F-1 Student Visa : Tips, No Tricks
October 27, 2007 by Author
Getting U.S. Visa is the final part after long wait to get admission in Graduate School. Every student have to go through the U.S. Visa interview process, I have put together few tips that will help students prepare for the interview and staying informed gives students edge when facing the interview.
3 important things needed for Visa
- Proper Documentation
- How you present yourself during the interview
- How you answer the questions and more finer details.
In this article I’m going to go behind and into the visa process. You could have read lots of student visa experience but things techniques and tips listed below will give different insight about Visa interview process.
Behind the Scene - U.S. Visa Interview Process
Visa interview officers are well trained persons. Their job is to find
- Who you are?
- Do you have academic capability to complete the studies in U.S.
- Do you have enough financial resources to cover the cost of education in U.S.
Students could have done mistakes in documents, or they could carry fake documents related to finance, degree certificates, property documents. VO job is to make a decision about the student in few minutes. They have to make that decision in average 3 minutes or so. For some students it might be more.
Student might have all the right credentials, but he/she might not get Visa, and someone with fake documents might get Visa, so its that few minutes, you have to present yourself to impress them and get student visa.
Now, lets assume you are in the queue waiting to be called for the interview.
Visa Interview Tips
- When you walk to the window, have a big smile and wish them. You could say Hi, Hello, Good Morning, Good Evening, anything is fine.
- Eye Contact is must all the times. From the moment you walk-in towards the window, look deep into their eyes and smile and wish them “Hello”.
- If you don’t make good eye contact, then you are reducing your Visa chances. Now, you made good eye contact, then its about how to present your answers.
- Next big thing - “DON’T LIE”
- If you lie, then your entry into U.S.A is not possible for lifetime. So, don’t even think about lying to get Visa.
- Some have mastered the art and the lie they speak will be convincing. If you belong to that category, don’t mess it up( again I wouldn’t recommend that in first place).
- If you are not sure and not comfortable to make up an answer, then DON’T LIE
- Now, you will be convinced and made a decision, not to lie. Then VO asks this question ” What’s your plan after Graduation?”
Majority of student will say answers like this..
+ “My field is growing in India, I will good job opportunities, when I come back”
+ “I will work for 1 year in OPT period, gain the experience and come back”
- Let me ask you this, do you really think answers like I will return back to India will suffice them? They know how many student go to U.S. every year, how many return back.
- VO know, why would you have to spend $40,000 for 2 years and come back to India get Rs40,000 per month. They know for sure students returning back to home country is very less. It will be very few percentage of students return.
- So, for the question, I would answer ” After Graduation, I will party hard, and then will look for job” that’s simple and straight forward answer. Other way is to say, I plan to work for few years, get U.S. corporate life experience and then plan to come back.
- I know the above answer is much different from what you have on your list. But, the above answer should work.
- Next, for the question related to finance documents, make sure you know the source of each funds in the bank statement. VO will ask about transactions, only if they feel something might be wrong in the finance documents.
In general, it will be like
+ Who is your sponsor?
+ What does sponsor do?
+ How much is his/her income?
- Make sure you have bank statement to show the proof of funds availability.
In coming posts, I will write about bank documents tailored for Student F1 Visa, how much bank balance to show, how to create a fund flow chart for student visa interview. Few of my friends have got F1 student visa after getting rejected for 3-4 times. Some students prefer to use the same bank statement that was used for college admission. Those statements used for college admission will be old and probably funds showed during college admission will be less. For student visa, you would need to show more bank balance.
If any of your friend are appearing for student visa, and if you feel this information would help them, pass this link to them.
Similar Posts:
- What to Expect During H1B Visa Interview
- (Updated) Original documents for F-1 Student Visa
- H1B Visa Mock Interview - Video
- Bank Statement Verification by Universities
- Bank Statement for F1 Student Visa
- How Much Bank Balance for F-1 Student Visa
- Fall 2008
hmmm plsss help me out regarding this interview…..i m in need of guidance…plsss
kasturi
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hi.my F1 visa was rejected twice before.the reason was mentioned as “potential immigrant”.how to tackle the question “prove me tht u r not a potential immigrant?” if asked.plz help.i need some guidance
@ rekha,
you can try showing more bank balance and assets and if you are only child, you can say that too. Good luck.
hi….
Your previous reply for my doubt really helped me.First i would like to say thanks for that,well,I have an another question.I have two siblings.One of them is working in US and the other one is doing his master’s in US. Here, my doubt is, in filling the visa application form (DS-156&157) they asked me to mention about my siblings,if any are there.People are saying that if you mention both of your siblings are putting up in US,the VO might consider you as a potential immigrant and your chances of getting visa might be less.So,I thought of mentioning only about my sibling who is doing his MS.Can you let me know what should I mention in application form and what should I reply if a question of that sort is asked to me by the VO.Thanks for your time in advance.
@ Sri
AS I have said in all my articles, don’t lie in your Visa application. I would say the truth and decrease my Visa chances, rather hiding the truth and getting banned to enter U.S. for life. If they find you have 2 siblings. It’s very easy for them to track all your siblings. What if your bro/sis doing M.S. had mentioned that sibling is in U.S. and you didn’t?
Hi, earlier my tourist visa has ben rejected rsoned by that not able to satsify the visa counsellar. h1b visa is under petiton and i am waiting for the reply . now i have one query that i am able to apply for the f1 student visa and how many chances are there for getting the student visa . i have cleared the gre test and tofel
Hi,
hear i put my situation clearly , i got rejected 3rice because of my Gre score that is 720 ,for the first time wen i took my gre i got passport with out my Surname in it but VO dint observed that ,but 3rd time she dint even luk at my scores ask me to go and i know thats my fault and but it saved me bc at that time i took gre twice on other passport with my surname in it so my scores came on other sheet with out including first score that is 960 i know that too is bad score but VO dint check on that luckily. All i wanna do right now is take my GRE 1 more time with just including my old score of 720 by showing up my old pass port with out my surname ….sorry its kinda tangled situation but i need lil help coz i tried hard enough to get job on my b.tech acads but i cud make it only in BPO’s and CC’s and i want to do masters to make it better and 1 more thing can i show the VO that i was doin business for past 11 months bc thats wat i was doin . thank u
haiiiiiii
i am ready to face intreview in next month.
i had few questions plse give me the ans
1.why did u select this university?
2.i had 7 backlocks.if they ask abt my back locks wht ans i must give?
3.and my gre score is 840?why thus much less if councilate ask means why ans i shd give?
if u replay for this ans i am very thank ful to uuuu
Hi,
Could you please help me with more practical answers for common questions like
1>Why so many backlogs.
2>Where did you get information about this college.
3>What would you do after 2 years .. to convince them am not potential immigrant.
Thanks in advance.
hii…
im in a hot water situation pls help me out this is my very first interview n im goin 2 face it in few days the question is lke i got sme backlogs wat wud b the best answer for this question n olso lke i do have some queries regarding my finance lke i hv managed my ol my education course fee for U.S bt the thng is i hv small small amt in diffent banks n in FDs(my mom is my sponsor & she is not educated bt on the other hand my sister is working as Assistent manager in Ltd company n her salary is arnd Rs20,000 in total n moms salary is 10,000 so in total its arnd 28000 to 30000) so plz help me how cn i show my finance plz plz u r d light of my ambition iwll b really gr8full to u plz ill b waitin 4 ur reply n plz reply soon….
Why do you want to pursue MS In US?
Why did you select the specific univ?
How will this specific course help you in your future development/realization of your professional career?
Why do you want to go to US and not continue higher edu in India?
Can you please suggest me some answers on these question.
Thanks in advance
i got rejected ones ,i am going to face again on 16 th july,i have changed my university,
can u give proper guidance.
why u have changed university..?
what should i tell for that question…?
can u send the answer urgently..
i am goin to face vo with in four days…
hi, my US F1 visa interview is on 21st at chennai. now sources of income are-
1. my bank balance of 6lakhs
2. my moms bank balance of 5 lakhs
the above are readily avalibale funds also i have 15 lakhs loan from bank, the above mentioned bank balance is enough for first year study, do i have to provide embassy the evidence frm where did i get that money, as the balance in my account are mainly form the gift money provided from my relatives and moms balance from her father, through agricultural income.
You guys really need to learn to communicate better. Man, the moment you open your mouth, the VO will know that you are a potential immigrant. Trust me.
I had my visa interview for 20 seconds, and it was first time. I got my visa and I am attending college in August. Guys, its all about communication. You fail in that, you fail in everything.
Hello Sir/Madam.
You have given so many impotatnt tips. I am rejected for F1 visa for USA and now I apply again. Visa Ofiicer had asked my about my work experience and and reply that”No Mam, I dont have any work experince”. I think may be my this answer is incomplete. Can any tell me please what shoul I say if again they ask the same question. Reply me at bobrocks4u@yahoo.com
Hi,
I got my visa rejected on 23 July 2008. I am planning to apply again..The visa was rejected because the visa officer told that my GRE score is less.Is this a wise decision to apply again for visa? Any one help me out in this regard
hi,
mrinalini first of all whats your gre score and when did u take the same. the officer will not issue visa only if u have no valid reason as for why u got a low score.
hi,
you can all agree with brian.let me tell you about myself. i got my visa on 21st july. my interview went on for about 2mins max.90% of visa interview is all about your confidence, communication skills and how well you are serious about your graduate study.
You have written a very nice document to help those who are applying for F1 visa but the whole of it is not included, i am looking forward for more updates on it. you have left this article on october 27, 2007, more than a year, i will be thankful if you complete this article.
Please email me if you do complete this article,
Regards
Wajid