Tips for F 1 visa interview approval

That brought a lot of relaxation to the both of us. We didn't focus on what was happening in the room, we were just focusing on what we were talking about and then just us. Right, like why the US? Where did you get the answer? So generally there are questions online and then there are questions people would answer, people would suggest to you and all of that. He told me to look at him as my colleague and then keep my flow. So that advice he gave me that I should look at him as someone who is my friend, someone who is my colleague made me keep my composure and then spoke to him as if he was my colleague or my friend. If somebody comes to you that I'm worried about proving my home ties, you know, stuff like that, what will you tell the person? If you have any of these options, I think you should harness on them. If you are asked whether you are coming back home or not. All right, before we start, consider subscribing to the channel. This helps me so much. Thank you. What are you doing now? Right now I'm working with the State of New Mexico Department of Transportation as an economist. Let me ask about your visa interview experience. What happened? How did it go? Okay, my visa interview was smooth and I'm not sure it lasted for up to 30 minutes. It was very quick. So do you remember the questions you were asked and how you answered them? Yes, of course. So when I got there, I briefed the officer and then he responded. And then after he responded, he asked me for my I-20. I gave it to him and then he asked for my transcripts. Okay, so he asked for your I-20 and passport, right? Yes. And then he requested for your transcript, okay. Transcript. So since I was having my master's and bachelor's transcript, I asked him which one of So when he took both transcripts, he focused on my master's transcript. And then he asked me questions about my master's thesis. So he started asking me questions about my master's thesis, what I did. So I took my time to explain to him what I did in regard to my thesis. And then the results and the funding I got for my thesis and everything. So then he told me my visa was approved. Then we started talking on a personal level that he said, well, since the research is not, the project is not over, he wanted to suggest some funding opportunities that can keep the project going. And that was how my interview went. It was really quick and smooth. Okay. Your program was a fully funded program, right? Yes. And that is why you think the visa officer didn't ask you anything about the funding from the school, right? I think so. Okay. And so it's like the visa officer only asked you questions about your research, nothing about why you are going to the U.S. and all of those things. No, not at all. Okay. So, but then in your answer to your master's research, did you talk about, you know, did you talk about the program you are coming to study and how your research, you know, your master's research related to the program you are coming to study? No, he didn't ask me about that. He wanted to, he wanted to know the methodology I used for my work and also their findings and how it's going to help in national development. I mean, the development of Ghana. And I think he asked that question because he knew I was going to read a PhD in economic development. So he wanted to know how, what I have done already is going to benefit the development of Ghana. So that is where I tied the knowledge I was going to get for my PhD to my previous research. Okay. That makes sense. Did you do your interview in Ghana? Yes. When you were filling your Dx160 form, did you get somebody to review it for you or you just did everything yourself and submitted it? So when I filled the Dx160, I didn't specifically ask anyone to review it, but I remember whenever I had a question, I asked you about how I should go about it and you gave me specific answers. And I also watched at the time some of your videos on YouTube, which you shared to me. Okay. Given that your visa interview was very smooth, why do you think students get denied? Well, sometimes students get denied because you may think one visa officer is not good, but rather they will give you the smoothest interview because when I went for my interview, the person who actually interviewed me that morning had denied more than 10 people in a row. I think the popular bad man in Ghana, he had denied more than 10 people in a row that morning. So I wanted to actually go to the woman who was giving the visas. And there was this guy I went to the interview with who was going to University of Miami also for a PhD in history. And then he was sitting after me, so I would have gone before he would go. But since we went together and then we knew each other back at UCC, when the woman was done and then she called nurse, the guy quickly went after me. And so I was still hoping that the woman will finish with him and then I will go to the woman. But unfortunately, the man rather called nurse. So all I told myself was that it is what it is. I mean, what will happen will happen. And I think I had the smoothest interview that morning. So like I said, sometimes the anxiety of going to one person because if I did not encourage myself that time that I was going to make it, I'm sure I would have flopped my interview. But I just told myself that I'll let it happen. And he made it very easy for me. And sometimes too, I think when I was sitting in the room, you hear people fumbling a lot when they are speaking to the visa officer. And sometimes even not being a visa officer, if you hear some of the answers people give, you can easily tell that this is something more like a chew on poor and the people are not being real with the answers. So anytime if somebody speaks to me about how to go ahead with the visa interview, I just tell them that make sure you have enough preparation as possible. I have a lot of mock sections that will shape your answers. But that notwithstanding, make sure you keep your answers as real as possible. Because if you go and do chew on poor and they ask you anything outside what you have sealed, it is very difficult to... Because when I was going, I had a lot of mock sessions, I think about two with you, and then about three different mock sessions with my boss in Ghana, Professor Henry de Villa-Salpa. But when I went there, most of the questions we rehearsed, most of the questions that came up in the mock interview didn't appear in the interview at all. It took a really different turn. So assuming I did not do my thesis myself, and then when I went there, his focus was on my thesis, what would I have done? So all I tell people is that just be real. Make sure you are genuine and it should be good. That makes sense. That's really good. A lot of times students are focusing on the general questions, right? The popular questions. Why the US? Why this? But sometimes, yeah, things can change. And if you're not careful, if you're not well prepared, you struggle. So were you chatting with your friend throughout? Because you know that he, you know, at the time, right, you knew he was going to University of Miami, which means you guys probably were chatting throughout. Was that the case? Yes, we were talking. Even inside the hall, right? Yes. Anywhere we went, when we were joining the queue, he was standing behind me and then throughout, he always sat beside me in that order. Yeah, the interview. So that didn't bother you at all? Some people prefer just focusing on their own selves instead of the chatting and all of that. I thought that actually brought a lot of relief to both of us because in the room, there was a lot of anxiety, seeing people denied and a whole lot of that. So that brought a lot of relaxation to the both of us. We didn't focus on what was happening in the room. We were just focusing on what we were talking about and then just us. Was he also fully funded? Yes. And so he was approved as well? Yes. But his interview actually took a longer time than mine. And it turns out that the woman was also interested in his research area. They had a longer chat than was expected. I think more than 10 minutes. You mentioned mock sessions. How did you prepare for your interview outside the mock sessions? Especially when it came to preparing your answers? Outside the mock sessions, I made sure I reviewed my DS-160. Even though I showed it myself, I made sure I reviewed the things I put in my DS-160. Since I would say the interview would not be contrary to what I put in my DS-160. And also there were minor things I had to review, like what is the closest airport to the city where the university is. Something like the geographics of the state and then the city and then why the university and then why the program. And then trying to make sure I aligned my research interests with some of the faculties in the department. Just so if I'm asked, I'll be able to know what to say and all of that. Outside the normal preparation, those are some of the things I also made sure I was familiar with before I went for my interview. Would you prepare differently if you should go again? No. So regarding the answers to the questions that you mentioned, how did you craft those answers? Like why the US? Where did you get the answer? So generally there are questions online and then there are answers people would suggest to you and all of that. So after I have studied myself, prepared myself, when I had the first mock session with you, I think one of the things you pointed out was that my questions, my answers were like so long and lengthy. So I should keep them precise. And then I think my boss, when I had the first session with him, he also pointed the same thing. So I had to make sure I made sure my answers were precise and then straightforward. So that was how I came up with the final answers I was going to present at the interview which were not as numerous. If I'm preparing for my visa interview, what are your tips for me? So I would say you should review your documents, make sure you read a lot and know everything you need to know about yourself, the school, the city, the state and everything. And also make sure you have enough mock sessions as possible because I think that helped me a lot. That boosted my confidence. That made me to not just to memorize but to know what I have to say at what time. And that really helped me a lot. Even though the questions in the mock session did not really come back, they shaped how I had to answer my questions. You mentioned confidence. How do I build my confidence? So when I had the session with you, you are more like a friend. So it was something more friendly. But when I had the first session with my boss, you know, he's my superior. So I think I fumbled a lot. So that was when the issue of confidence came in. So he told me to look at him as my colleague and then keep my flow. So that advice he gave me that I should look at him as someone who is my friend, someone who is my colleague made me keep my composure and then spoke to him as if he was my colleague or my friend. Yes. So I was able to speak to him the way I speak to you and that really helped me. So when I went to the interview, I looked at the officer as though he's my friend. That's really interesting. Yeah, that's good. What is your take on home ties? If somebody comes to you that I'm worried about proving my home ties, you know, stuff like that, what will you tell the person? So home ties can be anything. But I always tell people that if not anything at all, Ghana is where you are from and that is where you have your citizenship and that's where you have your family. So once you have all these people back in Ghana, you should be able to tell the visa officer, you should be able to convince the visa officer that you are coming back. So for example, if you have me in my case, when I was going, my boss had, he was the head of department and then he had given me a letter that I was going to do my PhD and then I'll come back to work for the department. And then I was also married and my wife was pregnant and I have my family back home. And I also, on the side, I had other things going on back home. So talking about home ties was not going to be difficult for me because just the letter from my boss alone was going to solve the entire issue of coming back to Ghana. So if you have any of these options, I think you should harness on them if you are asked whether you are coming back home or not. So you may not have a wife, but you have a job. You can also speak to your supervisor and then get something like a letter if they ask you, you can give it to them or you tell them that you are still coming back home too. But just telling them you are coming back home to work for your company has become a norm and sometimes the visa officers find it difficult to believe. That's why I'm saying that if you are in a capacity to get something like a letter from your supervisor, that would end the whole argument of you not coming back home. Yeah, let me ask you this non-visa interview related question. So if I don't have funding and then I want to go for a visa interview hoping that when I come I'll get a GA, right? You, the fact that you've been here for five years, what is your take on that? Do you think it's a good thing for anyone to do? That is very risky because you might get your visa all right, but the probability of you getting a GA when you come here is difficult sometimes. Well, I've seen a couple of guys who took that risk and then when they came, they got assistantships right away. But there are people who also had to go through a whole lot before they got their assistantship. So my advice would be that if you don't have the assistantship, just keep trying until you get one because you might not be the lucky one. Yeah. Did you go to the interview with a bag or you went with a friend or family, you know, to kind of watch over your stuff for you? Yeah, I went to the interview with a friend, but you know, at the time I was driving. So we went with my car and then we parked the car close to the embassy. So I left my friend in the car with everything so we didn't have to bother about where to keep our things and everything. That's good. Do you have a final word for those preparing? Yeah. All I would tell them is that they have to keep their hopes alive and then make sure they prepare enough for the interview. If they have not had mock sessions already, they should make sure they have as much mock sessions as possible as that is going to help shape their understanding of issues and then also shape how they give their answers. And I believe that would make them succeed. Thanks very much. This is very insightful. Those who are preparing for the IBC interview, I'm sure when they come across this video, they're going to appreciate the insights that you've provided. So thank you very much. You're welcome. Good luck to you.