Student VISA

Fall 2018- F1 Student Visa Experience: (Mumbai Consulate | University of Colorado, Boulder | Telecommunication Engineering- Approved)

Author_Image
Rohan Deshmukh
11.6k views

Profile Details:

University: University of Colorado, Boulder
Course: MS in Telecommunication Engineering

First Attempt
Mumbai Consulate
Date: May 2018
Status: Approved
Counter No: 28

Visa Interview Experience:


I would like to share my experience in detail. This post might seems boring and predictable to most of people but I want to cover all the points to make it useful for everyone.

  1. If you are travelling alone then you will need locker to keep your belongings and there you will have two options:
    1. VAC_Building: Good point is they provide locker facility, but the bad point is that, it’s in VAC office (where we go for our biometric) which is around 15mins away from the main office. Charges are around 150/- to 200/- (I am not sure about the exact charges)
    2. Rikshaw_Wale: Once you reach the Consulate office, you will be surrounded by bunch of rickshaw wale, who offers “Locker Service”
    I was not sure about how legit are they, but they convinced me so badly that in the last I decided to keep my belongings with them as they were having bags of other people as well (I am not recommending any specific option but just telling you what I did). Initially he said 600/- but I started bargaining and finally settled at 400/- He gave me a slip with their contact numbers.

  2. You will see queue of around 15-20 people outside the building. Rest all people are standing opposite side across the road of the building. Once these people in the queue goes inside the building, they announce the time slot on the speaker and people having appointment on that time slot will have to stand in the queue.

  3. While waiting in the crowd for your timeslot announcement, you will hear lot of non-sense negative talks about the VISA Rejection, just ignore them and don’t let it affect to your mindset.

  4. Once they announce your timeslots then group of around 10-20 people will stand in a queue outside building for about 10-15mins. I reached there by 8.10am and they announced people having appointment at 9.45am to come and stand in the queue at around 9.10 AM (Hence it’s always good to come at least 1 hour early)

  5. You will only allow to bring your Document folder, Handkerchief and some money (coins are not allowed; I took one 500rs note not wallet, as they have snacks available inside the building)

  6. Once you enter the building you will go through security check and you will be again waiting in the queue for 15mins (chairs are there to sit); Here they have arranged tea and snacks.

  7. After 15mins you will enter in the office where you will see lot of windows where VO are sitting and taking interview of the people. You will able hear all their conversation which actually made me nervous. So I decided to ignore all the conversation and tried to stay confident. (I saw windows number starting from 25-36)

  8. One American lady took my fingerprint and then allowed me to join the final queue of the interview.

  9. After 5-10mins, one Indian volunteer said me to stand in front of window no. 28; so I went there and was waiting for my turn.

ME: GM (with smile and confident body language)
VO: GM (smiled) can you please pass me your DS160, I20 and SEVIS?
ME:
(passed the documents)


VO: So why are you going to US?
ME:
To pursue my master’s degree in Telecommunication Engineering.


VO: In which university?
ME:
In University of Colorado Boulder.


VO: So you are currently working.
ME:
Yes.


VO: In which company?
ME:
(Said the name)


VO: What is your role there?
ME:
Network Engineer (and explained about my job profile in hardly one sentence)


VO: (typed in computer and said) but your company works on CAD and Designing Part, right?
ME:
Yes, RnD team works on that. I am only responsible for handling the Network Infrastructure of the company.


VO: Okay. So does this include C, JAVA language?
ME:
No, it includes configuration of Routers and Switches.


VO: Okay. So what specialization you will doing in your masters?
ME:
I will be doing specialization in Networking Engineering.


VO: So does this course includes study about sensors and all?
ME:
Nope, I will be learning Python Language in this course which can be used to automate network devices.


VO: Okay. Who is sponsoring you?
ME:
My parents are sponsoring me and also I have some savings in my account.


VO: What your parents do?
ME:
My Mother is Government Employee in Health Center and my father is a doctor who has its own practice.
VO: Okay. Where exactly your mother work?
ME:
In Public Health Centre which comes under government health department.


VO: In Maharashtra?
ME: Yes.


VO: Your VISA has been approved. You can collect the same in couple of days.
ME:
Thank You. (smiled)
VO: (Smiled)

When I came outside, rickshaw wala was there with my bag.

My Suggestions (which are most common but works 100%):

  1. Ignore to each and every conversation (outside the building and inside the interview hall)
  2. Be there at least 1 hour before
  3. I saw many people/student came in their casual wears but I would suggest to wear formal dress (not too much like blazer, tie n all but just keep it simple like shirt, trouser and formal black shoes)
  4. Always try be confident and keep smiling face while giving interview which will help to keep your interview simple without any further cross-questioning.
  • Footnotes
  1. My interview held on 2nd may and I received my passport with visa stamped on it on 4th may 2018 in the afternoon @2pm.
  2. While filling visa appointment form, I choose pick up service @ Pune. While going to collect your passport, bring xerox copy of your passport and original government ID.
  3. On my visa its given 5 years of validity along with my university name written on it.
  4. Last but not the least, you will not find an e washroom near to the US embassy (outside), but its there inside the building in the waiting room. (along with drinking water).Sorry if you got bored with this big post and ignore if there is any typo.

Articles you might like