The F1 Visa Interview, The Entire Process

F1 VISA

Finally, the day is here, the US VISA interview day. After waiting for so long, all those efforts put forward starting from practicing Math and English for securing higher marks in SAT’s as well as writing essays and for getting affordable I20s. The day that decides all, whether you get to follow your dream to study abroad or you are declined. The interview which is not even 5 mins at all decides your future and in some ways, it doesn’t seem fair in comparison with all those hard works done to be where you are right now, but it is what it is so deal with it. I do hope personally that someday the system changes and the interviewers will find a better approach, at deciding who gets accepted and who gets denied, rather than asking a few random questions in a very short period.

Your VISA is gonna look like this

Before I begin, I would like to mention that this article is based on my personal experience and the experience of countless other students that I came across during my study abroad process. This is not something that I made up on my own or something very ideal to apply. Also as a fellow student who got a US visa and is currently studying in the United States, you guys need not worry about the reliability of the contents here.

This article is all about knowing what a VISA interview mean, what is it like to give an interview, what are the various parts of the interview, how do we prepare for the interview, and so on. I know there are bunch of site’s out there as well as consultancies and genius people who already have this information but this article is from a student’s perspective and contains literally everything in one big page for your convenience which I believe others do not have so it’s going to be really easy for you to read it. So, let’s begin;

To make it easy for you guys to understand I will break the entire interview process into 5 stages;

1.       Getting your documents ready

This was a bit naïve of me to mention but I did anyway, the first thing to make sure is that you have all those documents with you required for the interview.  I know all of you are serious about the abroad study process and will obviously have your documents, but I have come across many who fail to do so. So, I have shortlisted most of the documents mandatory for you to gather;

·         I20 from the college you got accepted as well as the acceptance letter

·         Passport

·         Transcripts

·         Standardized Tests Certificate (SAT/GRE/TOEFL)

·         Personal Photographs (it’s not mandatory but sometimes it’s required)

·         Certificates of extracurricular activities (not mandatory but it’s a great thing to have)

2.       Scheduling your interview date

Now by this stage you have all the documents required to schedule an interview date. You can schedule an interview 120 days prior to the course starting date mentioned on your I20. You have a total of 3 chances for the interview within a year and if you don’t get through within those 3 chances you must wait for another year. You must make two payments here, the first being a fee for the VISA interview date which is called a visa application fee which is of course non-refundable. You do this online by filling out the DS-160 Form and print out the submitted form which you will be taking to the consulate where your interview takes place. You can just google “DS-160” and you will find the official site of U.S. Department of State where you can also find the guidelines for filling it out. Remember to enter all the credentials correctly and accurately as it is very important so you will not face trouble during the interview day.

The second payment you need to make is the SEVIS fee. It stands for student and exchange visitor information system. You ought to make the payment at least 1 week earlier than the interview day. It is a system used by the US government to keep track on non-immigrant students, exchange visitors and their dependents. After you make the payment print out the receipt as you will need to show it with DS-160 form in the consulate.

NOTE: This may sound a bit vague, but based on my personal experience I found that there are comparatively less number of students who apply during the beginning half of the interview session and relatively more of them got accepted. I had my interview on May 8 so I certainly found it later to be an advantage not only for the interview but also for the fact that it gave me time to do other things after the interview.

3.       Preparing for your interview

After the payments are done and you have scheduled the interview date for the college you wish to attend it’s time to prepare for the interview. It’s the hardest part to do and I know it from my experience. The worst day is the day ahead of the interview when I literally got a headache that I couldn’t manage to sleep properly. There is so much tension in all these free times and there is so few to learn that it literally feels intimidating such small things have such big influences. We literally go through the same things every day for a couple of weeks that it doesn’t feel worth it.

The first thing I am going to say is calm down. The more you go nuts the less it is going to help you. Over this free time before your interview you need to stay normal at all costs. Don’t just focus on the interview, prepare for it but don’t just let it be a thing. Do other normal things that you always did in your life so you don’t feel un-necessary pressure and tensions. For eg: I used to play soccer regularly and go out with my friends like I always did as well as prepared for my interview. Reading 24/7 is not going to help and you know it. Bur also take caution that you stay healthy and in good shape because you don’t want to get in the consulate with a broken arm or a broken leg.

The interview is taken by an American VISA officer who is trained in the discipline of getting out the required information out of you. They can literally tell you what’s going on your mind and whether you are being honest or not but still they act quite friendly. Don’t worry, they won’t ask any question that you don’t know already. The interview is about you going to study in the united states so obviously, it’s going to be about you. You can find in thousands of places and come at the same point that they are interested mainly in your study plans, your major and university choice, your academic and financial capability to study and your motive after completing your studies. Take a deep thinking on these areas and note down what you think is right.

NOTE: Don’t forget to eat and sleep properly before your interview day so that you look fresh and healthy and can make the most out of your interview.

4.       The VISA interview day

Now what I wrote in the first sentence of the article comes into play, the day is in fact here. When it is time, get ready and only arrive about 15 minutes before your interview time because you won’t be allowed to enter early and there is not going to be a proper place to stay while you wait. So, go at the right time with all the documents you need. Wear a decent uniform and not just your regular ones like a shirt and pants. You don't need to over dress by wearing suitsYou will need to show the DS-160 form which comes with an appointment confirmation page to the guard who will then let you in. There is going to be a queue of students before and after you and trust me the numbers will surely be intimidating. Don’t bring unnecessary items other than your documents. You will go through series of security checks and then will be sent to a waiting hall where you will be called upon your turn. When your turn comes first you will give your biometrics (fingerprint scanning) and then will be assigned in a line with applicants waiting for the interview. I remember how difficult it was to breathe in that environment while I was waiting for my turn in the line. Right in front of us, inside the booth where the VISA officers were interviewing the students. The mixed emotions of joy and sorrow, the sheer rate by which students were declined a VISA for a small reason was surely intimidating. Keep your cool and slowly progress. You can drink water and use rest rooms throughout your waiting period. At last you are sent to an officer and your interview starts. Remember to greet him and smile all your way through. Slowly pass the asked documents only and reply only the required answers in a confident way. Don’t feel nervous and hesitate or show any sign of weakness and I know it is easier said than done but the fact is those officers are trained to extract the essential content out of you even if it means taking advantage of your weakness. When the interview is over in a couple of minutes, the officer will give you their answer (either accepted or rejected).

5.       Outcomes of the interview

The outcome of the interview is clear, either accepted or rejected. You might think what an idiot I am to even mention this but there is more to this that meets the eyes. If you are accepted than it’s totally cool but if you are rejected than you need to understand what are the types of rejection and move forward. Let us simply keep these two outcomes in bullets for you to understand;

·         Accepted:

If you are accepted than congratulations, all those weeks of tensions and pressure are over. After your interview, you will need to go to the payment counter and pay another fee for issuing the VISA. You will need to give your passport to them so they can print the actual VISA on your passport and go home or party or wherever you like ... just kidding! You will have to wait for a couple of days before you get your passport. You will get an email from the consulate as to where and when will you be able to retrieve your passport. After that it’s time for further arrangements like shopping, flight tickets and so on. But that is another story for next time.

·         Rejected:

Not everyone gets a VISA, in fact most of the students don’t get it so if you have got one, cherish it. The pain of rejection is very painful because we practiced so hard and waited so long for getting accepted. Everyone had such high hopes yet we managed to disappoint them all. But speaking as someone who was initially rejected, don’t get too depressed or sad just because you were rejected because there is a saying that nothing is over until it is really over. And getting rejected on your interview day isn’t even the halfway of the over line. If you are rejected you will receive either Yellow or Pink paper, mine was pink though. Let’s learn more about those;

a)       Yellow Paper;

If you got an Yellow paper that means you are rejected completely by the officer and the main reason is they didn’t find an intent of you to return to your country or they didn’t find you have an intention to be a student. I don’t if it is true but sometimes I have found interviewers randomly filtering some students, I have no idea why they do that, they provide you with a Yellow paper. After getting a Yellow paper, you still have two more shots with your interview so don’t worry. You can take another interview date often referred as second attempt where you will be interviewed by a different officer and not the same one who rejected you. You will have to pay another sum of VISA application fee but not the SEVIS fee. Even after your second attempt you get rejected there’s a third attempt but after that it’s over for the year. You cannot have more than three attempts at your interview within a year as mentioned earlier in the post so you will have to wait for another year. You will have to restart everything right from the beginning and all your information will have been removed from the consulate.

NOTE: Just to let you guys know, I came across a student once who got a US VISA after a grand total of 6 attempts. So never give up on your dream.

b)      Pink Paper;

This is a little trickier than the Yellow paper and the one I got on May 8. I still remember the day when I got a Pink paper and I literally cried just because I got rejected. At that time, I was the only one who received it because it is given rarely, compared to Yellow paper which they seem to hand out every now and then.

The Pink Paper

I believe I told you the main thing required for you to study is the financial capability and the academic capability. When the officer gets the slightest hint that you are not financially capable of affording your studies then they tend to issue you a pink paper. Other times they hand out a pink paper is when you are required to submit additional documents or your application needs further processing. This happens rarely because you already how expensive it is going to be and you won’t be here unless you can pay for it. So, it’s not exactly a rejection, rather a temporary hold on your application. I found out later about and quickly gathered my financial documents and in a couple of days I was called to inform that my visa was approved and I had to come to the consulate to the VISA issuance fee and to submit my passport and get my financial documents.

So here it was guys, a summary of getting your F1 Visa starting from getting your documents all the way to the outcome of your interview. I am not perfect that I am aware so if you feel there is anything I need to add to make this article more resourceful than you are more than welcome to post a comment. I hope you guys enjoy reading this and be familiar with F1 VISA process.