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Bengaluru tech founder says his US visa was rejected after question on salary
Bengaluru tech founder Dhananjay Yadav's US visa was rejected. He said the rejection came after a question on salary.
Indian entrepreneur Dhananjay Yadav has expressed bewilderment at his United States visa being rejected. In an X post shared on February 3, he said that his visa was rejected despite the fact that he has earlier studied in the US and has no intention of staying back in the country.
Dhananjay Yadav is the co-founder and CEO of NeoSapien, the company behind a wearable AI device that is capable of tracking conversations and analysing emotions.
US visa rejected
Bengaluru-based Yadav said that he had his US visa interview on February 3 in Delhi. He explained he was trying for a visa as an investor in his company had invited him to the US.
“I had an invite from a close friend and investor in NeoSapien, Hari Valiyath, to meet him and potential partners,” Yadav said in his X post.
Valiyath is the co-founder of Pyxis, a US-based company that has raised over $200 million. He had invited Yadav to the US to meet potential partners, but Yadav’s visa was unfortunately rejected.
“My US visa got rejected this morning, and still trying to understand why,” the CEO of NeoSapien said. “I have studied in the US before and worked in Berlin. So, had no intent to stay back.”
Why was the US visa rejected?
Yadav theorized that his visa was rejected because he draws a low salary as a founder. He clarified that the trip would have been sponsored by the company.
“When asked about the purpose, I said ‘investor meetings and B2B partnerships’,” he recalled.
“Then came a question on salary, and despite the trip being company-sponsored. As a founder, my salary is minimal. Shortly after, the visa was rejected,” revealed the Bengaluru-based tech founder.
He called it “Hard to understand the logic” behind the rejection.
What social media users said
Social media users pointed out that the current anti-immigration sentiment in the US has made it all the more difficult for foreigners to obtain even short-stay visas. (Also read: Indian woman detained for 8 hours at US airport: ‘Checked by male officer, stripped’)
“That’s frustrating. US visa decisions often come down to how well the purpose and category are aligned, not the strength of one’s profile. Founders with low salaries often get misunderstood. Hope you get clearer guidance and succeed on a reapply,” wrote one X user named Ram Kumar.
“EU does it as well. Its a very cheap trick to earn double the money in visa fees. These duds allow criminals to live in their country for free while have the audacity to reject a perfectly filed application with every necessary documentation intact. Its a new milking scheme,” another said.
Some called the rejection reasonable.
“Honestly, the designation doesn’t matter much to visa officers. Founder, co-founder, CEO in your own company you can call yourself anything. To them, it’s just a title on paper,” wrote Tarish Bhatt. “What really matters is financial strength and personal stability, steady income, savings, and whether you can comfortably fund the trip yourself even without sponsorship.”
“You just explained the reason out loud -no means of financially supporting yourself. The “founder” or “start-up” visa scam is a well know entry strategy where fake startups are set up, you pay a huge fee to them to get entry as a “founder”. Try Canada,” another suggested.
