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B1/ B2 Visitor Visa Experiences – January 1st, 2024 onwards

Below are US Visa Stamping experiences for B1/ B2 Visitor Visa from January 1st, 2024 onwards. Thanks to many anonymous users for sharing these experiences in our social media groups.

Experience 1: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | CHENNAI Consulate

Location : Chennai

Date: 16th January, 2024

My parents visa got approved at consulate.
Between the time of appointment booking and actual appointment date, there was more than 1.5 yrs gap. So the old ds160 and new ds160 printouts were presented in VAC counter where it was updated in the system.
Next day at the consulate only 3 questions were asked to my parents.

  1. Who lives in US?
  2. Do you have property here in India?
  3. Do you live with anyone here in India?
    My parents carried supporting documents but none were asked for.

Experience 2: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | MUMBAI Consulate

Location : Mumbai

Date: 17th January, 2024

My parents’ visa got approved. Their appointment was at 8.50am and they reached there at 8am. The queue was very long and they were in the queue immediately. They let them in around 8.20am. They got Marathi translator. The visa is sponsored by my husband who’s on H1B and I am on H4, not working. Mom answered all the questions as she is the primary applicant. No questions were asked to Dad separately.
Here are the questions:

1.Why do you want to go to US?
A: To meet daughter and son-in-law

2.What do they both do in US?
A: Daughter is a home maker and son-in-law is an Engineer at XYZ

3.What do you do?
A: We have an XYZ shop since last 30 years and we both together look after it. Hence visiting them for a short period of less than a month.

4.How many workers do you have at the shop?
A: None. It’s just the two of us.

5.Who will take care of the business when you are gone?
A: My sister-in-law has her shop across the street. She will take care of our shop till we come back.

Interviewer: Your visa is approved. You will receive the passports in a few days.


Experience 3: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | MUMBAI Consulate

Location : Mumbai

Date: 22nd January, 2024

My parents had their visa appointment and went off well, visas were approved.

Questions asked:

  1. Why do you want to visit? Tourism and to meet family
  2. What family do you have there?
    Wife’s sibling and some friends
  3. Which cities are you planning to visit in the US? Mentioned that there was no plan in place yet
  4. What profession and since when for dad? Mentioned <> and said since 45+ years
  5. Asked Mom what she’s doing and since when? Mentioned housewife
  6. Where are your children? How many children?
    Both children married and settled in India
  7. Where is your US sibling?
    Mentioned the city in the US

Interviewer: Ok, your visas are approved. We’ll send you the passports post processing.

First slot in Mumbai today. In and out in 75 mins including the queue waiting.

Thanks to the members here for all the guidance!


Experience 4: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | MUMBAI Consulate

Location : Mumbai

Date: 23rd January, 2024

My parents B1/B2 visa is approved. Thanks to the group which helped with information and guidance of B1/B2 visa. Following questions were asked by officer:

  1. Why you want to go to US?
  2. How many kids you have?
  3. Who is sponsiring your travel?
  4. How long you plan to stay in US?

Your visa approved. 😀

PS: There is wheelchair facility at Mumbai counsilar and locker facility at 50/-.

Hope this information is helpful.


Experience 5: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | MUMBAI Consulate

Location : Mumbai

Date: 7th February, 2024

Parents tourist visa experience –

DS-160 submitted Feb/Mar 2023

Appointment scheduled for Bio-Jan28, Interview-Feb7, 2024

Filled new DS 160 on Jan 15, 2024 for some changes

Biometric appointment- Very smooth, helpful staff, parents requested to link new DS-160 to existing application. Time-approx 15-20min

Interview-

Requested for Marathi translator
Both together with same VO,

Questions:
Who are you visiting and state? A-Child, state

What is your child? A-They answered my title of work

Who is paying for your trip?
A-Self

What were you doing before you retired?
A-Their job titles

Have you been to any countries before?
A-Yes, names

Why won’t you settle in US?
A-Explained their ties like pension,house, agri land, etc.

Other children? Where are they based?
A- Daughters in India

VO-Approved, please collect your passport at delivery location you mentioned & handed the white paper.

Passport collected yesterday in Pune


Experience 6: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | MUMBAI Consulate in Marathi

Location : Mumbai

Date: 1st March, 2024

Jotting down Visa interview experience of my mom, she is single parent. Also I am putting up some answers to the questions for better context.

Purpose of visit?
Where are you going?
What do you do? – Taking care of home and farm
Who is sponsoring? – Daughter
Do you have any kids? -Yes
Do you have any relatives in india? -Yes
Who will take care of your farm when you are gone?
How long you will go?
How will you go? – With my daughter
Is she here? – yes
Show her visa.
Has she studied from there?
Which university

At this point my mom forgot document types and told translator the same, I had given her all my documents with letter to consular and translator helped in documents part.

Visa approved. And passport was delivered within 5 working days.

Best luck everyone.


Experience 7: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | MUMBAI Consulate

Location : Mumbai

Date: 2nd March, 2024

Biometrics in Delhi:

  • Appointment booked after November 15.
  • Was able to change my DS160 during biometrics. Just make sure to carry both the Old & New Confirmation Pages
  • You can turn off and carry the mobile along with you.

Interview in Mumbai :

  • 11:50AM Slot
  • Reached by 10:50AM
  • Checked Appointment Letter
  • Handed over mobile at a locker inside the facility (₹50)
  • Made to sit in different lines based on slots
  • Passport Scanned and File Created (Indian National)
  • Biometrics Verified (US National)
  • Made to stand in different lines based on language preference
  • Interview (US National)
  • I wished the officer as soon as I reached the counter.

Question and Answers:

1) Purpose of Visit: Answered concisely withouts getting too technical (Meeting Client)

2) Who is the client?: Answered

3) Travel Itinerary – Dates & Places Visiting: Will be reaching X on Y, Travelling to A, B & C. I’ll be closing all the work in a couple of weeks and return on Z from X.

4) Who is sponsoring your trip? My Client. They have already purchased my ticket and booked my accommodation.

5) Are you married? NO. I’m currently in discussions with my fiancée. We are planning for Oct- Nov

6) What is your salary? I’m afraid, I’m not a salaried employee but self-employed.

7) What was your income last year? I made X-Y lakhs last year as a salaried employee. But since I started my business, I’m expecting to make around 2X-2Y lakhs in the current financial year

8) Do you currently stay at abc? (My passport address is different from current address. This might have caused a doubt) Officer himself answered, Never Mind

9) Where did you study? Answered

There was some fun banter after this and officer said that my visa is approved and handed over a slip. I thanked and left the embassy.

Visa Status shown on CEAC website changed to Approved on same day. Updated to Issued on the following day.

Delivered at a premium blue dart location (Tier-II City) on the 4th working day after interview.


Experience 8: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | MUMBAI Consulate

Location : Mumbai

Date: 4th March, 2024

My mom’s has biometric was on March 1st at 11:30 AM in Mumbai. She reached there by 10 AM . As there was no rush.. they allowed her inside and by 10:45 AM she came out. Very smooth process.. staff people were so polite and helpful during the whole process.

Docs: Passport, DS 160 confirmation page and Appointment letter

Interview was on 4th March 8:20 AM.. She reached VAC by 7:30 AM and went inside around 7:45 AM and came out at 8:45 AM.

Docs: Passport, DS 160 confirmation page and Appointment letter

She carried supporting docs but they didn’t ask any.

While she was in the queue.. one person from staff was asking if translator is needed ( like Hindi, Marathi, Telugu ..) and guiding which queue is for what language

And before interviewing.. took left hand finger prints again because it was not captured properly on 1st

Questions asked:

  1. What was your name before marriage?
  2. Where are you going?
  3. Who is sponsoring your trip?
  4. For how many days.. are you planning?
  5. On what visa your son in law?
  6. On what visa your daughter?
  7. Are they working?
  8. For which company they are working?
  9. Last question… she couldn’t understand/ hear.. so she didn’t answer

They gave one paper and told your passport will be delivered to mentioned address.

Blue-dart has delivered passport today afternoon 🤞🏻


Experience 9: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | MUMBAI Consulate

Location : Mumbai

Date: 8th March, 2024

Visa date booked in January 2023 for October 2024. Later rescheduled to 8th March 2024 .

Visa Interview Questions :

Group of Three
Husband , wife and daughter (20)
Q1 asked to wife ,
What’s was your name before marriage ?
She replied with her father’s name after her name .

Q2 asked to husband
Why do you want to go to US ?
To visit my daughter and son-in-law who is staying in US.

Q3 asked to husband
What is your daughter doing ?
She is working and my SIL is also working .

Q4 asked to my daughter
How old are you ?
She replied 20 years

Q5 asked to daughter
Are you studying or working ?
She replied she is a student .

Asked wife to put her four fingers of right hand on the bio machine .
Asked my daughter to put her four fingers of right hand on the bio machine
Asked husband to put his four fingers of left hand on the bio machine .

Then smilingly said ” congratulations, your visas has been approved. You will get it when it’s ready.”

No documents asked whatsoever !! But to carry supporting documents is advisable so that you won’t regret if visa is rejected on not producing any documents asked .

Language opted : English

Trip sponsor : Son in Law

Duration between Appointment booked to Actually Passport received with visa is 15 months.

But not everyone were getting their visa approved . We saw many rejections as well while in queue .

Opted for pick up passports from Biometric centre at Mumbai and got the passports on 12th March with 10 year visa sticker .

Anyone wants more details or guidance, would definitely want to help with whatever knowledge i got during the entire 15 months process.


Experience 10: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | MUMBAI Consulate

Location : Mumbai

Date: 4th April, 2024

I filled ds160 form all by myself for my husband and 2 kids(below 14yrs) keeping myself as primary applicant on 25th Feb 24. Later I used to login 3 times a day to check for slots (morning, evening and midnight).
On 14th Mar, I saw few people posting about slots opening at 4 pm.   I couldn’t check then, but logged in my usual time at around 7pm and checked. I couldn’t see any, but I waited. Suddenly, I could see them. I was very quick to book and get both ofc and CA.
Tips:
– keep screen active by going back to home page and coming back on booking page, this way your login stays for more than an hour.
– ⁠check the year and date very carefully. In hurry, you might book 2025 date. Also, be careful with location.
– ⁠clear history everyday and use laptop

OFC date: 25 Mar
Docs needed – passport, Ds160 confirmation page, kids photo if below 14 yrs, Appointment confirmation
Locker available – charge Rs 500

CA date: 4 Apr
Docs same as OFC in addition to supporting documents.
Locker available only for small items at Rs 50/item. I suggest, take someone with you who can stand outside with all belongings, so that you don’t need to stand in locker line.

My appointment was at 12.10, but I reached at 11 am and they took us in. Normal checking is done, similar to airport. After biometric, they will ask language preference and send you in line accordingly.

I took English.
Questions: 1) what is the purpose of your visit? We answered tourism giving few names of places

That’s it, visa approved.

However, person in front of us was asked a lot. He was actually not able to frame his purpose of travel, CA told him that am still not convience. He did something on laptop for 10 mins and asked him to show invitation letter. On next window, there was 1 couple for whom they took more than 15 mins. The CA went in the back office and did some background check and their visa was denied.
Another lady wanted to visit her son whose convocation was on 3 Mar, thus they denied. So we could see rejections, but it all depends how clearly you have filled the ds160 form, your confidence and documents.

Embassy has already done some part of their background check, so be as clear as possible. No bluffing.


Experience 11: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | MUMBAI Consulate

Location : Mumbai

Date: 30th April, 2024

Documents Required:
Passport
DS-160 confirmation
Appointment confirmation
US business invitation letter from my company (recommended but not checked)
US cover letter from my company  (recommended but not checked)
Employment Verification Letter from company (not checked)
3 months of payslip (not checked)
3 months bank statement (not checked)

VAC Appointment: 21st April 2024
My VAC was scheduled at Parinee Crescenzo, (BKC, Mumbai). Electronic items/smart watch were not allowed and you need to pay for the locker (500/- per person). I would recommend to leave them at the hotel as VAC is a quick process. The remaining part was very smooth; they only checked the first two documents from the above list. They added a stamp/note at the back of my passport. My appointment was at 4:30 PM and I came out at 5:00 PM.

Consular Appointment: 30th April 2024
No electronic items/smart watch is allowed. Locker charges were 50/- per item but better to leave it at the hotel as the queue for submission was long(~30 mins waiting time).
My interview timing was 11:30 AM and I reached around 10:15am. I only carried my documents and wallet. After entering, cleared security check and was asked to wait in a queue. After 20 mins, was asked to move for verification and biometrics that took 10 mins. Finally, it was time for the interview. It was very short & straightforward 5 minutes long. The interviewer only asked the listed questions. It’s to keep the answer ready beforehand.

Questions:

1. Where are you traveling to in USA ?
A. Seattle

2. Why are you going there?
A. I am working on a project which requires collaboration with a team that sits in Seattle. I need to attend multiple design meetings.

3. Where are you working and from how many years ?
A. XYZ, 3.5yrs

4. Explain a bit about the meetings that you are going to have there.
A. Provided overview of the project

5. Have you travelled internal before and why ?
A. Thailand (tourism)

6. Do you have any wife/children ?
A. No

He told “that’s great, your Visa is approved, you’ll get your passport delivered in 4 days


Experience 12: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | HYDERABAD Consulate in Telugu

Location : Hyderabad

Date: 30th April, 2024

Applicants: Mother (recently widowed), uncle (chacha) and aunt (chachi)
Result: Approved visa

We opted for a Telugu translator.
Questions:
1 How many travelers in total?
2 Who is in the US and what is their relationship with each of you?
3 Asked my mom to handover my passport and visa copies
4 Are they working in Amazon? (Not sure how the officer guessed it)
5 How many kids do you have? (Question to uncle) – “yes, a daughter”
6 Any grandchildren? (Question to uncle) – “yes”
7 Who is bearing travel expenses? (Self sponsorship for uncle and aunt and I’m sponsoring for my mother)
8 Who are you staying with in India? (Question to my mom) – “my husband recently expired so I’m living by myself in my son’s house.” (My family became emotional while answering and the officer was kind and offered her condolences)
9 Do you have any other kids? – “yes, a daughter”
10 Do you have any properties? (To mom) – “no, just my son’s property”
11 What is your duration of stay? (To uncle) – “one month”
12 Are you visiting just Seattle? – “yes” (not sure how they know it’s Seattle, maybe they saw my address in DS160)
13 What visa are you going with? – “B1/B2”
14 What do you do? (To uncle) – “General manager at hospital”
15 How many years of Experience? (To uncle)
16 Annual income? – salary
17 Any other income? – yes, rental
18 What is the combined income?

We are approving your visa. (No questions to my aunt)


Experience 13: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | MUMBAI Consulate in Telugu

Location : Mumbai

Date: 12th May, 2024

My parents completed their Visa Interview. there were seperate lines for seperate languages..and ppl were asked to stand in their respective language if translator was needed.
My parents stood in Telugu language line.

Ques asked:
1. Purpose of Travel –
ans: Visiting Daughter for Summer
2. Intended period of stay –
ans: 3months
3. My father’s occupation –
ans: retired.
Then asked what did he do earlier –
ans: given his Business details

Visa is approved and no Documents asked.

Docs Taken:
1. Invitation Letter
2. My husband’s employment Letter
3. W-2 Document  for 2months
4. My husband’s Visa doc
5. 3months Payslips of husband
6. 3months bank statements
7. Father’s property docs and Bank statements
8. I-94 Document


Experience 14: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | MUMBAI Consulate

Location : Mumbai

Date: 13th May, 2024

My parents visa got approved on 13th may. They went together for this.
Additional info: My parents name is different in my passport vs their own passport. I mentioned this in ds-160 and took affidavit of one and same person.
Questions asked:

1. Why are you going to usa ?
to meet daughters
2. How many children do you have. ( both me and my sister are in usa) ?
2
3. What is elder daughter doing in usa ?
Working in xxxx
4. What is younger daughter doing in usa?
studing in xxx university
5. Are you both retired ?
No
6. What do you do ?
Father said: inhave business and mother is teacher
7. To father: what is your business about?
8. Waht is your designation in the business?
Director
9. 2-3 more questions on business about
10. Have you ever been to other countries ? 
Yes Dubai,uae

Your visa is approved


Experience 15: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | DELHI Consulate

Location : Delhi

Date: 15th May, 2024

This group has been immensely helpful in my parent’s B2 Visa process, hence would like to share the interview experience.

I booked their interview slots as soon as I saw someone posted about availability on this group.

They had an interview at the Delhi consulate today at 11.15 am. They arrived early and the interview was finished by 10.30 am.

They requested for Hindi translator throughout the entering process and when they were in the queue. Everyone said tell this to the officer. At the window my father said in English, ‘I can’t speak English’ and the officer said ok and started the interview in English.

.Thankfully we had practiced in English and they can speak slowly but a little broken. Surprisingly, my father could understand the officer with a her accent, and through the glass window.

Que- Purpose of your trip?
Father- To visit my daughter and son-in-law and to… (officer rushed for the next Que)

Que- what visa does she have?
Parents- F1, student visa

Que- Asked for a copy of my visa.
Father- handed over (I provided this document after reading someone’s shared experience on this group a few days back)

Que- which university she attended?
Father- got a little confused, said XYZ University -mother chimed in.

The officer kept the passport and smiled and waved bye to my parents. Parents were confused about whether the visa was approved or not but left with hesitation to ask. – Visa was approved.

Appreciate the information shared on this group.


Experience 16: Regular Slot | B1/B2 | HYDERABAD Consulate

Location : Hyderabad

Date: 16th May, 2024

I wanted to share my visa experience. This group has been immensely helpful in getting slot and also giving good friends who helped me with tips.

There is general assumption across the board that Hyderabad is unlucky or has too many rejections. But i have seen a lot of people today who got their visas approved and process was smooth

Here is my experience and questions asked
1) unlike other centers they will allow you inside at your slot time. No early entries allowed
2) i went at 8:10 for my 9:15 am slot today and they allowed exactly at 9:15 and i was out by 10:15 am

No lockers available
Questions asked
1) purpose of your trip – Training
2) are you getting trained or training people – getting trained
3) are you travelling alone – yes
4) is there anyone else getting trained – yes i m the one from india but rest are from singapore, japan, ireland etc
5) how long have you been in this company?
6) what does your company do?
7) how long will you be travelling for?
8) what is the title of your role in your company?

Have a nice trip. Your visa has been approved.
No documents asked or anything.


   

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