You’re not the most elegant person: Visa officer asks Indian man why company sent him to New York on business trip
An Indian man took to Reddit to share his experience with a recent B1/B2 visa rejection and sought advice on how long he should wait before reapplying. However, interview details showed that he was severely questioned by the visa officer, who did not believe his reasons for applying for a U.S. business visa. The 27-year-old said this was his first time applying for a visa. He has been with the company for four years and now his employer is sponsoring a short business trip to New York for offsite and business review.The Reddit user said the visa officer asked him twice about the purpose of his trip. “It was a short business trip to attend a team off-site and client business review meeting.” The man repeated the same answer twice because he thought he couldn’t hear his voice the first time. The visa officer repeated it angrily and said, “I know this is a short business trip. It seems that you have memorized it.”“Since you can’t explain to me, why did your company send you? You don’t seem to be the most polite person,” the visa officer told the applicant. The Reddit user said he then explained to him that he works directly with clients, attends business review meetings, and more.But he eventually received a 214(b) denial letter.Reddit users commented that it was clear from the interview that the visa officer was not convinced of the purpose of his trip. They say the game is over once the visa officer says the answer sounds memorized. “The officer’s ‘sounds to be remembered’ comment may be the truth here, not just the tie or the paycheck. Once the officer says that out loud, he’s already determined that you’re reciting a script rather than actually answering, and everything after that becomes damage control. Because reapplying a fix isn’t more preparation, it’s less, answering in your own words, even if it’s messier, pausing and rephrasing reads more authentically than cleanly rehearsed lines. Tie and salary issues are usually just standard follow-up and don’t sound like the trigger here,” one wrote.Others pointed out that his responses were so poor that he even sounded like he was eager to enter the United States in his Reddit post. The man said one of his colleagues gave the same reply, but his visa was approved and he wanted to go to the United States because it would bring more business and bigger bonuses.
