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My parents received B2 visitor visa today at Chennai consulate. Their appointment was between 2:15-2:30 and they got an interveiew at around 5:00PM. We prepared all the documents suggested in this website. To give a little background, my father retired from central govt service about 2 years back and my mom is housewife. My brother and I are their only children and both of us have been in US (since 1999), initially came on F1 and currently working on H1 status.
My parents told us that the VO was relatively young, soft spoken, and polite. His accent was also quite easy to understand and he too understood my parents accent very well. Note that my parents never spoke to a foreigner before.
VO: Did not ask, why do you want to go to US. Straight away started with "Who are you visiting in US"?
Father: Our sons (two of us).
VO: How many children do you have?
Father: Just two of them.
VO: Where do they live?
Father: One in Indianapolis, other in San Diego.
VO: Are your sons married?
Father: The elder one is recently married (in Aug).
VO: What do they do?
Father: Both are working- one in XX company and the other in YY company.
VO: Are you retired from service (he sensed this by just looking at my father)?
Father: Yes.
VO: Which department?
Father: Audit department, as audit officer
VO: That's nice.
VO: How long do you intend to go to US?
Father: About 6 months (we prepared the DS-156 application and we mentioned the duration of stay as 3 months in that and we repeatedly told our parents to stick to the exact information written in that form and specifically the duration of stay. In spite of this, my father said differently :-)
But he patiently explained, "Oh, it is not possible to stay beyond 6 months. If you want to do so, you need to apply for an extension of stay."
He then specifically asked for affidavit of support, employment letter, and couple of recent pay stubs of sponsor. My father gave all of them. He looked and gave them back. He did not ask for any other documents from my parents like their property documents, etc.
VO: OK, go pay the fees.
Father: Thank you, sir.
My mom was not asked any questions specifically and she did not speak at all, except greeting him at the begenning.
The overall feeling my parents got was that the whole process was very smooth and the officer was quite friendly. It was a big relief to have such experience after all the tensed preparations.
Note: We booked the appointment through TTS way back in June and we got the appointment in Oct. I am glad the system is improved now and it is much more easier to get appointments for genuine applicants.
* Imp: My parents told us that they were hearing the conversations happening at neighbouring counters as well. One visa officer (lady) was speaking to a lady who applied for H4 visa. The officer was telling the applicant, "Sorry, your husband's company is not paying him salary. How much ever I wish to send you to your husband, I cannot allow you to go there in this situation". They were not sure whether this was found out by the officer herself or it was told by the applicant (probably when asked for pay stubs). But I heard from other sources as well that INS has a way to check whether people on H1 are being paid or not. I cannot verify this, but something we should keep in mind when applying for visas.
Good luck,
Rajasekhar
My parents told us that the VO was relatively young, soft spoken, and polite. His accent was also quite easy to understand and he too understood my parents accent very well. Note that my parents never spoke to a foreigner before.
VO: Did not ask, why do you want to go to US. Straight away started with "Who are you visiting in US"?
Father: Our sons (two of us).
VO: How many children do you have?
Father: Just two of them.
VO: Where do they live?
Father: One in Indianapolis, other in San Diego.
VO: Are your sons married?
Father: The elder one is recently married (in Aug).
VO: What do they do?
Father: Both are working- one in XX company and the other in YY company.
VO: Are you retired from service (he sensed this by just looking at my father)?
Father: Yes.
VO: Which department?
Father: Audit department, as audit officer
VO: That's nice.
VO: How long do you intend to go to US?
Father: About 6 months (we prepared the DS-156 application and we mentioned the duration of stay as 3 months in that and we repeatedly told our parents to stick to the exact information written in that form and specifically the duration of stay. In spite of this, my father said differently :-)
But he patiently explained, "Oh, it is not possible to stay beyond 6 months. If you want to do so, you need to apply for an extension of stay."
He then specifically asked for affidavit of support, employment letter, and couple of recent pay stubs of sponsor. My father gave all of them. He looked and gave them back. He did not ask for any other documents from my parents like their property documents, etc.
VO: OK, go pay the fees.
Father: Thank you, sir.
My mom was not asked any questions specifically and she did not speak at all, except greeting him at the begenning.
The overall feeling my parents got was that the whole process was very smooth and the officer was quite friendly. It was a big relief to have such experience after all the tensed preparations.
Note: We booked the appointment through TTS way back in June and we got the appointment in Oct. I am glad the system is improved now and it is much more easier to get appointments for genuine applicants.
* Imp: My parents told us that they were hearing the conversations happening at neighbouring counters as well. One visa officer (lady) was speaking to a lady who applied for H4 visa. The officer was telling the applicant, "Sorry, your husband's company is not paying him salary. How much ever I wish to send you to your husband, I cannot allow you to go there in this situation". They were not sure whether this was found out by the officer herself or it was told by the applicant (probably when asked for pay stubs). But I heard from other sources as well that INS has a way to check whether people on H1 are being paid or not. I cannot verify this, but something we should keep in mind when applying for visas.
Good luck,
Rajasekhar
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