This guide will help you with all the tips that you need on how to increase your chance of getting your U.S B1/B2 visa approved. You will also learn three (3) important things you must do to get your visa approved, which no one will tell you.
B1 B2 visas are visas that give you temporary stay in the United States for purposes such as visas for vacation, graduation, funeral, medication, business trips, conferences, etc.
It is a visa category that is easy to get, but it’s not for everybody because of the cost involved. It is not just about the cost involved as in getting the visa, but the cost involving the entire process of getting your B1/B2 visa and traveling.
Whenever you appear for your B1/B2 visa interview, you must really prove to the consular that you really need the visa. There’s a good reason for you to get the visa for whatever purpose, which will be explained in this guide.
How to increase your chance of getting U.S B1/B2 visa approved
- What is your purpose of visit?
The first thing to do to increase your chance of getting your visa is to establish clearly your purpose of travel.
When asked, “Why are you coming to the U.S?” Don’t just say this,
- For a visit.
- I’m come to visit my friend.
- I’m come to visit my auntie.
- I’m come to visit my brother.
- I have a friend I met on Facebook, I have a girlfriend, I have a boyfriend, I’m come to visit.
That is not enough because you cannot just stand up and say I’m come to visit somebody. So the purpose of the visit is key.
Yes, you are coming to visit but what is the purpose of the visit?
So it is not just telling the consular, “I’m going to visit”, visit to do what? That is the question you must ask yourself, what is the purpose of visit?
For example,
(i) You want to visit your friend who is celebrating his birthday. Maybe it’s been a while, you guys have connected and since it is his birthday, he’s doing a birthday party. He has invited you to attend his birthday party. That is the purpose of the visit.
(ii) You are coming to visit your auntie because you have a leave from work and as a result you want to take a vacation, go somewhere to relax and rest your mind before you resume work. So you spoke to your auntie and she is willing to welcome you to visit, to tour some parts in U.S such as Florida, Orlando. That is the reason and purpose of your visit.
So when you go for your U.S interview, it is not enough to say you are coming to visit, add the purpose, the reason for the visit, your brother or your sister may be doing his or her wedding and she has invited you to her wedding.
So in this case the purpose is to attend your sister’s wedding to be the maid of Hannah or the best man or to help your sister in the preparation and also aftermath of the wedding.
You have a leave from work and you have decided to visit your sister and attend his wedding. That is the purpose of the visit.
So you must always be clear, have a purpose, e.g you’re coming for graduation, that is a clear purpose. Even that you must justify that you have a brother, you have a sister, you have a son, you have a daughter who is doing his graduation and he has invited you.
Your son did well in school, he’s going to receive a lot of award and it should be an honor for you to be there to support him and to celebrate with your son. This is a reason, this is a purpose for travel.
You are coming to visit your boyfriend or your girlfriend because you guys are planning to marry but you have not had the opportunity to meet his or her family. Going to use this opportunity to visit him, meet his family and plan your wedding since your wedding will take place in your home country.
So it will be good to meet his or her family before you return and come and prepare for your wedding. This is a purpose, this is a reason for your visitor, make sure you are clear on that.
- Proof of funds
The second thing is to establish that you have enough funds. Stating that you have enough fund is not just what is in your bank statement or who is sponsoring you. It is about who you are, what you do.
Reason:
Usually, when you go for the interview, consular want to know whether you are financially viable, capable to sponsor the trip. There are some people who are being sponsored by their auntie, their uncle, their boyfriend, or their girlfriends, who are already in the U.S.
The consulate concerned is that they don’t care about who is sponsoring you because they know the person might be able to sponsor you.
What they care is that, assuming you get your visa and you get to U.S and something happened, the person you are coming to visit is not there or you come and something happened that you need to go and load in a hotel. You need two or three days to lodge in a hotel to prepare yourself or there’s an emergency.
You need to take care whilst you are in the U.S. What will you do?
So it is not enough to say this person is sponsoring me, or that person is sponsoring me, it is important to also show that even though somebody is sponsoring you, you are also financially viable. Because the consular is not want a situation where you come to the U.S and you become a burden.
They are also trying to avoid people who are trying to run away from your home country to the U.S, through the B1/B2 visa.
This is where you explain that you are doing something meaningful, something that will bring you money, you have money or you earn money on your own, you don’t need to leave your country to be okay.
Sometimes the consular have that mindset that, as soon as you are leaving, you won’t come back. The consular want to know who you are. Your uncle is sponsoring you, your sister is sponsoring your aunt, your boyfriend is sponsoring you.
But in case you come and something happened, do you have the means to support yourself? Will your financial situation now affect or compel you to overstay, compel you to find your way out when you come to the U.S?
This is what it means to say you are proving you have enough fund. Because it is really expensive to travel to the U.S for a vacation.
This is something people will not tell you because that is the fact.
- Strong Ties To Home Country
The third thing to do to increase your chances of getting your visa is to establish that you have plans to return to your home country. There are so many ways to do that.
Here you explain it to the consular, who you are, what you do and why you will come back.
You are a lecturer, you are a professor, you are doing your business, you have your children in your country, you have your husband in your country, you have your parents in your country, you have a property. There’s something that connects you.
Here you can prove anything, use anything that will connect you to your home country. You can use it to prove, except that sometimes you have to even go beyond reasonable doubt to show that you come. Because if you say you have an asset, you have a car, the consular know that when you travel you can sell your asset, you can sell those things.
So it is not enough to say I have a car, I have a land. They know that it can be converted into cash soon and whenever you want.
It is important to use what you do, whatever you are doing, you are engaging something. You are taking care of your parents, married, your children in your country, there’s something that connects you to your home country.
DISCLAIMER: This post and content is designed for general information and educational purposes only, and is NOT legal advice. The information presented in this post should not be construed to be formal legal advice. If you need legal advice, you may contact a licensed attorney.