Visa Interview Experience

(After all the months of stress over trying to find slots, writing those words feels therapeutic...)


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Visa type: F1

1st ER submitted on 30th April, rejected on 2nd May

2nd ER submitted on 8th June, accepted on 15th June

Interview date: 3rd July 2023, 9 AM

(Stood in line at embassy at 8:30 AM, had interview at ~10 AM)

CEAC status: Issued (status changed on 5th July)

Passport return date: (still haven't gotten the email, will update here)


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University: Brown University

Intended program: Undergrad, likely CS/Maths

Funding: 95% (scholarship and campus employment)


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Interviewer: Counter 12? Bald, white, energetic guy

Interview duration: ~1 minute

Documents brought: Everything! Passport (including old ones), signed I-20, DS160 + visa appointment confirmation, SEVIS and MRV fee receipts, 2in*2in visa photos, acceptance and financial aid letters, academic certificates (IGCSE + IAL + IELTS + SAT score report + German test scores), bank statement, tax return, and whatever else I could fit into my bloated file

Documents checked: Nothing! Other than the passport (old ones too but those were checked before the interview), I-20, and DS160 + visa appointment confirmation


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Me: Good morning! (<- noticed the VO was lively with the interviewees in front of me)

VO: Good morning! Hand me your passport and I-20.

*notices my Brown hoodie as I pass the documents* This (I-20) better say Brown... oh, it does!

Me: *laughs* Yep!

VO: So, what degree do you plan on?

Me: Sorry, could you repeat that? (after repeating) I'll be declaring my major by the middle of my fourth semester, but it's likely I'll pursue something in CS or math.

VO: Sorry, what did you say?

Me: Computer Science, or mathematics.

VO: I see, and what do you plan on doing with the degree?

Me: So, I intend to come back to Bangladesh and use the skills and connections gained at Brown to maybe start a tech startup, since startups are booming here. (added something about being able to contribute to society with those skills)

VO: How many colleges did you apply to?

Me: I applied to 4 ivies and some of the top LACs.

VO: Which LACs did you apply to?

Me: (named some off the top of my head)

(he didn't ask about the acceptances or an exhaustive list of my colleges)

VO: Alright, I'm approving your visa, take this! *hands the fabled leaflet*

Me: (startled by the casual acceptance) Oh, thank you so much! Have a nice day!

VO: Have a nice day!


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Honestly, standing in line and anticipating what was to come was the worst part! In contrast to what I've seen here, though, there were a *lot* of approvals yesterday. Maybe coz it was mostly emergency appointments? We'd all basically written essays to be there in the first place.


Most of my answers were cookie-cutter and coulda used improvement (e.g. the startup answer was very non-specific). I likely got off easy coz of my uni + financial aid, so I'd still advise preparing for the main questions thoroughly, like the ones about your plans after graduation (you have to assure the VO you won't be immigrating on a non-immigrant visa, by demonstrating ties to a non-US country - harder in case of immigration petitions), your sponsor's job and assets, why this university/degree/research topic, etc. The links at the end of Tajrian's guide (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y5QDxKc9YnoW_QeBi3N2ZDm-T8LF3D6FTN7jf5s80uE/edit) can be helpful to get interview samples or question examples!


From what I've seen, the peeps who get hit with the unholy 214b rejection are usually the ones who get tripped up by the VO. Someone in front of me couldn't name the city that their state university was in (they were confusing state with city), among other issues, and ended up getting rejected. Meanwhile, two PhD peeps went on about their research topics with enough buzzwords to fill ten papers, and the VO just said "that's interesting" and approved 'em. If you're a genuinely well-informed, well-prepped applicant, you should have a good shot.


Good luck to y'all still waiting on your interview or finding a slot - hope we make it through this!


EDIT: for those asking about my profile, https://www.facebook.com/groups/BdBeyondBorder/posts/6641586059203151/