Let's start with an American visa. American visas, as the name implies, are of course for entering the United States. There are many types of American visas, such as studying abroad, working, visiting relatives and friends, traveling, business and even crossing the border. Among them, traveling, business and visiting relatives and friends all agree to be classified as B 1/B2 visas. One advantage of American B visa over China passport is that it is valid for 10 year. Although you need to register in a system called EVUS every time you travel to the United States, registration is free. As far as my experience is concerned, as long as the previous travel records are good, it is just a formality. And most importantly, an American visa with a validity of 10 year can not only go to the United States, but also many countries will implement special visa-free policies for China passports with valid American visas, including Mexico, Peru, Chile and many other countries with high tourism value, so an American tourist visa with a validity of 10 year is quite cost-effective.
Face-to-face application is the most important thing in America. American visas are different from those in other countries. Because of travel or other reasons, you need to go to the local American consulate for an interview in person. Even the transit visa has this step, which adds a lot of "randomness" invisibly, but in my opinion, with the following conditions and preparations, even the interview is not a big problem.
Before listing, I'd like to share my own visa experience in the United States: I went to the embassy for a visa interview on the day of the 20 16 American election, and the visa refusal rate was actually quite high that day. I was quite nervous when I saw that all the people in front were refused visas, and they were from different windows. However, when I arrived, the visa officer opened my passport directly and said to me, "Wow! You have been to many places ",and then I asked the travel time and reasons of several sensitive countries, including Senegal, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Lebanon. Then let me look at my bank balance and running list and tell me that the visa passed without looking at anything else. It took less than 3 minutes before and after, and I didn't test my English that was gradually forgotten at that time.
Look at my experience. Isn't that simple? But there are some details I want to emphasize this time.
Good travel record
Although some people may emphasize that you can get an American visa even with a white passport (without any outbound travel records) as long as you have sufficient financial ability and detailed travel itinerary, from the experience of face-to-face visa I mentioned above, I personally think that a good travel record is actually one of the most critical conditions for successfully getting an American tourist visa!
Pay attention to the word "good" I say here. In fact, a good travel record does not depend on the number of travel records, but on the "quality". During my interview, I have been to nearly 50 countries, including many "allies" that the United States considers, such as Britain, France, Germany and Japan. In my opinion, the travel records of these countries have become my plus points this time, so
However, it should be noted that there are also some countries where your visit may be unhelpful or even counterproductive. Take Senegal, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Lebanon as examples. These four countries are obviously countries with poor social security, and even experienced wars or attacks not long ago, so these countries belong to the "sensitive" countries in the eyes of Americans. So my visa officer focused on my travel records in these countries during the interview, and I had not been to Pakistan, Egypt, Haiti and other countries at that time, so I am afraid I will be asked more now.
Second, the economic proof
Many intermediaries applying for visas may particularly emphasize the option of economic proof when requesting materials. In fact, economic proof is a very general concept. In addition to the necessary bank balance, it also includes work certificates, property certificates including houses and cars, and even social security documents.
In fact, these materials seem to be very important at first glance, but from my experience, I am afraid that economic proof is far less critical than travel records, just saying that without good travel records, the importance of economic proof may be greatly enhanced. Here, if you can prepare the relevant materials, it is natural to prepare them, but it is very likely that the visa officer will not read them at all during the interview; Another thing to note here is that visa officers will not directly mention the concept of "economic proof". He may ask you to provide proof of work or bank deposit. At this time, you can take whatever he wants. Never give all the materials to the other party at once, or take the initiative to ask for some materials, which will make the visa officer think that you are intentional.
In the economic proof, in fact, in the final analysis, the most important thing is the balance of bank deposits and running water. In fact, American officials have never asked for the balance of bank deposits in tourist visa materials, nor have they asked for the freezing of deposits. Moreover, when I applied for a visa, the balance was not much, just over 30 thousand RMB, mostly because my living expenses were not frozen at all. In fact, just like travel records, the most important thing in economic proof is whether your bank is running normally. If your monthly spending is basically maintained at that figure, or there are only one or two unexplained large-scale spending in a few months, even if the balance is not much, it will not be the reason for refusing the visa. If you spend 10,000 this month, you will spend more than 1,000 next month. Such an irregular running record will be doubted even if the deposit balance is100000 or even100000.
Third, avoid going into some misunderstandings.
When applying for a tourist visa in the United States, many gossips often become misunderstandings. I think it is necessary to emphasize here, because some misunderstandings may even lead to your visa being rejected:
1. There is no requirement for English ability in American tourist visa interview. Note that the so-called requirement of speaking English is aimed at the requirements when applying for a study visa and a work visa in the United States. When you apply for a B visa such as a tourist visa, most visa officers will speak your mother tongue at the beginning. Don't force yourself to speak English because you want to "take care" of the visa officer's language level, which will not improve the visa officer's goodwill towards you. Sometimes the visa officer will ask you if you can speak English. In fact, this is just a "random question". Don't take it too seriously. If you feel that your English level is not good, you don't have to force yourself. Of course, it is good to speak a few basic spoken English.
2. The travel itinerary is actually unnecessary. It is best not to book non-refundable air tickets and accommodation. Many people may think that applying for a visa can be a plus item if you have detailed itinerary proof or even booked air tickets, but in fact, you don't need these materials to apply for a US visa. Perhaps a more detailed travel itinerary made by yourself will become a possible signing condition, but it is very likely that the visa officer will not look at your travel itinerary at all, let alone book air tickets and accommodation, so it is best not to book air tickets and accommodation before the visa is issued. Even if you do, you'd better book it back.
Don't think that it is easy to get a visa by applying in a third country. Many China people who have already lived abroad will naturally relax their vigilance when applying for visas to the United States, thinking that it will be less difficult to apply for visas in a third country than at home. Perhaps this is suitable for applying for a visa in other countries, but it is absolutely impossible for the United States. Actually, I applied for an American visa in Spain. Although I passed the second level, at least 10 people in front of me that day, including some Latin Americans and China people, were all refused visas. It can be seen that even in a developed country like Spain, applying for an American visa is not necessarily guaranteed, and the refusal rate is higher: the reason is easy to analyze, because you live in a third country, which shows that you have an immigration history. On the other hand, if you live in China, don't think that your visa refusal rate will be higher. The reality is that because there is no immigration record, you will become a "little white" in the eyes of visa officers and will not be deliberately targeted;
In my opinion, the above misunderstanding is that you must be mentally prepared when you are preparing to apply for a tourist visa in the United States. The most important thing is that the application for a visa in the United States is not simple, but it is not that difficult.
You are actually interviewing with a machine.
This sentence may sound cold, but it is a naked reality. In fact, many people may have been determined by the computer in the hands of visa officers before the visa interview in the United States. The interview only gives you a chance to change the result, but the first impression of you has basically confirmed the result.
So in fact, some preparations before the interview may be more important than the interview itself: before applying for an American visa and making an appointment for an interview, everyone needs to fill out a visa application form with the code DS- 160. The official name of this form is the electronic application form for non-immigrant visas in the United States, and to open this application form, in addition to their basic information, a lot of additional information is needed, including their names, dates of birth and passport numbers. Including travel records, family background, work background, degree, criminal record, health record, and even your own social public platform number, you may be required to provide this information. When filling in this information, don't think about opportunism or avoiding importance. What's your record? You must fill it out truthfully. On the one hand, many favorable records will improve the impression of this machine on you. On the other hand, even if you try to hide bad records, once you find them, you will definitely be rejected. Don't underestimate the ability of this machine to collect information. No matter which country it is, the most important thing to apply for a visa is the word "integrity". Lying can't have a good end.
Therefore, whether the DS- 160 form shows well is the most important part of getting a US visa. Always remember that when you interview, you are actually talking to a machine. The so-called visa officer is the person who finally decides whether you can get a visa, but he may also be a "puppet" with words.
Finally, good luck to everyone!