Info for those who wants US B1 visa ..

“You will receive your passport within 7 working days. Have a great day ahead!”

When I heard these words from the interviewer, I signed with relax and my lungs filled with joy. :-)
It was my interview at US embassy, Chennai for B1 visa.
That was my first time to apply visa and I have contacted so many people who already have gone through this process, read quite a few articles and bugged the admin person in my company. :-)
And then I thought why not to share the info with people those who are aspiring to get B1 visa? It could be useful to them!
Here I will try to give brief information about B1 visa, the necessary documents required, possible interview questions and some very general but useful tips.

US Business visa:
There are two types of US business visa; B1 visa and B2 visa.
B1 visa is generally given to a person those who intend to attend a business meeting, client visit, business training, business induction program, business product overview, research, sport event etc.
B2 visa is generally given to a person who intent to visit people in US for personal affairs, tourism etc.
The maximum visa validity is of 10 years but it could start from 1 year also.

The normal stay allowed under B1 visa is of 3 months.
The more information about B1 visa you can find on:
http://www.unitedstatesvisas.gov/business.html

B1 visa Application Process:
Visa fee-
You need to pay the visa fee through HDFC bank. You will receive two receipts of this payment. Once the payment got realized, you will receive a login using which you have to fill up two forms online and schedule visa interview. The website for this is:
https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/Home.aspx

B1 visa forms-
While filling the online visa application, you can save the application and make changes before you make final confirmation till particular time slot.
After final confirmation, you will get form D156, form DS157 and visa interview appointment letter. Take the print out of these documents (print form DS156 back to back on single page) and fill the two forms dully.

Documents required for Interview:
Please make sure that you carry the following documents while going for the interview:
1. Passport with six months validity
2. Covering Letter (Provided by your organization)
3. Invitation letter (Provided by your organization)
4. Application form - DS156 with photograph (print back to back on single page), DS157, Interview Invitation form
5. Photograph – 3 no’s (Please find the photo specification on the website: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/temp/info/info_1287.html)
6. Appointment letter of provided by your organization
7. Appointment letter, work experience letter & relieving letter of the company pervious Companies.
8. I T Paper or form 16 for 3 years (not necessarily for last 3 years if your experience is less than 3 years)
9. Salary slip for last 3 months
10. Bank statement for last 6 months
11. Educational certificates with mark sheet
12. Marriage Certificate (if applicable)
13. HDFC visa fee receipt (the one with yellow sticker)
14. Company Brochures
15. Your visiting card

Arranging the documents:
Now once you are ready with all the required documents, you should arrange them such that they are very easily accessible to you during interview.
What I will suggest is that you put all the original documents in one file within transparent sheets. The document sequence could be from point 6 to point 12.
Put only these documents mentioned from point 6 to point 12 in this file.
Put Interview appointment letter, DS156, DS157, passport and HDFC receipt (with yellow sticker) in one transparent folder.
And put the invitation letter, covering letter, company broachers in one transparent folder.
So in short you will be carrying 1 file and 2 folders.
Please note that you can NOT carry anything other than file/folder/plastic carry bag inside US Embassy.

Now I will not take efforts to tell you what happens when you enter inside the US Embassy and appear for interview. Because I know that volunteers are there to help people like us. J

Interview Questions:
Now let us the see what possible questions may you need to answer. One thing you should always keep in the mind that keep your answers KISS (Keep In Short and Simple). Do not give a chance to an interviewer to create another question from the answer you are giving.

Q. Objective of your visit:
Its better if you stress upon standard answers like induction meeting, product demonstration, business training, research, sport event etc because B1 visa is meant for such reasons only.

Q. Where are you going?
The address of the offices, premises you are going to visit.

Q. At what address will you stay in US?
It should be correct one because the interviewer may validate the address on the internet. Please refrain saying that I will find any hotel there and stay in there.

Q. Name and contact of the person you are visiting.
You must be in position to tell this accurately.

Q. Duration of your visit:
Optimum duration is 4-6 weeks but maximum of 3 months.

Q. Who will pay your trip?
Mostly all the expenses will be borne by your employer. You can always say that you will be on off-shore payroll.

Q. What is your current job profile in your current software company in India?

Q. What will you do on your return to India?

Q. What is your annual income?

Q. What is your father’s annual income?

Q. Do you have any relatives in USA?

Q. Will you work in USA?

The answer to above two questions should be such that the interviewer should feel that you intend to go the US on short term basis and desire to come back to India. I suppose I conveyed you the right answers, right? :-)

Q. How can you assure that you will come back?
You can always mention the family reason, personal affair, house loan if any, satisfied career in India etc.

Q. What will you do if I do not issue a visa to you?
Let’s hope you do not face this question. And I honestly wish the same. But prepare yourself for this worse question also.

Interview tips:
Now let’s see some very general but useful tips for the successful interview.
If you are a businessman or a working professional, use formal wears.
When first time you meet the interviewer, show the courtesy of saying ‘good morning/afternoon’ and when you depart, say ‘thank you’.
If you do not understand the question, say ‘pardon’ instead of saying loudly ‘what?’. Believe me these simple things can matter a lot.
Be focused on the answers. Do not exaggerate the answers. As I said, KISS the answers. J
You must be polite but at the same time confident.
The interviewer may ask you to show him/her any document for proof and you should be very efficient since they have very little time for each interview.

And if you hear that ‘you will receive your passport within xyz working days’, you can chill out and go for party that night. :-)

And unfortunately after all you hard work and preparation, if the interviewer returns you the passport means he/she is not pleased to give you a visa.
Be polite and ask him/her the reason why you have been refused a visa.
Do not argue with the interviewer.

Don’t worry; this is not the end of the story.
You can reapply on the next day also but what I will suggest is wait for some time, find out and analyze the reason behind visa rejection, improve upon those and then take the interview again.
As SRK says, ‘Hamare filmon ki tarah hamari zindagi Mein bhi end tak sab kuch theek hi ho jata hai aur agar Theek na ho, to who The End Nahin. Picture abhi Baaki hai mere dost.” :-)

Wish you all the best for your visa inetrview.. !!