10 tips to help you sail through your visa interview

[techguru]

10 tips to help you sail through your visa interview

Despite having all the documents and meeting all criteria you may be refused a visa. A lot depends on your interview with the consular officer. Here are a few tips to remember while preparing for your visa interview..

Self-confidence is the key

The most important thing to carry is your self-confidence. Applicants who are confident in their responses to the visa officer, are almost always successful.

General preparation

Get some information on what is the visa all about

Prepare beforehand for commonly asked questions.

Be there a little early.

Ask for an interpreter if you are not comfortable with English.

Document preparation

Fill all the forms/applications neatly and completely.

Know what you've filled in the form. Many times it happens especially in case of parents, where a child or sponsor fills the application(s) on their behalf.

Provide correct and authentic information.

Make sure the photocopies are of good quality.

Names, date of birth, etc should match with that in your passport.

Organise your documents in proper logical order:

Physical preparation

Wear a business suit or dress. Image is often as important as content. What you look like and how you say something are just as important as what you say.

Attitude preparation

Provide to the point and concise answers. Do not add any thing which is not relevant or not being asked. (In most cases, this is where people commit mistakes by giving unnecessary and unasked details).

Do not argue.

Do not furnish unnecessary information

Be polite.
What is the consular officer looking for?

The primary goal of the embassy is to verify that all information presented in the application is correct and to make sure that, you have enough ties back in your home country so that you will come back and not immigrate there.

This information can be obtained in a number of ways: documents and interview/questions through which the officer tries to determine the eligibility, for a grant of visa.

Ties to your home country

Under the US law, all applicants for non-immigrant visas are viewed as intending immigrants.

You must therefore be able to show that you have strong reasons for returning to your home country than staying in the US.

"Ties" to your home country are the things that bind you to your home town, homeland, or current place of residence: job, family, financial prospects that you own or will inherit, investments, etc.

Speak for yourself and be precise

Do not bring parents or family members along. A negative impression is created if you are not prepared to speak on your own behalf.

Because of the volume of applications received, all consular officers are under considerable time pressure. So, your responses should be well thought of and precise.

Know your career goals

If you are not able to articulate the reason(s) as to why you want to study in a particular programme, you may not succeed in convincing the consular officer that you are indeed planning to study, rather than to immigrate.

If the consular officer gains the impression that your family will need you to remit money from the US in order to support them, your student visa application will almost certainly be denied.

Maintain a positive attitude

Do not engage the consular officer in an argument. If you are denied a student visa, ask the officer for a list of documents he or she would suggest you bring in order to overcome the refusal, and try to get the reason you were denied in writing

Analyse what went wrong

If you don't get the visa, analyse the situation to find out what went wrong, and apply again with better preparation.

Source: Economic Times