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Comment by Ayesh | Hacker News Reader

I'm nobody compared to the person on the story, but I was refused a US visa that I needed to speak at a tech conference.

The US visa system needs to get out there and see what people are doing. I'm a full-time freelancer and I am 27. The officer said that I don't have ties to my home country and that I'm still young...

Damn right I am! I traveled to over 30coubtries so far and had spoken at various tech conferences. There is a lot of travel history on the passport. Unless you got to this outdated image of a person that's risk-free, you won't make it to US. It doesn't matter if your talk is selected among 700 others, you just won't make it. Bye.

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About US B1/B2 visas. A startup I knew was selected into Blackbox connect. 3 people appeared for an interview, only 1 was selected. The rejected ones reappeared, 1 was selected from them. The final one decided not to go.

Recently had something similar happen to me with an Australian visa. I've been to the US before, and a few other countries too.

Applied for a short-stay specialist visa because a client of mine wanted services in-person after I'd built their product. That's exactly what the visa was designed for. I provided evidence of funds, a letter from the client, travel history, everything. I was given BS reasons about:

- Not having ties to my home country. My entire family lives here.

- Not owning property in my home country. I do, they never asked on the application for proof, and so none was provided.

- The economic disparity between my own country and Australia being too high. I showed my current employment letters, and proof that I run a successful company, in total making significantly more money than the average Australian in my position.

My point is: the decision to grant or deny your visa is made by a single person. A cog in a great bureaucratic system that is empowered by their sovereign national law to judge your application and make an informed decision. But ultimately, the system is designed and operated by primates that learnt to strike two rocks together and make fire a few millenniums ago. They're highly flawed, there's no need to take it to heart. Just optimize your application in accordance with their laws, and reapply if you really want to go. You'll get in eventually. It took this dude 8 freaking tries, but even he managed.

See my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19697430

Don't be discouraged. Re-apply. The process depends on the interview guy. He'll get to decide your fate. His decision will depend on whether he likes you or not. Probably based on appearance.

This right here, I applied two times, first time I just knew the interviewer wont approve my visa when I saw the way he looked at me, I had a feeling I was bothering him, he straight out said no without even checking my papers, he only checked them when I told him I've plenty of "evidence" and supporting documents and he just took a glance, ignoring everything.

Second time I got a really nice interviewer but I applied at a out of country consulate (you've to apply to a US consulate from your home country) which I didn't knew at a time, he said he would've approved my application and seemed visibly sad that he couldn't help me.

I stopped trying. I've been a co-founder of a US company for more than 10 years, 50+ employees, I never been to US.

> I stopped trying. I've been a co-founder of a US company for more than 10 years, 50+ employees, I never been to US.

That's completely unacceptable. You can still look at the bright side (you were allowed to run a company which allowed you to access US wealth, many countries restrict that to their own citizens).

I'd advise to socialize within the consulate/embassy. Here, they have lots of events. Try to make friends with the people working there and you'll make a reputation. Don't give up.

> That's completely unacceptable. You can still look at the bright side (you were allowed to run a company which allowed you to access US wealth, many countries restrict that to their own citizens).

Indeed, that's a positive way to look at it. I'll probably try again soon, now beside the US company I've a company in my own country, along side multiple properties (car/house) that should be undoubtable ties to the country.

> I'd advise to socialize within the consulate/embassy. Here, they have lots of events. Try to make friends with the people working there and you'll make a reputation. Don't give up.

Interesting, I'll have to look into it. Thanks!

> Indeed, that's a positive way to look at it. I'll probably try again soon, now beside the US company I've a company in my own country, along side multiple properties (car/house) that should be undoubtable ties to the country.

The embassy where I applied, they don't ask for any papers. It seems the same for the guys in here. So I'll just give it another shot.

Sorry that my home country is doing this kind of thing too. I'm familiar with the US Visa system because i've gone through the process a few times. But it makes me sad that Australia is playing silly games too.

It's fine. Honestly, my home country is a lot worse. I'm not discouraged, it's the cost of travel for me.

Refused visas for conference presentations is kind of an old story; I can recall incidents from back in the Bush II era. My guess (uninformed) is that the concerns are about the distinction between visiting for tourism and coming here to perform work, especially since the advice I've seen given at some events is to avoid any mention of the conference when entering the country.

It's also common in the world of dance workshops, where international teachers tour several countries, teaching every weekend in another town. They usually just claim to be tourists, even though they're clearly travelling for business.

I'm still waiting for the big splash when one or two get investigated. It must happen at some point, their teaching is heavily advertised on workshop web sites. Their presence is the main feature of those workshops, after all.

That's not smart. As a non-citizen you don't have much rights. If you get caught lying, you'll be barred from entering the US and you'll probably need to resolve to court.

How they can find out:

- Booking of where you are staying.

- Going through your phone/laptop.

- Paper/Flyers for your company or the event.

- A big event is happening and you are kinda fitting the bill for it.

I'm not saying it's smart, I'm saying it's the advice I've heard given.

It also the advice that I have heard but it is still a bad advice. Another advice: don’t tell them you have food so that you avoid going through a baggage search.

Here is the downside: if a dog catches you, you’ll get a fine. You could avoid that just by declaring any food you have.

I'm confident you're right. My point was just to reinforce the argument that CBP has a longstanding concern about whether visitors to the US are here to conduct business.

Heh, I remember crossing into the US by land for a conference.

Their first question was whether I was presenting or attending. I just said "attending", without getting into the specifics of an un-conference.

The US visa system is very arbitrary. I got a 10 year B1/B2 just by showing up and handing my passport. No questions (a part from why are you going and where did you travel) and no documents asked. The whole interview was probably 30 seconds. The process didn't take much time but there are not many applicants in my city. I got my passport back in a couple days.

At the airport, I helped translating for a French national. He was sent to secondary. Then the agent just stamped my passport and waved me in.

Or maybe they already had plenty of info about you that you didn't know about?

Yes, it sometimes depends on the agent that's interviewing you. I've heard so many stories of this kind. Try again but try not to get interviewed by the the same person.

Yeah, US visa is so damn weird and backwards. I had a presentation and poster at a conference in the US.

I get that many Indians get settled in the US, but in my case the interviewer said he needed concrete proof that I would be returning back, despite having my employer's letter, bank documents, my Tax returns etc.

It essentially boils down to your willingness to return back to the home country and apparently I didn't demonstrate that. I just told him that I'd be rather homeless in my home country than be in a foreign land, while showing my return tickets.

He laughed and then he granted the visa.

It seems that the interviewer's mood matters the most tbh.

If only you were a soft porn model, then you could request the Einstein Visa.

Did you have a return ticket scheduled and could prove you had the necessary funds to sustain yourself? From what I have read/watched those in combination with the "ties to home country" check are the biggest red flags for CBP.

Not the OP but it's likely the question he is referring to happened at the consulate not at the port of entry. Buying a ticket without a visa (as I did once) was pretentious and therefore my visa was denied

Unfortunately buying a ticket and booking a hotel is necessary in most cases. At the embassy for your first short-term visa and for border control.

I'm a nobody from a 3rd-world country and have always done that with 100% success rate over a decade. I keep visiting the US regularly and I always have a way to somehow ensure I intend to leave the country. The questions at the border keep getting shorter and quicker every time.

Unfortunately, that's how it works, in my experience.

Why would you buy a ticket before you get a visa?

All countries require some confirmation you can pay for the stay and will get out. Some countries ask for a return ticket and hotel stay - it indicates that the traveller has some means of paying those amounts. US does not need those before visa issue. In many cases, people cancel the flight ticket after visa issue; and definitely book a more suitable hotel.

Anecdote time: Interpretation of the guidance is upto the visa issuing officer. Normally they want a ticket getting out of the destination country. But in one case the officer wanted me to 'return' back to the country where I was starting the travel from. So I had to show him the ticket for the third leg of the flight: A -> B -> C -> A

To increase your chances of getting the visa.

Sometimes it's even required. I traveled to Nigeria from the US (on a British passport) and needed to turn up to the visa appointment with proof of flights and accommodation.

In some cases interviews are so short that you cannot even show any of these evidence

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