Coming to America

Ani was approved for a visa to the U.S. yesterday. His excitement yesterday was surpassed by his excitement today when he discovered that he'd been granted a 10-year, multiple entry visa. These days, this is no small feat.

As I've recently learned, applying for a visa to the U.S. from any country other than the EU countries, is quite a process, even for just a tourist visa. The application process involves collecting supporting documentation on your employment, financial history and property ownership. It even culminates in a visa interview, where the documentation is reviewed and the consular officer tries to determine: 1) if you are a terrorist and 2) if you are at risk for staying in the U.S. after your visa has expired. Fortunately, Ani is neither a terrorist nor at risk for staying in the U.S. And I'm sure the fact that he's a government employee helped.

This is quite a contrast to the Indian visa, where you simply need to produce a letter from your employer for a business visa or your plane ticket for a tourist visa. I tried to explain that this is probably because most people have to be convinced to travel to India, so of course the Indian embassy would make it easy, but Ani couldn't seem to understand why someone wouldn't be dying to come here. Those of you who've met him can attest to his undying love of India and somewhat naive belief that it's the greatest country in the world.

But now that he has the U.S. visa, it's time to celebrate. All of his family and friends are excited (and a bit surprised) that he got the visa on his first try. I've heard stories from numerous people about applying and reapplying for a visa to the U.S., some unsuccessful in the end.

According to Indian custom, when something exciting happens in your life (birthdays, promotions, babies, you name it), you have to treat everyone else, instead of the other way around. So I'm sure he'll be spending the next week or so treating his family and friends to dinner or drinks. Sounds like fun.