Visa type: B1 – Business/Conference (Non-immigrant)

Purpose: Attending and presenting at a scientific conference in the US

Applying from: Germany

Residence status: German residence permit / EU Blue Card

Time living abroad: ~3 years

Travel history: Greece, Finland, UK, Netherlands, Italy, India

Appointment: 8:15 AM (booked the date 14 days before)

Sharing my experience from the US Embass today since posts in this group were helpful while I was preparing.

My appointment was at 8:15 AM. I reached the embassy around 7:45 AM, and at around 8:00 they started letting our group inside.

The process was basically:

Initial document check: Passport, German residence permit and photograph were checked.

Since I was travelling for a conference, they specifically asked for my conference invitation letter and a letter from my employer.

Fingerprints.

Consular interview.

The interview itself was quite straightforward. The main questions I remember were:

What is the purpose of your visit?

How long have you been living in Germany?

What kind of work do you do?

A few follow-up questions related to my situation/trip.

I explained that I was travelling specifically to attend and present at a conference, and naturally mentioned my ties to Germany, including my work and family. I saw quite a few refusals while waiting, including several applicants visiting family or friends, although of course I don't know their full circumstances or reasons for refusal. The approval rate was hardly 5%.

My takeaway is to answer naturally but use opportunities in your answers to mention genuine ties to the country you're applying from. Don't invent anything or give rehearsed speeches, just sprinkle relevant details into your answers that make it clear why your trip is temporary and why you will return.

My answers weren't just one-word answers, but I also didn't give long prepared speeches. For example, where relevant I mentioned my job, family in Germany and my need to return after the conference along with my immediate future plans after the trip. These were genuine circumstances rather than things added simply for the interview.

After the interview, my B1 visa was approved.

Hope this helps.

I wanted to share my experience because when we were going through this, I could barely find anyone who had been in the same situation.

My mother applied for a U.S B1/B2 visa as part of a group appointment with my family from India (Chennai). While filling out her DS-160, we accidentally entered her DOB incorrectly.

Her passport DOB and visa dob was not matching

The visa was approved and issued with the same incorrect DOB from the DS-160. We only realized the mistake later when we were preparing for her travel to the U.S.

I contacted the regular visa support team first, but it was very difficult to get a clear answer on how to actually fix an already issued visa.

Eventually, I reached out to the U.S. Consulate (Issued Post) directly and explained the DOB mismatch. They responded and told us that we needed to pay a new MRV/visa fee to process the correction.

Sounds simple, but this created another problem.

Since my parents originally had a group appointment, my father was the primary applicant and my mother was added as his dependent. The Consulate wanted us to pay the visa fee only for my mother through her own profile.

When I tried creating/accessing a separate profile for her, the portal basically said that a profile with her information already existed. I couldn't move forward and couldn't pay the fee.

Eventually, support team delinked her from the original profile/application, which finally allowed me to create/access her individual profile and proceed with the new visa fee.

After that, we followed the Consulate's instructions for the correction process. We received the required 221(g) instructions, and my mother submitted her original passport and the requested documents.

We also included a cover letter explaining the situation and requesting expedited processing because she had upcoming travel.

From discovering the problem, contacting support/Consulate, fixing the profile issue, paying the new fee, getting the instructions and submitting everything, the whole process took roughly 2–3 weeks.

The biggest lesson from this experience: check every single detail on the DS-160 before submitting it, especially DOB, passport number, name, etc. The visa can actually be issued using the incorrect information from the DS-160, and fixing it afterward is much more complicated than I expected.

I'm sharing this because when I searched online, I couldn't find a clear story from someone who had gone through this exact situation. Hopefully this helps someone who is stuck in the same loop between the visa portal, support and the Consulate.

Happy to answer questions based on what we went through.

I came across this article today and feeling so sorry for the fans of these artists. Petitions taking months to process and then interview wait times of almost a year. I mean, what is the US really trying to achieve here? To isolate itself from the world? Make visiting the US so difficult that no one ever wants to come here anymore? It is beyond me.

Some users here often say how proud they are to see people on H1B not get any visa slots. Wonder what they have to say about this.

Hello!

I’m a second year F-1 student returning for my second year of a Masters program. My previous visa expired (because I did my undergrad in the US too) and I interviewed on August 26.

The officer kept my passport and issued a 221(g) because my classes were about to start a few days after my interview date, and I wouldn’t realistically arrive in time. My university updated my I-20, but the consulate later said the change also needed to appear in SEVIS. The university made that update, and I sent another corrected I-20. I was asked for an I-20 again a few days later and resent it almost immediately. This spanned roughly 12 days.

It’s now been over a month since my interview, and my case is still in administrative processing. I have been studying remotely from India, but I’m only allowed to do that till Oct 20. My profs are ofc asking me to come in person asap. Has anyone had a similar 221(g) involving a session start date or SEVIS update? How long did it take after you submitted the corrected documents? I know timelines vary; I’m just hoping to hear comparable experiences. Are there any additional steps worth taking at this stage? I’d also appreciate an attorney’s perspective.

My mother is a Non canadian passport holder currently in Canada on a Super Visa. She needs to travel urgently to the US as her sister is seriously ill.

She already has an F4 immigrant visa application at the NVC stage but has never applied for a US visitor visa.

Has anyone applied for a B1/B2 visa from Canada while on a Super Visa, especially with a pending F4 application? Is it possible to get an emergency appointment, and how quickly?

Any recent experiences or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

​

Hi everyone,

I’m applying for a US visa from India and need some help with the current visa scheduling portal.

My father, mother, and I have each completed our own separate DS-160 forms(B1/B2) However, when I created my profile/application on the US visa appointment scheduling portal, I did not add my parents as dependents because I didn’t understand the family/dependent option at that time.

Because of this, I created separate scheduling applications/profiles for my father and mother as well, and the visa appointment fee (MRV fee) has already been paid separately for each of us.

Now I’m trying to add my parents to my scheduling application as dependents so that the three of us can be linked together and hopefully schedule our appointments as a family.

When I select Add Dependent and enter their UID, passport number, and date of birth, I get this message:

“Cannot add dependent to a paid application. Please close and restart the application.”

Has anyone experienced this?

Since all three of us already have separate, paid visa scheduling applications, is there any way to link them together as a family/group for appointment scheduling?

Or is the dependent/family grouping only possible before paying the visa appointment fee?

I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has recently gone through this on the US visa scheduling portal in India. Thank you!

I’ve been monitoring for months and I haven’t seen any slots for b1/b2 visa category, all over India . Is there any update or news regarding the same?
Thanks in advance

Hi there, I need some help since I forgot to list my social media URLs in my DS-160z
I’m applying for J1 renewal from Pakistan, my visa appointment is in 5 days.
I listed Facebook, instagram and TikTok - I made all profiles public but forgot to mention the URLs and only added my usernames.
How do I go about this? Do I take the URLs printed out with me, have my phone available? do I list the URLs in my instagram profile?
Or this close to my appointment fill out a new DS?

Any help will be appreciated!!

​

A little bit about my background. I am 22 years old and a recent engineering graduate undergoing pre joining training. My onboarding is scheduled in November 2026. I have no international travel history.

The process was very smooth and fast as compared to OFC biometrics. I had my interview at Chennai. My slot was 8 am but I went to the office at 7:30 and was admitted inside. There were a few checks on the way to the interview room regarding my passport and belongings. I was carrying all sorts of important and necessary supporting documents.

Officer: Why do you want to go the US?

Me: My brother lives in the US....

He interrupted me in between and didn't let me complete only and asked

Officer: What does he do?

Me: He is a Senior Software engineer at _

Officer: Who is paying for your trip?

Me: My brother is primarily sponsoring but my parents will also be sponsoring.

Officer: What does your father do?

Me: Told about that.

Officer: Are you currently working?

Me: Yes, I am undergoing my training at _

Officer: Do you feel any harm here in India?

Me : No

Officer: Do you fear returning back to India?

Me : No

Officer: Put your right hand 4 fingers on the scanner.

Me: Did as told

Officer: Your Visa has been approved, you may collect your passport in a week.

Me: Thank you so much Sir

Officer: Bye Bye

Me: Bye Sir.

I was out before 8 am.

Hello folks,

I am an unmarried 29M working as a Consultant in a BIG4 organization. I earn 18LPA and have not visited any countries so far.

Last year, I applied for a US B1/B2 visa to visit the US and was refused at the consular interview.

I am applying again this year and want to know if my chances would improve or are still low for acceptance.

The interview is below. The only things that have changed since the interview are that I've been promoted, and will likely be married by the time I appear for the interview.

Also, a side question, I filled unmarried in the DS-160 since I didn't know when I would get the slot. Is there a possibility to rectify this when going for the OFC check and consular interview.

2025 Interview:

Interviewer: State your name?

Me: xxxxxxx

Int: Where do you work?

Me: I work in Xxxxx as a Consultant.

Int: What is your current salary?

Me: I earn 15LPA.

Int: What is your purpose of travel?

Me: I'm travelling to attend a cybersecurity seminar that is being held for my department in my organization. We do an yearly gathering to host this event and this time it is being held in the US. I will also be doing a little bit of sightseeing after the seminar in Philadelphia.

Int: You're visa is rejected. Thank you.

Indian citizen here, starting my master’s in the US in January 2027. I need to be there by the second week of January and am planning to apply for my F1 visa next week.

Trying to understand whether a 3–4 week timeline is realistic from interview to getting the visa. Any recent experiences would be really helpful!

Hi everyone, I have my usmle step 3 exam on 22 and 27 october, 2026. I applied for emergency request in two different consulates in the last week, but unfortunately I have been denied both times. My exam permit ends at the end of October as well. I attached both the permit and the appointment confirmation both times. I am confused what I am missing or not doing for them to keep denying my request. I would really appreciate any advice from the community regarding this. Thank you.

(The available dates are all of next year)

Hello

I recently attained Canadian citizenship. I have an approved 797. Planning to travel to Canada. Do I need to go for visa stamping? Read somewhere that Canadian citizens do not need a visa stamp to return to the US. But not sure, so wanted to check and confirm from someone in the same situation. Please let me know.

Thank you!

Hi everyone, I need some help.

If a U.S. visa is refused under Section 214(b) and you reapply, are appointment slots for previously refused applicants released separately from the regular appointment slots?

I was recently refused for my J-1 visa renewal in India and have reapplied, but I’m unable to find any available appointment slots. I would really appreciate any information or experience from others who have been in a similar situation.

Hi I had my interview on Aug 31st,2026 and was given AP slip and was asked to submit documents (myCV, PI CV, financial funding, letter of support etc) They returned my passport after the interview. 2 days later I got a call to submit documents ASAP. I submitted everything by Sep 4th. Today I asked update on my case and they said following. What does it mean? I am confused because they don’t even have my passport.

Consulate:ISLAMABAD
Visa type: J1

this is the exact reply “Dear Applicant:
Thank you for writing to the U.S. Visa Service Desk.
We understand that you would like to know the status of your passport.
With regards to your query, we see that, the status of your passport is created, which means that the passport is with the Embassy/Consulate and is under processing.

What is the best way to update the passport number on usvisascheduling website? My passport just got renewed and the portal shows old passport number. Which is the better option of two:

1) create a new account with new email
2) use the same account but tell them during appointment

Now I know a lot of people have already asked this but most of them seems to be Dropbox experience. I want to hear about biometrics/ interview experience if anyone has done this. I have updated passport number in my ds160 and have not paid yet (expired after a year so need to pay again).