Getting a US visa for business or travel purposes has become increasingly difficult, as visa officers closely examine whether applicants may overstay, seek employment or fail to return to their home country.
An AI engineer recently shared his experience of a B-1 business visa rejection at the US Consulate in Delhi. In a Reddit post, he said he works remotely from India for a US-based startup, while another company manages his local employment and payroll.
He had applied for the visa to attend his company’s engineering offsite in the United States in October.
During the interview, the visa officer asked about his job title, employer and purpose of travel.
The Redditor shared how the conversation went.
Officer: What’s your job title?
Redditor: AI Engineer.
Officer: Where do you work?
Redditor: I work for Company A. My employment in India is through Company B, which handles my payroll.
Officer: Why do you need to go to the US? What do you do?
Redditor: I’m an AI Engineer working on AI workflow automation software. This trip is for our engineering offsite. During the meeting, we’ll discuss business priorities for the next quarter, and since I’m one of the early/core engineering team members, I’m required to participate in engineering planning and technical decisions.
Officer: So it’s your own business?
Redditor: No, I’m an employee.
Officer: How long have you been with the company?
Redditor: Since September last year.
Officer: Are you the only Indian hire?
Redditor: Yes.
Officer: And you’re the only one traveling?
Redditor: Yes. I’m the only employee traveling from India. We’re a remote company with employees in other countries like Mexico and Canada, so team members from those locations will also be attending.
After the brief interaction, the officer handed him a refusal slip under Section 214(b).
A refusal under this section generally means that the applicant failed to satisfy the officer that the proposed visit was temporary or that they had sufficiently strong reasons to return home.
The engineer said he was surprised because the officer did not ask about his family, property or other ties to India. He claimed that he could have shown that his mother and wife lived in India and that he owned property in the country.
Several Reddit users suggested that working for a US-based company may have raised concerns. Some also felt that the applicant had not clearly demonstrated why his physical presence at the offsite was essential when meetings could potentially be conducted online.
Others argued that there may have been little he could have done differently, as visa decisions often depend heavily on how an individual officer assesses the applicant’s circumstances.
The case has once again highlighted the uncertainty surrounding US business visa interviews, particularly for remote employees working with American companies.
