Below are experiences from September 24th to October 9th, 2021 for F1 Visa Stamping.
Experience 1 : F1 at Chennai
Date: 22nd September 2021
Slot Time: 9:30 AM
In Time: 8:45 AM
Out-Time: 9:00 AM
Interview Time: < 1 minute
University of Texas at Dallas
MS in Information Technology and Management
Status: Approved ✅
VO: Good Morning. Pass your Passport, I20 and SEVIS Fee Receipt
Me: Good Morning! (handed over documents)
VO: Dallas huh?
Me: Yeah
VO: What is your course in under gradation?
Me: Information Technology and graduated in 2017
VO: What were you doing since then?
Me: I was hired by Amazon directly after my graduation and been working with Amazon since then. I’m currently working as Sr. Management Information Systems Specialist in Amazon
VO: is it Sr. Information Specialist? (typing my job role in her computer)
Me: It’s Sr. Management Information Systems Specialist. In short, MIS Specialist
VO: What are your plans after Masters?
Me: I intend to get back to India and wish to join Amazon again but in a higher position than I’m working right now by leveraging my new skills
VO: Do you have educational loan?
Me: Yes, I’ve got an approved educational loan of XX Lakhs from Prodigy Finance
(By this time she places my passport in a box next to her)
VO: Congratulations. Your VISA is approved. You can collect it after few days
(Hands over approval slip to me)
Me: Thank you. Have a good day. Bye.
VO: You too! Bye!
Experience 2: F1 at Chennai
Vo is African American guy between 30-35
Intake: spring 22
Date: 24 SEP 2021
Slot time: 9:00
In time: 8:40
Out time: 9:00
Status: Approved ✅
Me: good morning sir. How are you doing?
Vo: good morning. I am doing great
Vo: pass me your passport, i20, sevis
Me: passed
Vo: which university?
Me: Texas tech university
Vo: which course?
Me: Master’s in computer science
Vo: what you are doing now?
Me: I am currently working as a DevOps engineer in Wipro Limited.
Vo: who is sponsoring you?
Me: I got a scholarship of $8,362, and my father is sponsoring me with his savings of 28 lakhs and I also have an education loan of 37 lakhs
Vo: you are keeping any property as collateral?
Me: no sir, it is non-collateral
Vo: do you know American football(He asked it bcz Texas Tech is popular for sports)
Me: yes sir, I know but I don’t follow it that much. I follow soccer, and I added some names like Ronaldinho, Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar
Vo: Are you a Manchester United fan?
Me: yes sir.
Vo: Smiled. I am keeping your passport
I haven’t seen many rejections. I saw 1-2 persons coming out with their passport
Experience 3: F1 at Chennai
Date: 24th September 2021
Slot Time: 11 AM
In Time: 10 AM
Out-Time: 11:10 AM
Interview Time: < 1 minute
American lady in her 30s
University of Texas at Dallas
MS in Information Technology and Management
Status: Approved ✅
VO: Good Morning. Pass your Passport, I20 and SEVIS Fee Receipt
Me: Good Morning! (handed over documents)
VO: Tell me about your under gradation?
Me: I have completed Btech in Electrical and electronics engineering from VNR VJIET with a CGPA of 8.81 out of 10
VO: When did you graduate ?
Me: I have graduated in 2017
VO: What were you doing since 2017?
Me: I was working for Deloitte since 2017
VO: What job will you do after your Masters?
Me: I want to join back Deloitte as an analytics manager here in India
VO: which place ?
Me: in India
VO: Do you have educational loan?
Me: Yes, I have an educational loan of 42L from Avanse Finance.
(By this time she places my passport in a box next to her)
VO: Congratulations. Your VISA is approved. You can collect it after few days
(Hands over green approval slip to me)
Me: Thank you. Have a good day. Bye.
VO: You too! Bye!
Experience 4: F1 at Hyderabad
Date: 24/09/21
Counter:14(Female VO)
University: Texas Tech University
Before me one H1b Dependent visa got accepted.
Documents asked: i20, passport
Me: Good Morning Officer
VO: Good Morning, pass me your Passport.
Me: Passed.
VO: Which University are you going.
Me: Texas Tech University
VO: show me your i20 through glass.
Me: Showed
VO: when did you graduated.
Me: I am graduated in 2020 mam.
VO: what are you doing since then.
Me: Working at Xxxxx as a bigdata developer.
VO. Okay, Do you have any education loan.
Me: Yes officer, I have 25lakhs of education loan and my Parents are sponsoring me with savings of 23lakhs Moreover I also got scholarship from my University which waived my 50% of Tuition fee.
VO: Nice, What is your parents doing
Me: Told
VO: Why are you taking up masters Now.
Me: Officer, after having 1 year of professional experience I thought this is the right time to pursue my masters(Here she stopped me and told your visa is accepted)..
My slot time is at 10 in the Morning but I they are allowing everyone regardless of time slots so I went at around 8:45 and came out by 9:30.
During my waiting time I saw almost everyone is getting approved.
Experience 5: F1 at New Delhi
Date :- 24-09-2021
Time :- 8:40 am
VO :- indian
Counter :-15
Status :- Approved ✅
Hearing your visa is approved from the other counters. Smily faces everywhere. I’ve got confidence.
A F1 visa is rejected before me in my counter. She looks angry. I was scared.
Me :- Good morning mam
VO:- no reply
VO:- give me your documents
Me :- gave
VO:- typing and looking at my i20
VO:- so why texas tech
Me :- Texas tech is a R1 categorised public reasearch university and the course structure is very good and high research activity is going on in area of my interest
VO :- what is Machine learning
Me :- Machine Learning gives the computer the ability to learn itself without being explicitly programmed. The machine learns from its experiences and improves its performance constantly to achieve greater accuracies
VO:- Why machine learning
Me :- Because these technologies revolutionised the IT sector also I published a paper during my undergraduate and I want to get in-depth knowledge in this technology.
VO:- give me your undergraduate transcripts
Me:- handed over to her
VO:- Verifying transcripts and asked did you take Gre?
Me :- yes
VO:- score?
ME :- 314
VO:- place your left hand four fingers on
scanner
Me :- done
VO:- why did you applied visa this early?
Me :- told that we can apply 120 days before the course start date
VO:- are you sure you applied before 120 days?.do the math and tell me
Me :- I said yes , we can apply 4 months(120 days) before.
VO :- went in for a minute and she came back and said something about 120 days…etc and said I am keeping your passport and your visa is approved.
No questions about funding 😀 and Mostly many visas I have seen are dependent visas and there are few F1 visas and their visas are approved and I only saw one F1 visa rejection right before me.
Experience 6: F1 at Chennai
OFC date: 26-Sep-21
Date: 27-Sep-21
Slot time: 8:00
In time: 8:00
Out time: 8:20
Univ: University of Oklahoma, Norman
i20 amount: 35,454$
Intake: Spring 2022
Status: Approved ✅
Counter no: 23
Time: 2 -3 min approx
Since it is early morning slot, i was the first person in my counter that got interviewed.
Vo is american male in his mid 30s i guess
Vo: Good morning, pass me the passport.
Me: Good morning Sir. Passed the passport.
Vo was adjusting his system and typing something…
Vo: Give me the i20.
Me: i passed my i20. He looked at it for sometime.
Vo: What will you do if i issue the visa?
Me: i will pursue my masters and I will come back to india and work as a full-stack developer.
Vo. Which year did you graduate?
Me: 2018 ( he couldn’t hear me so asked me to come again)
Vo: what were you doing since then?
Me: I am working as senior software engineer in mindtree for the past 3 years.
Vo is typing something for 30-40 secs.
Vo: do you have any siblings?
Me: yes. One elder brother.
Vo: where is he now?
Me: Australia
Vo: Is he working as an engineer there?
Me: No sir.
Vo: What is he doing then?
Me: He is on extension program.
Actually i wasn’t expecting any question on siblings and i havent prepared for that.
After i answered for the above question, i knew that i messed it up. Because i couldn’t able to communicate properly and i fumbled a lot due to nervousness.
Vo: What was your undergrad GPA?
Me: 8.56 on a scale of 10.
Vo: how many univs have you applied for?
Me: i applied for 3. University of Oklahoma, new haven, Georgia state university.
Vo: why this university?
Me: Sir, in my masters i want to gain indepth knowledge in the area of the Algorithms. Actually there is a better reasearch going on Algorithms in this university compared to other univs.
(Again i was not expecting the below kind of question)
Vo: what kind of algorithms?
Me: I want to work on Combinatorial and graph algorithms.
Vo: what does your parents do?
Me: They are into agricultural business and excavator machine business. Their annual income is 12.47 lakhs.
(again he asked about my brother)
Vo: what is your brother doing in Australia?
Me: He is on extension programme.
Vo: what kind of extension programme?
Me: Sir, he completed his masters and currently in practical training program.
At this point, i believed i was not going to get my visa.
Vo: what did your brother study?
Me: Master’s in Mechanical Engineering.
Vo is continously typing…
He kept the passport in the box beside him and gave me the green slip.
Finally the golden words. your visa is approved.
Me: Thank you sir. Have a great day.
No questions asked about funding(loan or savings) and documents.
Experience 7: F1 at Mumbai
Emergency Appointment
Interview Date: 07/09/21
I-20 program start date: 07/09/21
Classes start date: 13/09/21
M.A. in Graphic Design and Visual Experience at the Savannah College of Art and Design
I-20 amount $61,191
1 year work experience in Mumbai
1 year work experience in Singapore
3 years freelance + running a company (most recent)
Had a B1/B2 with travel history
Elder brother on H1B
Retired father
VO: What have you studied in your undergraduate degree?
ME: Bachelor’s of design from Symbiosis Institute of Design in 2016
VO: How many years of work experience do you have?
ME: 2 years in corporate and 3 years in freelance…(interrupted)
VO: Your total work experience please?
ME: 5 years
VO: Have you been to the US before?
MW: Yes, on the 21st of May, 2018
VO: Where did you go?
ME: California
VO: Ahh its a lovely place
ME: Yes, I had a great time there
VO: I see you have $8000 scholarship, is this merit-based?
ME: Yes
VO: Congratulations on that!
ME: Thank you mam
VO: How are you finding your education?
ME: My family is sponsoring my education, my father, brother and I have collective savings of XX lakhs. I also have $8000 scholarship
VO: Are you taking any education loan?
ME: No mam
VO: Your visa is approved
ME: Thank you!
Experience 8: F1 at Mumbai
28 September 2021
Drexel University
Slot : 10.40 AM
In time: 11:30 AM
Out time: 12 noon
Counter 26
Interview duration – 30-35 Seconds
Course- Undergraduate
VO: Good Morning, pass me your passport and I-20 please.
Me: (Passes) Good morning sir.
VO: Tell me about your program
Me: I’m going to pursue Bachelors at Drexel University
VO: tell me about your high school
Me: I went to xx college and pursued commerce
VO: how are you funding?
Me: My family is funding me, we have an income of xx crore which is about xx dollars
VO: what was your high school grade?
Me: xx percentage
VO:Congratulations your visa is approved
Quick tip – Keep your answers one liner, to the point and try not to fumble at all.
Experience 9: F1 at New Delhi (3rd Attempt)
First rejection -chennai 14 aug
Second rejection -hyd 30 aug
Attempt 3
Status – Approved ✅
Date-28 sep 2021
Consulate- delhi
In time – 8:30
Slot time – 9:00
Out time- 9:00
University – lewis university
Counter no: don’t remember maybe 16
Visa officer was a young indian guy
Me- A very good morning officer
Vo-good morning ,pass me yr passport and i20
Mepassed
Vo-tell me about your programme
Me – its is a 33 hr credit course and my concentration is financial analytics
were ill be learning subjects like business forecasting,business data warehousing and investment analytics
And also it consists of 7 core subjects and 1 capstone project
Vo-Why do u want to study business analytics
Me- business analytics will offer me skills in decision making and strategic planning and also the scope for business analytics is increasing in india day by day by taking up this course i want to enhance my analytical skill
Which can help me work at higher managing positions when i return back to india
Vo- whn have u completed undergrad
Me – sep 2019
Vo – what are u doing since then
Me – working at techM as a technical associate
Vo-typing for mins
*awkward 1 min silence *
Vo- i see that u are fileing ur visa 3rd time what changes have u made
Me – i did not make any changes officer
I was not able to convey my answers accurately i was nervous and fummbld a bit officers might have thought my answers wer not satisfactory
Vo -How are u funding your education
Me -my father is sponsoring with savings of ——
Vo- any loan ?
Me – no
Vo – so he will put all his savings in yr education
Me – yes he has been working since 30 yrs and have income of 22 laks per annum he have saved his savings fr my education
Vo -any siblings
Me – yes officer i have a sister studying her intermediate
Vo – do u have anyone in us
Me – no officer
Vo – take your i20 yr visa is approved
U will receive ur passport in 3 to 5 days
Me – thank u soo much officer with my hand on chest
Vo – he smiled and said good luck young man
Ps – i was very confident during my interview and maintained a conversational tone
I took mocks daily that helped me a lot
I didnt see much rejections at delhi
Hardly i saw 3 while i was in
What a day it was 🎊❤️
Experience 10: F1 at Hyderabad
Lamar University – CS (Spring 22)
27th September, 2021
Approved ✅
Interview:
Me : Good Morning ma’am
VO : Good morning. Pass me your passport.
(Passed)
VO : which university?
Me : Lamar university
VO : which course?
Me : Computer Science
VO : Which course in under graduation?
Me: Electronics and communication
VO : Place your i20 on the glass
(Placed)
VO : When did you pass out?
Me : 2019
VO : what did you do since then?
Me : I have been working as Software engineer in a role SAP Advance business application programming at Accenture.
VO : Who is sponsoring?
Me : My parents savings, my earnings and I also have scholarship which waived off my first year out of state tuition.
VO : what does your parents do for a living?
Me : Told
VO: Why do you think it is the best time for your masters?
Me: Being in software industry for 2 years I realised there is a lot to Learn and going further I would like to pursue a career (cuts me off)
VO : I am keeping your passport
Me : Is my visa approved?
VO : Yes!
Me : Thank you.
Experience 11: F1 at Hyderabad
Arizona state university- EE (Spring 22)
28th September, 2021
Approved ✅
Interview:
VO : Good Morning
ME : Good morning.
VO:Pass me your passport
(Passed)
VO : which university?
Me : ASU
VO : which course?
Me : Masters in Electrical Engineering
VO : Which course in under graduation?
Me: Electronics and communication
VO : Place your i20 on the glass
(Placed)
VO : When did you pass out?
Me : Recently 2021 july
VO : what did you do since then?
Me : I have applied for universities and waited for admits.
VO : Who is sponsoring?
Me : My parents are my primary sponsors.
VO : what does your parents do for a living?
Me : Told
VO: How much they make per year?
Me:Told
VO : Why this course?
Me : TOLD
VO : Tell me about your undergrad project?
Me : TOLD
VO: place your left hand 4 fingers on scanner.
Me: Placed
VO: That’s it. Your visa is issued
Me: Thank you sir.
I saw only one rejection during my wait time.
VO was expecting all short answers.
Experience 12: F1 at Hyderabad
Date: 28th of September
Time: 10 AM
Duration of Interview: Approx 5 mins
University: university of Texas at Dallas
White American Lady(Could be Mid 40’s)
Me: Good Morning!
Officer: Pass me your Passport.
Me: Passed Passport, I20, and DS-160.
Officer: Just Passport
Me: Passed.
Officer: Please place your left four fingers on the scanner
Me: placed.
Officer: Place your I20 over the glass shield.
Me: placed. (Officer took few seconds to see the details on the I20)
Officer: Why masters at this time?
Me: As I have already worked for Z Years in a ABC company in the field of data & Analytics, I want to explore beyond the work….(Officer had cut me here)
Officer: How are you funding?
Me: My parents are funding my education and have XYZ Savings….(she cut me here again)
Officer: What is their Income?
Me: Z lakhs per annum totally(Mom+Dad)
Officer: What other Admits did you get?
Me: listed the admits that I got.
Officer: What is the guarantee that you would not change the admit after reaching USA?
Me: Explained by stating the Course work at UTD and wanted to stick to it.
Officer: Do you have an approved Loan?
Me: Yes, I have an approved loan of XYZ Lakhs.
Officer: How much did you save past Z Years to your education?
Me: I did not save much. (just a nod with my head)
Officer: You did not save any money? (Suprising Expressions on her face)
ME: No. Again
Officer: I am keeping your passport. Your Visa is approved.
BTS: officer is typing while asking questions
Experience 13: F1 at Chennai (4th Attempt)
October 4th ( 4th attempt )
slot time : 8.30am
Lewis University. ( first 3 attempts Cleveland state university)
Intake : Spring 2022
Vo : Good morning sir
Me : Good morning, thanks. hope you r doing well
Vo : Are you feeling well ( today i was suffering from cold )
Me : im fine.
Vo : shall we start ?
Me : yes sir.
Vo : where are you going.?
Me: im going to Lewis university to pursue masters in CS.
Vo : did you like Illinois?
Me : yes sir.
Vo : why masters ?
Me : currently i work as SQL developer, wanted to expand my role to Full-stack dev to move further in my career. to fit into that role, need to upgrade my skills.
Vo : how many colleges did you apply.
Me : 3 sir, shall i name them.
Vo : Go ahead.
Me : XxXX…
Vo : funding ?
Me : i have loan approved of 22L , Savings 20.5L and FD 15L. together it will be easily sufficient for 2 years of stay.
Vo : continuosly typing for 2 min and checking all my previous answers.
Vo : do you have any friends or relatives in Illinois?
No : No sir. i don’t.
Vo : please put your right 4 fingers on scanner.
Vo : Congratulations. im approving visa. plz collect after 2 days.
Me : thanks a lot sir, you really made my day. started tears.
( He was very friendly looks like he is in 30’s …counter 24…black Guy )
Experience 14: F1 at Chennai
Oct 4th
1st attempt
African American VO
Slot time-12:00 PM
Status-APPROVED ✅
Uni- Pace University
Me: Good afternoon officer
VO: Good afternoon
VO: please pass your passport and i20
Me: Sure. Passed the docs
VO: which university
Me: pace university new york
VO: which course
Me: masters in business administration
VO: where are u working
Me: hashedin by deloitte
VO: deloitte is it?
Me: yep just got acquired by deloitte
VO: so are they sponsoring you?
Me: No no my mother is sponsoring me
VO: What does she do?
Me: she is in the real estate business and own apartments that she gives on rent.
VO: your i20 mentions master in business. Is it a business masters or mba
Me: it’s an MBA. That’s how they mention it in the i20.
VO: I am approving your visa. Your passport will reach u in 3 days. gives me the green slip
Me: thanks a ton officer. Have a great day!
VO: Thank you!
The officer was chill. There were a lot of h1b rejections in the other counters
Experience 15: F1 at Chennai
October 4th ( 1st attempt )
slot time : 11.30am
VO : Black guy in 35 -40 age. He exactly looks like Wendell Pierce from Jack Ryan web series 🙂
Counter : 24
University : Bellevue University.
Intake : Winter intake 2021 ( Have total 7.1 years of work experience)
Vo : Good morning
Me : Good morning Officer.
Vo : Please pass me your Passport and I20.
Me : Sure sir, here it is.
Vo : Why Information science and studies ?
Me : (Fumbled a bit initially but picked up slowly )Based on my research i found MIS matches very close to my goals that i would like to pursue. It covers enterprise application deployment, Infrastructure design areas, Business strategies , Project managing areas. Once i am back to India , i can play a role in dealing business transformation projects at mid senior level position
Vo : Looks like you have work experience, why masters now ?
Me: All these years i worked as an individual contributor, I think its high time for me to upskill myself and gain more knowledge on my interested area.
I wanna lead business transformation projects once i am back to India after my masters. It will eventually helps my long term goal to start a startup Company.
( Its just a prepared answer, and i wantedly stressed it again to convey that i will comeback to India and start a startup because i want him to ask next question about startup company details 😀 ) which i am well prepared for it)
Vo : Tell me about your work experience and company ?
Me : Told ( not typing here since it is basic prepared answer about my company and current working role )
Vo : What is Nebraska known for , tell me something about Nebraska ? (Vo : He was continuosly typing and i didn’t expect this question from him )
Me : I started saying like Nebraska is known for historic places, Best universities and started using some Bahubali kil kil language for few seconds by noticing VO is not concentration on what I was saying 😀 )
Vo : Okay, who is funding for your education ?
Me : Sir, I have my personal savings of 32 lakhs and Father is contributing 15 lks from his savings. Also, i have gold worth 36 lakhs which sums up to 83 lakhs and fixed assets worth 2.5 crores.
Vo : He is done with typing and started giving eye contact and asked ( Now tell me about your startup company which you wanna start once you comeback )
Me : I am waiting for this question actually,
Confidently told about starting a HR product company as i am very much aware of the end to end details of it which i am well prepared for this question.
Vo : Generate green slip and said your visa is approved and you will receive your passport in 3 days.
Me : Thankyou so much officer, have a great day ahead.
Note : I was bit worried about University and Chennai consulate as many of my known frnds have suggested to go for some reputed university and HyD or Delhi for Visa interview.
Somewhere inside, i have a gut feeling that i can crack this interview and prepared myself if something goes wrong i can reapply again and this is not the end of the world.
Waited for almost 1.5 hours inside and that was the irritating thing out of most because, lot of things started running on my mind due the environment around me ( Seen most of the f1-student tense faces ).
I looked at the walls where US known places photos were placed and started imagining about me visiting those places.
Once i entered the actual building, I have seen 4 straight rejections and then decided taking it light and to give the answers confidently of what i have prepared.
All the very best for all the F1 visa aspirants and people who are applying for 5-8 times and getting their visa Approved without leaving the hope are the real motivators, we should appreciate for their patience.
Experience 16: F1 at Mumbai
Oct 5th, 1st attempt
Slot time-9:50 AM
Status-APPROVED ✅
Spring 2022
Counter no. 32
Uni- Arizona state university
Me: Hello, Good morning
VO: Good Morning
VO: please pass me your documents
Me: Sure. (Passed the docs )
VO: so u r going for masters
Me: yes
VO: what do you want to study
Me: masters in INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY from ASU with specialization in ISM
VO: your undergraduation?
Me: I completed bachelor’s of engineering in electronics from Mumbai University
VO: cgpa?
Me: 8.79 out of 10
VO: who is sponsoring you
Me: my parents are sponsoring for my education
VO: what do they do
Me: they both have their individual business of manufacturing.
VO: annual income?
Me: xx lpa
VO: place your right hand fingers
VO: congratulations!! Your visa has been approved.
Me: Thank u so much☺️
VO: Thank you! ( Hands over the white slip)
The officer was very chill. He almost accepted everyone’s visa.
Experience 17: F1 at Chennai
Oct 6th
Slot time-9:00 AM
Status-APPROVED ✅
Spring 2022
Counter no. 29
Only 3 counters were open
Uni- UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON
VO: Good Morning
Me: Good morning officer, How are you doing
VO: I am doing good
VO: please pass me your passport
Me: Sure. (Passed the docs )
VO: so u r going to UTA
Me: yes
VO: what do you want to study
Me: masters in Business analytics from University of texas at ARlington (use full form)
VO:Are you working right now?
Me: yes am working in my family business
VO: why are you going to do master?
Me: as my family is planning to expand business ,I need to upgrade my skills so I decided to do BA (little bit fumbled here and repeating same words so I paused at one place)
VO: is your family sponsoring you?
Me: YES sir we have a saving of 55,70k and liquid assets worth of 52L
VO: what about allowances
Me: it’s included in savings
VO: place your left hand fingers
VO: congratulations!! Your visa has been approved.
Me: Thank u so much☺️(u made my day sir)
VO: Thank you! ( Hands over the green slip)
The officer was very cool. Age between 28 to 30 and also approved L1 before me.
Another lady at counter23 she is asking a lot of questions.
I haven’t slept since a month thinking about it. I had prepared very well infront of the mirror every day.
NOTE: Just be confident and raise your voice while explaining. Maintain eye contact all the time.
Experience 18: F1 at Mumbai
OCTOBER 4th
Slot time-9:00 AM
Status-APPROVED ✅
Spring 2022
In time: 8:20
Out time 9:45
In front of VO 9:20
Interview Duration – 2 mins
Counter no. 30
4 counters were operating.
(3 American Male VO’s and 1 American Lady VO)
The VO sitting next to my counter (in his early 30’s) was taking long interviews about >5 mins.
He was grilling a guy when I was in queue, so I was hoping he should not be the one on my door🤓
And I got the American Lady VO,
in her late 40’s. She had similar face from HARRY POTTER’s Aunt Petunia Dursley ( Fiona Shaw )
The 2 people in frnt of me wer F-1’s only.
Even they got their visa’s approved but the guy infrnt of me was been asked his father’s profession in detail and fundings too ( was in some mining business) the VO lady had hard time knowing about his father’s profession.
He was done, then I calmly waited for her signal to come ahead, she gave me a nod of the head.
Uni: NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
Me: Hello, Good morning Ma’am.
VO: Good Morning.
Me: F-1 Candidate here, and here is my I-20 & passport.
VO: Ohhh!!! Nice!!! (With a smile) ‘😊’
Me: (Ahhh yehhh)
VO started reading my I-20 from top!
She already knew about my University.
She just asked Public Univ. right?
Me: Yeah, Ma’am!
VO: what’s your bachelors?
Me: Ma’am, I completed my Bachelor’s in ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING from UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI!
///Through DS-160 form infrnt of her screen she knew that I graduated in May 2018 and she also read that I’m currently working.///
VO: (with a smile) Ahh!! Great!’😊’
VO: so you work right… (and started typing….)
Me: Yes Ma’am! I work as a Power Electronics Design Engineer at XXX company. I even interned there before joining as a employee.
(Typed entire details.)
VO: okay!
Continued again with reading my I-20 now she was on funding section, and saw that I’ve taken loan (30lacs/40k USD) so asked,
VO: Any other sponsor?
Me: Yes, My father will be sponsoring my Higher Education and also I’ve an approved Educational Loan from HDFC Credila Bank.
(Started typing, pause and asked..)
VO: What profession is he into?
Me: Ma’am, he’s a Govt. Servant and works as an Assistant Electrical Engineer at XXX company.
As soon as she heard “Electrical” word she raised her eyebrows and was basically delighted and said to me
VO: Ahhh!!! I see thats how you entered in Electrical World😉
( she said the above whole sentence with a smiling face and continued typing )
VO: how long he’s been working there?
Me: Ma’am since past 25 years.
She was satisfied here only knwing abt my Dad’s profession.
VO: Keep your left hand fourfingers on scanner.
( I couldn’t hear her properly, I tght the same OFC process needs to repeated as in First righthand four fingers then left and thumbs…
I kept right hand first…
VO: Naaah Naaah, your Left Hand fourfingers..
Me: Ouhh, Sorry Ma’am!
(Immediately Apologized)
VO: (laughing) oouhhh not an issue, EVERYONE GETS NERVOUS HERE🤣
VO: Okay! I’m keeping your passport as I’ve APPROVED your visa.
(Meanwhile, I was prepared for other questions incoming my court)
Me: When I could get my passport back?
VO: You will receive it within a week’s time and will be notified through SMS and mail.
Me: Okay!
Buh Byee, have a nice day!
VO: Ahh you too!
Just 1 tip would love to quickly drop in, just be prepared with your answers. That’s all.
If you took a mid-long range pause while speaking then they start to dig in.
So dont give’em even a second’s pause to think about a counter question.
And Keep that precious smile on your faces, they’re humans, they live outside their home country, so they love to see a happy-giggling face.
Be confident thats it!
( While sitting in the waiting area, Do visit the washroom once, get your hands under the cold water, that just diverts your mind from that overhyped stress giving place.Lol.
Good Luck!
Experience 19: F1 at Mumbai
October 6, 2021
Slot: 9:00 AM
In time: 8:15 AM
Out time: 10:25 AM
Status: Approved ✅
Counter No. 28
MS Biotechnology at University of Arizona, Spring 2022.
VO appeared to be Asian American, light eyes, early 30s.
VO: Good morning. Can I see your passport and I-20?
Me: Yes.
VO: What did you study in your undergraduate, ma’am?
Me: Microbiology and biochemistry.
VO: What was your undergraduate research project about?
Me: It was related to industrial microbiology. I isolated a microorganism that could clean wastewater.
VO: That’s very useful here. Especially if you take a look out out there (pointing to the window and outside of the building premises).
Me: I agree it’s useful in a country like India. That is what was my inspiration, in fact.
VO: Who is sponsoring you, ma’am?
Me: My mom and dad.
VO: What are their jobs?
Me: They’re both doctors.
VO: (Guides me toward fingerprint scanning) Your visa is approved. You’ll receive your passport in a few days.
Me: Thank you so much, sir. Have a good day. (I get the white slip)
VO: You too.
Afterthoughts: Two different people told me that they heard of some rejections today. I saw my VO reject one before me. I wasn’t scared. I decided to answer questions succinctly and told myself I’d have a pleasant conversation with the officer. It turned out that way. However, I was thoroughly prepared with all kinds of documents and most types of questions.
Best wishes to all.
Experience 20: F1 at Chennai
Oct 4
Slot time :11.30
African male in his 40’s
Counter no : 24
Me: Good morning officer
Vo: Good morning please pass me your i20 and passport
Me: Passed
Vo: Why usa ?
Me : To Pursue my masters in information technology at University of Central Missouri (Cis &it)
Vo : Why ucm ?
Me : Fristly the researches going here are upto date and industry ready , and it also has spealized networking lab for cloud
Secondly i want to be a keen part of Dr.Sam research on Automation of webpages testing using devops and cloud.
Vo ; How did u know about this university ?
Me : Researched on my interests and also my project manager suggested me as he is Graduated from same university.
Vo : When did u graduate ?
Me : Sept 2020
Vo:What are doing since then ?
Me :Working in Capgemini as data analyst .
Vo : What are ur plans after masters.
Me : I want to come back to india and settle down as cloud architect in same company at higher positions or will change to unicorn startups like Musigma, Paytm.
Vo : Why masters
Me : I have keen interest on cloud so i want to reasearch on that and become and cloud Archiect for which i need advance knowledge in subjects like devops,agile, e2e management so preferred to do masters.
Vo : I heard that Lee summit has a lot of indians and india community there.
Me : Not actually sir ! I spoke with one of the alumini there he said that it has equal ratio of students .
Vo : Tell me about ur funding
Me : I have secured loan of xxx lakhs and savings of xxx.
Vo : Congratulations ur visa is approved u can collect it in 2-3 days
Me : Thank-you sir.
I have seen many f1 approvals at chennai only 1 got rejected out of 10 f1 students.
Experience 21: F1 at Chennai (4th Attempt)
Previous : 2 times rejected for Visit visa, 1 time rejected for f1 visa.
Date : 5th October 2021.
Appointment Type : Normal.
Slot time : 12 pm.
In time : 11.20 am.
Out time : 11.40 am.
Status : Approved ✔️
Counter No : 23.
Only 1 counter was open.
VO : White American Lady in her last 20’s.
University : Hellenic American University.
Intake : Winter ( November ).
Course : Masters in Business Administration ( Digital Marketing ).
VO – Good Morning.
Me – Good Morning Officer , How are you today ?
VO – Iam fine thank you, How are you ?
Me – Iam very Good . thanks
VO – Please give me your Passport and i20.
Me – Sure . ( Gave it )
VO – Where you into business of Vitamins and minerals ? ( She asked it because it was mentioned in my previous DS-160).
Me – Yes mam’ I was working with Food and Nutrition based Company during my undergraduation as part time freelancer.
VO – Oh , While studying ? Hehe okay. ( Typing continue for 30 seconds ).
VO – Why are you going to USA ?
Me – To pursue my MBA with specialization in digital marketing.
VO – Okay. (Typing….)
VO – What will you do after masters ?
Me – Once i complete my MBA , I’ll come back to India and work with MNC at managerial positions.
VO – Ok. so, what will be your designation when you qualify for managerial position ?
Me – Digital Marketing Manager.
VO – Okay . (Typing…)
VO – Do u have education loan ?
Me – NO.!
Here i felt like iam giving very short answers when she is ready to hear me more ..so, i was ready for my long answers for her next questions .
VO – Who is sponsoring you ?
Me – My Father is sponsoring me .. He is working as ABC Us based company Since xx Years and his annual income is xx lakhs INR other than that we own properties worth xx INR .
VO – Okay (Typing…)
VO – Oh’ I can also see here as your brother stays in california ? (She asked me this just to cross check because he is not in california)
Me – No, He is in Georgia .
VO – Okay. What is he doing there ?
Me – He is working as XYZ teacher in board of education .
VO – Oh ‘ he is a teacher ?
Me – Yeah.
VO – Is he on f1 or H1b ?
Me – H1b visa status.
VO – Okay.(Typing continued for 60 seconds)
Her hands on green slip.
Inner me – I Made it finally., Mixed feelings behind my mask 😷
VO – Please place your left hand four fingers on the scanner.
Me – Placed (While scanning my fingerprints she murmered those golden words towards me)
VO – Repeated again , IAM APPROVING YOUR VISA.
Me – Thank you Mam.
VO – Have a safe stay in US.
Me – Thanks u so much have a nice day.
VO – Please take this papers with you.
Me – Yeah sure. (Green slip in my hands).
Overall experience :- Visa officer was very cool and polite smiling mostly.
TBH :- I had nothing to do while she was typing… So, I observed her she was in white top and black pant, Single chain necklace and diamond ring in her left hand ring finger , Pony tail and purple coloured mask .. Oops hope i observed her a bit too much 🙈😬
Actually my cousin brother was also with me to attempt his f1 visa interview today at 11.30 am. Before i entered into embassy he was out and said me he got rejected where i was bit slippery with my confidence.But, boosted myself again and kept calm and composed.
TIP :- Dont be nervous, Be confident .!! That’s it… !!!
All the best for everyone who are going to apply for f1 visa in spring intake.
Experience 22: F1 at Chennai
Oct 6th 2021
Slot : 10 am
status : APPROVED ✅
duration : 3 to 4 mins
Counter no : 3
Vo officer : she is an American lady with pretty smile and blonde hair .
She looked very jovial and yet composed .
University: Kent state
Course : MASTERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
VO officer : hey , good morning!
How are you doing ?
Me : Good morning mam, thank you . I am doing good . How are you ?
Vo officer : tell me about course
Me : explained about subjects and importance
Vo officer : why change of feild ( I am a doctor, I did my bachelors of dental sciences )
Me : I went through public development camps and worked in a reasearch along with my professor, and PHC which developed my intrest in this feild.
Vo officer: any loan?
Me : no mam, my parents are funding . We have 51 lakhs of savings .
Vo officer: tell me about your immovable and movable property
Me : told and the estimation of cast
Vo officer : what’s current annual income
Me : xx lpa mam
Vo officer : what does your parents do?
Me : dad does bussiness, hotel bussiness and mom is a homemaker.
Vo officer : which property is more estimated, acc to cost ?
Me : mam, the both properties are equal in terms of cost, the home we reside and hotel as they share same sq ft and are located in developed areas.
Vo officer : how many rooms does your hotel have ?
Me : 40 to 45 rooms approximately.
Vo officer: YOUR VISA IS APPROVED. HAVE A SAFE STAY IN USA .
Me : THANK YOU SOO MUCH MAM.
Experience 23: F1 at Hyderabad
October 6, 2021
Slot: 10:00 AM
In time: 9:00 AM
Out time: 11:00 AM
Status: Approved ✅
Counter No. 14
Me: Good morning sir
VO: Good morning,Please scan your Left hand 4 fingers
Me: Scanned
VO: Show me your i-20 from glass
Me: showed
VO: where are you going?
Me: To persue Masters in Computer science from UMKC
VO: What was your undergraduate specialization?
Me: I did my batchelors degree from xyz university in the year 2016 (I know the answer doesnt justify her question, but wantedly i havent specified to avoid counter questions, coz My batchelours degree is from Civil and Masters in computer science)
VO: What was the specialization?
Me: Civil engineering
VO: What are you doing since then?
Me: In the past i worked with abc company as a software developer, currently i was working at def company as senior software engineer.
Vo: Who is your sponsor?
Me: My father is going to fund my education.
VO: What does your father do for living?
Me: My father was into documentation and type writing business for the past 30 years and he was licenced revenue stampvendor for telangana state government.
VO: What was his annual income?
Me: 16LPA.
VO: have u taken any loan ?
Me: I have secured education loan of 23 lakhs, Family savings of 32 lakhs, and also i received scholarshi of 16000$ for 2 years
VO: Why masters now?
Me: Technologies which i was working right now are outdated, so i want to explore beyond my work and want to learn new technologies, even after coming back to india i can see myself as technical architect with this masters degree.
vo kept my passport aside in a box,….by seeing that, i havent listened what she said……she spoke those words with very low voice.
i was in a confusion and asked her, can i leave for the day ? yeah you can leave…It was approved
In hyderabad they are not giving any slips if we got approved.
I have seen few rejections as well. Be confident and be prepare.
Best wishes to all.
Experience 24: F1 at Hyderabad
Date: 5th of October
Time: 10 AM
Duration of Interview: Approx 1 minute.
University: University of North Texas.
White American Lady(Could be Mid 40’s)
Me: Good Morning!
Officer: Pass me your Passport.
Me: Passed Passport.
Officer: Please place your left four fingers on the scanner
Me: placed.
Officer: Place your I20 over the glass shield.
Me: placed. (Officer took few seconds to see the details on the I20)
Officer: Why UNT?
Me:. Told.
Officer: Which course?
Me: Business Analytics.
Officer:What are other colleges you applied?
Me: told
Officer: How are you funding?
Me: My parents are funding my education and have XYZ Savings….(she cut me here again)
Officer: What is their Income?
Me: Z lakhs per annum totally(Mom+Dad)
Officer: Do you have an approved Loan?
Me: Yes, I have an approved loan of XYZ Lakhs.
Officer: I am keeping your passport. Your Visa is approved.
BTS: officer is typing while asking questions
Experience 25: F1 at Chennai
Oct 6 th
1st ATTEMPT
SLOT TIME: 8:30 AM
STATUS :APPROVED 🤗
SPRING 2022
COUNTER NO:24
Vo was a guy in his age of 30 to 40
only 3 counters were opened
University:University Of Central Missouri
Computer science
Me :Good morning sir
VO:No reply
AFTER 2 SECONDS
VO:Please give me your I 20 and passport
Me : passed
VO:Which University?
Me: University of central Missouri
VO:Which course?
Me : Computer science
VO: What’s your previous degree?
Me :Told
SINCE I WAS COMPLETED MY BACHELORS IN DEC 2020
VO:What are you doing since then?
Me: After completed my bachelors I have a dream to do masters in computer science
Then I started my processing due to covid 19 my exams get postponed day by day then my dreams suspended to spring meanwhile i learn computer languages like phyton and java
VO : Which Specialization?
Me : Data Science
VO : What Is Data Science?
Me : Data science encompasses preparing data from analysis and also it is manipulates and aggregate the data
(Really I don’t have anyidea about this, but I told this answer very confident 🤣)
VO: You completed your bachelors in computer science you will get good job now but why are you going to do masters?
Me: When I was studying my bachelors I felt I didn’t gain full of knowledge in computer science I want to get full knowledge in this particular field moreover so many multinational companies like Amazon and wipro are taking master students in India so i want to build my career as a data analyst
( In this Question I also gave a answer to Vo that i will return back to India😜)
VO : Who is paying for you?
Me:My parents are sponsoring my education
And i also secure an education loan xxlac and my parents have there savings yylac and we have immovable property of zz lac and movable property of xylac
VO: what your parents do?
Me: My father is a farmer doing farming since x years and also having small businesses with farming equipment like tractors and crop mechanics
My mother maintains boutique since y years and also she helps to my father in his work.
VO:Watching System and Typing some thing…
(I was little bit nervous at this time)
VO : Please place your right hand four fingers
Me : Placed
VO : He is taking my documents that i have given to him
( My heart beat raised upto the mark)
He separated my passport and documents and Nowwww he told me The golden words
VO : I am approving Visa
( Actually in my counter mic is not working properly. So for some questions I ask him to repeat and this time also I didn’t understood fully but I saw that green slip is giving to me then I took a deep breath)
Me : Thank you so much sir you made my day 🥳
VO : Enjoy US
Actually when I was standing in the counter line I saw two rejections in front of me.. I feel very nervous at that time after two rejections it’s my turn in that counter by God grace my visa approved
But all I can say is Don’t panic. If you are giving answers confidently your visa will get approve don’t compare with others.
Counter no : 23 America Lady asking lot of questions but she is approving all the visa’s.
All The Very Best My Dear Friends👭👬