What not to do at the Visa Interview | The ultimate visa journey guide presented by Ex-Visa Officers

Good morning, everyone. I'm so excited to invite you to part three of our ultimate visa journey with former visa officers. And today's topic is what not to do at your visa interview. So it's morning for me, but it's actually evening time for my colleagues, Kat and Swati. And this is gonna be an exciting session for you today because we have a breadth of experience. We have Kat who has prior experience as a visa officer in China, where she worked at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. And then we have Swati who has tons of India experience, but also she's worked in Honduras. So both at the U.S. Embassy and the U.S. Consulate. So, you know, we're kind of from all over the globe. It's nighttime for them. It's really early morning for us, but it's so nice that we can gather here in this virtual space to help our audience, help our subscribers go through this process. Sometimes I like to refer to the U.S. visa interview process as a test with no instructions. And I think it's interesting because, you know, to Americans, it's a relatively straightforward process, and even then there are problems. But for international guests, for international citizens, all of a sudden you're coming face-to-face with a U.S. government official. Perhaps English is not even your native language. And all of a sudden you have to, you know, be prepared to, you know, handle this interview. And while it might be a short interview, it's very high stakes. It's very important. And you've heard us talk about this over and over again on our sessions that, you know, you want to start off on the right foot. You want to make sure you do well on the interview because your visa record is for life. You don't want a refusal to sort of tarnish your record because it could affect future visa categories that you apply for, or a green card that you're applying for. And so it's very, very important that you master this process. And this is what we do here at Argo. We're all former visa officers. We've all had years of experience working behind the visa window, interviewing, you know, tons of visa applicants. And how many interviews have you guys done? Oh, gosh. I've probably done, I don't know, over 75,000 between my Justice and Homeland Security and State Department days. Yeah. In different kinds of categories, immigrant visas and non-immigrant visas, citizenship, everything. Yeah. I'm considered a visa baby. So I've done between 10 and 20,000 visas. Yes, but with very important expertise in China. So, you know, sometimes I think like one interview in China is like, I don't know, probably five interviews somewhere else. And I think Swati brought up a really good point is that, you know, the U.S. immigration process is actually handled by two different agencies. We have the Department of Homeland Security and some agencies fall under that, like CBP and ICE. And then we have the State Department who handles all of the visa processing overseas. And so sometimes these two agencies don't necessarily communicate, you know, in the best way possible. And for someone like Swati, who has seen it on behalf of both agencies, she has been a huge asset to Argo and our clients because she's able to understand, you know, what this will look like from the DHS slash CBP perspective, what it looks like from the State Department perspective. So we all sort of bring our own expertise to this process and we also have our own style. And I think, you know, would you guys agree that the visa interview can be a very subjective experience? Yeah, I mean, it totally depends, right? I mean, I know a lot of applicants say, oh, it's about luck, it's about the mood and stuff like that, but it can depend, right? Because the experience of the visa officers really varies. It could be their first assignment, it could be their fifth posting, they could have done, you know, it may be just beginning in that post or in their journey, or they've already done, you know, 100 interviews a day. And so that really depends. And plus it's just, you know, how the visa officer also kind of adjudicates themselves, how they present themselves, how they ask the questions, how they receive your answers. So it is really relative, you know, depending on who you get also. I mean, we're all trained, all visa officers are trained under the same kind of parameters, right? We all have what we internally call congen, which is our consular training, but how we apply it can obviously vary, still under the immigration laws. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think that's such a good point, Swati. And, you know, it's why when clients come to us and, you know, sometimes they'll tell us, I had the same exact situation as my classmate, and yet my classmate got approved a visa and I didn't. And that happens a lot because a lot of it is about how you convey your personal situation to the visa officer. Some of it you can't control, like what kind of mood your visa officer is in, you know, are they tired? Have they not had a chance to have lunch? You know, all of those things. But there are a lot of things that you, you know, as a visa applicant can control, how well prepared you are, you know, whether or not you know how to answer certain questions. And that is what we help you with here at Argo. And so, you know, I always like to kick off our sessions with probably the most important question. You know, as you know, Kat and Swati, we've been getting a lot of clients who have had visa problems in the past. Perhaps they've had a prior refusal. Perhaps they've, you know, been scammed by an OPT company and now they've, you know, they have a visa revocation on their record. So I feel like, you know, this is gonna be really important. So for, as one of the things that you shouldn't do for your visa interview, you know, what is something that visa applicants should not do if they've been refused a visa and they go up to the visa officer and they're asked the question, you know, what has changed since your last visa application two weeks ago? So definitely don't answer no, nothing. That is an automatic, well, there's nothing really left to talk about, right? If you've already said that nothing has changed and that couldn't possibly be the case either. If you are a good applicant and you have good information, chances are you didn't have a chance to present it or the officer didn't ask you the questions. And so this is your opportunity now to represent that information. So if you start with no, nothing has changed, that closes every door and every window. There's no way to get to recover from that. So I would definitely not start with that. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Yeah, yeah, it's really important. So keep that in mind, because I would say most prior refusal cases, you may be asked that at the window because it's a way for officers to be efficient in their work. It's really easy to refuse a visa applicant. I know it's terrifying to hear that, but it is sometimes much easier to refuse someone than to take the time to really understand what happened before, what has changed now, and to approve them. And I'm always telling clients, you have to help the visa officer help you. You have to make their jobs easier. And so if you say, no, nothing's changed, you're making it easier by letting them refuse your visa, and that's not what you want to do. And what would you guys say are some common mistakes that you've seen visa applicants make at the window? Oh, okay. So a lot of people go, especially here in India, what I've seen, they go prepared with a whole bag full of documents. And either they've been coached or been told, or by agents or something, that you take this, this, this, this, X, Y, Z. So they've just got this bag full of documents and they're ready to just kind of eagerly shove it through the window. And that never works. That's really not what it is. It's not, you know, the US visa process is really about that one-on-one kind of interaction, even though it's a brief conversation. And I know people are very familiar with like, for example, Schengen visa. So they're used to providing, you know, confirmed hotel bookings and flight bookings and stuff like that. So a lot of applicants make that mistake, thinking, oh, I already have this itinerary. I've already made my hotel bookings and flight bookings. Would you like to see all those kinds of stuff? And you don't want to do that actually, because you don't know really what the outcome is going to be of your visa interview. So you don't want to end up having to, you know, be in the hole for your flights and hotels and stuff like that. We suggest to everybody, don't make your plans until after you've gotten your visa. So that's, you know, definitely one thing that people do. Also, when they speak very, just not confidently, you know, it's so important to speak confidently. And it's not about a stare down contest with the eye contact. You know, you want to be natural and normal. And I, you know, I suggest to people, like, just think of it like you're, you know, you ran into somebody at the, you know, this foreigner person, you know, in the Starbucks coffee line, and you just got chatted. You know, you just started chatting. You don't know that person either, but you're having this brief conversation about your life. How would you kind of engage, you know, and just talk naturally? And, you know, and then also too, when people are really nervous, they just kind of freeze, right? And you, it's so important to not do that because then the visa officer doesn't know why you're freezing, but they can just maybe think, okay, well, you don't even know why you want this visa or why you want this sort of visa. Like, how can I help you if you're not telling me anything, right? And I know it's because a lot of times it's because people are really, really nervous. And a lot, you know, when they've been denied, they're even more nervous, right? So we obviously, you know, in our consults, we do provide, you know, strategies and tips on how to kind of help you with those nerves. So those are just a few of the things that we see a lot. So one of the things I wanted to add to that is the flip side of actually one of the things that Swati mentioned, which is people who come to the window with a prepared speech and they will not let the, they will not let the officer break in with any questions at all until they are completed the speech. So just going back to the whole idea of a visa, right? Some of it is quite subjective. And basically you're trying to get the officer to trust you, to give you this visa and that you plan to use this visa for the purposes that are set forth in law, right? So things that you actually need to, you need to be responsible with this visa. So if you come and you're just, you've got the speech and you're just talking and you don't let the officer ask you any questions at all until you're done, does that really come off as trustworthy, right? Is that come off as sincere? Not really. It just comes off as robotic and that it's rehearsed and someone's obviously coached you. It automatically puts you in the dangerous category of people that maybe we should not give a visa to. So that's something, you know, being, there is such a thing as being over-prepared. And so that's one of the things also that we work on here when we do our consults, we try to get, to find that middle ground. You know, we want to bring up the things that are really great about you. The reasons why the visa officer should give you a visa, but not to have you just spew them out immediately without giving the officer a chance to have that conversation with you. Just to kind of on that note, what Kat said, the robotic thing for sure, you know, sometimes it's, you know, you just, even if it's not long answers, it's not about, it's just, it's sometimes really short answers and they're just, you know, well, what do you, what does your family do, business? Why do you want to go study, right? So those kinds of one word answers, you know, that never helps you at all. Like that is, you have to think of every question as an opportunity, an opportunity to present yourself. You may have, you may only get two questions, you know, and if the visa officer can approve your visa in two questions, that's great. But that means that you have provided them the information. You have told them, you know, succinctly, but not in one word answers and not robotic answers. And a lot of times, a lot of people also do is, especially we see this with student visa applicants. You know, they, when you ask them, why did you choose this particular university? They've basically gone to the website of the university, you know, and just kind of said, oh, it's like very, you can tell that they've read some, you're just kind of saying something that they've memorized from the website. And, or they say, you know, something about, and I was in touch with this professor. Like, I don't know why they say that so much, you know, but I think that that's the magic answer, but it's not really that. It's just when you think like, these are the magic words that a visa officer needs to hear for them to approve my visa, you do come across as robotic and memorized. And remember, again, it's about just that conversation, because when you're having that conversation, you're most at ease, you're most natural, you're able to best convey what your true intentions are and why that visa officer should give you your visa. I really love that, Swati, I love that, Kat. Great insights, great advice for people who are applying for their U.S. visas. Here's a question that we get all the time. Should student visa applicants try to speak English, even if they don't speak it fluently? So, yes. If you're going to the United States and you're a very serious student, people in the United States generally speak English, and the tuition and the classes are taught in English. And so, therefore, you have to at least try, because it shows your sincerity that you really plan to go to the United States and you plan on speaking English, you plan on picking up more of the language in order to go. Even if you're going to the United States and you have ESL, so English as a second language as the first part of your curriculum, still put in the effort and try to speak a little. The officer generally that's in your country will recognize when you need a little bit of help. They may switch languages, but that sincerity will be recognized. They will see that you have tried and that you are trying. One of the things that is really difficult, I think, is that when people are nervous, a lot of the words don't come out. So just like you approach anything else, right? Practice. You have to practice a few things and maybe talk to a few friends in the foreign language, so in English in this particular case, just so that you're ready and you kind of expect it a little bit so you don't stutter. I think that's such a good point, Kat, because I remember back in China when you and I actually worked together, oftentimes on the visa line, you would get these student visa applicants and they would come up and the first thing they would say is, and you know it's a student, right? You have their I-20 in your hands and they say, can I please speak Chinese? That's the first thing they say before you even get a chance to ask a question. And I always felt like that was such a terrible way to start an interview because you're already letting the visa officer know that you haven't tried at all and you don't plan on trying. And I think for visa officers, I don't know about you guys, but when you're working in a country where English is not the first language, one of the concerns that I have as a visa officer is if this person really can't speak any English at all, even if they're going for ESL studies, they're gonna land in JFK Airport. How are they gonna get to their school? How are they gonna hail a cab? How are they gonna ask somebody, oh, where do I go to pick up my bags? So I almost feel like it's almost important to be able to have at least a five-minute conversation with someone about very basic things, about your plans, where are you going? Why are you studying there? What will you be studying? How will that help you in your life if you get that degree? So some of the common questions that we ask as visa officers, it really kind of are things that you should know. So if you do land in America and somebody asks you, what are you doing here? You're gonna be able to respond. So that's just kind of a practical tip that we have. Make sure that you're not saying immediately right off the bat, can I speak English? Or sorry, can I speak Chinese? Or can I speak my native tongue at this visa interview? You want to impress the visa officer and show them how prepared you are to be moving your whole life to a different country for two years or four years to do your studies. And it doesn't start with answering like that. I totally agree. Unless you're really going, unless you're going specifically for an ESL program, I think at least in India, they expect that as for a student visa interview, you're going to speak in English because that is part of the process, right? You're showing that you are a genuine student. You're going to be a genuine student. Like Kat said, the classes are gonna be taken in English. Your textbooks are gonna be in English. And if you're going for a bachelor's or master's in program, you're gonna need to know more than basic English. So like Mandy said, at least for five minutes or that two minute interview that you're gonna have, you should be able to communicate. And as Kat was saying, I say the same thing to people, practice. Go just practice, practice with other people because you have to be ready for, sometimes it's an accident thing, right? Your nerves are already there and you're maybe used to in your language speaking in English, but you're used to a different accent of it. And then all of a sudden you go to the consulate and the embassy and all the visa officers are speaking in the American accent. And you may not be able to understand that so easily or the speed at which we speak or anything like that. So that can make it also more difficult. So that's why that practice, that homework really does help. I love that. That's such a good point Swati. So what about this question? Should visa applicants apply individually or together as a family if they're traveling with others? What do you guys think? It goes case by case, I think really, but generally I would lean towards apply together if you're traveling together, especially if you're a family, because it kind of makes more sense. So if your mom, dad and the kids are going, it kind of, it just makes more sense. Otherwise sometimes the alarm bells can also go off. Well, why is this person not traveling? And I know it's tricky for applicants because sometimes they think if they leave this person behind, then it'll show that they have ties and they're gonna come back for this. But it's honestly very, very case by case, I think. But generally together is better. Yeah. And so I think it definitely depends on their purpose of travel, right? Right. So if you're two siblings and you're going to completely different schools, then it doesn't make any sense, even if you're in line together and you're standing there. But if you're going as a family and it's a mother, father, grandparents together, generally, yeah. I would say if the purpose of travel requires you to be together, then I would say try your best to apply together. That may be the case that the embassy does not allow you and will insist that only the adults all need to be separated. And that's fine too, but you can obviously point out that there are other members of your family there and that is part of your purpose of travel. I think that's a really good point. And I agree that it really is a case by case basis. If this is a question, a burning question of yours, especially I think for some families, it's a really big investment to pay for all of the MRV fees, $160 per person upfront. If they're not sure, the principal applicant will get their visa approved. If that's you, sign up for a consultation. We can kind of walk you through it and kind of assess your situation and help you decide whether or not it's better to apply individually or as a group. I would say for the most part, I almost feel like it is not a huge factor if the rest of your case is strong, whether you apply together or as a family. I've had a lot of clients not be able to get appointments together. So it's a possibility that that could happen. But just keep in mind that you need to be prepared for the interview because if you're really prepared for the interview, then some of these other things won't matter as much. Like, are you applying? That's not gonna make or break your case. It's just making sure that you're ready for the rest of it. That's most important. Yeah, absolutely. I would say if you're, for example, if you're an H-1B and an H-4 and you're applying together and for whatever reason you get separated or the visa officer insists that you cannot apply together, you wanna make sure that both people are actually ready for that interview. You don't wanna have one person who's just gonna answer the question because there's a good chance that that officer, if they've already separated you, they're not gonna let you back in the window to help whoever it is that you're with. So be prepared, both, but all the adults should be prepared at the very least. That's a good point. It's a really good point, Kat. What are some good things to bring up at a visa interview? I realize this is a very, very general question, but this is something that we get asked all the time. What would you guys recommend? So what I've been noticing, especially in these consults, especially the cases that come that have had previous denials, when you really kind of try to understand, okay, so what's your situation? Who do you live with? Why do you really wanna study this? Not the canned answer that you think you want to give or that somebody's told you to give, but what is it for you? And when you find that the applicant's really talking, you get to the real answers. And it's amazing how many times the clients don't think that that's even important, but I cannot emphasize how important it is. It's something, it can be, you may think it's small, but it's not really. I had a consult with an applicant who had studied something totally different, but her passion was really in cooking and baking. And she really wanted to get a degree in the culinary arts and stuff like that. So she was having difficulty and she'd been previously denied. So when you really asked her, like, so why do you really wanna do this? Then she was able to really kind of elaborate, like, I've always been baking since I was a kid. It's something I've always wanted to do. And I'm like, well, did you express that to the officer? You want to express that genuine sincerity because when you really get to the root of the reasons you're applying for that visa, whether it's tourism or your H-1B or your F-1 or whatever it is, then I believe that genuineness comes out and there's nuance things. So even let's say things like when somebody... Okay, so in India, for example, it's very common that agriculture can be a total legitimate source of income, right? So if the applicant says, who's gonna pay for it? My family. What does your family do? Hey, they're in agriculture. You don't wanna just stop there because that can mean like, okay, well, does that mean you have one acre of land or you have 20 acres of land? You know, like how many employees does your farm have? You know, like that. So when you wanna get into the details of it, right? So, you know, we have 18 acres of land and we grow three crops and we've got a yearly turnover of X, Y, Z. So those kinds of details don't hold back. Yes, yes. That's such a good point. Swati, I feel like, you know, a lot of our clients and a lot of our audience, you know, you don't realize how important it is to provide some detail, be able to present it in a way that is quick. I always think, you know, if it's gonna take the visa officer multiple questions to get a real substantive answer out of you, that is not gonna make, that's not gonna make your visa officer happy. They're gonna be really cranky. They're like, ah, like it's so hard to get anything. It's like pulling teeth to get something out of this. And you really wanna make the process easy for them. You wanna establish sort of a, you know, almost like a rapport with your visa officer where you're kind of like able to connect. You know, you're looking into each other's eyes, like he's understanding, you know, why this is important to you. That is so important. And you only have a few minutes to do it. And the onus is really on you. You know, it's not the visa officer's job to approve you for a visa. It's your job to demonstrate that you qualify and that, you know, that they should trust you to give you the visa. And so, yeah, do you guys, sorry, what were you gonna say, Kat? Well, I was gonna say during the consult, one of the things that I try to tell people is to try to figure out what the question is really asking too. So just like the visa officer is trying to figure out what you're trying to say, you're also trying to figure out what they're asking. That goes directly to what Swatu was just saying. So they're asking, you know, what does your family do? What they're really asking is, do you have the financial means to go to the United States and pay for all of this, right? So if you say, oh, I'm a farmer, that doesn't tell them anything, right? Because it doesn't demonstrate that you have financial means. It just tells, you know, it's just a piece of information, it's a fact. So one of the things that we do during consultations that I think is really, really helpful is we actually are able to parse exactly what the question means. Not only can we tell what the questions, but what the question actually means and what the pointed answers are that would be useful in helping you with your case, right? A lot of times the stuff just seems like a nebulous cloud. You have no idea exactly what the officer is asking. You are panicking. You have no idea what's happening. And they ask you this question and you just give them the first answer that's on the tip of your tongue. And I gotta say, that's not a good way to handle that. This generally, yeah, I don't know about you, but the thing that's on the tip of my tongue doesn't tend to be the most polished. Yeah, yeah, and I don't know if you guys feel like this, but generally when I do mock interviews with a client, with Argo, when I ask the first question and they start talking, I always have to stop them right away. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, that is not how you're gonna start the interview. Because a lot of times, even if you're presenting the same piece of information as your Argo officer would recommend, there is a different way to present it that makes it more effective. So sometimes it's not even about the fact that you're trying to present. It's in what order should we present it? When should you bring this up? Should you get ahead of the question or should you wait until they ask you? I mean, all of these are things that I should mention. You should not be expected to know. You don't have this experience. And so don't do it without help. Like don't go through this process, this very high stakes interview without preparing with one of the experts, like one of us, because it's a scary experience. If I were doing a visa interview, if I was going to my first visa interview, I probably will screw it up because I don't have that experience. But when you're talking to someone like me or Kat or Swati, when we've been on the other side of that window and we know what responses are effective, what are not, we've been through hundreds of thousands of these interviews. We can tell you very definitively, you're getting the most accurate information from the source how you should answer that question. And even if it's the same fact, how should you, when should you mention it? In what way should you mention it? How much information should you get? Because oftentimes the visa interview is a balancing act. You don't want to say too little, but you also don't want to say too much. We talk about the one word response, but I've also had clients that I've talked to that just word vomit. Every single time you ask them a question, it's just like, oh my gosh, they're telling you their family history and like their neighbor's history. And oh my gosh, it's just crazy how much information they give. And these officers don't like that either. So you have to find that right balance of saying just the right amount of information to help the visa officer, to have them like you, have them want to approve you a visa. It's a very powerful thing. And give them the right information. So they have things to back it up in their notes in the system to show their managers and the state department that like, if they go back and look at your case, like, oh wow, like this person definitely was eligible for a visa, definitely qualified. So these are all things that you need to take into consideration. And you can't know all of that until you practice with an expert and nobody expects you to. And this is what we do. This is what we're really good at. And we're very passionate about what we do. We're here to help you use us as a resource. Recently, in fact, we've been helping a lot of clients with visa interview waiver cases. So even though people don't even have to go in for an interview, perhaps you still have questions. How much documentation should you submit? In what types of cases will your case actually get pulled for an interview? Because that happens. And how should you prepare for those situations? So no matter what it is, no question is stupid or unimportant in this very important process. So talk to us, sign up for a consultation at ArgoVisa.com. We're here, we're from all over the world. So I guess in a sense, we kind of don't sleep. So if it's 3 a.m. in the U.S., you have resources like Swati who's in India and Kat who's in Taiwan and like able to be up and awake and help you. And I would say, try to sign up for a consultation at least two to three weeks before your interview. If you're a student, I would sign up even earlier. If you're someone who's had a visa problem, maybe you've been arrested in your home country or in the United States, there's gonna have to be advanced work that you're gonna have to do before you go in for your interview. Perhaps your Argo officer is gonna tell you, okay, I want you to gather this documentation to make it clear at your interview what happened. All of these things are things that you're gonna have to prepare for. And it helps when you're not interviewing the night or when you're not consulting with us the night before your interview. It's gonna be more effective. You're gonna have more time to absorb the information and just put your best foot forward. And I feel like we've gone on for a really long time. I hope you realize from our session how important this interview is and how much we wanna help you. And also even, we're kind of giving you a 3D image of how different officers look at different issues, but we're generally in agreement on how the interview goes, but we also will definitely help you through it step-by-step if you sign up for a consultation with one of us. And so, Kat and Swati, do you guys have any last minute advice or things that they shouldn't do, any burning things that you want your audience to know? No, I think, Mandy, you've covered it. I would just, again, reemphasize what Mandy said about how you present that information, like in what order you present that information. That can make a really big difference because you just have such limited time during that visa interview. And in our consults, we can kind of help you decipher, okay, well, you maybe wanna bring this information up further, like sooner, sorry, sooner, because you don't know if you're gonna get asked that or it helps your case, maybe the change factor that you need in your case. You wanna present it sooner, the stronger point. So I would just reemphasize that for sure. Yeah, it really helps to get a second take and actually have someone who is on the other side of the window tell you how you're presenting, actually, because I think a lot of people, when we talk, we're not used to looking at ourselves when we're talking. I mean, maybe in this day and age, when we're all on Zoom and we can stare at each other when we're talking, it's a little easier. But to be honest, it's really hard to control the way that you come across, your composure and how calm you are, and if you're coming across as confident. And I think even things like that, that are very soft skills, those are things that you can really get from a consult with one of us, because we can tell you. Our job is not to sugarcoat it for you. Our job is to tell you, look, this is the way that this looks, and maybe you wanna think about how you're presenting yourself before you go into this very important interview. Yeah, that's absolutely right. And thank you guys so much for tuning in. And again, thank you, Pat and Slaty for joining me. I know it's late where you are, and I hope this is helpful to you in your journey on getting a visa approved. And if you have any questions at all, you can feel free to email us at helloatargovisa.com and sign up for a consultation. We'd love to get to know you. We'd love to help you. And so hopefully we'll see you soon with more great information that can help you on this process. Bye everyone. Bye.