarily for 2-3 days, that does not work as you actually don't have money. In many such instances, the visa officer would ask you to show them your bank statements for the last 6 months. You really need to have money.
  
  
• Case:
  A family of four applied for a tourist visa submitted an affidavit of support from their cousin who had originally gone to the USA by illegal means, became legal by marrying a U.S. citizen and made a lot of money in a business. Their visa application was rejected.
  Reason:
  The visa officer was able to track down the legal history of their cousin.
  
  
• Case:
  One person's sister had applied for his immigration petition in a family based immigration in the forth category (F4). The sister did not visit India even once in the last 20 years. No relative in India had even seen that sister's daughter. Now this family wanted to go to the U.S. for her marriage (niece, sister's daughter). The brother along with his family of 6 applied for tourist visa and it was denied.
  Reason:
  Usually the persons who have an immigration petition pending do not get visitors visa, because it is extremely difficult to prove that they do not have immigration intention as their immigration petition is already pending. Also, in this case, the person did not have very strong ties to her sister and her family.
  
  
• Case:
  A young couple whose last name was 'Patel' and who did not earn lot of money in India nor was in good position in their careers got their tourist visa rejected. They blamed the consular officer saying that they got rejected solely because their last name is 'Patel'.
  Reason:
  That is simply not true. There is no reason for visa officer to deny visa just because their last name is 'Patel'. They are not an enemy of the persons with the last name 'Patel' neither do they have prejudice against Indians. They are just doing their duty. The fact is that so many 'Patels' apply for visas that many get denied. Just because many apply and many get denied, does not mean they have prejudice against 'Patel'.
  
  
• Case:
  An affluent industrialist applied for a business visa for himself for 2-3 months and the tourist visa for his wife and 25-year-old daughter who does not do any work and is quite eligible for marriage. Their applications were denied without looking at much documents or asking any questions.
  Reason:
  It is quite possible that this person is going to get her daughter married to someone in the U.S. He is not even sure whether he would like to go for 2 months or 3 months. Ideally, he should have all the documents regarding every place he is meeting, whom he is meeting and exact duration for which he is going to USA.
  
  
• Case:
  A person joined XYZ tours and travel company that takes people to the USA for 2 weeks on tours, thinking that tour agency would take care of all their US visa arrangements now that they have already paid for the trip. The visa was denied.
  Reason:
  Even though this person joined the tour, it is entirely the responsibility of the person who is applying that he submit all the documents properly. He must prove that he has strong financial resources and has strong family ties to India and he will surely come back, that he is going there temporarily and does not intend to stay in the USA permanently. You should be aware of many such tour companies (NOT all are fraud), and some so called visa consultants also claim that they know consular officers and they would get a visa if some money is paid as a bribe. Consular officers do not take bribes and you can not apply any pressure of any kind to them. It is entirely up to them whether to give a visa or not and they a do very fair job of that. Instead of relying on such travel agents who provide wrong information many times, some consultants who advise their clients to submit fake documents, fake bank accounts, provide fals information, it is better to contact the American Consulate, talk to a competent immigration attorney or refer to web sites such as this that provide free information for no direct gain from providing such information.
  
  
• Case:
  A person who has big chemical factories in Baroda earns about 25 to 30 lakh rupees (about $57,000 to $69,000) every year. He pays all the income tax properly. He is married and has two kids. He has a savings of millions of rupees. He decided to take his family on a tour to the USA. He took all the documents, such as income tax returns, bank statements, property documents and everything that is listed on this web site. As he did not know English, he asked for a Gujarati interpreter and explained to the officer that he is really making good money in India, and he does not plan to settle down in the USA at all. The officer was about to give the visa to him, but before that he asked him what are some of the places you are planning to visit in the USA? Now this person has no idea. He thought that he has his cousin staying in Chicago and once he goes there, his cousin will take him to whatever places that are worth visiting in the USA. The officer did not like that kind of answer. According to the officer, the person who is going to go thousands of miles, and spending hundreds of thousands of rupees better know where he is going and what he is going to visit, especially when he is going on a tourist visa. The consular officer suspected this applicant's true intentions and visa was denied.
  Reason:
  If you are applying for a tourist visa, you better know where you are going to tour and what is worth seeing there. You can say that you are going to visit places such as as New York, Niagara Falls, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Florida, etc. The more you know, the better it is.
  
  
• Case:
  Venkat's father has lots of land in Guntur, AP and he is considered an agriculturist. In reality, he is a consultant and he shows his consultancy income as agriculture income and does not pay income tax. When he applied for his tourist visa, he was asked how much income tax he pays on his annual income of Rs. 24 lakh. He said that he is an agriculturist and does not need to pay any income tax and therefore he does not have to file any income tax returns.
  Reason:
  According to the officer, a person who is earning so much money must have to pay some kind of taxes. Even agriculture income people have to file income tax returns, even though they can show that their income has been exempt from income tax.
  
  
• Case:
  A person who has no relatives staying in the USA wanted to apply for a tourist visa. This person claimed that his annual income is Rs. 13 lakh. The officer asked for his income tax return, that showed annual income of only Rs. 78,000. He was questioned about the discrepancy in his actual income vs. income in the return. The applicant just smiled and told officer that no one in India pays income tax on his real income. He said that he makes lots of money and shows only a little bit of income and pays income tax on that. He also showed lots of savings certificates, bonds , lots of real estate property documents and other property documents. His net worth was more than Rs. 1 crore and he was still making more money continuously. But his visa was rejected.
  Reason:
  The officer does not want such persons to go to the USA, that cheat their own country and do not pay income tax. They fear that this person will do some cheating in the USA too. They do not prefer persons to go to the USA on black money.