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Indian engineer's US B1/B2 visa rejected in 40 seconds despite ₹1 crore annual salary, seeks netizens advice
An Indian IT professional's B1/B2 visa was denied in under a minute during a US Embassy interview in New Delhi.
B1/B2 Visa denial: A senior IT professional in India faced B1/B2 visa denial during an interview at the US Embassy in New Delhi. In a Reddit post, the applicant—a senior IT lead specializing in Cloud Native technologies—discussed his experience, emphasizing how promptly the officer rejected his application in less than a minute.
“I had my B1/B2 visa interview at the US Embassy today in Delhi, and I was rejected in less than a minute after just 3 questions. I’m trying to understand what went wrong and how I can improve for next time,” Indian engineer wrote.
Indian engineer's B1/B2 Visa interview
The officer questioned him about his reason for traveling, his prior travel experiences, and whether he had any family or friends in the United States. According to him, he wanted to travel to the States to attend a conference called Kubecon + CloudnativeCon 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. “I am senior tech lead at a company and my day to day work is on Cloud Native Technologies. It is important that I attend this conference to stay up to date on the latest events or movements in this field,” he told the officer.
When asked if he had visited Lithuania, the Maldives, or Indonesia, he said, “Yes”. However, he replied “no” when he was interrogated if he has family or friends in the US. The officer instantly gave him a 214(b) rejection slip.
The candidate highlighted his steady background and close connections to India, saying that he has a steady employment in India for the past 11 years. “I make close to a 1Cr annually and have a 8 months old daughter so had very strong motivations to come back to India.”
Indian engineer seeks suggestion from netizens
Additionally, he had a prearranged schedule and verified reservations for the hotel and conference, none of which could be streamed live.
He went on to ask the internet community, “What do you think triggered the quick rejection? Could I have answered differently while still being honest? What steps would you recommend before reapplying?”
The post has spurred conversations on the difficulties applicants encounter under Section 214(b) of the US Immigration and Nationality Act while proving a strong connection to the home country.
Disclaimer: The story is based on a Reddit post and HT.com has not independently verified the user's claims.
