Know everything about United States visa process

The below is a comprehensive summary of items that comes handy while you start preparing your United States visa application.

US is one of the countries with the largest arrivals from India. For Indian passport holders, the business & tourist visa for US involves the following,

1. Document Preparation: Preparation of documents (refer the below checklist for more details) usually takes around 5 to 6 days.

2. Fix Appointment: Schedule an appointment with US visa processing centers nearest to your city (New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai & Hyderabad) to submit your passports along with the supporting documents and also perform your fingerprint scan. Getting the preferred slots isn’t easy during peak travel seasons. So, one must plan this well in advance.

3. Submission: Appear for the fingerprint scanning at the consulate as per the slot of appointment. The applicant must personally visit the center during the appointment.

4. Processing: US Consulate will review and approve your visa application. It usually takes less than 10 working days for the whole approval process.

5. Despatch: The stamped passports will be couriered to you directly, or to the address that you’ve requested it to. Usually, the duration of the entire process may take up to about 20 days, including the despatches. However, the processing time will depend on the correctness of your application.

To summarise, the visa processing for US is a quite straightforward one, as long as one knows the steps involved and plan in advance. It’s best to initiate the process at least 30 to 40 days prior to the travel date, to be able to accommodate any unforeseen delays.

United States Visa Document Checklist

Here we have tried summarising the key documents to be prepared while applying for your visa for United States.

Please note the below key aspects before starting your work on documents,

1. Prepare all documents in A4 size

2. Ensure that all the scan copies are clear and readable

3. Do not staple any of the documents

4. Embassy may ask for additional documents, during the approval process

The below is a summary of documents needed as part of the US visa processing. Also, p

1. Valid Passport of the applicant,

   1. Must not be older than 10 years & be valid for at least 6 months from the return date with at least 3 blank pages to affix visa

   2. Must submit all the old passports along, if any

   3. Two copies of the first & last pages of passports

2. Online visa application form, duly signed

3. Two recent coloured photographs,

   1. Must be new ones, not used earlier for any visas

   2. Should be of 50 MM X 50 MM in dimensions, with a light & clear background

   3. Should have at least 80% face coverage & non-smiling, without glasses

4. Covering letter - to be addressed to The Consulate General of the United States of America, mentioning the duration of visit, purpose, expenses, details of all applicants with their names and passport numbers

5. Original and updated bank statement for the last 6 months, with the bank’s seal and signature of the authorised person at bank

6. Income Tax Returns (ITR) filed of Form 16A for last 3 years

7. Investment proofs - fixed deposits, mutual funds, insurance policies, fixed assets

8. Occupation proof, as per below

   1. For Employed applicants,

      1. Employment certificate/offer letter

      2. NOC/leave letter sanctioned by authorised official

      3. Payslips of last 6 months

   2. For Proprietor/owner applicants,

      1. Cover letter on company’s letter head

      2. Company’s original bank statement, with bank’s seal & signature

      3. Income Tax Returns (ITR) of the company for last 3 years

      4. Company memo/partnership deal/establishment license, MoA

   3. For Students applicants,

      1. Leave letter or report card issued from School

      2. School ID

   4. For Sponsored applicants,

      1. Proof of sponsorship and/or private accommodation by completing a national form of the Schengen State concerned

   5. For Retired applicants,

      1. Proof of retirement

      2. Pension statements of last 3 months

      3. Proof of regular income generated by ownership of property or business

9. If the applicant is traveling for honeymoon, NOC from bride's parents (both) & marriage certificate or marriage card along with the engagement photographs are needed. Fresh photos are needed, instead of old ones, which were used for an earlier visa.

10. If the bride or groom are not employed, then the income proof of the parents are needed, along with a sponsorship letter. The documents needed are ITR of 3 years, 12 months bank statements with original sign and seal from bank.

11. For Children below 18 years, traveling alone or with one parent, NOC on Rs 20/- stamp paper (to be notarised) to be signed by both parents, with signature proof

12. Wife traveling alone - should have NOC signed by husband or parents, along with signature proof. If the traveller is a widow, submit husband's death certificate.

FAQs on United States Visa Processing

We understand that you may have many questions in mind, before you apply for your visa. Some of them may get answered below. For any more queries, write or call us,

Q. Should I submit my passports for visa approvals?

Yes, your passports must be submitted to the consulate as part of the processing. The visa approval comes in the form of stamping on one of the pages on your passports.

Q. Will VisaBadge help in preparing the documents?

Yes, VisaBadge is an online tool that helps you apply visas. We will take care of your document preparation, verification, submissions and tracking of visas, until the receipts at your place.

Q. Will VisaBadge help in getting appointments for document submission?

Yes, we will help in getting appointments with the respective Embassies.

Q. What is the cost of US visa processing?

The visa processing charges to be paid online while submitting the visa form is Rs 14891/-. The pricing of various services that VisaBadge offers is available on https://visabadge.com/dashboard

Q. How much time it takes for the visa processing?

The usual duration for the visa approvals, as per the Consulates is around 10 working days. However, this may change based on the nature and type of visa, peak/off-peak time in the year, etc.

Q. Is it mandatory for me to appear at the consulate personally?

Yes, you must visit the consulate personally at the time of appointment.

Q. Will VisaBadge team help in tracking the visa processing status?

Yes, we will keep the status of your visa tracked and updated on your My Visas page.

Q. Can VisaBadge team influence Embassy officials in getting the visas approved?

No, the officials at the immigration department are not directly connected to any of the agents or the applicants, unless they have a question specific to your application. It's NOT recommended to solicit an immigration official directly.

Q. Should I book my hotels & flights, before applying for the visa?

No, it's not mandatory to book the hotels and flight tickets before you apply for US visa.

Q. Will there be a refund of the fees paid, in case of visa rejections?

The fees paid to the Embassies is NOT refundable.

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