On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: It could be changed, from what I understand of USCIS in the US is that they were going to open up in june 4th for new appointments but they might have booked up really quickly. But again it’s also possible that once they see that the demand for interviews is very high they could end up hiring more employees, so it’s really a matter of resources whether or not they have the people to do the interviews.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: I think that you would have a better chance of getting your visa approved with the fellowship specially if you bring it up and you’re able to talk about it in a way that allows the visa officer to understand you, but i also wouldn’t worry too much if you end up having to defer your admission for any reason. You can probably even then mention during the interview that hey i did have a fellowship but because i had to defer, i wasn’t able to keep it and i think we would understand that but again, make sure that you keep it simple and allow them to understand you.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: I would say you want the amount in i20 and maybe a little bit more. Just so that we trust that you’re at the right amount that you would need. It’s always good to have a little bit of extra so we know that there’s a wiggle room.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: It’s about how you act during your visa interview , are you confident, are you able to explain your plan. Because a lot of times how we make these decisions is really by observation and how we feel when we look at you, i know it sounds like very difficult to describe, but that’s really how we do it because we’re so used to the job, so i could look at the person and in three seconds I can tell you that okay here are where your weaknesses are, here are some of the things you need to work on and you just really want to be prepared for that visa interview.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: I think it depends on why you only have one. If you have a really good reason it’s probably fine, if you can’t explain to them why you only applied to one university, then maybe not. You want to be prepared for every type of visa question that an officer might ask you so i would make sure that you know what to say.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: I would say if you have a loan and if you can show some savings that’s always helpful, because sometimes we want to know that you’re not fully depending on just the loan. Sometimes we want to know, in case you really all of a sudden have this extra expense, can somebody in your family help you out. I think it’s always a good idea to show it. If you can’t show it that’s fine too, it’s a personal situation, I would not like to try to fake a bank account or anything just to show you have extra money, you just have to be truthful and confident in your personal situation.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: So I answered that during the presentation.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: It doesn’t matter for the US visa interview, just the approved loan from a known player out there is enough.
So it’s just the approved loan from one of the known players out there that is what you require.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: You should be applying a couple of months before you decide to attend school in the US.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: I don’t think that you’ll have a higher chance of rejection because you’re attending the first quarter online.
It’s really difficult to know because we just don’t know how when they’re going to open up their interviews, hopefully soon, but again we don’t know.
I don’t think so, i think work experience is good and especially if you’re getting a higher degree like a masters degree or phd, I think you know having work experience is very normal.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: I don’t think so, if we know that schools charge different amounts, if that was one of your reasons for selecting the school, I would probably not bring that up unless you’re asked about that but usually it shouldn’t matter.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: This year you can, normally you can’t, but this year you can because of the coronavirus.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: It depends. It could but not if you handled the visa interview well.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: I wish that visa officers, the state department could work with you at universities in such a seamless way so that it makes it super easy for students but unfortunately that’s just not the case. Every university decides to do things a little bit differently. We can’t really control how they decide who is eligible for cpt , who is eligible for all the benefits of fall semester, so that’s really a conversation that you need to have with your school. And unfortunately visa offices don’t really change their rules just based on what universities or what students want.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: I think having a good explanation of what you’ve been doing during that gap year would help. Maybe you’ve been doing an internship or decided to get some work experience. Again it’s going to be important how you explain that gap year and not necessarily so important that you took a gap year
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: I would say that it’s probably not the gap year that impacts your ability, again, it’s how you explain that year.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: I would say to make sure that you’re able to explain in a very succinct way why you are getting a second master’s degree, you already have a first masters degree. I know a lot of these officers who ask this question like you clearly already have a masters but why would you need another one, maybe it’s a totally different topic, maybe you decided to make a career switch and you have a good reason for it, but again you want to explain.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: No you don’t have to but i think if you had a plan for afterwards, it’s a good idea to maybe mention it but again you don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to, if you dont know of your plans afterwards, you can be honest and say you’re not sure you don’t have a plan, you’re not sure what your plans are, but you can always create a plan and as these officers we understand that plans can change later.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: It’s really difficult to know because as far as I know they have not provided instructions. Once visa interviews start up again in India, just please make sure that you follow all the instructions from the biometrics to the visa interview.
On behalf of Ms. Mandy, Ex- US Visa Counsel: Nobody knows that is the million dollar question.