Why were we rejected under 214b? USA

Question

I have an Indian passport

I was planning on travelling to the USA to visit Orlando Florida with my family

• I have a mortgage on my house
• I have permanent residency in the UK
• I have a job where I've been working for over 14 years
• My husband and two boys were travelling under ESTA's and have British passports
• My children are going to go to good universities and living at home while doing so
• I had bank statements with me
• We bought the tickets, and had proof of return flight tickets, hotel tickets and insurance

I had evidence of everything.

The first time I had the interview I was rejected because I didn't have the airline tickets and I didn't show my bank statements, and I believe their was a lack of communication. I managed to get another appointment within 1 and a half weeks, as I kept checking for cancellations as we wanted to go on this holiday really badly.

I managed to get another interview, I got to the interview, everything was fine until I was asked how I got another appointment so fast.

she (Interviewer) said: 'you can only get one after 6 months'

I said (Me): 'I phoned up the US embassy to ask how we could get an earlier appointment and they told me to keep checking for cancellations and that's how we managed to get an earlier appointment'.

She said (Interviewer): 'Is this an emergency, is that how you got the appointment.'

I said 'No, we managed to get one by checking every hour online for cancellations.'

The interviewer looked around for someone, I don't know who she was looking for and said 'Sorry you have been refused.'

I said 'Why have I been refused, I've got all these documents.'

She said 'It's on the paper mam, please could you go other people are waiting.'

I then left, the paper said nothing specific about the refusal, it just said we were rejected under 214b.

What happened, gutted that we've had to cancel this holiday ?

Could it have been that I've never been anywhere else other than India? (I live in the UK)

Additional info - I should add she also asked 'How I got this visa appointment so early as her first question, but she brushed that question off initially and went onto the next ones. It's like she got panicky towards the end and thought that I had done something wrong to get this appointment.

Answer 1

It is hard to make something out of what you said, but at least I can answer the question:

Could it have been that I've never been anywhere else other than India?

Yes, it definitely could. The US Consulates are suspicious of people who claim to go to USA for sightseeing, while they haven't done any even in their neighbor countries. You said you were going to Orlando - probably for Disneyland - but there are Disneylands much closer to you; did you explain why are you going to Orlando, when there is DisneyLand in Hong Kong (if you're in India) or in Paris (if you're in UK) are much closer?

Edit: Do not assume the Consular Officer would think himself/herself of possible reasons why you could prefer Orlando to Paris. They might ask you, but please do not expect that to deliver your story. When applying for a visa, you need to be proactive and address anything which might be interpreted as red flag proactively. The easiest way to do this is to print some kind of informal statement, and just give it to the Consular Officer. This statement should address anything you think is a red flag in your case, such as:

• Why aren't you a British citizen yet;
• Why haven't you traveled around Europe, which is very close;
• Why you want to go to Orlando and not to other, closer destination with the same attractions;

Those are obvious questions the Officer would be concerned about. And if you do not address those proactively, they'd have to guess the reasons. And not only their guess might not be in your favor - they are required by law to be skeptical; the immigration law requires them to assume everyone trying to get the US visa intends to remain illegally unless proven otherwise. The burden on this proof is on you. This might look unfair, but those are the rules.

Also it is very strange that you got rejected by not having the airline tickets. The Department of State says it straight and clear:

Do not make final travel plans or buy tickets until you have a visa.

Now, you said "I mean if you compare it to the UK, they focus the entire interview on your documents". In some countries (like Russia, for example) - it is very easy to get the forged documents, and almost impossible to quickly verify their authenticity. There are even "visa helping offices" which specialize on providing their clients with fake documents "proving" employment, property ownership, bank statements and so on. This is why during the interview the interviewer has first to assess whether to trust your documents/story, and doesn't focus on your documents - the rules must be the same for all countries.