I moved to America, one year ago for an Internship. The Visa process was awful not to mention but I somehow managed to get my application in and scheduled a Visa interview with the US Embassy in Delhi. I had already done a full research on how to behave during a Visa interview, I had to, the stakes were too high. I had already quit my job and didn’t have any backup plan.
One of the main highlights from my research was, never make the consulate feel like it’s your dream to go to the US, they’ll think you’d want to immigrate and your visa will get rejected.
I was standing in line at the embassy, waiting for my turn to interview, ready with files and files of documents which described in extensive detail of what I have and haven’t done in my 24 years on earth. I saw people getting rejected, one after the other.
I still remember a short girl with long hair was being interviewed, the Consulate asked her why she wanted to go to the US with which she replied ‘it has been my dream, I just want to see the beautiful places and travel’, the consulate politely returned her documents and said ‘your visa is rejected’. I think I might have skipped a heartbeat at that moment.
The line in front of me got shorter and shorter and I knew it’ll soon be my turn to get my visa rejected. I held my breath as the person in front of me went to a consulate, I saw a circle numbered 17 was free and I had to walk there because finally, it was my turn.
I was prepared, in the most anxiously calm way possible. The consulate asked for my documents, I handed them over with my lightly shivering hands which she didn’t seem to notice. She asked me ‘why do you want to go to the US’, I won’t say that I didn’t see this coming. I politely replied ‘I want to get experience in sustainable and Eco-conservative design so that I can come back and open a company here in Delhi’.
There were no noticeable changes in her expression after I answered, after which felt like hours, she said, ‘Which country was your longest trip to before you applied here’, it was almost as if she had stalked me on Instagram. I said ‘it was Vietnam and I was there for 6 months.’ She wasn’t particularly impressed by my answer as expected but there was some visible expression change on her face which made me think that she might be human after all. She took a few seconds to process the information and type it in and said ‘your visa is accepted, you can collect your passport from the Embassy in 7 days’. I took back the rest of my documents and said thankyou. After turning around to leave, I think I breathed for the first time in 5 minutes.
I casually walked out of the Embassy, trying not to make any eye contact with the people still in line. When I say it was one of the most stressful conversation I’ve ever had with a woman, I would not be lying.
