Disclaimer: Whatever is written is entirely my personal opinion based on my experience in applying for B2 Visitor Visa at the Chennai consulate. The intend of this post is primarily to help applicants and to convey my sentiments about the interview process. I would also be happy if the visa officers do read this as I have some suggestions for them. I’m no lawyer and I’m not responsible for your use or misuse of the information provided below.
The Background
It all started, with the upcoming wedding of my maternal cousin in the US. The wedding is on may 14th. My aunt (I’ll refer her as TK) was in the US since 1975. She also happens to be my god mother. She wanted her siblings one elder sister (my mom), one younger sister, two younger brothers for her daughter’s wedding. TK, I presume, like most people who settle in New York and Mumbai(Bombay) consider those cities as the ultimate safe and complete place for living.
TK had applied for permanent residence card for her younger sister and their family in early 90’s. All but the elder son of my younger aunt got the chance for permanent citizenship. But nobody except for my younger cousin went to the US. My uncle a who’s a psychiatrist in the Kerala government service and who got the best doctor award was never keen to go to US. When my aunt applied for visa the situation was different. His elder son was trying for MD and since he was above 21 was denied permanent resident status.
End of the day no one except for my mom was interested in going to the US for the wedding. My mom due to her age, health conditions and communication issues( can’t speak English) would not be able to travel alone. So I was asked to accompany her. The wedding is on May 14th 2010 and these decisions were mostly taken in Dec Jan period.
The Preparation
Being on to computers since, 1987, I did some research on the net about the visa process. I ended up on http://immihelp.com on many searches. I must admit that they are doing such a wonderful job in providing authentic information in a systematic manner. The forums frequently has experiences posted by real people who went for the interview. I will add some things in this post that were missing on the immihelp web site.
The official links of importance are given below
This of course could be the start https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/USIndia/allaboutvisa.html
So here’s my conclusion,
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We need a non immigrant visa.Myself and my mom are temporary visitors intending to visit for family/pleasure/tourism purpose. So the visa category is Tourist B2.
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Our consular district is Chennai as we belong to Kerala.(States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and the Union Territories of Lakshadweep islands and Pondicherry are serviced by Chennai Consulate.)
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We need to have a photo meeting the spec as per https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/USIndia/photospecsnew.html
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Fill the form DS160 (http://ceac.state.gov/genniv/) apparently introduced since January 2010, part of paperwork reducing act. Among various other details, you’ll use your digital photo, passport number and finally get confirmation page with CEAC barcode number.
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Pay the visa Application Fee (US$ 131 currently Rs. 6288) also called the MRV (Machine Readable Visa) fee and VFS service charge (Rs.374) at the designated HDFC banks. The official page is at https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/USIndia/applicationfee.html. But you end up on this page http://www.vfs-usa.co.in/ApplnForms/FeeDetails.aspx if you search for MRV fee. This link has wrong info as the exchange rate has been changed to Rs. 48. IMMIhelp is accurate and has the real details at http://www.immihelp.com/visas/fees.html. Important fact is that the MRV fee can be paid by DD payable to “US EMBASSY – VISA FEES” from almost any bank other than cooperative banks. But the service charge can be paid only at the designated hdfc branches. In Kerala, the branches are only in Ernakulam. Its easier to pay both the fees at the HDFC bank than taking a DD and then going to HDFC bank as you can do it both in one shot. A photocopy of the first page of the passport is also required at the bank for all applicants. The bank would hand over 2 copies of the receipt, one for us and one for the consulate. The consulate copy is the blue one. The amount is non refundable, irrespective of whether you get the visa.(More on this later). The receipt usually gets activated only after 2 working days. Which means you can take an appointment date only after 2 days after payment.
to be continued in part 2…