My Visa experience

Post admit / Pre-departure
#1

Visa Interview experience
Date: 11 June, 2019
Time: 8:30 am
Consulate: Hyderabad
Status: Approved
VO was a middle aged man.

VO: Hi, Good morning , please pass your passport and i20 form.
Me : Complied
VO: Boston university , Masters In?
Me: Mechanical Engineering
Vo: Your higher level of education?
Me: Bachelors in Mechanical
Vo: So why Boston University?
Me: Gave the answer
Vo: Your undergrad score?
Me: Stated
VO: What are your plans after graduating?
Me: I replied that I want to work as mechanical engineer back in India.
Vo: Who are the sponsor’s of your education program?
Me: I took an education loan
VO: What is the occupation of your parents?
Me: Gave the answer
Subsequently the VO says, ‘I am approving your visa.’
After that I thanked him.
Vo : Study hard. Bye!

#2

Hi @Preeti… Congratulations for the successful visa interview. Thank you for reaching out to this discussion forum to share your experience. It is our sincere request to you to kindly narrate the whole story for a holistic understanding.

#3

What is your i20 amount?

#4

Here is another Visa Experience:
Visa interview experience

Consulate: kolkata

Date- 2nd sept 10am

Status: approved

VO: hello please pass ur i20

Me: good morning ma’am and then passed both (fall and spring, since i got a new one for spring)

VO: what was ur master’s thesis on?

Me:…told

VO: When did u finished ur masters (typing something on screen)

Me: 2019

VO: what were u doing since then

Me: working as a RA in … (Organization name)

VO: are you married

Me: no ma’am

VO: how will you quarantine urself in USA

Me- 14days in home quarantine upon arrival

VO: so you will be a TA or RA

Me- TA

VO- I’m keeping your passport for stamping.

Me: (couldn’t process at first but then smiled and thanked her)

Key point is to be confident and maintain eye contact throughout the process and last but not the least answer in short sentences…

P.S. i m going for a PhD in Biomedical engineering in Florida state university

#copid_from_facebook_random_group

#5

Here is another
Visa Experience:
1st attempt
Status: Approved
Consulate: Mumbai
Slot: 12pm 9th September 2020
Counter no: 36
In time: around 10:40 am
Out time: 11:05 am

VO is a lady in her early 30s, looks chilled.

University: Texas Tech University, Ms in Computer Science.

Me: Good Morning ma’am. (I’m wearing a Face shield and mask, didn’t ask me to remove)

VO: Good Morning, can you please give me your documents, sanitize your hands.

Me: gave my documents (Passport, I20 and SEVIS fee) *sanitised my hands *

VO: asked me to put fingers on finger prints machine (my hands are still wet with sanitizer :sweat_smile:)
Me: placed my fingers for finger prints as VO instructed.

VO: So, why did you choose Texas Tech University.
Me: The University has well structured course curriculum that offers courses like data analytics, Machine Learning and Data Mining which are career interests and the University has a dedicated lab for data analysis called * interrupted typed something in computer*

VO: How many universities did you apply and what are your admits?
Me: Applied for 8 universities and got admit from 5 universities and named them.

VO: Who’s sponsoring for your education?
Me: My father is sponsoring for my education and I have a finance loan by prodigy which is offering 32,600 per year (I forgot to mention dollars😅)
VO: what does your father do?
Me: told

VO: Are you aware of the quarantine, any arrangements made?
Me: told, I emailed to Unit Manager regarding this and got information that there is nothing like quarantine unless I show symptoms.

VO: *looking on the screen * You are working in TCS, so, since how long have you been working?
Me: told

VO: Do you have any savings?
Me: I don’t have enough savings for master’s, I have around xx in my account. *Both laughing *

VO: what about your father?
Me: my Father has savings of xx lacs.

VO: you told you have prodigy loan, how much amount?
Me: it’s 32,600 per month (forgot to mention dollars again🤦🏻‍♂)

VO: Dollars right (smiling)
Me: yes ma’am, 32,600 dollars per year😁

VO: okay sir, your Visa is approved have a nice day. *Passed me a white slip that has instructions about tracking (I didn’t see it properly) *
Me: Thank you ma’am (I was in shock, took a pause and told) you made my day.

The interview hardly lasted for 3 mins.

#6

Here is another
Visa Experience
Slot- 9:45
Entry time- 8:45
Exit time- 9:49
Status- Approved
VO was a young man in his early 30’s was standing and looked in a hurry but was patient enough to listen to all my answers. Was very amicable.
Me- Good morning officer. How are you doing?
VO- Good morning, I am great how are you?
Me- I am great thanks for asking.
VO- So what are you going for?
Me- I am going to pursue my masters in Engineering Management.
VO- Great! So how many colleges did you apply to?
Me- I had applied to 8 universities and I got an admit from 4 of those.
VO- Could you name them please?
Me- Told
VO- So why did you choose NEU?
Me- The course that I am going for is one of the most popular courses at NEU. It’s interdisciplinary in nature so it’s flexibility allows me to take courses from both the engineering and management school so it’s like an industry specific management program. Moreover NEU is ranked 1 for Co-ops and internships so it focuses on experiential learning and it’s great to have hands on industry experience even before I graduate.
VO- Great but how are you going to fund this?
Me- Both my parents will be funding my education they have total savings of xx that they are willing to contribute towards my education and along with that I’ve taken a student loan of xx.
VO- What do your parents do?
Me- Both of them have their own telecommunications business set up here in india.
VO- Both have separate?
Me- yes
VO- What do they do in that?
Me- Explained both my parents business.
VO- Have you applied to any distant education programs in 2014?
Me- No I haven’t (it was a weird question because I haven’t and I wasn’t expecting a question like that)
VO- (opened the first page of my passport saw the stamps of my international trips)Have you lived in New Zealand?
Me- (I have a permanent residency of NZ) No I have never lived there but I have a permanent residency of NZ and I have been there once in 2017 to spend my winter vacations.
VO- Great. Can you remove your mask?
Me- Removed
VO- Matched me with my passport photograph and told me to put my fingers for scanning.
VO- Congratulations Nikita! I am approving your student visa. Do carry your I20 with you and please follow all the quarantine procedures.
Me- Thank you so much officer. I really appreciate it!
VO- My pleasure have a nice time in the US.

PRO TIP
Be you and be confident know all that is required. It’s an easy process and is more like a conversation but hearing the people infront of you can make you nervous. The room I was in had 15-20 people ahead of me and all those people were getting rejected which made me really anxious. Just before my interview 2 people got accepted those were the ones that were before me and those are the only acceptances I know of.

#7

I wished him good morning he didn’t respond
Vo:pass me your i20 and passport
Me:passed it
Vo:why US
I Didn’t hear clearly asked to repeat again
Me:to purse masters in information technology in Illinois tech.
Vo:why this university??
Me:answered about course and intrest
Vo:who is fund ur education?
Me:my father has savings as xx lakhs .I have taken education loan of xx from hdfc credila and univesity also offered me the scholorship
Vo:what is your father doing?
Me:answered my fathers job
Vo:do you have relatives in US?
ME:my elder sister
Vo:what she is doing?
Me:working as the quality specialist in sap labs
Vo:share her DOB
ME:Answered
Vo:when is her visa approved?
Me:said the date
Vo:i can’t find her details.
Me:her visa was in Hyderabad consulate
My sister also graduated from the same university.
vo:the course is offered in other universities also why only this university?
Me:answered fumbled a lot
Vo :rejected

#8
#9

Chennai consulate
Visa - approved
11am slot
There was a long queue for Chennai slots…reached there by 10:15. Came out by 12
Documents asked - i20 and passport

Questions they asked me:

  1. When did you graduate after doing btech?
  2. What did you do in this 1 year gap after btech?
  3. Why ASU?
  4. What will you do with a degree from ASU?
  5. Do you have any siblings in the US? (My ans was yes)
  6. What is she doing?
  7. Where does she live?
  8. Did you travel internationally in the past 14 days?
  9. Are you planning to travel internationally before going to US?
  10. What did you do in Europe? ( I’ve once went on a tour)
  11. How are you going to quarantine yourself once you reach US?
  12. Are you planning to come back to India and join the same company you are working now?
  13. Who is your sponsor?
  14. Where are they working?
  15. Have you ever applied for US visa before?

My interviewer was a lady. She asked the same questions to guy before me. For him she asked if he had any backlogs as well.

In another counter the interviewer was more sweet and she didn’t ask these many questions :sweat_smile:

#10

Visa experience
Date : 20 October 2020
Consulate: Mumbai
IN at 9.15
OUT at 10 am
Appointment time : 10 am
Program : Computer Science
Interview duration: 1-2 Min

VO was an Indian American lady

(1) Uhmmm you already have a B1/B2 Visa ( I said yes)

(2) how many admits do you have? And your second choice of College

(3) How are you going to fund your education

Your visa has been Approved

No documents Asked didn’t even care about what course i am going

#11

Visa experience Chennai consulate -12:00 Pm Date : 19 Oct ,2020. Went around 11.20 , glad didn’t come early because there is a line that opens exactly at 11.30. Stood in the hot sun for quite a while

vo was a young American lady, around 27 years

Visa experience
Good afternoon
Pass me your passport and i20.
Passed
VO: 1.when did you graduate?
-2016
VO: 2.what have you been doing till then?

  • I have been working in GE appliances.
    VO: 3.Why masters now?
  • I have been working in the supply chain domain for past 4.5 years. My area of work is planning and forecasting, I want to know how other modules are related to this.
    Vo: Oh great, did you apply to any other Univ?
  • yes Drexel university and utd and I got admit from both
    Vo:why not Drexel ? I chose utd because its ranked top most by Gartner for supply chain .Besides Drexel in philadelphia is a cold place, since I am from a tropical country I chose Dallas since its warmer
  • Vo 5. It says sponsors in i20, who are those ? My parents are sponsoring me. I am also taking a loan, Apart from this I have my own savings since I’ve worked for some time Vo:okay what do your parents do?
  • told them
    Vo: 8 what plans after you graduate?
  • I plan to come back to India and apply for a leadership role in a product based company whose supply chains are not very optimized.
    Vo:9 how will you fly to Dallas?
  • I read India has made air bubble pact with 13 countries, Out of that Uk and germany is present. I will select a flight transiting through these countries
    Vo:What quarantine plans?
  • I plan to quarantine in a hotel for 14 days
    Vo: Okay I am approving your visa but this is a bit early. Your class start date is Jan 19 , which means you’ll have to attend an interview two months earlier from your earliest admission date! This might be in administrative processing, you might have to come again!.. at this point my heart sunk…because I got the digital i20 with updated class date just 4 days before… utd has changed class date from 11 to 19 jan Vo : Let me check with my manager if I can still stamp your passport… And then she disappeared for 10 mins ! Those 10 mins were so scary, I was thinking what if she changes her mind :cry: luckily she comes back and says, my manager said I can stamp now itself with the earliest admission date based on your i20, you will get your passport in 3 to 5 working days. also you good news is that don’t need a transit visa, you can fly without any issues

Thank you ma’am :smile:

#12

Visa experience
Mumbai consulate
Date-21/10/2020
Slot time- 11:00
Entered at 8:45
Out : 9:00
Counter : 33
Status approved
UNI- Arizona State University

Me: Good morning sir.
VO: Good morning, pass me your i20 and passport, sevis receipt
Me: sure sir.
VO: What’s your undergrad qualification
Me: Bachelors in Information science engineering in xxx university
VO: percentage?
Me: 64.5
VO: Did you have any backlogs
Me: No sir , I didn’t had any backlogs
VO: What do your parents do
Me: Dad is an employee in xx company and xx post and mom is a homemaker
VO:Congratulations, your visa is approved
Me: Thank you sir

Visa interview lasted for less than a minute

#13

Visa experience
Chennai
11.00 AM
Approved.

Where did do your UG?
Why information systems?
Why Neu?
Which all universities did you apply to?
Who is sponsering you?
Where will you be quaranting?
Do you know the quarantine rules?
Your visa is approved.

#14

Visa experience
Chennai
11.00 AM
Approved.

Where did do your UG?
JSS
Why information systems and why neu?
I intent to specialise in data analytics and the courses offered in IS for data analytics is more compared to all the other admits I received.
Which all universities did you apply to?
6( told the names but forgot one of the universities names)
Who is sponsering you?
My parents. They make around 16LPA
Where will you be quaranting?
Will book an Airbnb or quarantine myself in the university dorm.
Do you know the quarantine rules?
Yes 14 day quarantine upon arrival to the us
Your visa is approved.

#15

Consulate: Mumbai
Status: Approved
Date : 20th October
Appointment Time: 9:30 AM
In time : 8.15 AM
Out Time: 9.30 AM
Duration of interview: Less than a Minute

VO was an American bald guy

Questions:

  1. What’s your undergrad degree in?
  2. GPA?
  3. What does your Father do?

Visa Approved!

#16

F1 Visa experience

Mumbai consulate

Date-21/10/2020

Slot time- 9:30

Entered at 8:45

Out: 9:10

Counter: 33

Status: approved

UNI- Arizona State University

VO is a lady in '30s

Me: Good morning Ma’am. How are you?

VO: (just nods) Pass me your i20 and passport, sevis receipt

Me: sure ma’am.

VO: Which university? How many admits?

Me: I am going to Arizona state university. I have applied to 5 universities and got admit from ASU and XYZ University.

VO: ( didn’t talk for 5 minutes. she was typing and reading the screen and then) Are you working in Wipro? tell me about your work.

Me: Yes ma’am, I am working as a software engineer at Wipro. I am a frontend web and mobile developer (stopped me)

VO: Tell me about your funding

Me: My Parents will be sponsoring my education. we have combined savings of 25.7 lakhs. also, I have a secured educational loan for 50 lakhs from hdfc

VO: You Visa is approved

Me; Thank you, ma’am, You made my day

#17

Slot Time - 9:30 AM

Consulate - Chennai

Went in at 9:15 out at 10

Visa Status - Approved

VO was a woman in her thirties

She only asked for my passport.

Which school and which course? -

Why this university?

I gave a very simple answer stating co-ops and some ML research groups I was interested in working with.

Because I said they had a good co-op program, she asked me how co-op works and I explained that we get to intern and take classes.

How will you pay for it?

What are your parents’ annual income?

Looked at my passport and saw that I’ve traveled a bit.

Who did you go on all these foreign trips with?

Have you been out of India recently? - no

Do you plan on going anywhere before leaving to the US? - no

Do you know the quarantine rules? - I mentioned I would self-quarantine for 14 days and then also explained NEU’s requirements for tests on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th day upon arrival.

Congratulations your visa has been approved and she handed me a green slip with instructions on passport collection. After which I thanked her and (very stupidly ) asked her if she still had my passport or not. She showed me 3 fingers which I assume were to indicate that it would be ready for collection in three days xD

#18

Chennai consulate

Date - 21/10/20

Slot - 11:30

IN Time - 11:30

OUT Time - 12:10

Counter - 23

University - Northeastern

Status: Approved

VO was an American lady in her late '20s

Me: Good morning Ma’am, how are you doing today?

VO: Hi, Pass me your passport please

Me: sure ma’am

(Types for 20 secs)

VO: Can I have your i20 please?

Me: Yes ma’am, Here they are

(Types for 10 secs)

VO: Why Northeastern?

Me: Explained about the course curriculum and how it matches my field of interest along with the flexibility of electives provided by the university

VO: Okay, So what’s the highest educational qualification you have currently?

Me: I have a bachelor’s of Technology in Instrumentation and Control Engineering

VO: Good, From which University?

Me: From xyz university ma’am

VO: What is your undergrad GPA?

Me: I was graded at x.xx ma’am

VO: Did you give GRE?

Me: Yes ma’am

VO: What’s your score?

Me: I scored xyz ma’am

(Types for around 40 secs)

VO: Okay, So I see you graduated in 2015, What were you doing since then?

Me: Yes ma’am, Eversince I graduated I started working as a software engineer at xyz company and I got passionate about programming and have been working in different projects across various domains like Banking, SCM, Ecommerce and now I feel like upgrading my skills set with latest technologies to advance in my career to get better opportunities and roles when I come back here ma’am.

VO: (with a smile)Have you been outside India in the last two months?

Me: No ma’am, I haven’t been anywhere outside India ma’am.

VO: How are you gonna fund your education?

Me: Both my parents will sponsor for my education ma’am and apart from that I also have my personal savings which I’ll be using for my living expenses( VO Interrupted)

VO: Can you place the 4 fingers of your right hand on the scanner please?

Me: Sure ma’am(Placed it firmly)

VO: ( Was looking at me) Do you have any Quarantine plans once you land in US?

Me: Yes ma’am, Upon arrival I’ll self Quarantine myself for 15 days at a hotel or at my university’s accommodation ma’am.

VO: Congratulations!! I’m approving your visa!!

Me: Thank you ma’am, you made my day!!

Right before me 3 people got rejected for F1 visa because of stumbling and giving out textbook answers which made me quite nervous in the beginning while I was awaiting my turn, but then once my interview started I became quite confident and got my flow from the beginning.

Throughout the interview the VO glanced at me just twice and was typing full time in between questions, It was only during my last question that she looked at me continuously while I was answering.

I was just focusing on the question and was maintaining eye contact the whole time throughout the interview. I just gave the precise answer that came to my mind at that very moment just as we all do when we interact with someone for the first time.

(although I had prepared, I didn’t use any)

Feel it as a natural or candid interaction and not as an interview, that way we don’t feel nervous and that helped me a lot while answering.

I hope this helps guys!!! All the very best!!

#19

Visa experience:

Consulate - Delhi

Appointment Time - 8.45 AM Oct 15, 2020

Course and University - MS in CS, Stony Brook University (Spring 21)

Status - Approved

Reached the embassy around 7.45 am and waited outside till the entry which started at around 8.40. Again waited inside for 10-15 minutes.

VO: Good Morning sir, please pass me your i20 and passport

Me: Good Morning sir, sure

VO: Where are you going?

Me: To stony brook university

VO: What for?

Me: For Masters in computer science

VO: Why this university?

Me: told about the specialisation and professor

VO: How many other universities did you apply?

Me: Told

VO: What was your second choice?

Me: Told

VO: Did you get admit in all of the others

Me: No sir, 3 of them (out of 7 I told)

VO: Who’s funding you?

Me: (Told about parents savings and loan)

VO: What do your parents do?

Me: Told

VO: Have you ever been to the US?

Me: No sir.

VO: Any relatives/siblings in the States?

Me: No sir.

VO: Please verify your fingerprints, put your left hand on the scanner.

Finally, “Your Visa is Approved”

Then he asked to take care of the quarantine measures and not to enter the US 30 days before the course start date.

My interview lasted for a bit longer, around 10 minutes as he switched off his mic and started discussing with some other person. He did that multiple times in between. I was kind of scared but didn’t lose any confidence. Later on he felt sorry for the same because I was the first one to interview for the day and he was just setting up things. I was not asked to show any other documents except from i20 and passport, confidence and clarity is the key. I hope it helps. All the best!!

#20

Consulate : Hyderabad

Time : 8:45am slot , entered 8:00am into embassy

Vo: 30 - 35 aged American guy

VO: good morning

Me: good morning sir

VO: can you show me ur passport?

Me: yeah sure. ( He sees the barcode that is attached to the passport)

VO: so , ur going to do master’s in computer science!!

Me: yes sir

Vo: which University?

Me: Arizona State University

Vo: are u employed ?

Me: no sir, I just graduated.

Vo: when did u graduate?

Me: June 2020

Vo: what is ur final year project?

Me: (never expected this question!:joy::joy: (mumbled a lot).

Vo: what technologies did you use?

Me: said technologies used !:joy: ( Instead of random forest I told rain forest :rofl:!:sweat_smile::rofl:

Here I started to feel that, I have to come back again ! :sob:

Vo typing for 2 mins…

Vo: who is sponsoring your education?

Me: my parents are sponsoring and I have taken a loan of 20lakhs too.

Vo: how much do they earn ?

Me: told

Vo: what do they do?

Me: my father is a gazatted head master in zphs high school and mom is a xxx industries distributor for whole sale and retail business .

Vo: sry what? What is xxx company?

Me: told

Vo: types for 2-3 mins, can you give your loan documents?

Me: “gives loan documents” …

Vo: what are ur quarantine plans ?

Me: told

Vo: your visa is approved pls put the passport in the box, have a good day.

Me: thank you sir, puts the passport and again says " thank you so much sir" !:joy: