A startup founder not only shared his visa success story on social media but also listed nine questions a visa officer asked him and his wife at the Mumbai consulate before finally saying those golden words: “Your visas are approved”.
Pranav Date and his wife, Shruti Patil, travelled across multiple countries while participating in the SAS 1 Million Mile Challenge, despite never having held a US visa. They hadn’t applied earlier because Date had quit his job to build a startup, wasn’t drawing a salary, didn’t have any employment documents, and there was no urgent reason to apply for one earlier.
“We practically lived out of airports,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
However, when Turkish Airlines introduced their Million Miles Challenge or more commonly fly across 6 continents challenge this year, the couple thought of applying for US visas.
He explained his situation, no income and startup founder status, to someone from a visa assistance platform. “That doesn’t matter. Apply. They don’t care as much as people think,” one person, Abhishek, from the platform, advised him.
Date went ahead with the application, adding, “He hand-held us through the entire process from DS-160 to appointment preparation. No documents needed. Just honest answers and clear communication.”
Visa interview at Mumbai Consulate
Date and his wife chose the Mumbai Consulate for their interview. The officer asked them nine key questions:
1- Why are you going?
2- Are you visiting someone?
3- Where does your US friend work?
4- Where have you travelled before?
5- What do you do? (both of us)
6- Who is funding your trip?
7- Are you married?
8- Do you have kids?
9- What’s your favourite loyalty program?
The ninth question, which the startup founder described as the “bouncer”, caught him off guard. Why? Well, because nowhere in his DS-160 form he mentioned about his startup. DS-160 is the mandatory electronic visa application form one needs to fill out when applying for US nonimmigrant visas.
“I answered: United, Air India Maharaja Club, and KrisFlyer. She said all of them? Yes! Depends on where I’m going. West: United; Domestic: Air India; East: KrisFlyer,” he recalled.
This question came up because the officer had asked them what they do, and they explained they help people optimise “reward points, credit cards, flights, hotels, everything”.
Then came the golden words from the visa officer’s mouth with a smile: “Your visas are approved. Safe travels.”
He also revealed that they completed biometrics on July 10, the visa interview on July 29, and received their passports on August 2.
‘LinkedIn lunatics coded post,’ says social media
After going through his post, one social media user said, “VistaraClub was pretty good. Got premium economy upgrades a few times.”
“Sir, I have an ICICI emerald credit card (Not a metal card), it has 4 Lakh points, what’s the best method to use them, my domestic travel is moderate to high? Pls help,” a user posted this question in the comments section seeking his advice.
Some even found his post on visa experience a bit promotional: “I’ll be honest, as much as I love the energy behind this post, it screams of an ad, and such posts can be dangerous clickbait. It’s common sense that the whole point of the DS-160 is to ensure that you’ll come back, telling them you’re building a digital product? Good luck.”
A few even called it a “LinkedIn lunatics coded post”.