We present a deep analysis of the F-1 student visa interview. Here is how a visa officer thinks:


1. Show me your GRE score card?
Purpose: The Visa Officer wants to see your academic abilities.
Good Answer: Just show with a smile, looking in his/her eyes, no need to talk.
Bad Answers: I do not have my GRE score report/ I never took the GRE test.


2. Why do you want to study at Univ xyz?
Purpose: The Visa Officer wants to see your preparedness and focus on studies.
Good Answers: Prestigious University with world ranking, Research areas match my interest/ I have funding.
Bad Answers: Low fees/ My brother is in the same city.


3. Where all did you apply?
Purpose: The Visa Officer is trying to analyze whether your purpose is studying or somehow reaching USA.
Good Answer: I applied to A, B, C and D. – Whatever is the honest answer. If applied to more than 5, can mention 5.
Bad Answer: I applied only to this university A, where I am admitted [Rejection imminent, unless that university is very famous]


4. Do you have any relatives in USA?
Purpose: The Visa Officer is trying to analyze your ties to USA.
Good Answers: My elder brother / Nobody [whatever is true]. You should not mention cousins or uncles. Only mention direct relations, eg, Parents, Siblings, Spouse, as per the visa questionnaire.
Bad Answer: My second cousin and his friend live in USA.


5. What are your future plans?
Purpose: The Visa Officer is trying to analyze your ties to your own country.
Good Answer: Work in my country as….
Bad Answers: Work in USA/ I have not thought. [You are perhaps lying, but truth will lead to certain rejection - Sorry, this is how the system is designed]
Above is the only example where we advise to tell what is expected answer, not necessarily the truth. VO is legally bound to reject the visa if you say I want to work in the USA. They know that most people do not come back.


6. Who is paying for your education?
Purpose: The Visa Officer is trying to see if you can afford the education, else you will work illegally and stick around in USA.
Good Answesrs: Got a RA/ My father will pay out of his savings.
Bad Answers: Bank Loan/Sell property. Any fraud answer.


7. What is your area of research?
Purpose: The Visa Officer wants to see your preparedness and focus on studies.
Good Answer: True and simple short answer.
Bad Answers: Vauge answer, Not decided yet, too generic answer, example, I want to do research in Electrical Engineering.


8. Show me your degree certificate?
Purpose: The Visa Officer wants to see your authenticity. They sometimes look at the degree across the light, in a way some people check the authenticity of a currency note/bill.
Good Answer: Just show with a smile, make eye contact, no need to talk. Provisional degree is acceptable.
Bad Answers: No degree or even provisional/temporary one. Degree in a non-English language, unless that is very common in your country.


9. Why do you want to go to USA?
Purpose: The Visa Officer is trying to analyze your ties to USA.
Good Answers: Top universities in the world, exposure to current developments and research. Opportunity to experience the diverse culture alongwith top quality education.
Bad Answers: Going to USA is a childhood dream. US is a great country, I like USA a lot. I love US Dollars.


10. How many brothers and sisters do you have?
Purpose: The Visa Officer is trying to analyze your ties to your own country.
Good Answer: True answer. Never hide existence of siblings wheter they live in your own country or USA.
Bad Answer: Any false answer.


Good luck to all visa applicants. Confidence and honesty [except on item 5] is the key to success.

We at app2us.com understand the anxiety that all Fall 2010 applicants might be feeling at this time, as the visa interview seems to be one last but enormously challenging hurdle that can prevent them from fulfilling the dream towards which they have been working for over an year now. Here is a list of actions or mistakes to avoid in order to be successful at the visa interview.

1. Incomplete documents: The website of the US Embassy in your country clearly mentions the required and suggested documents to carry. Every type of document that they mention should be carried. Also carry all important document beased on common sense. If you do not have the degree certificate, carry the provisional degree.

2. Unacceptable photograph: It is easy to follow the instructions. Do not use any creativity and try to exactly follow the photograph requirements.

3. Dressing like an American: Remember that the F-1 visa interview is the occassion to show your strong ties to your own country, not to the US. So dress normally, as you would dress for college or office in your country. Avoid shirts with American Flag or ‘I Love New York’. The best thing is to avoid any writing slogan or symbolysm in your dress.

4. Being late: Americans are mostly punctual people and they do not appreciate those who are late. Visa appointment is a very important event, plan to arrive outside the consulate one hour earlier, but try to enter the building only at the designated time.

5. Carrying forged documents: It has been brought to our attention that in some countries so called ‘visa consultants’ provide you with forged bank records to prove that you have sufficient funds. Do not fall for such temptations. Such consultant are seriously undermining the chances of your visa, and you can also be in serious trouble for trying to defraud the US government. The visa officers are trained to detect such forgery and not only the visa shall be rejected but you may be debarred from future entry to the US. In an exclusive interview with app2us.com, the U.S. Ambassador to India, Timothy J. Roemer mentioned, “We’ve also enhanced fraud prevention capabilities across India to protect applicants from unscrupulous touts and vendors.” – Read the full interview.

6. Avoiding eye contact: It is very important in US culture to establish and maintain eye contact during an official or business conversation. But it is common in Asian cultures not to maintain eye contact, especially when talking to an important person. If you maintain eye contact, an American feels you are confident, polite and courteous. In Asian cultures it is considered otherwise. So remember to look in the eyes of the visa officer throughout the interview. This could mean the difference between visa approval and rejection. If you look towards the floor (which some of our readers are highly likely to do) you will convey an impression that you are not very forthcoming and may be hiding something.

7. Talking more than asked: It is very important NOT to answer what is not asked. For example, suppose you have a second cousin in the US. If asked, “Do you have any sibling in USA?”. The correct and honest answer is “No”. A confusing and self-destructing answer is “No Sir, I do not have any real brother or real sister in USA, but sir, my cousin, I mean my Uncle’s son works in USA on a H1B visa, but sir, that Uncle is not the real brother of my father”.

8. Showing papers without being asked: When the visa officer is asking you a question, she needs to see your response and body language. Here are the three variations of a question with suggested response.

(a) What is your GRE score? “790 in Quantitative, 550 in Verbal and 4.5 in Analytical writing” – No need to show the proof, unless asked.

(b) Have you got your GRE score report? “Yes Ma’am” and bring out the score report getting ready to show it.

(c) Show your GRE score report. – Hand over the GRE score report through the space in the window. No need to talk much except “Yes/Sure”.

9. Lying to the visa officer: We cannot stress enough that never lie or try circumnavigate a question.

10. Showing anger or frustration if the visa is rejected: Tough luck, but simply get out of the embassy in a dignified way. Ponder over the incident later, and plan the next step with a cool head.



Good luck and best wishes for the visa interview! Be sure to read our visa section, or ask a visa related question at app2us forums if you are confused.

Starting today, February 1, 2010, the US Embassy in New Delhi, and 4 Consulates in India have launched a new online visa form submission process for all visa applicants. The new application form, called DS-160, is launched in India only, the other major US embassy websites do not have any update and are continuing to use the old system of separate DS-156, DS-157 and DS-158 forms. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 75 minutes per response, including time required for searching existing data sources, gathering the necessary documentation, providing the information and/or documents required, and reviewing the final collection.

We tried the application, and found it to be user friendly and helpful with help provided on the right hand side of the page. One interesting help note is, “Help: Date of Birth If day or month is unknown, enter as shown in passport.” Obviously you need to write the date of birth as given in your passport! If the passport does not match your birth certificate or there is an error, please get that fixed before you apply for the visa. If you scan and upload the photo that you will carry for the visa interview, the system can indicate whether or not the photo meets the required specifications. As may be expected of a system for a country that leads the F-1 and H1 visa applicants, the system was slow, and carried a message, “This application has been experiencing intermittent connectivity issues. Please save your work frequently.(121)”. So completing the online form well in advance is a good idea.

We noticed one item that is going to cause a lot of headache is the field where you need to supply your ‘Full Name in Native Alphabet’. That was much easier to do in a paper based application. Here is a suggested way to do this,
1. visit www.google.com/transliterate
2. select your native language, say Telugu.
3. Type your full name in English.
4. If you typed Raghu Akkapeddi, the tool will transliterate for you as రఘు అక్కపెద్ది .
5. If there are multiple ways to write your name, you will be prompted to choose the right one.
6. Copy and paste to the textbox in the visa application.
If your language is not supported by the google tool, you can find other websites where you can do this for free.

If you have a question, you can ask in the “Student Visa” section at the app2us.com forums. If you find our blog posts useful please be sure to spread the word to your friends.

Student Visa (F-1 or J-1) is required for citizens of other countries to pursue a degree program at a US University. A personal interview is required for the student visa and an appointment is needed.

Like other US visa requirements, applicants for student visa need to complete DS Forms, Affix photographs as per specifications, and carry their passport and required fee. In addition, following are the documents one must carry for a student visa interview.

I-20: This is the single most important document and an absolute must to get a student visa. If you have multiple I-20s carry the one for your final University. If the I-20 has any errors get it sorted out with the University before you go for the visa.
Degrees: Carry all your degrees in original. The qualifying degree for your US admission is most relevant. If you have recently completed your study carry provisional degree or marksheet stating a degree has not yet been awarded.
Mark sheets: Carry all your marksheets / transcripts in original
Standardized Test score reports: Your GRE / SAT / GMAT / TOEFL score report whatever was required to obtain admission to the US University.
Financial Documents: Original passbooks and bank statements of self and sponsors
Income Tax Returns: Tax returns of the most recent two years of self and sponsors, as applicable.


One must carry all academic and financial documents possible in original. However in most cases the interviewer asks for one or two documents, from the above mentioned list. Good Luck with your visa interview.

Some students have asked on our forum at app2us.com about working part time outside their University campus.

For international students, it is illegal to work off campus. There could be some exceptions like a University authorized internship or working at an off-campus facility that could be part of the University.

We strongly advice all our users to follow all rules when in the USA. Do not ever try to seek a part-time job outside your University. Rules are very strictly adhered to in US, and if caught, punishment could be swift. If caught in an immigration raid, you are looking at the possibility of termination from your University, deportation and even jail time. If in any doubt about what can you do and where can you work, always contact the International Student Advisor at the International Students office at your University.

Disclaimer: we at app2us.com do not claim to be experts at legal or ethical matters. However our advice is always based on what we understand is legal and ethical.

Student visa is the last but significnt step in the process of Applying to US Universities. The top reasons for visa rejections are:

• Admission to a very low-ranked University
• Admission without Funding
• Poor GRE or TOEFL score
• Lack of financial documents
• Presence of relatives in USA
• Incoherent Academic goals

The applicant should plan his or her University selection from the beginning with a goal to get admitted to a reputable US University. Proper care should be taken to compile all required financial documents like income tax returns of parents. Student should be confident and be able to explain basic questions like Why this University.

An I-20 form is an official US government document which certifies eligibility to be an F-1 non-immigrant student at a US University. I-20 is generated when a student is accepted by a US University and shows that he or she has enough financial resources to cover the studies. It is then sent to the student in order to be used to apply for an F-1 visa at a United States Embassy or Consulate in their home country. Getting an I-20 does not make you eligible to enter the United States unless you get a student visa stamped at a US Embassy or Consulate.

Once you have been issued an I-20 form, you should only sign the I-20 for the school that you will be attending in the United States. You should read carefully the regulations listed on the back of the I-20 before you sign it. If there are any errors on the I-20, you should promptly request the University to correct it. Do not apply for a US visa with an I-20 that has errors.

Once you get your student visa and enter the US, I-20 remains a very important document. You will need your I-20 endorsed by the International Students office (or its equivalent) each time you plan to travel abroad or need the duration of your studies extended.