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Build a printable B-1/B-2 cover letter with your itinerary, funding, DS-160 details and a 214(b) ties statement.
The USA Visa Cover Letter Builder writes a B-1/B-2 cover letter that states your purpose, dates, itinerary, who is paying and — the part refusals turn on — why you will return home. Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act presumes every visitor-visa applicant intends to immigrate until they prove otherwise, so the letter is structured around that burden. It also checks the practical timing: the passport six-month rule, the one-year life of the US$185 MRV fee receipt, the DS-160 confirmation format, and the gap between your interview and your flight.
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Ends with an explicit ties-and-return statement, which is what the consular officer is weighing.
Flags a passport short of six months past departure and an MRV receipt that expires before the interview.
The letter says plainly that CBP sets the I-94 admission period, which reads as an informed applicant.
It is not required, and many interviews are decided in a few minutes on your answers rather than your paperwork. It is still worth carrying: it organises your dates, funding and ties on one page, and a US host or employer can attach it to their own invitation letter.
Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act presumes that anyone applying for a nonimmigrant visa intends to immigrate. You must show a temporary purpose and strong ties abroad — job, family, property, financial commitments — to overcome it. Most visitor-visa refusals are issued under 214(b), and reapplying only helps when your circumstances or evidence have genuinely changed.
The MRV application fee for B-1/B-2 and other non-petition-based visas is US$185, and the receipt is valid for one year from the date of payment — you must schedule your interview within that year or pay again. The fee is non-refundable whether or not the visa is issued.
The visa does not decide that. It lets you travel to a port of entry, where a Customs and Border Protection officer sets your admission period and records it on Form I-94 — usually up to six months for a B-2 visitor. Always check your I-94 record after arrival, because the date on it, not the visa expiry, governs how long you may stay.