 If you're looking to apply for a USA B1B2 visa from any of the Gulf countries like UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain or Qatar, then this video is a detailed step-by-step guide as to how you can get your USA visa in 2023. Keep on watching. Hi guys, my name is Shachi and I'm a travel and visa coach. On this channel you'll find lots of useful videos on the US visa process. We have an entire playlist for the US B1B2 visa so make sure to check it out. So the US visa process differs slightly from country to country and from region to region. That means that the processes and the steps which are followed in India will be slightly different from what is followed in the Middle East countries. We have worked with a lot of clients who live and work in Gulf countries and have helped them get their USA visa asked. So in this video we're going to cover three important parts, the process that you need to follow, the documents that you need to be prepared with and of course the interview prep. So let's get started. So let's start by understanding the process. Now the US visa process begins with filling out a form called the DS160 form. This is the form that the visa officer has in front of him when you go for the interview. So needless to say the DS160 form is really really important and the DS160 form asks for a lot of information. It'll ask for your personal information, your family, your travel information and of course your education and work related information. Now here's a really important point to note, once you fill the DS160 form, you're not allowed to edit or correct or fill a new form in the Gulf countries. This is slightly different from what happens in other countries like India. In India even if you make mistakes in the DS160 form, you can still go ahead, correct it and fix it till the day of the interview. But that is not the case in the Gulf countries. Once you fill a form and you submit it, that's it, you cannot make any changes. Which means that you have to be really really careful when you fill the DS160 form. And all the information in it should be accurate, it should be correct, especially the work related information should be descriptive. So I highly recommend that you check out both these videos. These are the two videos which are going to explain in detail as to how you can go about filling the DS160 form and in case you need our help, do reach out, do check the links in the description box, we can help you with your DS160 form. Once the DS160 form is filled and submitted, you will need to pay the USA visa fees and then go ahead and book the appointments. There are two appointments that you will be getting. One is a biometric and one is the consular interview with the visa officer. Now again here the process is slightly different. So in countries like India, we have two different appointments, one appointment for biometric, one appointment for the interview. And typically these happen on two separate dates, sometimes on two separate locations. But in most of the Gulf countries, both these processes happen on the same day. That means you will just have one date on your appointment confirmation and on that particular date you're going to be doing the biometric first and then going for the consular interview. A note here about the availability of slots. Now the availability of slots in most of the Gulf countries is actually quite good and the average wait time is just about 20 to 25 days at the max. However, just in case you're not finding any slots available in your country, you can also think of traveling to a neighboring country and giving the USA visa interview from there. Next, let's discuss about the documents. So the USA visa process in general is not very document oriented and documents are very rarely asked in the visa interviews. However, we do see from my experience that documents are more frequently asked in the Gulf countries. So it's just good to be prepared. There are three to four really, really important documents which are typically asked. One is the bank statement. So make sure that you have your bank statement for at least the last three months. Proof of employment and an NOC from your employer. So you will need a proof of employment, proof that you're working in a particular company, in a particular designation and an NOC from your employer. This is basically the leave sanction which states that the employer is aware that you are planning to travel to the US. And third is the visa details you are currently on. So the visa that you are on in the Middle East, what is the validity, what is expiry date of that. These are also additional factors which are often checked and scrutinized. Now a really important point about funding and I cannot stress this enough. So when you apply for a USA visa from the country of your residence, it is important to have sufficient liquidity and healthy balance in the bank accounts in that country. I know that many of you will be having adequate savings and assets back home in your home country, but just that is not going to be sufficient. You really need to have good liquidity and good bank balance in the country of your residence. So let's say that you're applying from Bahrain. That means that you should have adequate funds in the bank accounts in Bahrain itself. And this is going to be the primary focus of the visa officer, not the savings and the assets which you have back home. So if you're still here still watching the video, do give this video a thumbs up and let us know which Gulf country are you going to be applying from. So comment down below in the description box and let us know from which of the Gulf countries you're going to be applying for your USA visa in 2023. Now coming to the third part of the video, that is the interview preparation and this is the most important part. So make sure that you have a pen and paper handy and you're taking notes. So the first thing that we're going to discuss about is the purpose of visit. Purpose of visit is typically the first question asked to you by the visa officer. So the visa officer can ask you what is the purpose of your visit? Why do you want to go to the US? Why are you applying for this visa? Now let's understand purpose of visit for a B2 that is a tourism visa first and then for B1 business visa. So starting with the B2 or tourism visa. Now I know that many of you watching this video might be planning to apply for a B2 or a tourism visa alone but over the course of working with our clients from the Gulf countries we see that the visa acceptance is much better when applied with family rather than applying alone. So if you're planning a leisure trip or a tourism trip to US it's highly highly recommended that you apply with your family that is with your spouse and children rather than applying alone and show the purpose as a family vacation rather than just a solo trip to the US and you can also pick the locations accordingly. So when you fill the DS164 you'll be required to indicate the locations where you are going to be in the US or the locations where you intend to travel to in the US. So plan your trip such that it is a family vacation where you are going with your spouse and children and you can pick locations like Disney World which would be feasible for a family getaway. Coming to the business visas or the B1 visas. Now for the business visas or business purpose it is okay to apply alone but it is important that the company supports your travel to the US and is able to give you an invite letter which clearly states that why your US trip is important why is it critical for the business of the company. The second important point to consider when talking of interview preparation is travel history. Now having a travel history, having a few stamps on your passport really adds to your credibility and also builds up your profile of somebody who is interested in tourism who is interested in travel. If you live in any of the Gulf countries and you don't have any international travel history consider planning this out in advance and building it up it can be really easy for you to do this because you can show travel to any of the nearby Gulf countries and even that would count as international travel. So for example let's say that you live in Saudi Arabia you could be showing travel history to UAE to Oman and so on. So all it requires is a little bit of planning and starting the process a little bit in advance but rather than going with a fresh passport without any stamps if you go with a passport which has a travel history even if it is to the nearby Gulf countries it would really notch up your credibility as a traveler. And another important point to note here is that if you are planning to apply for a USA visa along with your family make sure that the travel history that you are building up is with your family too. So all the trips that you are going to plan to the nearby Gulf country should also be with your family. Coming to the third part of the interview preparation and this is about your annual income. Now we see that annual income is given a lot of focus in the visa interviews and in lot of interviews questions are asked by visa officer what is your annual income how much money do you make here and so on. If you have faced a rejection from any of the Gulf countries previously then do check the annual income that could be one of the reasons. So presenting a healthy annual income is important and there are a couple of phase in which you could supplement it. Let's say that your spouse is working you could present a combined annual income along with your spouse. If you have any additional income sources back home let's say rentals then you could even supplement your job income with those additional income sources. And the fourth point to take care of when it comes to interview preparation is your history of stay in the Gulf country. So when you appear for the USA visa interview your history of stay here how long you have lived and worked here is going to be an important question. So if you have moved recently there and you have worked for less than a year then it would be advisable not to apply for the USA visa and to build up your track record and your history of stay in the country. So make sure that you have lived and worked in any of the Gulf countries for at least one and a half to two years before you apply for a USA visa. And when I talk about the track record and history of stay I'm talking of all the countries collectively. So many of you might have worked in different countries let's say that maybe you worked in Dubai and then you worked in Bari. So we are talking about the collective history of stay in the Gulf countries. So if you have collective history of stay of at least more than one and a half to two years then you can go ahead and apply for a USA visa from any of these countries. But remember the longer the track record of stay you have the better your chances are going to be. So I really hope that all the information and the tips that we discussed in this video helps you make sure that you take your notes and you take action on these points. If you want my help in preparing for a USA visa interview do get in touch. We do one-to-one sessions with clients helping them through this process so we can help you in filling your DS160 form interview preparation and work interview as well. Do check the link in the description box below for these details. Also we have a lot of free resources so you can get access to document checklist and the interview question bank. Do check the link in the description box for this. If you have any more questions feel free to leave them in the comment section below. You could also DM me on Instagram. My Instagram handle is at shachi.mull and lot more useful content coming your way for the USA B1 B2 visa. We would like more and more of you to travel to the US in the year 2023 so make sure that you subscribe and stay tuned. Signing off for now. I'll see you in the next one.