US visa from India in 2026: a complete, no-nonsense guide

Published 2026-06-19 · Updated 2026-10-25 · 9 min read · By the Travlys visa team

B1/B2, F-1, H-1B — the full 2026 US visa playbook for Indians. DS-160, documents, the 5 missions across India, interview prep and what we do for ₹19,940.

What category do you actually need?

The first decision is the visa category, not the documents. Most Indian applicants fall into one of four buckets:

• B1/B2 (Visitor) — tourism, family visit, medical, business meetings, conferences. The default for short stays up to 6 months.
• F-1 (Student) — full-time study at an SEVP-certified US institution with a valid I-20 form. F, M and J applicants (and H-1B and H-4 applicants) must set all social media accounts to public before the interview.
• H-1B (Specialty Worker) — sponsored employment for roles requiring at least a bachelor's degree, with an approved I-129 petition.
• L-1 (Intracompany Transfer) — managers, executives or specialised employees moving to a US office of a multinational.

Picking the wrong category is the most expensive mistake — once you file under the wrong route, you pay the MRV fee again to switch. We spend a 20-minute consultation on this before filing.

The DS-160: where Indian applicants slip up

The DS-160 form is the formal US visa application. It is online, 200+ questions, and once submitted it cannot be edited. The barcode confirmation page is what you carry to the interview.

Common errors we see on first-time DS-160s:

• Date format confusion — DS-160 is MM/DD/YYYY, Indian habit is DD/MM. A wrong DOB on the form is a refusal trigger.
• Listing employer addresses without their current operating address, only the registered one.
• Naming a US contact who has no genuine connection to the travel purpose.
• Photograph dimensions — must be exactly 5cm × 5cm with neutral background and no glasses.
• Inconsistent travel history — what is on your passport stamps and what you declare on DS-160 must match exactly.

We walk through every answer with you before you submit. There is no fee for editing a DS-160 if you have not paid the MRV yet — we use that window properly.

Documents that actually matter

The official US visa document list is small. What actually decides the interview is everything you bring beyond the minimum. For B1/B2 in particular, the consular officer wants to see:

• Bank statements for the last 6 months — not just the balance, but the income flow.
• Income Tax Returns for the last 2 financial years.
• Employment letter on company letterhead with salary, leave approval, and the dates of your trip.
• For self-employed applicants: GST registration, business income statements, and a cover letter explaining the business.
• Property ownership documents, fixed deposits, or other proof of ties to India.
• Cover letter that walks the officer through your trip: why now, who you are visiting, where you are staying, and when you are returning.

The 5 US missions in India: where you actually go

Indian applicants do not all interview at the same place. Jurisdiction follows your state of residence:

• US Embassy New Delhi — Delhi, UP, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, J&K, Ladakh, HP, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh
• US Consulate Mumbai — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, MP, Chhattisgarh
• US Consulate Chennai — Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry
• US Consulate Kolkata — West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Sikkim, NE states
• US Consulate Hyderabad — Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha

You can book biometrics (VAC) and the interview in two different cities — for example, VAC in Bengaluru and interview in Chennai. We pick the combination with the earliest available date.

The interview: what 4 minutes actually decide

A US visa interview is short — typically 3–5 minutes of questions for B1/B2. The consular officer reads the DS-160 on their screen, asks 4–6 questions, and decides. Documents are rarely opened unless the officer is on the fence.

The questions are not random. They probe three things:

• Purpose — what are you doing in the US and how long?
• Funds — who is paying for the trip and can they show it?
• Ties — what brings you back to India?

Travlys runs two mock interviews before you walk in — one cold, one polished — so the real one feels familiar. Most Indian applicants who fail do so because they are surprised by basic questions, not because they have a weak file.

What Travlys does and what it costs

Service fee starts at ₹19,940 for B1/B2. This covers DS-160 review and submission, document checklist tailored to your profile, two mock-interview sessions, VAC + embassy appointment booking, and WhatsApp support until decision.

You pay the US embassy MRV fee ($185, ~₹18,100 at the current consular rate of ₹98 per dollar) separately to the embassy — that money goes to the US government, not us, and is non-refundable regardless of the outcome.

Total estimate, including everything: about ₹38,000 for a B1/B2 visa from India. The total is the same whether you live in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad or anywhere else — there is no location surcharge.