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Greetings to Immihelp forum readers, I wanted to put our experience here since it helped us so much when we were preparing for my parents’ visitor visa appointment to read the forum for advice from others.
First of all, I will say that we followed the instructions on this website to send documents to VFS for the Mumbai Consulate ahead of time, which documents to send, etc.
However, there was a problem because my parents’ names appeared differently in the passport and DS-156 than they did on most other supporting documents, and we had not indicated this when sending in the DS-156. So after realizing the discrepancy, we sent an amended version, along with a notarized affidavit with attached notarized photographs which served the purpose of verifying the name differences.
The lesson to be learned from this is that you need to make sure to add any additional names in No. 8 (Other Surnames Used) and No. 9 (Other First and Middle Names Used) of form DS-156 (NONIMMIGRANT VISA APPLICATION) if this is the case for the applicant(s) or they might be rejected based on conflicting information.
Also, applicants should not have any cuts on their fingers when they go for the appointment, as they might have to return another day when the cuts have healed (for fingerprinting)...so take care of those fingers
The day of their Interview appointment:
My parents waited in line outside the US consulate for about 2 and a half hours until they could enter, unfortunately in the rain without any covered shelter while waiting
(if you have an appointment during the monsoon season or even otherwise, make sure to bring an umbrella in case of rain or bright rays from the sun)!
Upon arriving to the entrance, papers checked along with their appointment letter, security screening, etc. The officer gave their papers back and told them to take all the documents with them to the waiting area until they were called.
It was my father’s observation during their waiting period that most of the people were being granted Visas, however, it seemed that one of the officers at one counter was giving more visa denials than the others (their bad luck for being interviewed by him, I suppose). But overall, out of about 500 people present that day for their appointments, my father estimated that about 90% of the various kinds of visas were granted.
Once my parents were called, they were greeted by a polite female American officer and a Hindi translator:
Officer: How many children do you have?
Father: 3, one son in US, and 2 unmarried daughters in India who are both my liability
Officer: Where is your son in US residing?
Father: City, State
Officer: What is he doing?
Father: He is working as a software engineer
Officer: What company does he work for?
Father: "Company Name..."
Officer: Where do you work?
Father: "Name of government office where he works"
Officer: Ever been outside the country?
Father: Yes, "Name of three asian countries he has been to"
Officer: Your wife, has she gone outside of India?
Father: No, never
Officer: What your wife is doing?
Father: She is a housewife
Officer: How long you would like to go to US?
Father: For a month
Officer: Who will take care of your expenses?
Father: My son will take care.
Officer: Ok I’m granting you the visa
She didn’t want to see ANY of the documents, not even the Affidavit of Support (I-134). My prediction for this is that my father appeared confident and gave short and concise answers without any nervousness (we had practiced with a mock interview and I sent them possible questions with the appropriate answers well before their appointment), so the officer might not have felt the need to see anything.
They were told their passports would be couriered back to them with the Visa, although they didn’t specify the amount of time that they were granted for. We assume that it is a 10-year multiple entry since they didn’t say that it was to be issued for only a month.
So thanks again for all those who have contributed to the forum and to this website for its excellent guidance. Good luck to those applying in the future…
First of all, I will say that we followed the instructions on this website to send documents to VFS for the Mumbai Consulate ahead of time, which documents to send, etc.
However, there was a problem because my parents’ names appeared differently in the passport and DS-156 than they did on most other supporting documents, and we had not indicated this when sending in the DS-156. So after realizing the discrepancy, we sent an amended version, along with a notarized affidavit with attached notarized photographs which served the purpose of verifying the name differences.
The lesson to be learned from this is that you need to make sure to add any additional names in No. 8 (Other Surnames Used) and No. 9 (Other First and Middle Names Used) of form DS-156 (NONIMMIGRANT VISA APPLICATION) if this is the case for the applicant(s) or they might be rejected based on conflicting information.
Also, applicants should not have any cuts on their fingers when they go for the appointment, as they might have to return another day when the cuts have healed (for fingerprinting)...so take care of those fingers
The day of their Interview appointment:
My parents waited in line outside the US consulate for about 2 and a half hours until they could enter, unfortunately in the rain without any covered shelter while waiting
(if you have an appointment during the monsoon season or even otherwise, make sure to bring an umbrella in case of rain or bright rays from the sun)!
Upon arriving to the entrance, papers checked along with their appointment letter, security screening, etc. The officer gave their papers back and told them to take all the documents with them to the waiting area until they were called.
It was my father’s observation during their waiting period that most of the people were being granted Visas, however, it seemed that one of the officers at one counter was giving more visa denials than the others (their bad luck for being interviewed by him, I suppose). But overall, out of about 500 people present that day for their appointments, my father estimated that about 90% of the various kinds of visas were granted.
Once my parents were called, they were greeted by a polite female American officer and a Hindi translator:
Officer: How many children do you have?
Father: 3, one son in US, and 2 unmarried daughters in India who are both my liability
Officer: Where is your son in US residing?
Father: City, State
Officer: What is he doing?
Father: He is working as a software engineer
Officer: What company does he work for?
Father: "Company Name..."
Officer: Where do you work?
Father: "Name of government office where he works"
Officer: Ever been outside the country?
Father: Yes, "Name of three asian countries he has been to"
Officer: Your wife, has she gone outside of India?
Father: No, never
Officer: What your wife is doing?
Father: She is a housewife
Officer: How long you would like to go to US?
Father: For a month
Officer: Who will take care of your expenses?
Father: My son will take care.
Officer: Ok I’m granting you the visa
She didn’t want to see ANY of the documents, not even the Affidavit of Support (I-134). My prediction for this is that my father appeared confident and gave short and concise answers without any nervousness (we had practiced with a mock interview and I sent them possible questions with the appropriate answers well before their appointment), so the officer might not have felt the need to see anything.
They were told their passports would be couriered back to them with the Visa, although they didn’t specify the amount of time that they were granted for. We assume that it is a 10-year multiple entry since they didn’t say that it was to be issued for only a month.
So thanks again for all those who have contributed to the forum and to this website for its excellent guidance. Good luck to those applying in the future…
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