Indian techie earning ₹16 LPA at American fintech denied US B2 visa for NYC travel; ‘Unfortunate’, say netizens
The 24-year-old woman said that despite working at an American fintech for the past two years and earning a decent salary, she was denied a visa to travel to New York City during the holiday season.
Amid US President Donald Trump's crackdown on H-1B visas, which is expected to affect a major chunk of Indian IT professionals, a 24-year-old Indian techie has claimed she was denied a B2 tourist visa to the US despite earning ₹16 lakh per annum and working for an American fintech firm.
The woman, who has been employed with the firm for two years, said she had planned a trip to New York City during the holiday season.
“I'm a 24 year old female working in a renowned American Fintech for the past 2 years and I had my B2 interview scheduled today,” she wrote on Reddit.
The woman said her visa interview took place at the US Embassy in Delhi.
She said she informed the visa officer about her purpose of travel, her CTC and offered to show her salary slips, but was still denied the B2 tourist visa to the US.
“I think it's cause of my no travel history and maybe cause I'm too young, anyhow will try again, will create a good international travel footprint,” she wrote.
Her post comes days after another Reddit user, an Indian customs officer with ₹50 lakh in savings, claimed that he and his wife were denied tourist visas to the US after a brief three-minute interview.
What did netizens say?
Reddit users weighed in on the incident, suggesting that the visa officer was hesitant to provide the tourist visa to an expensive place like New York for someone with no travel history.
“Unfortunate! Some other things - NYC is very very expensive. Even budget hotels in Manhattan in the holiday season easily cost $300 - $400 per night. Flight tickets are 1000s of dollars. Add to that food, tourism, etc. You can see the VO's hesitation. All the best!,” an individual remarked.
“No travel history 16 lpa Do you want my salary slips ( never present anything unless asked for). Best wishes dear, you deserve this trip but after a year. Get a Schengen visa and Japan visa once. Develop a travel history and next time will be yours smoothly [sic],” another advised.
“NYC is extremely expensive in the holiday season. Hotel prices go up by 3 to 4 times even for budget places. Not saying your income is low but the whole thing probably made no sense to the officer. Plus you do not have any international travel,” a third user said.
“I don't think you need to regret any of your answers. Your age + lack of ties + lack of travel history is all in the risk category for them.. which I mean is normal for a 24 year old… [sic],” another individual said.