Application times for US B-1 Visitors Visa?

Foxhound5366

Foxhound5366

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Does any South African here have recent experience in applying for a B-1 (Business) visitor's visa to the United States, after applying in South Africa?

It looks like I may soon be getting my first chance to visit the US on business (I work for a multinational company), and I just want to check whether the process as I've discovered it online is actually like this in reality? (We all know how far South African government websites differ from the reality lol)

Cost: $160
Appointment wait time: 29 calendar days (for Johannesburg consulate)
Processing time: 3 working days
Delivery of passport via DHL via standard home/office: Cost R90, delivered in 3-5 business days

Official 'Purpose of Your Travel' selected: "Conference, meeting, trade show, or business event attendee. Will receive no salary or income from a U.S based company/entity. For scientific, educational, professional or business purposes."

Book appointment online here: https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-za/niv
Overview of process (South African embassy website): https://za.usembassy.gov/visas/tourism-visitor/overview/

If you went through all of that, please let me know if it ran to plan or if there were any weird things you discovered along the way! Thanks :)
 
I went recently in April, the process is all done Online, and you go for the interview and they tell you then there (mostly) that you got it or not.

Basically simple steps:

1. Fill in the online form via their US VISA Website for South Africans), when I went I booked my flights and hotels all before hand, i left the VISA stuff for 2 months before I left.
2. Make Payment
3. Make an appointment for an Interview
4. Take all requested documentation, plus proof of Medical Insurance / Travel Insurance, Proof of Address, Banking Details, Proof of Income, Hotel and Stay Information etc etc its all there generally.
5. Photographs you can take submit them online as well make sure they exact to the requirements else the online system will reject it.
6. Wait a week or so and they will contact you to collect your Passport (with Visa) from your nearest DHL (cheapest / free option)

And hopefully you will get a 10 year VISA lol

It not that hectic, just answer all questions honestly, carry all the required documents (when going for interview) and done.

Oh and btw I am Muslim, I went to New York, Washington and Florida for a month, no issues at the airport or anything. However I have been to the States before so it did help my VISA application.
 
Did a B1/B2 earlier the year in Cape Town. It was pretty much hassle free. Remember this is a US visa, SA govt websites/services have no bearing on anything whatsoever where this is concerned ;)

I did the DS-160 first before going onto the site you linked above, as you need your DS-160 reference.

I took with a few supporting documents:
1. Invitation letter from hosting delegation indicating certain costs covered their side
2. Letter from my company stating they'd cover all other costs (incl. proposed dates of visit)
3. Reference of ties back home: wife, my personal company

Actually, the interviewers didn't even look at my support documents, they simply cleared me after two quick questions. I'm sure they profiled me prior to getting there, social media and all that.

All in all, arriving at the consulate and leaving after all was done took less than 30 minutes.

And don't worry too much about cellphones; you are provided a locker for personal items before you proceed to the interview.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
(We all know how far South African government websites differ from the reality lol)
Click to expand...

Your not dealing with the SA government, so it works ;) Yeah, your process sounds right.

I've done my B1/B2 Visitors Visa. Process is simple and as it is on the website. It is a little confusing between two different websites, don't know why they don't improve this.

As mentioned by others, please take ALL supporting documents, neatly prepared in a lever arch file with dividers and so on. The more docs you take the better. If they see you are prepared well it is a breeze. My interview lasted less than a minute and you immediately know if it is approved or not.

After approval, you will have your passport back with the visa in it in about a week max.

... They do have one weird exception, but I have never encountered it, heard of anyone who has and apparently it happens very rarely according to what I have read. It's called "Administrative Processing". Apparently (after approval) they can elect to send your physical documents to various US agencies (CIA, FBI, etc) to be inspected and to perform background checks. This can take anything up to 90 days to 2 years from the info I have read, they are also unable to give you a time frame when you follow up. Please don't stress if the status on their website changes to "Administrative Processing", it's normal to be that status for about a day or three. But I have only read about this, how true it is, no one knows so I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Did one earlier this month, process is as described although I only had to wait about a week for the interview.
 
Nice one, thanks for all the confirmations guys :) I'd better get into the US before Donald Trump closes the borders completely lol.
 
Hi guys, two more quick questions on this thread:

1: When you were granted a B-1 business visa for the US, what was its period of validity (I understand that 10 year visas are becoming increasingly common)?
2: At this time, was it your first visit to the US, or had you visited previously on a visa with a shorter validity period? (I'm wondering if the US issues 10 year visas to new business visitors, or if you need to at least be able to demonstrate some previous travel to the country - with first-time applicants only getting the minimum one year validity period)

Thanks a lot :) Getting a 10 year visa would be awesome, at least that'd take care of a LOT of future admin.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Hi guys, two more quick questions on this thread:

1: When you were granted a B-1 business visa for the US, what was its period of validity (I understand that 10 year visas are becoming increasingly common)?
2: At this time, was it your first visit to the US, or had you visited previously on a visa with a shorter validity period? (I'm wondering if the US issues 10 year visas to new business visitors, or if you need to at least be able to demonstrate some previous travel to the country - with first-time applicants only getting the minimum one year validity period)

Thanks a lot :) Getting a 10 year visa would be awesome, at least that'd take care of a LOT of future admin.
Click to expand...

As per their website: "Often, the B-1 and B-2 visas are combined and issued as one visa". If I recall correctly, the whole process combined B1/B2 while I applied, I applied for B2, but I guess we can consider them the same. More here: http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-niv-typeb1b2.asp

1. I personally have not heard about anyone who have received a Visa shorter than 10 years. I know of about 10 people (including myself). I know of one person that had to apply 3 times, but after the 3rd time also got a 10 year visa.

2. All 10 people I know of were first time visitors.
 
I went for my B1/B2 interview last week Wednesday. My passport and visa were made ready by Saturday although I still need to go collect.

Whole process was quick and painless, the longest part is waiting for an available interview date. Rest is smooth. Quite impressed actually.

The visa is valid for 10 years, just not sure on the each stay limit.
 
Surv0 said:
The visa is valid for 10 years, just not sure on the each stay limit.
Click to expand...
Hey, I think I can answer that question! I read online that the US operates a two-ticket entry system: the first ticket is your visa, which gets you to a port of entry in the US. Once you are AT the port of entry, you get issued the second ticket by the Customs inspector, who will indicate the period you're allowed to stay based on your current commitments (apparently it's usually a max of six months).

Surv0, do you mind if I ask which consulate you had your interview at, and what the interview wait time was? For the consulate in JHB they're indicating a wait time of one month, but other people in this thread have indicated that they only waited for a week (although I'm guessing that might not have been at the JHB consulate).

Thanks werfie for the confirmation, that sounds so helpful! My two other visa experiences - both in Europe - were completely different, where my visa was issued for exactly my planned duration of stay, and not a second more.

For what it's worth, I'll share my experiences here too.

I've started the DS-160 process, but then got put off when they asked me to indicate my planned address of residence in the US. Err, how can I answer that question, when they clearly say that no bookings should be made prior to a visa being granted? Do I just put in a rough address from where I intend to visit, or pick some random hotel online?
 
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Foxhound5366 said:
Hey, I think I can answer that question! I read online that the US operates a two-ticket entry system: the first ticket is your visa, which gets you to a port of entry in the US. Once you are AT the port of entry, you get issued the second ticket by the Customs inspector, who will indicate the period you're allowed to stay based on your current commitments (apparently it's usually a max of six months).

Surv0, do you mind if I ask which consulate you had your interview at, and what the interview wait time was? For the consulate in JHB they're indicating a wait time of one month, but other people in this thread have indicated that they only waited for a week (although I'm guessing that might not have been at the JHB consulate).

Thanks werfie for the confirmation, that sounds so helpful! My two other visa experiences - both in Europe - were completely different, where my visa was issued for exactly my planned duration of stay, and not a second more.

For what it's worth, I'll share my experiences here too.

I've started the DS-160 process, but then got put off when they asked me to indicate my planned address of residence in the US. Err, how can I answer that question, when they clearly say that no bookings should be made prior to a visa being granted? Do I just put in a rough address from where I intend to visit, or pick some random hotel online?
Click to expand...

Oh no buddy. The US works different than the Schengen visas. hehehe

Schengen, you have to book and hope for the best, US you shouldn't book anything, but you should have a complete plan. And I mean complete.

Even if you haven't booked anything yet, you should have quotes ready.

1. Work out a FULL itinerary
2. Get all the documentation ready. Neatly. Organised. (list at end)
3. Get quotes on Airfares for the exact flights (dates, destinations) you PLAN to book (airline website).
4. Get quotes on Hotel Accommodation (Booking.com) - preferably close to the location where you will be going for business
5. Get a printout of travel insurance you plan to take out. It has to show what is covered. (http://www.travelinsure.co.za/)

Now for the list of documents I would go for:
NB! All the documents and confirmations they tell you to bring during the application process, then in addition:

1. Letter from company detailing business.
2. Full Itinerary in black and white.
3. Flight/Accommodation/Travel Insurance Docs
4. Letter from company stating that you are permanently employed and in what position.
5. Proof (Bank statements) that you will be able to pay for everything (can probably be letter of company saying they will cover all costs in this case)
6. Letter from the company stating from when to when you have permission to be out of the office and on which date you are required to report for work again.
7. Copy of Bond/Lease Documents, Vehicle Finance, Insurance Policies, Medical Aid, Cellphone contracts, Marriage Certificate, Birth Certificates of Children, etc (Any social and economic ties to the country to show them that there is enough for you to have to come back to and not go there and then illegally stay there and never getting on a return flight)

If you are organised, have everything on hand and are able to answer their questions regarding dates/towns/hotels, etc without having to page around, they barely look at anything and just approve it.






(Invitation Letter, Copy of your employment contract, Letter from your company stating that you are going for
 
Nice list, thanks Werfie :) I was hoping I could at least get my DS-160 application done so that I can make my interview appointment and get that clock ticking, and then use the month to get all the above docs sorted. Doesn't look like that's possible now though.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Nice list, thanks Werfie :) I was hoping I could at least get my DS-160 application done so that I can make my interview appointment and get that clock ticking, and then use the month to get all the above docs sorted. Doesn't look like that's possible now though.
Click to expand...

Nah safest is to plan and then book. But you don't have to plan everything for the DS160. I would say just dates and addresses so long, the rest you can get in the month.

This may be obvious, but also just check the photos you take with. They are a different size to the regular ID photos we are used to. Specifically tell the people where you take the photos that it is for a US visa.
 
werfie said:
Nah safest is to plan and then book. But you don't have to plan everything for the DS160. I would say just dates and addresses so long, the rest you can get in the month.

This may be obvious, but also just check the photos you take with. They are a different size to the regular ID photos we are used to. Specifically tell the people where you take the photos that it is for a US visa.
Click to expand...

Roger wilco (seeing as we're talking about a US visa :P)
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Roger wilco (seeing as we're talking about a US visa :P)
Click to expand...

:D

Also remember, after you have the visa, no one checks up on you. If the visa is for specific dates (Which I doubt it will be), just stick to the dates when going through Immigration, but after you have the visa, you can book whatever you like and so on. No one validates it ever again.
 
offtopic question, I don't want to start new thread.
Do I need yellow fever shots travelling from SA to the US?
 
Has anybody here ever changed their accommodation details from the ones they've indicated on the DS-160 application?

I've got a chance to go to the US but it's on a very compressed timeline: right now I'm contemplating just putting down a random hotel in the city where I'll be visiting and then confirming the actual accommodation during the week or so prior to my appointment. Is that doable?
 
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