Urgent help required regarding Visitor Visa (B2) for parents.

[Ram.eluri]

Hi,

I have completed my MS in US and invited my parents and younger brother for my grad walk. The Grad walk is on 14th Dec 2013. So my father gave intended date of travel as 10th Dec in the DS 160 (B2 Visa). But while booking the VISA slot today, we don't have any date available till 10th Dec 2013. So we were forced to book the OFC for 9th Dec and Interview on 10th Dec.

I would like to block a ticket for 12th Dec 2013 for my parents, so that they can carry the same copy to interview.

But will it be a problem ? Is the Visa officer going to question about the possibility of immediate travel on 12th ?

Please share your thoughts.

Thanks in advance.

[peace999]

yes. You have not considered the time required for visa processing which could go beyond 12th.

Why did you guys make such a close call?

[Ram.eluri]

The ustravels website does not show any dates until we pay the visa amount

yes. You have not considered the time required for visa processing which could go beyond 12th.

Why did you guys make such a close call?

Yes it is a close call, but there was no other option, as my brother's passport came recently. My brother's passport is issued late as his 10th class certificate has to be corrected.

Also I did not expected that on 25th Nov, I would have to wait at least 16 or more days to book a slot.

The ustravels website does not show any dates until we pay the visa amount and we have almost spent 40,000 INR to book the slot for 3 people. I checked for both Hyderabad and Chennai to get an earlier date, but only 10th is the date available.

[usvisitor1]

Yes it is a close call, but there was no other option, as my brother's passport came recently. My brother's passport is issued late as his 10th class certificate has to be corrected.

Also I did not expected that on 25th Nov, I would have to wait at least 16 or more days to book a slot.

The ustravels website does not show any dates until we pay the visa amount and we have almost spent 40,000 INR to book the slot for 3 people. I checked for both Hyderabad and Chennai to get an earlier date, but only 10th is the date available.

I hope your family gets their visa on time and they make it. While you may have spent 40K to book their slots, there 2 risks you are carrying:
1. Getting visa processed on time
2. You are booking tickets now which are expensive and in case you book "Refundable tickets" and you are forced to cancel them, you will loose around 16k per person as cancellation charge. If you book "Non refundable" tickets then you loose the entire money.

More than the above 2, you are putting your family under a lot of stress because not only do they need to clear their interview but live with the anxiety of getting passports on time and then travel for 20+ hours.

While you may want them to be with you on 14th, I would advice that they fly to US during Christmas or New Year so that they are much relaxed and can concentrate only on their interview on 10th. Getting visa should be a higher priority than flying immediately, a rejection now would mean closed doors for at least 6 months.

[Ram.eluri]

Thank you very much for your reply.

I hope your family gets their visa on time and they make it. While you may have spent 40K to book their slots, there 2 risks you are carrying:
1. Getting visa processed on time
2. You are booking tickets now which are expensive and in case you book "Refundable tickets" and you are forced to cancel them, you will loose around 16k per person as cancellation charge. If you book "Non refundable" tickets then you loose the entire money.

More than the above 2, you are putting your family under a lot of stress because not only do they need to clear their interview but live with the anxiety of getting passports on time and then travel for 20+ hours.

While you may want them to be with you on 14th, I would advice that they fly to US during Christmas or New Year so that they are much relaxed and can concentrate only on their interview on 10th. Getting visa should be a higher priority than flying immediately, a rejection now would mean closed doors for at least 6 months.

Thank you very much for your reply. I am planning to block tickets in Air India (at free of cost). If at all passport does not reach on time, they can cancel the travel.