America – the land of dreams!!!!
With a huge diversity state by state, the country is a hidden gem for explorers, not just for dreamers and opportunists.
Why?
Historical interest, Hiking, wildlife, lavish beaches, vibrant cities, diverse culture- no matter what’s your interest, the USA has something to offer you.
Can’t wait to see the iconic land of that Statue of Liberty? Let us confess something – Getting your US Visa from Bangladesh will be the biggest challenge of your trip.
It takes time to fill out the visa form, pay fees, gather documents… and, most importantly, get a convenient appointment for a US visa interview.
There are lots of research, preparation, patience, and practice required to attend the visa interview with the US Embassy Dhaka! It’s the most powerful visa you may have on your passport, so you can’t just attend un-prepared.
Sounds a huge hectic process?
If you are applying for a US visa for the first time, this guide will surely help you make your application as smooth as possible.
The first step to applying for a US visa is filling out the DS-160 form.
The DS160 visa form includes questions about your personal information, education, employment details, travel history, immigration history, travel plans, family details, and more. It will also ask if you are involved with social or charitable organizations.
Fun fact:
The form is so detailed that it even asks you about your social media identifiers. Using Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, TikTok, etc? You need to put this information on the visa form as well.
All applicants must complete the DS-160 form separately, even if multiple applicants from the same family apply together. Each visa form so so detailed that you might need multiple days to plan and fill it out.
Provide honest information on your form. Any false information could lead to the denial of your application or even a further ban on future applications. Remember, Visa Officers are well-trained to identify lies!
After completing the form (successfully), you will receive a DS160 confirmation number.
Now you need to open a CGI Federal profile with your details and the DS160 confirmation number received.
After you put in the required information, the system will generate an invoice for you to pay the appropriate visa fees. It’s $160 per candidate, converted into BDT (approx. 17280 BDT now).
Yes, coming to the payment method.
To pay the visa fee, you must visit any Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) branch with the invoice and a copy of your passport. The bank officials will receive the money and stamp on your receipt.
If you need assistance in depositing the visa fee, please feel free to contact us. We can help you with this too.
After paying your application fee, you must schedule an in-person interview at the US Embassy in Dhaka. You can schedule the interview from the CGI Federal website after 24 hours of paying the fee.
But there is bad news.
Currently, the waiting time for visa interviews is long, approx. 8-18 months. If you need an urgent interview, you can apply for an emergency interview if you meet the requirement.
Currently, you can apply for an expedited appointment for emergency medical and business grounds.
Once you schedule an interview, you can reschedule twice (It used to be unlimited previously but the rule changed in 2022). So, make sure you don’t cancel and reschedule your visa interview unnecessarily.
Before the interview, you need to collect all of the necessary documents.
Though the US Embassy in Dhaka doesn’t normally ask for any document except your passport, you should still be prepared if they want to see them.
The document might include a visa photo (if your uploaded photo is more than 6 months old), proof of financial resources (bank statements, asset details, tax documents), proof of ties to your home country (employment letter/ trade license), civil documents (marriage certificate/ birth certificate of babies, etc), and property documents, etc.
Check the detailed document checklist below.
On the day of the interview, attend the visa interview with full preparation. Review all documents associated with your application and understand their purpose and how they relate to one another.
Here is a secret to overcoming the fear of facing the interview…….
Be prepared to answer questions about why you want to visit the US, how long you plan on staying, how you will support yourself, and your professional details.
Remember, CONFIDENCE is the key.
The most important part of the interview is – that you need to demonstrate your strong home ties, and reason for coming back to Bangladesh.
Family members in Bangladesh, well financial and career standing, immovable assets, etc are considered as your home ties.
We help our clients with well interview preparation, sorting their positive highlights, and how they can demonstrate the same to a visa officer well to finally listen to those magical words – ‘I am approving your visa!’
If you are doing the interview preparation yourself, always focus on your positive highlight and plan how you can show the same.
The visa officer will inform you about the decision during the interview, whether it’s successful or not.
If they approve your visa, they will hand you a green paper saying it has been approved. If they refuse, they will give you a refusal letter with generic reasons for a visa refusal, which is mostly a 214b refusal.
If you are approved, the visa officer will take your passport for further processing. Once processed, your passport will be delivered within 7 working days via VFS Global Dhaka. You will receive an email from the embassy when your passport is ready for delivery.
There is also a case tracker website to track the application process.
Remember, not all passports are processed with the same timeline. Some applications take extra time to verify and process, so don’t panic. If you were truthful in the whole process, you will likely receive your passport with a visa stamp, even if it’s delayed.
We are a highly experienced online visa consultancy company with years of track records. We aim to make the visa application process simple, efficient, and accurate. With our AI-powered technology, we can provide fast and accurate processing, reducing stress, uncertainty, and risk of refusal.