Well, my mom and my dear sister finally got their US visas. I wanted them to get it done as soon as possible, but my mom being a very busy home-maker and my sister busy with her studies, it got postponed a lot. So now its official. Everybody in the Kamath household now has a valid US visa stamped to their Passport! My dad got his B-1 / B-2 visa issued in 2001 and I got my Student F-1 visa stamped in 2004. Lot of people ask me, "Whether it's that difficult to get a US visa?" , to which I usually end up replying "Absolutely Not!" There are lots of mis-conceptions about getting one. Some of them are: "The US doesn't want us coming over to there to visit or study"; "The Consulate Officials are rude"; "The Officials just reject you for no apperent reasons"; "They have a daily quota of number of visas" and "You require to bring along with you lots and lots of documents"
All in all it is a real present experience going for an interview.
And as for rejecting... No they don't reject people randomly. If you meet the three conditions: Have enough funds to support your stay in US, show your intention to come back and your application forms are in order, you get a visa. Also, they don't have daily quota of visas. The only thing that limits the number of visas issued per day are the number of appointments given out. So, if they receive 100's of application which meets their criteria, all of them get visas. Maybe people have this belief because of the quota system for the H1 visa. But they should know that H1 is totally different from student visa or tourist / business visa.
And as for the documents you need to get... Well you need all the documents to prove the statements you are making. This is just to support the claims you make about your finance or situation. But 95% of the times, they don't even ask any extra documents!!!
I have seen lots and lots of people who have got US visa and then later boast, as to how difficult the whole process was. Just to satisfy their egos and to make them look like a person who has just climbed the Mt. Everest for like the 15th time or so. Some of the statements they make: "The visa officer just threw the documents back at me!", "He asked me what was I doing on 17th October, 1984" or "So show me all your assets documents and tax returns from last 20 years"
Well none of these statements are true!!! Atleast the best of that I know!!!
There is a reason why everybody in my family was scared of the US visa interview. The reason was my father was denied a visa the first time he applied. At that time I was very much unaware of how things worked in the US Consulate worked. Also, partly my father's preparation was not that great as he was busy getting other visas: UK, Dutch and Canadian. My mom was hence was very scared about the interview. To top it off the Travel Agent was trying to market his stuff to them. Now, after the interview, my mom says that the interview was one of the best experiences of her life!
If you like to have more information about the United States Consulate - General in Chennai, click on the Consulate Seal. You can learn more about US Visas by visiting the official site of the State Department. Also, please be adviced that this blog is a collection of my experiences and not the statement of the law.
Nithin Kamath
www.nithinkamath.net
(US Consulate - General in Chennai. Courtesy: www.hinduonnet.com)
Well none of there mis-conceptions are true. The US does definately want people coming to their country for tourism or for higher studies. The only thing they don't want is people staying back in the US after their purpose has been met or start working here illegally. The reason being if they start working illegally, the employer may exploit them, pay them very, very less or get them involved in some illegal dealings to make them the scape-goat. And as for their rudeness... Come On... We Indians are used to be pushed around by our Govt. Officials... Duplicates, triplicates, chai-pani and what not! Comparing this the Consulate workers is like comparing the local tea stall to a 5-star hotel. Yeah, they are very stern, but from my personal experience and that of my family, are really jovial, courtious and good-spirited. Like during my visa interview he asked me "So where are you going?" and I replied, "LA, Sir" He then humoriously replied "LA, Huh, Not Los Angeles?". This made me relaxed. And yesterday the Consulate gentleman said to my sister "Your mom looks more like your sister, how does she manage to keep her looks!". All in all it is a real present experience going for an interview.
And as for rejecting... No they don't reject people randomly. If you meet the three conditions: Have enough funds to support your stay in US, show your intention to come back and your application forms are in order, you get a visa. Also, they don't have daily quota of visas. The only thing that limits the number of visas issued per day are the number of appointments given out. So, if they receive 100's of application which meets their criteria, all of them get visas. Maybe people have this belief because of the quota system for the H1 visa. But they should know that H1 is totally different from student visa or tourist / business visa.
And as for the documents you need to get... Well you need all the documents to prove the statements you are making. This is just to support the claims you make about your finance or situation. But 95% of the times, they don't even ask any extra documents!!!
I have seen lots and lots of people who have got US visa and then later boast, as to how difficult the whole process was. Just to satisfy their egos and to make them look like a person who has just climbed the Mt. Everest for like the 15th time or so. Some of the statements they make: "The visa officer just threw the documents back at me!", "He asked me what was I doing on 17th October, 1984" or "So show me all your assets documents and tax returns from last 20 years"
Well none of these statements are true!!! Atleast the best of that I know!!!
There is a reason why everybody in my family was scared of the US visa interview. The reason was my father was denied a visa the first time he applied. At that time I was very much unaware of how things worked in the US Consulate worked. Also, partly my father's preparation was not that great as he was busy getting other visas: UK, Dutch and Canadian. My mom was hence was very scared about the interview. To top it off the Travel Agent was trying to market his stuff to them. Now, after the interview, my mom says that the interview was one of the best experiences of her life!
If you like to have more information about the United States Consulate - General in Chennai, click on the Consulate Seal. You can learn more about US Visas by visiting the official site of the State Department. Also, please be adviced that this blog is a collection of my experiences and not the statement of the law.
Nithin Kamath
www.nithinkamath.net
1 comment:
I must agree that there’s really nothing to be feared about getting a U.S visa! You just have to provide all the necessary requirements and prove that you are free from any legal liabilities. The whole process might take some time, but when all your documents are complete, it will go smoothly.
-Milagros Kilduff
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