US visa officials rejected Indian entrepreneur Swapnil Srivastav’s application due to a lack of ties to his home country.
An Indian entrepreneur has claimed that he was denied a US visa after officials ruled he lacked sufficient ties to his home country. Swapnil Srivastav, founder of a sustainable bamboo kidswear brand with $12 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), shared the setback on social media. Despite employing over 100 people and securing top-tier venture capital backing, Srivastav was deemed disconnected from the country his business actively serves.
Srivastav explained that having been born and raised in India, he has strong family and cultural ties, making it difficult for him to understand exactly what US officials were looking for in his visa application.
“Got denied a US visa today. Reason: “Not enough ties to home country.” I built a Series A company from scratch, employ 100+ people, have backing from top VCs and investors, and serve millions of Indian families through our brand,” Srivastav said in an X (formerly Twitter) post.
Srivastav sought advice from those who were similarly denied their visa as to what could be done differently in the next attempt.
“Apparently, that’s not enough ties. Anyway, founders are used to hearing “no.” Will reapply after some time. If you’ve been through this and eventually got approved, would love to hear your suggestions.”
Social Media Reactions
As the post gained traction, social media users empathised with Srivastav, sharing similar experiences, while others suggested a workaround for the issue.
“This is unfortunate, a friend of mine spent four years in the US got O1 Visa and when she went back to India, she was denied on similar grounds,” said one user, while another added: “Wish you luck for your next application. I was rejected 5 times before I got US stamp on my passport.”
A third commented: “Have seen this trick working in most of the cases. Book any Event ticket happening in the USA. That should be your purpose of visit. This eliminates a number of questions and make smooth process. As it makes sure once event is done, you’ll fly back to your home country. Eg. Want to experience a FIFA WC match.”
A fourth said: “Yeah same stuff. They don’t even check your bank balance lol. Whatever. Going to Morocco instead. Will apply later when things calm down maybe. Not that I need to go there for anything important.”
