WHAT IS YOUR INTENTION?
-Sudhir Shah, Advocate, Mumbai

In the next three months American Consulate at Mumbai will be flooded with the applicants of Business, visitors and student visas of US. To each of the applicant, the Consular Officer, will invariably ask, “What is your intention?”.

Business visa (whose sign is B-1), visitors visa (whose sign is B-2) and student visas (whose sign is F-1, Some students need M-1 or J-1 visas of US,) all are of non-immigrant category. To be eligible to receive the same, one is required to satisfy the consular officer that he has no intention of permanently residing in USA and has strong family and financial ties in his home country which would bring him back to his home country, once the time granted to him to stay in US is over.

In general an applicant of B-1 or B-2 or F-1 visa is required to satisfy the consular officer that his intention in traveling to US is merely to carry out bonafide business related activities or he is visiting US purely as a tourist or is a bonafide student. All of them also have to show that they have sufficient funds available at their disposal to meet with the expenses of their tour and lastly, but most important all these applicants have to show their non immigrant intention for which they must demonstrate that they have strong family and financial ties in their home country.

To satisfy the Consular Officer a negative aspect, namely non immigrant intention, is easy to say but difficult to show. The fact that the letter of rejection of a visa, provided by the Consulate, gives the reason for rejection as, unable to satisfy that the applicant has non immigrant intention in traveling to USA, makes it very clear that it is really difficult to show this negative aspect.

If your close relative is a US citizen or Green Card Holder, if your relative or friend is running a motel, a gas station or a convenience store in US, if your near relative in US is undocumented (illegal), if a petition for your benefit to receive an Immigrant visa (Green Card) is pending, if your income in your home country is meager, if you are not paying tax, if you are young and unmarried or are aged and retired, the chances are that you will find it difficult to answer the Consular Officer’s question “What is your intention?” by saying “Non-Immigrant”.

Majority of the visa applicants appear at their visa interview without any preparation and not knowing that they will have to answer the above question. It will be prudent on the part of the visa applicants to find the answer to the above question before going for a visa interview. If you are well prepared, to show to the Consular officer, your non Immigrant intention you certainly will be granted a visa.