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My 3rd US Visa Experience; From Pain To Hope!
Hello everybody,
Here I go again sharing my 3rd US visa experience reassuring that you can do it even after successive failure with same statuses. If people could do it, then you can. Never ever ever let anybody tells you when it is time you need to quit. If you believe you have a reasonable reason of travel, good documents, honest and clear answers, and you are well prepared and practiced enough. Then keep trying over and over and over…till the day after forever! ((Still a debated point))
This time was a week later after my last interview. I prepared very very well, expected the unexpected questions and became ready to answer any dumb questions from their side. However the interview questions went like this:
Q1: What is the reason of your travel? Show me the acceptance letter.
Q2: This training is undergraduate program, right ? So what are you going to do exactly ?
Q3: Who will pay for your trip ? What do they work? How much of their income? Show me the bank statement. Does your father have another bank statement or is this the only one ?
Q4: Do you have brothers and sisters? All of them in Egypt ? What do they do ?
Q5: Have you traveled outside Egypt ?
Q6: Are you sure you are coming back ?
Q7: What is your father name ?
Q8: Do you have relatives in the US ? Where does he live ?
Alright, I issued you the visa for your program Okay?
Thank you. Bye. (( what a ridiculous interview!!))
It sounds unfair! May be yes! May be I formed Antibodies! Or may be the interviewer was a sweet kindhearted, pure soul, maintained eye contact, smiley, lovely lady in mid 20s. No doubt the interviewer was understanding and welcomed to grant people Visas in a simplistic way. ( No kinda of questions like, why the US ? Why not Europe ? Why this is important for you ? Are you going to work in the US ? The reason of your travel doesn’t make sense to me since it is not important for your practice here! Why God has created you from the Middle East ? lol )
Do’s and Don’ts:
1-Do your homework. Plan in advance. Expect the worst.
2- Prepare well and practice a lot till hangover. *Till you can unconsciously be confident in your answers and to flow them naturally with no simmering or tachycardia or else signs of fear. (Easier said than done!) *Because there is no time to think during your interview. It may deliver you are unsure of your answers or you cannot communicate well in English so how are you going to study in the US!
3- Sometimes interviewers are unfair and you are being judged by randomness or some certain standard criteria and that was explicitly clear in my previous interviews. You have nothing to do unless you keep trying till you are being fairly judged.
5- To tell the truth about USMLE/Fellowships as a career in the US, still it is considered (a debated point). And only you that can see when you have to talk about them in your interview and when you have not. Some interviewers want to hear it from you, others don’t care. So Be alert when it is time to mention them.
6- When you are asked about your sponsor. Mention “parents” even if you only have your father’s bank statement. Just let them know your parents have jobs and mention the total income in a detailed manner. Don’t mention the governmental salary solely because what is told first is considered the main income. They might not let you complete your answer and therefore the decision been based on the governmental salary only. For ex., go like this, my parents’ total income is 7000 ( 3000 basic salary + 4000 from other business like…) + mention if they have their own business like lands, or whatever. And never ever show your bank statement unless you are asked about it.
7-Don’t show papers unless you are asked about them. Just mention you’ve received acceptance letter. But Don’t show them or hand over them or even put them in front of you on the ceramic. (Hide them completely until they think you basically have no papers ). Don’t try to make their first impression that you are a paper guy! I came to know that they don’t trust Egyptians because of the point of papers. Papers irritate them and somehow shows you are desperate. **This is an important tip. I made this mistake twice and I have learnt the third time.
8- In case the interviewer said you are not qualified. Don’t take “not” as a final decision. Start to show a strong point in your program. Tell them you got this opportunity after hard work and it is really an important step in shaping your future goals and career. Try negotiating but not to the level of being so desperate. They can sense it.
9- Don’t panic if somebody posted his/her rejection experience. Every interviewee is different. Every interviewer is different. Just learn from people’s mistakes and suit yourself.
10- Never lose hope and keep having faith in Allah (SWT), and in yourself.
11- However I experienced challenges and disappointment more than once, but I believe they helped me a lot to grow up and be patient and persistent. Luck comes to those who show often and take more chances. Some people say you are not going to take the visa unless you have a major change in your application like travel somewhere or get married. In fact this is not true. Look at me I got the visa from the 3rd time however No changes happened in my statuses. Yes, major changes help a lot but still does not guarantee the visa. Yes, you can apply over and over and over with the same status since people like your case could do it. How many of keep trying ? it depends on your plans and your dreams and how $160 weighs for you. *Personally if this is the case, I would go for like 5 times then do some change like travel somewhere then come back to apply again and again. (( still a debated point )) This is your own decision! But you have to know that interviewers sometimes contradict previous judgments, sometimes not. And you never know when it is time to meet the fair awesome officer!
Last but not least, I cannot stress enough on thanking my friends and people here who helped me a lot and were always there for me through these hardship experiences and proud to say without their roles I wouldn’t have done any progress. Thank you people of immihelp. Thanks everybody.
Please feel free to contact me for any further request.
Dantrolene
Here I go again sharing my 3rd US visa experience reassuring that you can do it even after successive failure with same statuses. If people could do it, then you can. Never ever ever let anybody tells you when it is time you need to quit. If you believe you have a reasonable reason of travel, good documents, honest and clear answers, and you are well prepared and practiced enough. Then keep trying over and over and over…till the day after forever! ((Still a debated point))
This time was a week later after my last interview. I prepared very very well, expected the unexpected questions and became ready to answer any dumb questions from their side. However the interview questions went like this:
Q1: What is the reason of your travel? Show me the acceptance letter.
Q2: This training is undergraduate program, right ? So what are you going to do exactly ?
Q3: Who will pay for your trip ? What do they work? How much of their income? Show me the bank statement. Does your father have another bank statement or is this the only one ?
Q4: Do you have brothers and sisters? All of them in Egypt ? What do they do ?
Q5: Have you traveled outside Egypt ?
Q6: Are you sure you are coming back ?
Q7: What is your father name ?
Q8: Do you have relatives in the US ? Where does he live ?
Alright, I issued you the visa for your program Okay?
Thank you. Bye. (( what a ridiculous interview!!))
It sounds unfair! May be yes! May be I formed Antibodies! Or may be the interviewer was a sweet kindhearted, pure soul, maintained eye contact, smiley, lovely lady in mid 20s. No doubt the interviewer was understanding and welcomed to grant people Visas in a simplistic way. ( No kinda of questions like, why the US ? Why not Europe ? Why this is important for you ? Are you going to work in the US ? The reason of your travel doesn’t make sense to me since it is not important for your practice here! Why God has created you from the Middle East ? lol )
Do’s and Don’ts:
1-Do your homework. Plan in advance. Expect the worst.
2- Prepare well and practice a lot till hangover. *Till you can unconsciously be confident in your answers and to flow them naturally with no simmering or tachycardia or else signs of fear. (Easier said than done!) *Because there is no time to think during your interview. It may deliver you are unsure of your answers or you cannot communicate well in English so how are you going to study in the US!
3- Sometimes interviewers are unfair and you are being judged by randomness or some certain standard criteria and that was explicitly clear in my previous interviews. You have nothing to do unless you keep trying till you are being fairly judged.
5- To tell the truth about USMLE/Fellowships as a career in the US, still it is considered (a debated point). And only you that can see when you have to talk about them in your interview and when you have not. Some interviewers want to hear it from you, others don’t care. So Be alert when it is time to mention them.
6- When you are asked about your sponsor. Mention “parents” even if you only have your father’s bank statement. Just let them know your parents have jobs and mention the total income in a detailed manner. Don’t mention the governmental salary solely because what is told first is considered the main income. They might not let you complete your answer and therefore the decision been based on the governmental salary only. For ex., go like this, my parents’ total income is 7000 ( 3000 basic salary + 4000 from other business like…) + mention if they have their own business like lands, or whatever. And never ever show your bank statement unless you are asked about it.
7-Don’t show papers unless you are asked about them. Just mention you’ve received acceptance letter. But Don’t show them or hand over them or even put them in front of you on the ceramic. (Hide them completely until they think you basically have no papers ). Don’t try to make their first impression that you are a paper guy! I came to know that they don’t trust Egyptians because of the point of papers. Papers irritate them and somehow shows you are desperate. **This is an important tip. I made this mistake twice and I have learnt the third time.
8- In case the interviewer said you are not qualified. Don’t take “not” as a final decision. Start to show a strong point in your program. Tell them you got this opportunity after hard work and it is really an important step in shaping your future goals and career. Try negotiating but not to the level of being so desperate. They can sense it.
9- Don’t panic if somebody posted his/her rejection experience. Every interviewee is different. Every interviewer is different. Just learn from people’s mistakes and suit yourself.
10- Never lose hope and keep having faith in Allah (SWT), and in yourself.
11- However I experienced challenges and disappointment more than once, but I believe they helped me a lot to grow up and be patient and persistent. Luck comes to those who show often and take more chances. Some people say you are not going to take the visa unless you have a major change in your application like travel somewhere or get married. In fact this is not true. Look at me I got the visa from the 3rd time however No changes happened in my statuses. Yes, major changes help a lot but still does not guarantee the visa. Yes, you can apply over and over and over with the same status since people like your case could do it. How many of keep trying ? it depends on your plans and your dreams and how $160 weighs for you. *Personally if this is the case, I would go for like 5 times then do some change like travel somewhere then come back to apply again and again. (( still a debated point )) This is your own decision! But you have to know that interviewers sometimes contradict previous judgments, sometimes not. And you never know when it is time to meet the fair awesome officer!
Last but not least, I cannot stress enough on thanking my friends and people here who helped me a lot and were always there for me through these hardship experiences and proud to say without their roles I wouldn’t have done any progress. Thank you people of immihelp. Thanks everybody.
Please feel free to contact me for any further request.
Dantrolene
