An Indian AI engineer shares his experience of being denied a visa for a company out of its US location.
Obtaining a visa to the United States for travel and work purposes has become extremely difficult as visa officials reject applications if they have the slightest suspicion that the applicant may not return to their country of origin; Or start looking for a job in the United States.An AI engineer shared his experience of being rejected for a B1 visa at a Delhi consulate on Reddit, where he gave his background on his work at a US-based Indian startup. But his salaries and employment are done through another company. The company is based off-site in October, where he applied for a visa and was rejected. The Redditor shared how the conversation went.Officer: What is your job title?Reddit: Artificial Intelligence Engineer.Officer: Where do you work?Redditor: I work at Company A. My work in India is done through Company B, which handles my payroll.Officer: Why do you need to go to the United States? What do you do?Redditor: I’m an AI engineer working on AI workflow automation software. This trip is for our off-site engineers. During the meeting, we will discuss business priorities for the upcoming quarter, and since I am one of the senior/core engineering team members, I am asked to participate in engineering planning and technical decisions.Officer: So this is your own business?Reddit: No, I’m an employee.
Officer: How long have you been with the company?Reddit: Since September of last year.Officer: Are you the only Indian employee?Reddit: Yes.Officer: Are you the only one traveling?Reddit: Yes. I am the only employee traveling from India. We are a remote company and have employees in other countries like Mexico and Canada, so team members will be attending from those locations as well.After this conversation, the man was handed a 214(b) rejection slip, meaning the applicant did not have sufficient ties to his home country, but the man said he was never asked about his family members and could prove he had his mother, wife and property in his name in India.Redditors pointed out that since he works for a US company, this raised alarm for visa officers, as he could not prove why he needed to attend off-site, as the meeting could also be held online. Some Redditors opined that there is nothing he can do better next time he applies because the visa approval mostly depends on the officer and another officer might have approved his visa.