US Visa Fee Appointment Fee in India

Most Update US Visa Interview Fees that came in effect from Dec 05,2010.

Changes to US Visa Fee from June 4, 2010

The US has hiked visa fee and introduced a two-tier structure for non-immigrant visas from June 4, 2010.

Applicants for business or tourism (B-1/B-2), crew member (C-1/D), student (F or M), or exchange (J) categories will now pay $140 and receive a white receipt.

Petition-based work visa applicants (H, L, O, P, Q and R categories) will pay $150 and receive a green receipt. These two receipts will still be purchased at approved HDFC Bank branches. K (fiance) applicants will pay $350.

Applicants, who purchased their receipts before June 4 will pay the balance between the old and new fees at the time of the interview. The previous application fee was $131 for all visas.

Types of Visas
* H visa for temporary workers and trainees
* L visa for intra-company transferees
* O visa for aliens with extraordinary ability
* P visa for athletes, artists and entertainers
* Q visa for international cultural exchange visitors
* R visa for religious occupations

Steps to Order HDFC Receipt Online.

Getting HDFC receipt is a quick three step plan.

• Fill HDFC receipt information.
• Email scanned copy of passport.
• Pay us online.
• Get scanned Hdfc receipt followed by courier.

Share your experience

If you have any experience with visa-fee.com and you want it to share with everyone then you can post your experience in this blog or you can mail us at support@visa-fee.com. We will be more than happy to post your experience in the section Customer’s Experience.

Your experience can be valuable for some one. So please share it.

Experience with visa-fee.com

I feel like it’s a dream for most of us who are in India to work in US at least once in our life time. May be because we just want to see that country or their culture or their lifestyle or why people say it’s nice.

I had a similar dream and luckily it worked out for me. I was so happy when I got my US visa. I was excited about going to US and see that country . And the day came when I took Continental Airlines from Delhi to San Francisco United States. That’s the longest flight duration that I have been in any flight WOW.. it was really a long one. Finally I landed in US with my luggage and colleague of mine came to pick me up in a nice big car. Slowly I started getting familiar with the country and how the things work out here.

The time as usual ran very quick Day after day, Week after Week and Years after Year I came to my 3 years completion of H1B visa. It was the time of extension. My company applied for the extension and it went on smoothly. I got my approval for another three years.

Then came the day when I planned to visit India with all cool stuff for my loved ones from US . But during this visit I had to get my visa stamped in US Embassy. And for that I need to go through the US Visa Appointment Interview. For scheduling a US Visa Interview I am supposed to deposit MRV fees and the most horrible part is that the fees is to deposited in designated HDFC branches only in India. Going to India without scheduling the Visa interview might not be a wise decision. So I tried for evaluating the options of getting the HDFC receipt before  really landing in India. I didn’t not want to bother my parents to run and get me the HDFC receipt, they have already been doing so much since my childhood. Thought of few friends who could do that for me but everyone seems to be too much busy or may be I was not good in keeping up the relationship with them while I was in US. Finally googled to see if anyone can help me out with getting the receipt and I am glad I found this link www.visa-fee.com.

I ordered online to get the HDFC receipt through visa-fee.com. I provided them the shipping information in US. Uploaded the scanned copy of my passport document and made the payment. As per the site it was mentioned that they will be able to send me the scanned copy of the HDFC receipt in 3-5 business days which was OK for me as I was not in that big rush. But to my surprise the day I ordered I got the scanned copy of my HDFC receipt the very next day. I was not expecting it to be that quick. I got the physical copy of the receipt in another 3-4 days time. I scheduled my appointment after two days of getting my receipt.

Now I knew when I have to be in India for sure. I booked my tickets to Home. Everything appeared to be changed I was going after 2 years but the people are same with no formalities and same love and affection.

So here I am back in US again and writing this article thinking it might help someone if they are trying to figure out how they will get their HDFC receipts.

Thanks for listening up my experience and do share yours .

Good bye for now !!

US Visitor Visa Sponsor Documents

While inviting your dear and near ones for a trip to US, you are required to sponsor their visitor visa. For sponsoring your loved ones visa you need to send them some documents. These documents are required at the time of visa interview to get visitor visa approval from US consulate. Here are the list of the documents that are required for sponsoring the visa.

1. Form I-134 called as Affidavit of Support. Yor are required to fill that form to show that you are financially capable of supporting  your relatives while they are in US. One form should be filled for each applicant.
2. Letter from your bank/banks on their business letter heads stating the following information
   a. Date of opening of account
   b. Current balance in your account
   c. Total deposit in last one year
   d. Average balance in last one year
3. Bank statement of last 6 months. These statements are the proof that you are in good finanical situtation and capable of providing the finanical support to the people whose visa you are sponsoring.
4. Recent pay subs. 3 or 4 will be sufficient.
5. Letter from your employer on their business stationary stating the following.
   a. Your salary package
   b. Date of joining at job.
   c. Your job responsibility
   d. Are you permanent or temporary hired?
6. The photocopy of your complete passport including blank pages.
   If you are sponsoring your in-laws the photocopy of your spouse passport and marriage certificate is also required.
7. Copy of your last 3 years tax documents and W2.
8. An invitation letter addressing to person whom you are inviting in US. The letter should state that you are responsible for that person lodging, ticket, boarding and all other expenses in US.
9. A letter from you to the US consulate in india stating that you will be responsible for all expenses including boarding, accomodation, tickets and other expenses related to visit for the person whom you are inviting to US and requesting to issue the visa for him/her.
10. If sponsoring your parents, original birth certificate of the sponsor child (son or daughter) is required. If you are inviting your in-laws, then spouse’s birth certificate is required not yours.
11. If you are a Visa holder Copies of your – Visa (H1/L1), H1 Approval Form (I-797), and I-94 are required. If visa has expired but has a renewed petition, a photocopy of the renewed petition should be given.
    If you are Green Card Holder then send the copy of Green Card front and back.
    If you are USA citizen then send Copy of certificate of citizenship.

US VISA Photo Specifications

Each country visa application has different photo specifications. While applying for US Visa the photo requirements are following:-

1. One photograph of the visa applicant must be submitted with each visa application .

2. Photograph should not be older than 6 months.

3. Photos should be in color and must be taken against a white or off-white background.

4. Photograph should be 2 inches by 2 inches.

5. Photo should be printed on thin photo quality paper.

6.The customer’’s head, measured from the bottom of the chin to the top of the hair, should be between 1 inch and 1-3/8 inches. The head should cover 50% of the photograph.It should not be tilted up or down . It should be in center.

7. The photograph should show clear ,front and full face of the customer. The customer should have natural expression, mouth closed and eyes opened and looking in forward direction.

8. Eye glasses can be wear but it should not obscure the eyes. Sun glasses are not allowded.

9. If head covering is worn due to some religious region it should not obscure any facial features.

US H1 Visa Interview Questions

When it is time for H1 visa interview people usually get nervous. They think what will gonna happen ? What questions the counsular officer is going to ask him ? Whether his application will be approved or not. The first thing you need to keep in mind is that you don’t need to be get scared or nervous. You should have all documents that are required for visa interview. You should keep smiling and try to be confident. You are going to US for your future prospective not for making money. Here are the some sample questions that are generally asked while taking the interview.
1.What is company you are going to work in USA ?

2. Who is the CEO of the company ?

3. How much salary you will get in USA ?

4. How much is your current salary ?

5.  Which company is sponsoring  your visa ?

6. Have you ever gone to US ?

7. Why do you want to go to USA ?

8. Which place you are going in USA ?

9. What is the living cost of that place on which you are going ?

10. In what technologies you are working now ?

11. What is project on which you want to work in US ?

12. What is duration of that project?

13. What will be your role and responsibilites in that project ?

14. What is the annual turn over of that company ?

15. Do you have any friends and relatives in US ?

16. Have you ever been applied for H1 visa ?

17. Have you ever visited other country ?

18. When are you planning to go to US ?

19. Where you will be staying in US ?

20.  What are the date on which interviews  for US company had been conducted ?

21. If your current employer is getting your H1 visa then how long you have been working with this employer ?

22. What is the address of  US company with which you are planning to work ?

US Visa Fee

To get a non-Immigrant US Visa you will need to pay a fees for getting interviewed in one of the consulate. The fees structure keeps changing depending upon the exchange rates.

How much is the fees that I need to pay to appear for US Visa Interview ?

The amount that you need to pay to get the HDFC receipt from designated HDFC Bank for scheduling your visa Interview are -

Where I can pay the US Visa Interview Fees in person ?

The Visa Application fee (MRV Fee) and VFS Service Charge is payable at designated HDFC Banks.

Can I get the US Visa Appointment receipt online ?

visa-fee.com provides the facitity to order your receipt online. You can opt to get the HDFC receipt in India as well as in US.   Order online to get the HDFC receipt in US or in India

How can I pay MRV US Visa Fee at HDFC bank ?

The mode of payment can be either cash or by DD. The details are as below :
Visa Application Fee (MRV Fee) is payable in cash or by DD/HDFC Bank cheque favoring “US Embassy – Visa Fees”.
VFS Service Charge is payable in cash or by DD/HDFC Bank cheque favoring “HDFC Bank a/c VFS”.

DDs issued by cooperative banks are not accepted.

What do I need to take along with me to get US visa Appointment Receipt ?
You are required to submit a clear photocopy of the first page (biopage) and last page of your current passport to the bank when making your payment.

What will I get from HDFC bank for scheduling US Visa Appointment ?
The bank issues a visa fee receipt in duplicate that has a barcode number of 10 Digits. This barcode number is needed to schedule your interview appointment. Please keep this visa fee receipt carefully with you as they are needed at the time of interview. In the event of not providing the receipt at the time of interview can result in cancellation of the interview.

I took my US Visa Appointment receipt but I am unable to schedule an appointment with the barcode information mentioned on the receipt. What could be the problem ?
You have to wait for one working day for the receipt to get activated. In some cases it has been observed like it takes two days. Wait for one working day from the date of purchase of your visa fee receipt before scheduling the interview.

When does my HDFC visa receipt expires ?
OR Till when my US Visa receipt valid ?
You are required to appear for Visa Interview within 1 year from the date of purchase of receipt. If you do not appear for the interview within this one year the receipt will expire and will not be valid anymore. Once the receipt has been utilized for the interview it can not be used any further for scheduling any more US Visa interviews.

What do i need to do with the US visa receipt that i got from HDFC bank ?
Please keep the receipt at the safe place as its required at the time of interview at the Embassy / Consulate.

I got two copies of Visa fee receipts why did they HDFC bank give two copies of it ?
For each US Visa Fee receipts three copies are made.
1. White copy that belongs to HDFC Bank for records.
2. Blue Copy that Embassy Copy and is required to be submitted at Embassy.
3. Pink Copy is the applicant copy that he can keep it for his own records.

Is the Visa fee Refundable ?
No, US visa fee is not refundable.