10 things to avoid during a US student 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.