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Yesterday (09-16-2003) my parents got B1/B2 visa from Kolkata consulate. I got a call on my cell phone at 10:15 PM with UNKNOWN caller id and my heart stopped running. I said Hello and Papa replied from there – congratulations son, we got the VISA. I was absolutely thrilled.
We waited for more than 6 months to hear this. My parents applied for the first time in March-2003. That time we were so cool, we presumed that US consulate grants visa to every parent. After all what harm they can do to anyone. I am on H1-B. I sent all the documents listed on immihelp.com, required to get B1/B2 visa. They scheduled an appointment and went to consulate on time. Here are some of the questions they were asked for the first time –
Q: Why do you want to go?
Ans: To meet my sons.
Q: For how long do you want to go?
Ans: 6 months
Q: Do you have any source of income in India?
Ans: Yes, I get almost 12000 Rs from my pension. I have a home, car…. blah blah….have ZZZ,000 thousands bank balance……
Q: Your surname is Choudhary, why is it different from your son’s sir name?
Ans: I preferred Kumar as surname for my sons.
Q How many kids do you have in India and in the USA?
Ans: 2 sons in US, 1 son in Delhi, 1 daughter in Mumbai
Q: What would you do when your sons would go out to work? You will not get time to roam around
Ans: We will roam around on weekends
Section214 (B) – Rejected! You are a potential immigrant.
That day, we were waiting for a call from my papa. With every passing minute I was getting restless. After midnight, I was carrying my cell phone in right hand and cordless in left hand. My feet were never so cold.
Suddenly my phone rang and I heard the familiar voice. “Are beta – wo to reject kar diya. Bolta hai 214(B)”. (Son, I got rejected, he says 214(B)). I fell from sky. I had absolutely no idea, what is 214(B). I called up my elder brother in California and after hearing this – he could not even breath. My parents went back to hotel, we called them up, tried to console. Our whole family was so dejected. We were extremely depressed. My parents went back to Bihar next day. Once they reached there, I called him up and asked him to reapply. He simply refused saying – I do not want to come over there.
Meanwhile, I started reading all the news groups and horror stories on immihelp.com and came to know that I am not the only person on this earth who is suffering from 214(b) syndrome. It gave me some relief as well as some hope. There were few people, looking for help after 2 rejections. There were few people who got rejected for the first time but got it next time. I found an immense knowledge base on immihelp.com. I remember I use to wake up at 2 AM sometimes, just to read the messages on this board.
Somehow my father agreed for a second attempt. Meanwhile I tried to get a recommendation letter from my employer for my parent’s visa but they gave a letter, which said nothing, more than my designation and salary. While I was preparing all these documents, I knew that all the documents were there even first time and nothing much has changed since then. After all, how can someone make new ties with his home country in 6 months. If you read US consulate web site – it clearly says that if you feel that nothing has changed since the last rejection, you are likely to get another rejection. This line was haunting me like anything.
Anyway, after I sent all the documents second time, I came across one message on this message board. This guy whose parents got visa – had managed to get a letter from his state senator. It really impressed me. I am on H1-B and I do not think anyone on H1-B even knows the name of the senator of his state. Anyway, I found few telephone numbers on my senator’s web site and started calling randomly. Whosoever picked up the phone, I explained her my situation. My phone was routed from Washington DC to St Louis to Kansas City. At Kansas City office, I found a lady, who works on immigration related issues for this senator. I politely told her my story. Her reply was – Get a new interview date and send me following in written. We will fax it with a cover letter to Kolkata consulate.
1. Name of applicant
2. Age, DOB, passport Number
3. Ties with India
4. Assets in India
5. Why would they go back
I faxed her all these details and within 2 days, she faxed this document with a good cover letter to Kolkata consulate, CC to me. It was very encouraging. Thank God, it was the office of a democrat senator. Republicans do not like immigrants.
Yesterday my father went for another round and here is the set of questions he was asked –
Q1. Why were you rejected last time?
Ans. I was rejected under section 214(b). I was carrying only one son’s papers and I was asked to show my other son’s documents as well. I guess, last time I could not explain my ties with India properly.
Q2. What are your ties with India?
Ans: 1 Son in Delhi, 1 daughter in Mumbai, and 2 grand kids
Home, other stuff worth 1.2 million Rs
Pension and other income 200,00 Rs per anum
Q3. Do you have documents from both the sons in US?
Ans: Yes, here it is.
Q4. What is the proof that you have 1 son and 1 daughter in India?
Ans: I can give you their telephone number and you can call them up right now. You please give me 24 hours and I will provide you with supporting documents. As of now, I have no document to proof this.
Q5. Since when your sons are there?
Ans: One son since APR-2000 and other son since AUG-1997.
Q6. When do you want to go and for how long?
Ans: We want to go in October and for 4 months.
Approved! They were asked to give visa issuance fee and the officer said that you will get your passport in 3-5 days. Papa called me up and informed me about the good news. Our whole family is delighted right now. We have booked their tickets and they are coming here next Saturday.
So bottom line is, I do not know whether Senator’s letter helped us or not but if definitely boosted our moral. The day I got the letter from senator I felt so encouraged. I also made a list of probable questions and out of 6, they only got 1 unexpected question. Here is the content of Senator’s letter –
Visa Officer
American Embassy
Kolkata, India
Dear Visa Officer
Please find enclosed a letter from one of my constituents who is concerned about obtaining visitor visa for his parents, YYYY and YYY. It is my understanding that they have an interview on Sep-XX-2003 at 8:15 AM.
I urge your office to review the enclosed information regarding their ties to their home. I would appreciate knowing promptly when your inquiry is completed. Your reply should be directed to my office at the address and fax below.
Thank you, for your prompt attention to this matter.
XYZ
Senator
As you can see this letter is not the most encouraging one but ask yourself, would your representative in India give you anything like this? At least Senator has asked to look into the matter deeply and that’s all on this earth we wanted that time.
I owe a lot to immihelp.com. This is a wonderful site. Ton of information! Good experiences, bad experiences, encouraging people, discouraging people. To make a long story short, I would say, my parents got visa because of the information and experiences listed on this site. Thank you to everyone. I would pray to God that every parent, back in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or any other country get visa.
Once again Thank you very much immihelp and it’s users.
Yesterday (09-16-2003) my parents got B1/B2 visa from Kolkata consulate. I got a call on my cell phone at 10:15 PM with UNKNOWN caller id and my heart stopped running. I said Hello and Papa replied from there – congratulations son, we got the VISA. I was absolutely thrilled.
We waited for more than 6 months to hear this. My parents applied for the first time in March-2003. That time we were so cool, we presumed that US consulate grants visa to every parent. After all what harm they can do to anyone. I am on H1-B. I sent all the documents listed on immihelp.com, required to get B1/B2 visa. They scheduled an appointment and went to consulate on time. Here are some of the questions they were asked for the first time –
Q: Why do you want to go?
Ans: To meet my sons.
Q: For how long do you want to go?
Ans: 6 months
Q: Do you have any source of income in India?
Ans: Yes, I get almost 12000 Rs from my pension. I have a home, car…. blah blah….have ZZZ,000 thousands bank balance……
Q: Your surname is Choudhary, why is it different from your son’s sir name?
Ans: I preferred Kumar as surname for my sons.
Q How many kids do you have in India and in the USA?
Ans: 2 sons in US, 1 son in Delhi, 1 daughter in Mumbai
Q: What would you do when your sons would go out to work? You will not get time to roam around
Ans: We will roam around on weekends
Section214 (B) – Rejected! You are a potential immigrant.
That day, we were waiting for a call from my papa. With every passing minute I was getting restless. After midnight, I was carrying my cell phone in right hand and cordless in left hand. My feet were never so cold.
Suddenly my phone rang and I heard the familiar voice. “Are beta – wo to reject kar diya. Bolta hai 214(B)”. (Son, I got rejected, he says 214(B)). I fell from sky. I had absolutely no idea, what is 214(B). I called up my elder brother in California and after hearing this – he could not even breath. My parents went back to hotel, we called them up, tried to console. Our whole family was so dejected. We were extremely depressed. My parents went back to Bihar next day. Once they reached there, I called him up and asked him to reapply. He simply refused saying – I do not want to come over there.
Meanwhile, I started reading all the news groups and horror stories on immihelp.com and came to know that I am not the only person on this earth who is suffering from 214(b) syndrome. It gave me some relief as well as some hope. There were few people, looking for help after 2 rejections. There were few people who got rejected for the first time but got it next time. I found an immense knowledge base on immihelp.com. I remember I use to wake up at 2 AM sometimes, just to read the messages on this board.
Somehow my father agreed for a second attempt. Meanwhile I tried to get a recommendation letter from my employer for my parent’s visa but they gave a letter, which said nothing, more than my designation and salary. While I was preparing all these documents, I knew that all the documents were there even first time and nothing much has changed since then. After all, how can someone make new ties with his home country in 6 months. If you read US consulate web site – it clearly says that if you feel that nothing has changed since the last rejection, you are likely to get another rejection. This line was haunting me like anything.
Anyway, after I sent all the documents second time, I came across one message on this message board. This guy whose parents got visa – had managed to get a letter from his state senator. It really impressed me. I am on H1-B and I do not think anyone on H1-B even knows the name of the senator of his state. Anyway, I found few telephone numbers on my senator’s web site and started calling randomly. Whosoever picked up the phone, I explained her my situation. My phone was routed from Washington DC to St Louis to Kansas City. At Kansas City office, I found a lady, who works on immigration related issues for this senator. I politely told her my story. Her reply was – Get a new interview date and send me following in written. We will fax it with a cover letter to Kolkata consulate.
1. Name of applicant
2. Age, DOB, passport Number
3. Ties with India
4. Assets in India
5. Why would they go back
I faxed her all these details and within 2 days, she faxed this document with a good cover letter to Kolkata consulate, CC to me. It was very encouraging. Thank God, it was the office of a democrat senator. Republicans do not like immigrants.
Yesterday my father went for another round and here is the set of questions he was asked –
Q1. Why were you rejected last time?
Ans. I was rejected under section 214(b). I was carrying only one son’s papers and I was asked to show my other son’s documents as well. I guess, last time I could not explain my ties with India properly.
Q2. What are your ties with India?
Ans: 1 Son in Delhi, 1 daughter in Mumbai, and 2 grand kids
Home, other stuff worth 1.2 million Rs
Pension and other income 200,00 Rs per anum
Q3. Do you have documents from both the sons in US?
Ans: Yes, here it is.
Q4. What is the proof that you have 1 son and 1 daughter in India?
Ans: I can give you their telephone number and you can call them up right now. You please give me 24 hours and I will provide you with supporting documents. As of now, I have no document to proof this.
Q5. Since when your sons are there?
Ans: One son since APR-2000 and other son since AUG-1997.
Q6. When do you want to go and for how long?
Ans: We want to go in October and for 4 months.
Approved! They were asked to give visa issuance fee and the officer said that you will get your passport in 3-5 days. Papa called me up and informed me about the good news. Our whole family is delighted right now. We have booked their tickets and they are coming here next Saturday.
So bottom line is, I do not know whether Senator’s letter helped us or not but if definitely boosted our moral. The day I got the letter from senator I felt so encouraged. I also made a list of probable questions and out of 6, they only got 1 unexpected question. Here is the content of Senator’s letter –
Visa Officer
American Embassy
Kolkata, India
Dear Visa Officer
Please find enclosed a letter from one of my constituents who is concerned about obtaining visitor visa for his parents, YYYY and YYY. It is my understanding that they have an interview on Sep-XX-2003 at 8:15 AM.
I urge your office to review the enclosed information regarding their ties to their home. I would appreciate knowing promptly when your inquiry is completed. Your reply should be directed to my office at the address and fax below.
Thank you, for your prompt attention to this matter.
XYZ
Senator
As you can see this letter is not the most encouraging one but ask yourself, would your representative in India give you anything like this? At least Senator has asked to look into the matter deeply and that’s all on this earth we wanted that time.
I owe a lot to immihelp.com. This is a wonderful site. Ton of information! Good experiences, bad experiences, encouraging people, discouraging people. To make a long story short, I would say, my parents got visa because of the information and experiences listed on this site. Thank you to everyone. I would pray to God that every parent, back in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or any other country get visa.
Once again Thank you very much immihelp and it’s users.
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