My US Consulate VISA Experience

Thought sharing my Chennai US consulate visa experience which may help someone somewhere and adds another perspective to Visa experience / preparation.

Contrary to the perception of very rigid preparation for visa interview, my days ahead of interview was just like any other day and even in the day of interview, it was just another day.

From my company I was told to fill-up the online Visa form. With no prior knowledge of any country visa process / details, I just went straight to the form not knowing the prerequisites. As expected, I was bowled out of online form since I didnt had most of the details they asked. But that said, by going through the wizard I learned what consulate expects from the person. It helped me pull all the details from my resume, company and client.

Having asked to do the fill up the form in fact helped to know few basic things that helped me in turn in interview, which otherwise I would not have known had someone else filled up the details for me.

The second attempt to fill up the form went well in a single shot and the only trouble I had was with making my picture as per the dimension the online form expects. After a couple of failed attempt and some patchup with my picture, things went well here and chose one suitable interview time for my comfort. I heard afterward that some people consider selecting auspicious time for the interview. Hmmm very interesting.

Since I filled up the form, I came to know myself of what documents are mandatory to carry. Even before my company people told me, I was pinging them to give the documents to me.

Then finally came the interview day and only different thing I did before the interview date was shaving. Apart from this(that too 'I guess' applies only for guys), I don't see anyone need to do anything special for interview. Just knowing clearly the purpose of visit with strong reason of travel can help you tide through interview.

My interview with the consulate interviewer lasted for about 10mins. The question were primarily to verify the credentials of myself, company and client. It was casual interaction and went well. Apart from the visa application(which is mandatory anyway), only thing I was asked to show was my client invitation letter. In total, some 3 questions and 10 mins. All done. Visa was granted. Indeed a cloud nine moment. It was after all my dream to visit US.

In short, visa preparation and appearance was a good learning experience.

Anyone who is waiting for the interview or anyone who just starting the process, just be yourself and do it yourself. No worries later. All the best.