f1 visa interview phd denied lost passport
F1 Visa Interview Experiences

F1 Visa for PhD Rejected After Lost Passport & 3 Years Into PhD

Three unique things about this F1 Visa Interview for a Ph.D. stands out.

  1. F1 Visa Denied for Ph.D.
  2. Don’t Take US Visa Interview for granted
  3. The student has only one more year left on Ph.D.

Following F1 Visa interview for Ph.D. was shared by a student and you can read the interview experience and my opinion later in the article.

In my point of view, don’t cry for help, when you could have prevented your F1 Vis Rejection with proper preparation.

About 32% of F1 Visa Applicants are Denied F1 Visa in their first student visa attempt.

Let me repeat that.

About 32 out of 100 Student visa applicant’s visa are denied as per the US Department of State Statistics.

And then what are the approval rate once your visa is denied in the first attempt?

Let’s discuss that later in this article. Before that, let’s review what happened in this F1 Visa Interview for Ph.D.


I came to the USA in 2014 and completed a Masters Degree in 2016.

Then I worked for four months in OPT and joined a University to pursue my Ph.D.

Then, I lost my passport in 2016 and applied for a passport in the USA.

Once, you get the new passport, and it will not have the US Visa Stamp.

There’s no way to get the F1 Visa Stamp while inside the USA.

So, I came to apply for F1 Visa again while I’m studying Ph.D.

I have one more year to complete my Ph.D.

I attended the F1 Visa interview for Ph.D. last week, and my F1 visa was rejected.

I feel I didn’t answer properly and didn’t perform well in the interview. Can anyone please suggest me how to proceed for the second time.

F1 Visa Interview Questions and Answers

VO – Can you provide your H1 copy and passport?
Me – I am here for F1 visa, and I lost my passport, and this is my new one.

VO – How come that happened? (and she was checking my passport and my details in online)
Me – (I was silent as she is looking at them) and then later I said I am pursuing my Ph.D.

Vo – So, what happened to your previous university (with university name)?
Me – I have completed my masters and now pursuing my Ph.D.

VO – (she went inside and came back) and asked you are staying from 2014 and who are funding you?
Me – My mother.

VO – What does she do for a living?
Me – She is an aesthetician.

VO – When are you going to finish your program?
Me – April 2020.

VO – What are your plans after that?
Me – I am planning to come back to India and stay with my mom and work here.

VO – Can you explain clearly what kind of job you are looking for? Are you looking for professor job or do you have a job offer in any company?
Me – Ok. Right now, my research work in on Data Science and I am planning to look at jobs in the same field regarding my research work.

VO – Ok. How much is her annual income?
Me – $30,000/year. (I made a mistake, I answered with very low income)

VO – Your tuition fee is $1800/year how come she can afford your studies?
Me – My brother is a doctor as well.

VO – (she was filling this note in online by asking these questions) You are not qualified for this program (and gave me 214(b) paper).

In-between she went two times inside by asking me each question.

I feel like, I completely ruined my interview.

Can anyone please suggest to me how I can attend for the second time interview?

Is it OK to book slot within ten days? Do I have to answer the same answers, or can I change a little?

Can I explain my brother income with my mother’s income this time? I don’t have a father.

Can I mention that, that I am planning to complete my Ph.D. and come back to stay with her and work in a company (I am going to say company name which I had already did an internship in my bachelors)?

Can I explain that I didn’t even use my VISA extension and didn’t get any income in the USA?

Just recently I have joined the CPT program and not even been 90 days.


It’s always tricky when your US Visa is denied.

In this case, F1 Visa Denial for Ph.D. while the students have just one year left in the program.

Lesson Learned:

  • Don’t lose your Passport.
  • Don’t lose your passport with Visa Stamping.
  • Don’t lose your passport with USA Visa Stamping.

You are not the first person who lost the passport, attended the visa interview and got F1 Visa Denied.

I have seemed similar F1 visa interview experiences after losing the passport with visa stamp.

So, what could have gone wrong in this F1 Visa Interview for a Ph.D. interview?

In general Ph.D. programs are funded by the university.

This student did not mention the name of the university or the program. So, it’s hard to know about the quality of the school and the program.

You would typically not see Ph.D. students without funding of some sorts.

And, not to anyone surprise, the Visa Officer asked the right set of questions.

Students Visa Interviews typically lasts for like two minutes.

Visa Officer was able to ask the right questions that targetted the student weakness.

They are trained to ask such questions.

They are trained to figure out what’s your weakness.

And you as a student, attending the F1 Visa interview should know your weakness.

Above all, look at the following questions.

VO – What are your plans after that?
Me – I am planning to come back to India and stay with my mom and work here.

VO – Can you explain clearly what kind of job you are looking for? Are you looking for professor job or do you have a job offer in any company?
Me – Ok. Right now, my research work in on Data Science and I am planning to look at jobs in the same field regarding my research work.

Here is a question for you:

Why do you think VO asked the second question to explain what kind of job are you looking?

.

.

Can you figure out the answer?

It’s simple.

Visa Office was not satisfied with the previous answer.

Why was the officer not satisfied?

You have first to understand why the visa officer is asking a specific question.

What was the intention behind the first question?

Visa officer has a specific intention. Right?

They don’t ask you random questions.

They want to know about you.

And your answer you be addressing the questions.

Wait.

That’s not enough.

Your answer to any F1 Visa Interview question should be addressing their intention behind the question. 

In this case, VO had to ask the second question, because, the answer to the first question did not give answers to the Visa Officer’s real intention behind the question.

So, look at the words in the second question. Pay attention to underlined highlighted words below.

Can you explain clearly what kind of job you are looking for?

Are you looking for professor job or do you have a job offer in any company?

So, the student’s answer did not address these intentions in the first answer.

Now, where did things go wrong?

Look at the following Venn diagram.

h4 to f1 visa rejected reasons

 

I would pick the following reasons

  • Answers were lacking depth.
  • Answers were lacking quality.
  • Lack of Preparation.

Let me focus just on Lack of Preparation.

Anyone planning to attend F1 Visa Interview should expect specific questions.

Then, you should have solid answers to those questions.

  • Solid = In-Depth and Quality

If you are going to make the Visa Officers ask a follow-up question, then your answers are lacking depth and quality.

Why?

You did not expect specific questions. 

Since you did not expect, you have low-quality answers.

So, what does that mean?

You did not prepare for the interview.

For someone how has just one year left to complete Ph.D., should know their Career Plans!

So, I believe this person missed the golden opportunity.

But, it’s not the end of the road for you.

You are 100% going to try for second F1 Visa Interview.

Your F1 Visa approval chance is a little harder.

F1 Visa Approval Rate After Rejection

After F1 visa rejection for Ph.D., your approval is around 30%.

In other words, 7 out of 10 applicants WILL NOT get F1 Visa once they have been denied in the first attempt.

Now, what can you make sure you will be in that 3 applicants who get the F1 Visa Approval?

Make sure, you prepare and have an expected set of questions based on your weakness. Then, have strong answers to those F1 Visa Interview Questions.

F1 Visa Interview for PhD

 

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