All my friends who have appeared for the F-1 visa interview had the same thing to tell me- it’s a piece of cake. One of my friends was asked if she thinks bangs are better than curls, another one was asked to watch American football, yet another one was only asked to pronounce his name. Their interviews hardly lasted for a few seconds.
I had taken the help of professional ‘consultants’ who prepare students for the visa interview by helping us obtain the necessary documents, helping present them in the right format, getting a Chartered Accountant certificate, assessing the value of property etc etc.
These people always told me that I would get the visa, no doubt, but I should be prepared for difficult and confusing questions. My dad knew of cases of visas being rejected. He kept putting it in my head that this was a very important hurdle and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
After mock interviews with dad and temple trips and my continuous attempts to distract myself with Sims2, the big day arrived. After about 4 months, I wore a salwar kameez, with a bindi(!), courtesy my dad. My interview appointment was for 8AM. I was asked to stand in the line outside the American Consulate at 7.30AM(Oh, and this is in Chennai, btw.). At 7 AM, I was about the 45th student to be standing in the line. The girl in front of me had the typical don’t-care attitude who gave exaggerated reactions which were mostly- “oh god, they are going to check our folders”, “oh god, we can’t take our bags in?”, “oh god!! They are going to frisk us!!!”, “oh god, there are family visas given here too!”, “oh god, we have to stand and give the interview!” (that was the last of the ‘oh god’s.)
So after all the metal detectors and frisking and bio scanning, we finally reached the counters. Here, we waited for an hour before the counters opened at 9AM. People were called according to their booked time slots. First went the 7AMs. Only one counter was open. The blond guy behind the counter spoke quite loudly into his mike, much to the advantage of the whole room. First went a couple of businessmen. Rejected straightaway. Explanation? None. “I am sorry, but I cannot grant you entry into the United States now”. Then followed a clear, then a reject. These two were students. We were all looking at each other stunned. This guy went on to reject 10 more people, many of whom went out clutching their passport and crying. (Dad’s blood pressure was climbing outside, watching all those students).
Then the second counter opened, and then I saw Him. You know how you might be in the middle of some life changing experience, and everything seems surreal, and all of a sudden, you look at something and think, ‘wow, now it strikes me, I am not dreaming and this thing is what I am going to be faced with’. In my case, the person that I would face. He seemed to be a good natured sort of fellow, with a big smiling face. As Hitler went on making people cry, My Guy allowed about 30 people into the US. Soon it was my turn to stop sitting.
God answered my prayers and I was called to My Guy’s queue. I couldn’t see clearly what was happening ahead of me, so I continued watching Hitler. There, a student who was from the same consultant as me was lined up to go there. Over 70% of that queue had been returned their passports(whereas My Guy had rejected about 1/7th of that population), and he was next. I was in for a rude shock as he was asked to produce his marksheets and was eventually rejected. Most students were questioned on backlogs
I was breaking into a sweat now. At this time, My Guy was going, “Listen man, I know a lot about banking, ok? My wife is a banker. So you tell me what your actual point is”. And then, reject. Everyone was being asked to place one random finger on a scanner, and not one person was doing it right. They would either mix up the hand, or the fingers or both. The guy in front of me was asked to put his right middle finger, and he put his left ring finger(who selects their ring finger, of all the fingers??). He couldn’t do it right, until My Guy was forced to make an obscene gesture at him. Most people, when asked to place their ‘forefinger’ on the scanner, placed four of their fingers, trying to squeeze them into the small area.
After ten harrowing minutes of waiting, I was called for the interview:
Him: (big smile) Hi. How are you this morning?
Me: I’m good, how are you?
Him: Good. (takes a look at my I20). Oh, you are going to New York? That’s wonderful! What do you know about New York City?
I wanted to say, I know that NYC is in the state of NY. I know that it is divided into five boroughs, I know that the Empire state building is once again the tallest building in NYC after 9/11. I know how Central Park is the most visited park in the United States and I know about the David Letterman Show. I know about the Lady Liberty and how she was designed by Gustav Eiffel and how if you peek into her robe, you will find the Eiffel Tower inside it. But what did I end up saying? “Nothing much, except for what I see on tv”!
Him: haha.. it’s not like that at all. It’s a great place. And (pointing to my I20) Brooklyn is lovely.
Me: (smiles)
Him: (continuously entering data on the computer) Place your left index finger on the red square please.
I do it. He gives a sigh of relief as I was the first person who did it right. Really.
Him: (looking through my passport, stopping at a page and pointing) What is this?
Me: Oh, I had been to Oman, my dad works there
Him: (another big smile) Oman! My friend was posted in Moose-cat for a year.
Me: yeah, I had been to Muscat too.
Him: He said it is a beautiful place.. you know, no one on the streets, just take your car and go for a ride wherever and whenever you want, mountains all around..
Me: that’s true. But the heat! It’s unbearable!
Him: of course.. (pause) there is heat here too, and I find it unbearable!
Me: (laughs)
Him: what made you choose this university?
Me: I had received an admit from Iowa State too, but I found the course structure offered here more fitting to my preferences.
Him: (entering data) Can I see your gre scores please.
Me: (showed)
Him: who’s going to sponsor your non scholarship part?
Me: My dad
Him: uh-uh.. and what does he do?
Me: (said).
Him: (types and types) Well, all set. Your passport will be couriered to you in a week.(it reached me within 72 hours, actually) (very nice smile)
Me: Great! Thank you!
Him: I hope you enjoy your stay in New york. Good luck!
Me: (putting stuff inside) Oh, I really hope so too.
Him: ah, don’t worry, you will. NY is the greatest city in the world!
I wanted to ask him why he likes it so much, or if he was from NY. But relief was flooding over me, and I didn’t even turn back. Went to the restroom, drank water at every cooler, and ran out!
