From: slahiri@jade.tufts.edu (Sandip Lahiri)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: F2 Practical training
Date: 20 Aug 92 13:39:28 GMT
Organization: Tufts University - Medford, MA
Originator: slahiri@jade.tufts.edu

In article <1992Aug20.013642.14119@uceng.UC.EDU> skrai@uceng.UC.EDU (Shashi K Rai) writes:
>
>Hi Folks!
>I am on practical training. Next month, my wife and son will be applying
>for F-2 visa. I have some questions in this regard.
>
>1.  Should I show a bank statement for the amount of expenditure or
>is a letter of employment from my employer sufficient? 
>
>2.  What documents does she have to show when she applies
>for the visa ?
>
>3. Does anybody have any experience with the Calcutta consulate? 
>How is the visa scene at Delhi?
>
>I would appreciate any suggestions. Please reply if you do have any comments 
>on this.
Dear Shashi,
I am on practical training now. My wife was doing PhD in Mathematics at
Tufts before she fell sick and took a leave of absence for one semester.
Now, when she applied for a visa at the calcutta consulate (about a 
month ago) to join her program from Fall'92 her application was turned
down. This was inspite of the full tuition waiver and extremely strong
financial support statement (unlimited money for unlimited time) from
one of our acquaintances in USA. Ms. Katherine Burke of Calcutta 
consulate told her that the only reason that she could not issue her a 
visa was because of me !! As I am working here there is no guarantee
that she will ever return to India. Fortunately, Ms. Burke did not 
stamped "rejected" on her visa application form. Meanwhile, I sent
some very strong documentation from my employer and university
international center. So, she applied again with these papers (thanks to
the SCI guy who sometime ago adviced to make sure of the supporting
documentation before going in for a second interview). And bang, Ms.
Burke issued her a 5 yr. multiple entry visa. Incidentally, my cousin
was refused visa for FOUR times in a row by Ms. Burke, before finally
he got it. And this guy has a full tuition waiver + full scholarship
from Umass Amherst besides having a brilliant academic carrier (rank
in all Board exams, 3rd in JEE etc.). Some advice for you fella,

(1) Think twice of visiting India on your practical training visa. Get
    an H-1 before you even think of visiting India.
(2) Get two letters,
    (i) From your employer stating that you are only a limited time hire
        and that you are planning to return to India after your
        training.
        Here I did some tricky stuff. I applied to some big indian
        companies about a month back. These companies wrote back to
        me telling that they are very interested in hiring me. I simply
        stapled these letters to the one issued by my employer to show
        that I am "really working very hard in getting a job in India".
        Remember, if you can support a lie with enough evidence it is 
        a fact.
        I also wrote a letter addressing it to "whom it may concern"
        stating that I am fiercely negotiating job offers from the 
        following companies and that my application status with these
        companies can be readily obtained by contacting the persons
        mentioned below. And I added a list of about 10 companies
        together with the names of the personnels to contact. Note
        that this is not a lie as I have already applied to these 
        companies and have received replies from them. Moreover, the
        replies are enclosed with my employer's letter.

   (ii) Your international centre stating that your current visa status
        is F-1 and that you are on practical training. If your visa
        status is H-1 you better not brag about it, best if your wife
        says she is unmarried (assuming that she has admission from some
        US university, applying for F-1, and she has good supporting letters).

 (3)  Financial affidavit. This is a very sensitive stuff. If possible
      get hold of some acquaintances who are US citizens and have
      obscene amounts of money. If not, take a loan from some guy and
      deposit it into your account. Then apply for a bank statement
      from your bank. Take loans from as many people as you can. Do
      not worry as you are going to return the money intact as soon as
      your wife gets the visa.
 
 (4) If for any reason the visa application is rejected, be very sure 
     to check if the application has been stamped as "rejected". If
     not, when your wife will apply for the next time, ask her NOT TO
     mention in her application that her application was rejected 
     before. This is very important.

 (5) If your wife is applying for a second (third ...) time, ask her 
     not to do so before a lapse of atleast two weeks after the last
     one. Let them take some time to forget the matter.

 (6) Tell your wife *NOT* to mention that she is interested in working 
     in US (if she is on an F-1), AND she is interested in studying
     (if she is on an F-2) in US. The guys will definitely ask these
     questions. The only reason she is coming here is to provide
     emotional support and take care of you (no flames please).Period.

 (7) If something goes wrong inspite of all your efforts note very
     carefully what went wrong wrong and why. Get enough supporting
     documents to cover it up. And as I have said before, take time
     to do it.

Lastly, I think your wife will need a copy of your I-20 (not sure).
I think your university will have to issue something which says
about their cost of living estimates for your wife and child. Generally,
the I-20 shows all these stuff (together with your expenses and
sources of support). Ask your international centre to do it. If Tufts
international center is anything to go by, it won't be a problem at
all.

Send me email if I can be of any help to you. Good luck.

-Sandip
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