What Do the Stars Below a U.S. Visa Photo Mean?
This article explores the meaning of stars below a U.S. visa photo, citing a State Department Q&A stating they have no significance, and discusses online rumors and personal opinions that stars are unrelated to risk.
Many people have noticed that stars appear below their U.S. visa photo; it is said that most people have two stars. What do these stars actually mean?
Various claims circulate online; the only official explanation comes from the transcript of a 2012 visa Q&A webchat on the State Department's official website:
Q: […] There is a star or * symbol below the bottom left of my photo, does that signify anything? A: The star symbol is not of any significance.
In other words, this star has no particular meaning.
On a heavily visited African forum, someone claiming to be a U.S. embassy official responded to this question:
Wow, you have a keen eye! [smiley] Those are computer-generated features that help make each visa as unique as the people who obtain them. [smiley]
A common rumor is that stars represent risk: more stars mean higher risk, fewer stars mean lower risk. Since there is no official explanation, it is of course impossible to 100% confirm or refute this claim, but I personally think it is complete nonsense.
Also, see this answer on Quora:
As far as I know (and I know a lot about visas), it means absolutely nothing. There’s a rumor going around that refuses to die that stars have something to do with “risk factor”. Bullshit. Bull. Shit. We don’t give visas to high-risk individuals, and if we did we certainly wouldn’t put anything obvious on a visa to let you know we’re onto you.
