There is a page on wikipedia that lists visa requirements for Indian citizens. As is clearly evident, there are only a few countries where an Indian can happily go to without a visa. As you would expect, the USA is not one of them.

I had been told that having a visa to the United States may be an advantage for a trip to Latin America for the following reasons:

1. Direct flights to South America tend to be more expensive than getting there after a stopover in the US
2. Many Latin American countries are more likely to grant you a visa if you already have a US visa
3. For some countries, you don’t even need to get a separate visa if you already have a valid American visa

I already had a US L1 visa valid for two more years, but it would cease to be valid as soon as I quit my current job. So I had to arrange for a visitors visa (B1/B2). Moreover, I needed to get it soon when I still had a job. My chances of getting it later as a jobless backpacker with not a lot of savings to my name would have been rather low I presumed.

I got a visa interview appointment at the US consulate in Chennai in the 2nd week of December (closer to my last day at work than I would’ve liked). I had to really hustle to gather all the necessary documents in time. I reached Chennai on the evening of 6th December, and rented a bed in the dormitory in the main bus station itself.

The next morning I was at the consulate on time, and after going through the customary security checks, waited for my turn for the visa interview. When I eventually got to the window, I greeted the consulate officer and handed over my passport along with the mandatory forms. The consulate officer asked me for how long I had been working for Motorola, and I said since December 2004. She seemed satisfied, after which she only asked me some simple yes or no questions before telling me that my visa was approved. I couldn’t believe how simple it had been. She hadn’t asked me to show her even one of the supporting documents that I had spent so much time and effort arranging for :)

But I wasn’t complaining. I was on my way to getting a US visa now, and that was a big hurdle out of the way. The passport arrived by courier in a few days and they had given me a 10 year multiple entry visa - even better than I’d hoped.