Q538. Required & Not Required

Documents for US visitor visa

application

Question: Enjoy reading your website as things are explained very nicely. I have a question and did not find the answer on your website so I searched on the Internet and found some other NRI sites that mention a long list of documents to take. To be really honest, I am more confused now so need a answer as soon as possible. My brother is living in USA and works at Boeing in Seattle. His son is getting married and they want me to attend the wedding, I also want to go but I keep hearing all these horror stories of US visa problems. I am not employed and my husband works but cannot get leave to go to the wedding. My brother said they will send my ticket and any letter required to help get a US visa. I need visa for only about three or four weeks. What documents I need. Please do respond soon so I have to apply soon for the visa. Answer: The procedure to get a US tourist visa is on my website under the title ‘How to apply for USA Tourist Visa from India’ the link to the page is: http://nriinformation.com/articles2/usa_visa.htm Regarding list of documents to take for your US tourist visa interview, some websites lists of documents that should be taken to visa interviews to ensure the applicant get approved for a US visa. Some sites ask visa applicants to take documents such as: • Property ownership papers • Net worth certificate prepared by a chartered accountant • Bank statements • Income tax returns • Employers letters • Wedding photo albums • Photographs of property owned • Form I-134 Affidavit from the person inviting you to visit USA In my opinion, most of these documents are not required for those applying for a visitor visa. Visa officers are well trained professionals and try and determine: 1. Reason for going: In your case, you are going to attend a family wedding and this is a valid reason. 2. Financial ability: The visa officer will need to ensure that you can afford the trip. You have the money to pay for the travel and stay in the United States. Since your brother is sending you the travel ticket, you need not worry on this accord. The visa officer will not bother asking you for your net worth, bank statements etc. 3. Chances of living illegally in USA after expiry of visa: This is where the bulk of the applicants probably get rejected. They fail to convince the visa officer that they have ties in India that are important and compelling and that they will return to India. Since your husband is not going, this may actually make it easier for the visa officer to realize that you will return to India after the wedding. I doubt if you will have any problems getting your US visitor visa. Update: We have a family wedding coming up in USA and recently my wife invited her sister to attend the wedding in USA along with her daughter. Her husband could not attend due to his work. Documents we sent her: • We sent her simple letter inviting her to the wedding and we would send the airline tickets for her and her daughter. • We did not send her Form I-134 • We did not send her a wedding card as they were not printed at that time. • No other document such as employer letter, bank statement etc. was sent from USA Documents she took to the visa interview: 1. Her passport and her daughters passport 2. Page showing the DS-160 barcode (there is no need to take full application, this is specified on US Embassy website) 3. Their Appointment letter 4. Photo (photo was not required at the interview) For those who are interested. My sister in law and her 16 year old daughter have never traveled outside India before. Their visa interview: • Visa officer asked reason of trip, who is paying for tickets, dates of travel and intended return. • Asked questions about wedding she was going to attend in USA and relationship to the person getting married. • Asked about her employment, she is not employed and she told the visa officer she is a housewife • She was asked if her husband was also going, she explained he was not as he could not get leave from work. She told them the office her husband works in. • Visa officer did not ask to see any property papers • Visa officer did not ask to see wedding card • Visa officer did not ask for Form-134 or any other document • The entire interview lasted about five minutes! At the end of the interview, she was told by the visa officer their visas were approved and they could collect their passports with visa stamps after three days. She was also given a printed green color paper, that said: “Your visa has been approved. Your passport with visa in it, along with any other paper work that you have submitted will be returned to the pickup locations, you chose while making your appointment. Once your passport is ready for collection, you will receive an e- mail and /or SMS confirming pickup. It will not be a home delivery until you choose home delivery option and pay charges. For all inquiries contact our call centers . . . and listed the appropriate call center phone numbers . . . Overview 1. Applicants should check the US Embassy websites first, they list exactly what documents are required. This will save you time and money 2. Don’t get scammed into paying someone to help with your visa. 3. Just be yourself at the interview. If you don’t know the answer, be truthful and say so, never lie as this is a sure shot way to rejection 4. A person could walk in with all sorts of letters and affidavits of support and personal wealth and this won’t mean anything. The chances are the visa officer will not even bother to look as such documents. Visa interview officers are trained professionals, they are pretty good at judging from an applicant’s responses whether they are genuine visitors or not. 5. Instead of taking a stack of documents, do your homework and verbally know about the people who you are visiting, staying with and who are paying for your expenses. If you can’t tell the visa officer the what the person who is paying for your ticket does in the United States or what their phone number or address is without consulting a document that you brought in, you may give the interviewing officer the wrong impression. 6. When you go for your interview make sure you read the list of banned items and leave these items home. While cell phones are not permitted inside the US consulate, I am told they do have a place where it can be deposited by interview applicants and picked up on their way out. And as far as wedding photo albums are concerned, I would leave them at home!