r/USVisas

Hello !

I obtained my visa shortly before visa bonds got implemented in my home country. This visa expires on April 2027 and I plan to renew it within 12 months of the expiration date. Obviously in this case I will not have to attend an interview so I was wondering if I'll be asked to pay a bond (from 5k to 15k) in order to renew my visa.

En agosto 2024 en la frontera me retiraron mi visa debido a la barrera del idioma, fue la peor noche de mi vida pero la cuestión es, no me dieron ningún castigo, de echo alguna persona me comentó que podía volver a intentar sacarla enseguida de eso, pero revisando los documentos y traduciéndolos, pusieron cosas que yo jamás dije, pero si firmé porque eso me dijo la oficial y yo le hice caso, solo que tengo pruebas de que absolutamente es mentira lo que dicen los documentos.
La cosa es que pasó un año de eso, y yo volví a intentar sacar mi visa, fui a las huellas y a penas será mi cita con el cónsul, solo que tengo miedo que hago ? Que digo? Porque lo que dicen los documentos que firmé es una mentira!!
Y tengo pruebas ..
también viendo el papel que me dieron en inglés cuando supongo tenía que ser en español porque es el idioma que entiendo, pero ahí no dice nada de castigo ni de que 3 años ni 5 ..!

Hi,

I am inviting my cousin for a month in USA. I am in USA from few years and currently on H1B.

I had my parents come sometime back. I also helped them in their tourist visa.

I am stating below on tourist visa process, me and my cousin went through.

She plans to come to USA and we plan to travel NYC, Miami, SanFran and Vegas. This would her first time travelling outside country. so no travel history. Also she is preparing for her masters in India, so giving her entrance tests and does not have a job currently.

We started the process in Nov 2025. Got the DS 160 filled.

Once DS160 was done, we applied for visa slot.

Got initially for August 2026 both biometric and consular. This was way late, as I wanted her to come during may-July as it was summer and best time to enjoy everything. So i kept looking for earlier slots. Since i have helped few friends to get other visa slots and my parents also got it preponed from 2025 to 2023 as they applied during COVID time when slots where not there. So i knew what to look and when to look.

Joined telegram groups, but never contacted agents. Kept looking for trends when slots were released and who were actually getting it and what were fake. I kept checking regularly, then i think in Jan got here dates preponed to March end both biometric and consular.

Now time for preparation.

Since i was paying for her trip, i sent her my employment verification document, 3 month paystubs, bank statements and a invitation letter.

For her, since she completed bachelors and preparing for masters degree in India.

I asked her to take her bachelors degree, her entrance test admit cards and her ids, bank statements.

I sent her questions and answers.

I told to her to be exact. do not say we might go here, use words like maybe. I gave her exact dates and time of everything.

I booked all flights, hotels in all cities we would be going and sent her those and asked her to take those to consular.

this was enough. I told her to dress professionally and smile and be confident. Yes, luck matters but these small things too does. Telling from experience, as i also did tourist visa more than decade ago.

Time for interviews.

Biometric easy nothing much

Consular.

Booked 8:30 slot because wait time is less, best time to get interview.

went to counter.

they asked about her basic detail,

why she wants to go to USA.

[plans to visit cousin brother]

What places to visit.

[mentioned according to plan]

What her father does and where he works.

[answered correctly]

interview last for 2mins roughly as she told.

Visa approved.

Her passport arrived at home in about less than 2 weeks from date of interview.

To anyone trying to find slots: join telegram groups, but don't pay agents, try to see pattern when people post, are they fake or not and then you will know what time slots come on avg and you can get early slot.

For interview: yes, luck matters. But remember be confident, have all docs ready. I gave her my docs, exact travel plans and told her to say exact words not maybe etc.

Also in her DS160 she mentioned about me as cousin brother living in USA and that too in interview and visa was approved. Since it was truth.

Does anyone know if the US embassy in Calgary issues a boarding foil for permanent residents?

I just got my passport back with my B2 visa inside, but I was surprised it was only for 5 years. I thought they were for 10 years?

Does anyone know what determines whether you get a 5 or 10 year tourist visa?

I was hoping I’d only have to do this process every 10 years not every 5 years 😭

Hi ppl,

Has anyone ever gotten their visa approved on a major like interdisciplinary studies or something similar for Bachelors in the US. If yes, kindly share your experience.

Hey everyone, just wanted to share a bit of a "movie moment" and ask for some advice.

When I was 17, I was an exchange student and had a romance with an American girl. Life happened, we went our separate ways, but we reconnected a few months ago. We're both in our early 30s now and completely in love, it’s like no time has passed.

She's flying to Brazil next week to live with me. She works remotely for a US company, so she’s going to stay as long as possible while we figure out our long-term plan.

Eventually, we want to move to the US together. I’m a software developer and speak fluent English, so it makes more sense for me to work there than for her to try to find a remote-friendly job in Brazil without knowing Portuguese.

• Has anyone done the marriage/spousal visa process recently?
• For those who moved for a partner, did you go the K-1 or CR-1 route?

Appreciate any advice or similar stories!

Hi peruvian here, Ive travelled to "safe countries" so far (I think so) I still dont have any kind of US visa, but I love to travel

I went to chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Aruba, Uruguay, Argentina, mexico, spain, belgium, france, morocco (is it bad?), italy, Portugal, netherlands, turkey (I love cats), and most recently the UK, I also have a near Flight to hungary

Ive got a canadian visa too, but havent travel so far

My question is which countries to avoid like cuba, I've Just got bored to travel to common destinations, I would definitely travel to china, Jordan, Armenia, I have a Venezuelan friend Who wants to invite me, how ever I believe it could be "bad" since I really want to visit NYC someday

Would it be fine to travel to africa? Which countries I should avoid like former urss countries? Please help

My passport cover is damaged, resulting me to apply for a new passport. However, my US visa in the passport is still intact and there were no damages on it. I now have a new passport, will my US visa still be valid for my new passport even if the passport number on the visa is different?

So I applied for a B1B2 extension and it got approved the first time and I got an I94 date till April 14th 2025. I applied for an extension again in March 2025 and kept getting the pending status until they requested for evidence in August. After providing the evidence I got another RFE and the status was pending with another receipt generated. Then I got a notification in September that’s it’s taking longer than usual so allow 90 days for them to make a decision. I got the same notification again in October saying my extension is pending and to allow 90 days from October 10th. I ended up leaving the country on Jan 5th. My extension got denied due to lack of evidence about hotel receipts on Feb 20th, but I already left the country. I had all documentation in place about my funds etc. Now will there be any consequences and can I re enter the U.S. ? Can I travel back to the U.S. in July or no? Do I need to change the visa or get a new one or change the status or get a letter from the consulate?

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to understand my situation and whether anyone has experienced something similar.

I previously had an F-1 visa for university in the U.S. I was academically dismissed for one semester due to health-related academic issues, which resulted in my SEVIS being terminated at the time.

Later on, I visited the U.S. on ESTA for a getaway. My ESTA stay was supposed to expire on April 16. I had flights booked for April 13, 14, and 15, but they were cancelled. On April 15, I became very unwell, got tested, and tested positive for COVID. About a week later I tested again and was still positive. Around 5 days after that I finally tested negative, booked the next available flight, and left the following day.

So overall I overstayed ESTA by around 20 days.

A few days ago I received an email from the U.S. Embassy stating that my visa had been “prudentially revoked” under INA 221(i) because information had come to light suggesting I “may be inadmissible.”

I’m outside the U.S. now and my school may issue me a new I-20/SEVIS soon, but I understand I’d likely need to reapply for a new F-1 visa.

My questions are:
•Has anyone here dealt with a prudential revocation like this?
•Were you able to get another F-1 approved afterward?
•How heavily do officers usually weigh a short ESTA overstay when COVID/medical issues were involved?

I know nobody can predict the outcome, but I’d appreciate honest experiences or advice from anyone familiar with similar cases.

i have waited 2 years for my spouse visa .. i gave interview at Islamabad embassy and they said u r in administration process cox we need more marriage photos just courier us your photos and passport and in the meanwhile pause happened.. Now my dubai visa is expiring and im not taking any action due to the fear of being cancelled by the embassy..

please guide me if anyone knows what should i do .. i waited 6 months and now my UAE visa is expiring 😭😭😭should i request my passport back and if i do what will b the effect on my case status .. i have been calling embassy fof days but they don’t answer 😭😭😭

Hi everyone,

I'm an Indian passport holder currently living in Glasgow, UK, on a Post-Study Work (PSW) visa valid until January 2028. I came to the UK on a Student Visa in 2024 and currently work as a Crew Member at Five Guys. I'm planning to apply for a B1/B2 Tourist Visa to visit my sister in the US. She and her husband both live there on H-1B visas, and she's willing to sponsor my trip and I'd be staying with her during the visit.
Would love to hear from anyone in a similar situation - Indian passport holder on a UK visa, with family in the US. Did you get approved? What did your interview look like? Any experiences or advice would really help.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’ll be traveling to the US this August for my master’s program on an F-1 visa, and this will be my first time traveling to the US from India. My port of entry will be Charlotte airport.

I am flying with Etihad Airways. Right now, the US CBP preclearance at Abu Dhabi is closed, but I’d also appreciate advice in case either the Abu Dhabi CBP officers or the Charlotte CBP officers ask me this question.

I’m a bit confused about the “Where will you stay?” question during immigration.

In my DS-160, I mentioned that I have no relatives in the US in both the “immediate relatives” and “other relatives” sections. However, I’ll actually be staying with my aunt in the US, and she is currently on an H1-B visa.

Will this create any issue during immigration or at the port of entry? What would be the best way to answer the officer if they ask where I’ll be staying?

Any advice or similar experiences would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Hi all! I have a 10 year US tourist visa and I've traveled to the US last year (entered the country 2 times total), spent 1.5 months there just vacationing and traveling.

Then I came back to my home-country in eastern Europe and applied to the university in states.

I am scared I get rejected the F1 visa for some reason and then I'm wondering if they can take my tourist visa away from me?

I applied to a film program, got the scholarship and everything, I'm serious about studying in the US and then returning back home. If I wanted to stay there, I'd use my tourist visa and had done that long ago...

I'm just so scared of going to the visa interview and getting rejected because Im hearing people around me getting rejections every day.

Any advise? Anyone had gone through a similar situation?

My wife got a US visa before we got married, so now she is going to travel with the new passport under her new surname. I understand that it is legal, but I`m afraid that our airline employees would ask questions about why she didn`t renew her visa, etc. Has anyone had recent experience flying to the States under our circumstances

My current B1/B2 visa expired in 2024 and it was for a work trip that I never ended up going on.

I am looking to renew and I am completing my online form. I’m currently employed, looking to go to the states with the wife and 2 year old son (not sure when but let’s assume July) but if I get this new job, I’ll be required to go to the states for onboarding - I live and work in the UK.

What should I put for the travel arrangements session? To me it makes sense to put down the potential vacation in July as this will probably be the intended purpose and then future trips over the next 5 years with New York, Disney World etc.

hey everyone, i'm making my first ever post here because I want to talk about my experience struggling to find a job to secure my trip to America this summer. I feel like I have applied to every single place there is in NY, i have applied to over 200 places nearly 300 now, yet I have not been able to secure a single job. Honestly it feels very demotivating because i've already spent 2k+ on this thing. It feels like i'm just stuck because I have not yet been able to secure any job, every single day I apply to jobs but I never get the chance to actually secure one 😞. I've tried craigslist, indeed, simply hired, glassdoor, culinary agents, facebook, instagram dms, called places, texted places. Now i'm on reddit my final straw. I've always wanted to go to New York, it was something i've always wanted to do.

Please please please please, I beg if anybody knows of any jobs available and they are going to NY please please reply to this post anything helps atp :/ .

Hi for context we are both scientist at top universities in Canada. I have my canadian citizenship and passport (originally Algerian) and she is still on a student permit finishing her phd.

We want to apply for a b1b2. For record, she has many scientific publications and made a name for herself already

Anyone had some experience to share? Given the current climate

Ideally we would like to go to Grand Canyon national park and hike other mountains etc..