F1 Visa Interview Experiences

F1 Visa Stamping Experience – MS Mechanical Engineering

By the grace of eternity and through the impeccable guidance ‘happy schools blog’ rendered me I successfully got my F1 visa. The interview was at the Chennai consulate. I have attached my visa experience with this mail. you can post this in our blog so tat the followers of this esteemed forum would get benefited. Besides the guidance offered i also got a good friend who is admitted to my university, through this blog. So i thank you wholeheartedly for your advice and assistance.

With immense gratitude – Muthu

F1 Visa  – Mechanical Engineering

My interview at Chennai consulate at 0745 hrs

After security check and initial review I was directed towards a counter. The interview must have lasted less than 2 minutes.

ME: Good morning Sir!
VO: Good morning… so how’s your day?

ME: Perfect Sir.
VO:  pass your documents (I passed it)

VO: So why Missouri University of Science and Technology? (Started working on his computer)
ME: I said about the university, department, and labs available… (I used a word  “prestigious university” to describe the university)

VO: MST is not a prestigious university!!! (With a Sarcastic tone)
ME: sir….prestige depends on each individual’s perspective … according to me MST is one of  the finest institutions offering best program in mechanical engineering …
(Gave a broad smile)

VO: ok (Smiles)… so …what’s your academic percentage?
ME:  87.1% … sir

VO: Backlogs?
ME: None…sir

VO: How’ll u pay your fees?
ME: My father is sponsoring me. Besides I have a bank loan worth $20,000.

VO: I see that u have personal funds worth $10,000 (looking at i-20). Can u explain it?
ME: I inherited a part of my grandfather’s property…. which was sold to  raise funds for my education.  (While I was answering him… he took a circular from his right side)

VO: (After writing something) Ok… Ur Visa is approved and you’ll get it in a week’s time.
ME: Thank you sir.

VO: I have some additional information for you. (Passing me my documents and the circular). USIEF is going to conduct a pre departure orientation program on July 31st.

ME: Thank you sir. But I already attended the 1st pre departure orientation  program held on July 9th.

VO: Good to u. (smiles from ear to ear)
ME: Thank you sir … and have a nice day.

The questions as u can see were pretty straight and with some preparation u can easily succeed.

  • Suggestion No1: don’t carry any bag or umbrella… if u end up having one…  You can deposit it in a counter located outside the embassy (Chennai) for which off course Rs.10 is charged. So have your wallet to pay any services like this. You can carry your wallet inside the embassy… There is no harm (so leave your bags and take your wallet… irony is that I left my wallet and took my bag along wit me which resulted to a commotion as the security blocked me from entering)
  • Suggestion No 2: open the conversation with good morning and fill it with  truth and “thank you”. It’ll help a lot.

Hope the followers of this wonderful blog get benefited through this post and come up in life with flying colors…

Note – I helped Muthu with admission process from university selection till visa processing. Congrats to Muthu.

Related : F1 Student Visa Interview Experience – B.S. in Mechanical Engineering – Mumbai 

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25 Comments

  1. HELLO SIR,
    I am rajesh. now i got admission in gannon university. because you know the reason. i don’t have good scores in GRE (930) and toefl (96) and less academic percentage(58%). please help me how can i get visa?. i want overcome this problem. please give some suggestions to me ? what kind of questions they will ask ? please please help me …

  2. I really appreciate those experiences post on this site.I will like to have a full knowledge of Liberal Arts and Sciences.That is the course i choose,while the name of the school i gain admission with is Kirkwood community college.Moreover i have with me my I-20 and other supporting document.I will be going for my interview soon.I will like to get aid on possible question that may be ask from me by the consular at the US consulate general.

  3. I'm an undergraduate in biomedical engineering and aspiring for doing masters in united states.Do list me some of the good universities for master programs in bio engineering!

  4. My visa interview was Monday 28 march 2011. My appointment was 7:30

    ME :Good morning Sir

    VO : Good morning

    VO : Your passport

    ME : I gave him my passport and my i-20 inside the passport.

    VO : Why this school?

    Me: cuz they have a small size class where i will receive personal attention from the lectures. I will also have the opportunity to learn about church leadership skills

    VO: Where is your school ?

    ME: Utah

    VO: How long will you study in usa?

    ME : 2 years

    He then call someone and show him my i-20 that am going for 2 years and the guy said yeah yeah its okay then i got more confidence. and they talked for 3min and laugh which did not have anything to do with me.

    VO: Who is sponsoring you?

    ME: A company

    VO: A company?

    ME: Yes a company

    VO: Let me see any document of the company

    Me: gave my appointment letter, an approved letter of study, and a sponsorship letter. i was about to give the company's registration and bank statement and said no hold on.

    VO: how long have you been working with the N.G.O?

    ME: 3 years.

    VO: What is your duties in the company?

    ME: I check the computer systems, design a database and check the network connectivity for the N.G.O

    VO: What are you going to study? I.T ? and said Yes

    VO: Are you married?

    ME: Yes

    VO: Your visa has been approved come Wednesday 3:30 and gave me small slip.

    ME: Thank you sir with a smile.

    VO: You are welcome with a smile.

  5. SIR i am doing my mechanical engineering..

    this is my 7th semester going on…8th semester(jan-july2011) is the training session..

    in which i have planned to prepare for GRE

    so what according to you is best time for me to take GRE-exam ??

    and when i should take date for my VISA INTERVIEW!!

    suggest me please

    i will get my degree finished in july2011 !!

    i will so much thankful to you… sir!!

    1. i assume u want to get admitted in fall 2011 … which means u should have started preparing by now for ur GRE … i'm not very sure abt the dates .. there are some nice articles in HSB .. u can go through it and plan ur schendule …

      i'll give u a rough idea .. the univ for fall reopens in aug 2011 .. so u should have ur applications sent by november 2010 …for which u should have ur gre and toefl scores ready … some univ open the application dates based on their policy … so surf their sites to know the dates …

      i think u get an idea ..:-)

      1. sir,

        first of all thank you so much seriously for your reply…

        and sir if you don't mind please i need to take advice from you…

        since you into mechanical field and so kind !

        sir can i add you on facebook?? or i contact you from email??(if its way too personal then i don't mind sir) you can search me on fb- " Er-h dilawari"

        If you don't want to disclose your id sir !! ( i will be really very very thankful to you,you have no idea)

        but i' m so happy you replied that was geniunly very kind and nice…

        sir, 1 more question i read this article
        http://www.happyschoolsblog.com/spring-or-fall-gr
        please please read it i am compitable for this….'coz i have to study hard for my current semester studies…

        please advice me i will be very thankful to you…

        i will wait..

        GOD BLESS you !!bro

        1. hi hitesh,

          My mail ID is [email protected] … u can add me in facebook … no probs …but I'm not a pro in these stuffs … and i'm also a student like u …in missouri s & t … u can ask as many questions u want regarding my univ … but if u ask abt any other univ ..sorry .. i don't have any idea .. HSB is the best person to contact then …

          regarding spring admission… HSB is right spring admission is same as fall admission ..there is no difference as such … Indians prefer fall because … our academic yr ends in may and the fall sem starts here at aug … so we'll not be losing any time … if u get in spring u'll be losing 6 months of your time … thats the only diff i feel exists…

  6. it is reallly really nice…

    i got so much to grasp from this…

    point is your own confidence which matters i guess after reading this..

    because your gre score was average sir!!

    1. Mr. Hitesh

      s… u r right .. GRE alone doesn't influence ur visa approval… there are many other things ..like ur academic performance … and toefl…. if u see my score i got 790/800 in quants i.e MATHS which is very important for an Engineer … i didn't do well in verbal ….for which i manged to compensate it in TOEFL… if the VO had asked me abt my low GRE score .. the above would have been my explanation ….

      therefore even if we have a flaw or weakness on our side … we should be able to defend ourselves and explain our stance to the VO … and to explain it ..u got to be confident and honest …

  7. I just had a doubt regarding the visa interview.Can a student get visa with only one backlog subject in the first year but good Grade Point Average in all 4 years. ? Is it difficult to get a visa for a student with 1 backlog in his engineering ?

    1. @navneet…i assume that u have cleared the backlog….In that case I know ppl who got visa irrespective having 1 backlog… but it is important to justify why u had the backlog to the VO… for example u may have fallen sick the previous day of the exam … or u may not have studied well … so tell VO that u couldn't prepare well … also indicate that u didn't get any backlogs after ur first backlog .. this shows that u have improved urself…

  8. @hamza .. financial support from the univ was a little hard to get while i was applying .. my GRE 1190/1600, TOEFl – 105/120

    @tejaswini .. ur toefl marks are gud .. u can try reappearing for GRE with better preparation .. in that way u can get a gud univ with funding

    @feroz … in chennai consulate .. it took an 2 to 3 hrs for the entire procedure .. while the interview lasted 2 mins… abt having 1 backlog …. if u have a valid reason to defend it .. then u'll be through .. the point is to be confident ..

    @amit .. the Americans believe in focus .. u got to stick to one path …mechanical and computer security engg are ways apart .. do a better planning .. have a plan abt how u want to shape ur career …

  9. @shailendra …. as for as student visa is concerned they look in for 3 points –

    1. Academic background

    2. Financial background

    3. potential immigrant

    so if u don't have a sound academic back ground …. or if u have back logs .. u must have a strong reason/claim to defend urself. failing which u r denied a visa.

  10. Respected Sir,

    Basically, I am a Diploma Mechanical Engineer. I was completed my diploma in May-2002. I have been doing job in private company. I have six and half year experience after my diploma. Recently, in month of April-May2010, I got rejection two times in F-1 Visa interview from US-consulate Mumbai. I did not give IELTS. Also, my course was different which I had been applied ( BS in computer and security system engineering) from my past qualification. I had sufficient fund at that time.
    Can u say me what are basic reason behind rejection?
    Again, I want to apply for the BS in Mechanical Engineering in US. But i have some little fear for third time .So please give the answer of above question. Is it good for me to apply again for US BS in mechanical engineering though I am a diploma mechanical engineer.

    So please help in this matter. I will wait for your reply.

  11. hi this is ALI here and have some questions to be cleared that during the visa interview how much of time does the visa consulate take to interview any person on getting the student visa and if at all any one has even one backlog in there B.TECH does they accept the interview ..so please kindly do stress on this question of mine which is one among the doubts of others even to have a clear cut understanding…

  12. hai sir i have one doubt regarding the VISA process actually my acedemic background is 1oth 76% and 12th 78% and Btech 62%….i got the GRE 850 and in TOEFL 108….can i got the Gud university with the financial aid??and i have any problem in the VISA???what type of questions they ask in VISA interview…please help me

  13. Sir I want to ask two questions to you,if possible please answer it

    1-Why didn't you apply for a financial aid

    2-How much was your score in GRE & TOEFL

  14. Sir I want to ask two questions from you

    1-Why didn't you apply for a financial aid.

    2-How much was your score in GRE & TOEFL

  15. Dear sir,

    I am having some doubts, i want to clear them, but don't know how to put forward them so i can get their answer.

    please help me to solve them

    thanks

  16. i have 57% in my b.tech with 11 backlogs, so can i get visa for my masters in any universities in USA. i got 95 in toefl

  17. HSB,

    and friends, it is with gratitude i posted this, i am a farmer, and i did not know any thing about US university admission process. by sheer divine guidance i came across this wonderful blog, which is run by a compassionate person, a fine gentle man to the core. I subscribed to the members forum for a small sum, the result is my boy got admission in a good university and his visa process was very easy and swift

    friends, i take this wonderful moment to thank the Admin of this blog and other nice people connected with it.though my boy got admission over , i am intending to continue with this blog. as my daughter who is waiting with wings to make an entry

    in to US-UNIVERSITIES, for her Master in physiotherapy.

    i honestly request those people who are serious in getting admission in to US ,Universities should spare time to read the valuable information available in this blog, almost on all subject. i would recommend to any serious student or parent to enroll in to the member area with small fees. if one compares the money one has to pay to the educational consultant in our country, the small membership fee is quite alluring. I once again offer my thanks to the wonderful Admin of this blog.

    your service is needed to many young and beautiful minds.keep serving and who ever wants specific guidance solid and useful support from the ADMIN should enroll in to the member area.- of course with a fee.

    thanks friends

    with gratitude

    easwaran

    1. I think your reply to his sarcastic ton on Prestigious University was pretty impressive…. Good Shot and u got the visa

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