US Visa - My Take

I recently went for a US visa interview and thought will share my experience since a US visa interview is shrouded in mystery with multiple opinions and lot of rumors.

Firstly, you have to be prepared for extremely bad queue management and infrastructure at the chennai consulate. You may get lucky (I wasn't) but be prepared for long wait in the chennai heat with no place to sit outside the consulate. You are advised to carry an umbrella and a water bottle. There is no locker facility so you will have to throw the bottle outside the consulate and most likely you will be carrying a mobile phone which you will have to request a security guard to retain for you (some baksheesh is expected for this). I sincerely recommend not taking visitors along since the time spent inside is not predictable. Ask friends to wait in a hotel or a mall (city center is not far). In case you have your interview in the afternoon, have your lunch since it may be evening by the time you get out.

The process is three step

1. Pre scan - a manual check of your application and passport to see if all fields are OK and there is no glaring error. You may be asked to write your name in your native alphabet.
2. Finger printing
3. Visa interview
   

Because of the long wait I overheard many interviews and actual cases of people being rejected or granted visas. Lets get the motivations right first - the visa officer's motivation is make sure that you are going to US for a genuine reason and she (we will assume a women) is not your enemy. She could make a mistake like any other human so just give the officer all necessary information asked for as accurately as you can. Supportive documentation for any claim that you make may be asked for. Making unsubstantiated claims may result in rejection of your application.

There are obviously many fraudulent applicants also. Due to the shortage of H1B (work permits) visas, many companies send people on B1 (business) visas when some urgent/unplanned work comes up. I have heard stories of deportation a few times. I think restricted travel is one of the biggest obstructions of software outsourcing. Investing in great communication equipment and in general getting into the mindset of teleworking is what is needed. There are really very cases these days where you need to work at the same location. Modern development processes can totally remove the need for location and open source software proves the point very successfully.

The problem because of the above chaff I think is that genuine applicants also get rejected. Because of the huge talent shortage in the industry it is common for companies to send young engineers for client meetings. Sometime due to the huge attrition, a person who has no clue about a project has to travel on a short notice to meet a client. These are well understood ills in the industry and business as such is usually not affected by them. However, a visa officer has trouble understanding how this young, inexperienced guy with little project context and who cannot even hold a lucid conversation about this project is eligible for this trip. Many of the people being rejected fell in the category. I think an organization like NASSCOM could conduct sensitization courses for both consulates and companies to reduce the gap in the understanding. The understanding that Indian engineers are often not the best verbal communicators in english is also necessary for the consulate. Most of the visa officers are extremely good communicators and I think do have some minimum expectation from a person claiming that he will gather requirements from a US client. The fact is that engineers do not always communicate very well but mostly get the job done quite well.

In case you are wondering I did get my visa.

DISCLAIMER: Refer to the embassy's website for the latest procedure and guidance. This post is just a recount of personal experience and thoughts.