00:00I'm a former Visa officer and today
00:01let's talk about what happens when you
00:03apply for a US Visa what is that
00:10process well it's going to start with
00:12you submitting an application there are
00:14three parts to this you're going to fill
00:16out the ds160 you're going to pay the
00:19mrv fee and then you're going to
00:20schedule an appointment now the
00:22government does have their own websites
00:24where you can do this unfortunately
00:26they're not always easily identifiable
00:30these websites don't sound very official
00:32they don't even have doov endings on
00:34them which leads a lot of people to use
00:36an agent at this stage in the process
00:39that's understandable even if you know
00:40which sites to go to these websites can
00:43be cumbersome they can be unwieldy they
00:45can kick you out you can lose
00:47information that you've already filled
00:48in you have to redo it it can take hours
00:51and if you're busy or not techsavvy then
00:53having someone who can help you do this
00:55is a good idea and could even be a good
00:58investment make sure that you're
00:59choosing someone who you know and trust
01:02who has a good reputation and who's not
01:03going to try to take advantage of you
01:05some people I have spoken to have horror
01:08stories where the person they entrusted
01:10with this put their own address as the
01:12address where the passport should be
01:14returned after the Visa was issued and
01:16then they held it hostage for ransom and
01:18until the applicant paid them even more
01:20money they wouldn't give them their
01:21passport with the VISA in it you want to
01:23avoid that at all costs you also want to
01:25make sure that you're you're going to
01:26have the final say on anything that they
01:29submit don't entrust everything to them
01:31and hope that they submit things
01:32correctly make sure that you know what's
01:34in the application because in the end at
01:37the visa interview you are going to be
01:39held responsible for whatever
01:40information shows up in your ds160 okay
01:44so these three steps are the first that
01:46you're going to take in order to apply
01:48for your visa after that in some places
01:50in the world you're going to go for a
01:52fingerprinting appointment in Mexico
01:54Columbia Brazil India other places
01:56you're going to have a first appointment
01:57that may be one or 2 days before your
01:59appointment for the visa interview where
02:01you're going to go for your Biometrics
02:03your fingerprints will be taken perhaps
02:05a photo will be taken or you're going to
02:06submit a photo and some documents will
02:08be checked this is going to be a step in
02:11some places in other countries however
02:13that doesn't exist and you're just going
02:15to go straight to the Embassy or the
02:16consulate for the visa interview when
02:18you arrive at the embassy or the
02:19consulate for your visa interview first
02:21what you're going to do is you're going
02:22to line up outside there's going to be
02:24some local staff members who are out
02:26there who are going to look at your
02:27documents uh you're going to have your
02:29passport going to have your ds160
02:30confirmation page you're going to have
02:32whatever other materials that you're
02:34bringing to your visa interview an I20
02:36if you're applying for an F Visa a DS
02:3820109 if you're applying for a j Visa uh
02:41any supporting documents your financial
02:43documents housing documents anything
02:45that you're bringing into your interview
02:46you're going to have they're going to
02:48look at your DS 160 confirmation page
02:51and your appointment time they're going
02:53to make sure that you're there at the
02:54right time they might sort you into
02:57different groups who are going to enter
02:58the embassy or consulate at the the time
03:00that's right before your visa interview
03:02is scheduled for and then you're going
03:04to pass through security and enter the
03:07facility once you're on the inside there
03:08are a couple different things that may
03:10happen because every consulate and every
03:11Embassy does things slightly different
03:13but if you've not had your fingerprints
03:15taken at a different facility a few days
03:18beforehand then you're going to go to a
03:20window where your fingerprints are
03:22confirmed they take your fingerprints
03:24they confirm that you are indeed the
03:25person who uh is presenting that
03:27passport and inside that passport then
03:29you're going to go to another window
03:31where there's going to be intake there's
03:32going to be a member of the local staff
03:33who takes all of your documents and
03:35makes sure that all the information that
03:36you're submitting is correct is your
03:39name spelled correctly is your passport
03:41number correct is your date of birth
03:42correct they're making sure that all the
03:44documents that you need are present and
03:46that all of your information is correct
03:49in their system so that there's no
03:50misspellings there's no typos or
03:52anything like that when they print your
03:54Visa if there are any typos afterwards
03:56when you get your visa back this is bad
03:58do not travel with with it you need to
04:00contact the embassy or the conso and
04:02tell them that this has happened so that
04:04you can get a new one it's super
04:05important that all those data points are
04:08accurate or could cause you a big
04:09problem when you try to travel after
04:11that the final step is the interview
04:12that's when you go to the window where
04:14you're lining up you're going to be
04:16directed by a local staff member
04:18randomly to go up to whichever window
04:20opens up or if you have a specific Visa
04:22type there may be windows that deal with
04:23your specific Visa type and there's
04:25going to be an officer there who's an
04:26American they're going to be an American
04:27citizen Americans come in all all shapes
04:30and sizes from all parts of the world so
04:32don't think oh this person looks like
04:33they're from my country they must not be
04:35a real American the Consular officer is
04:38an American citizen who has a consular
04:39commission who is a US Diplomat and they
04:41are the person that's going to be doing
04:42your interview and also having the final
04:44decision there's no way to appeal that
04:46to a manager you can't ask to speak to
04:48their supervisor it's that person that
04:51person is the supervisor of the process
04:52that you are undergoing that person that
04:54Consular officer will make the decision
04:56about your visa when you approach that
04:58window they're most likely going to to
05:00motion for you to pass your passport
05:02perhaps your ds160 confirmation page
05:04perhaps your I20 not all of your
05:06documents just the documents they need
05:08in order to start the interview they're
05:10going to get that document they're going
05:11to scan a barcode and that's when your
05:12interview begins they're going to start
05:14asking you questions the most common
05:16question that they might ask you to
05:17begin is what's your purpose of travel
05:19to the US why are you going to the US
05:21why do you want to go to the US what are
05:22you going to do in the US something like
05:24that it's going to be very general
05:26that's the starting point they're going
05:27to be reviewing your ds160 while they're
05:29asking you questions and then the
05:31questions are going to get more and more
05:32specific and more and more pointed as
05:34they try to identify information that
05:36either allows them to feel confident
05:38that they should issue you your Visa or
05:40makes them feel suspicious and leads
05:43them down the path to refusing your Visa
05:45let's talk about those possible outcomes
05:47one possible outcome at the end of the
05:48interview the Visa Officer says
05:49congratulations your Visa is approved
05:51they're going to hand you back a piece
05:52of paper that gives you the instructions
05:54for what you should expect next and
05:56you're going to take that and you're
05:57going to leave you're going to go home
05:59you'll receive receive instructions
06:00about how to get your passport later it
06:02could be that they they send it back
06:03directly to your house it could be that
06:05they send it to the fingerprinting
06:06facility it could be that they send it
06:07to another facility where you pick it up
06:09it's different in every country that's
06:10arranged locally but there are going to
06:12be instructions on that piece of paper
06:13that tell you what you are supposed to
06:16do next another possibility is that your
06:18Visa is going to be refused in many
06:19cases the majority of cases when a Visa
06:21is refused it's under 214b which is the
06:23Visa officer's judgment call in this
06:25case you're going to get a piece of
06:26paper that's not specific to you they
06:28haven't sing out the reasons why they
06:30refused you they handed you a stock
06:32letter that says you've been refused
06:34under 214b yada yada yada something
06:36about ties to your country you're not
06:38eligible don't read that specifically
06:41and think oh it must mean that I don't
06:43have ties what it means is that the Visa
06:44officer did not believe that you were
06:46eligible for the visa for whatever
06:48reason they didn't believe that you were
06:49going to go to the US and then come back
06:51home without using the Visa in a way it
06:54was not intended it's not necessarily
06:56just about those ties there's also the
06:58possibility that you may be refused used
06:59under a different ineligibility in which
07:01case you will be notified of that with a
07:04different form that's going to have
07:05information checked on it that tells you
07:07this is the reason why you were refused
07:096 C1 2 A1 9b2 whatever it is they're
07:12going to fill it in they're going to
07:13check it they're going to write in the
07:14specific code if it's not already on
07:16there and you're going to know exactly
07:18what the reason was what the Clause was
07:20under which they refused your Visa now
07:22the third possibili is that you're put
07:24into administrative processing which is
07:26also known as 221g what is 221g what is
07:29administrative processing this just
07:31means that the Visa officer doesn't make
07:33a decision at the end of your interview
07:35it doesn't mean one thing for everyone
07:37it could mean the Visa officer's
07:39keyboard stopped working and they can't
07:41hit the enter button so they can't enter
07:43your Visa right now they need to get a
07:44new keyboard but they need to move on to
07:46the next applicant so they put you in
07:48221g that that's a a random example but
07:50it can be something as simple as that it
07:52doesn't always mean that there's some
07:54type of intense check that's going to
07:55happen that's going to take 6 months all
07:57221g means is that they're not issuing
07:59the Visa right now and they're not
08:01refusing it right now it's just 221g now
08:04it could mean that you're going to
08:05undergo a check and it could take quite
08:07a while in which case you're going to be
08:08handed a form that either tells you
08:10you're in 221g please wait for us to
08:13contact you with further instructions or
08:15it's going to tell you that you need to
08:16do something now that could be you need
08:19to submit some other documents to us you
08:21need to submit these financial documents
08:23you need to submit this letter from a
08:25university you need to submit your
08:26transcripts you need to submit uh your
08:29business plan whatever it is they'll
08:31mark it on that sheet and they'll tell
08:32you what you need to submit and how to
08:34submit it if they hand you a seat that
08:36tells you you need to do nothing what do
08:38you think you need to do nothing now you
08:40will see on this sheet A lot of times
08:42it's a very frustrating thing for me
08:43because there's no reason to call it a
08:44refusal even though in the regulations
08:46it's called refusal under 221g that's
08:48misleading to the public but the sheet
08:50they're going to give you is going to
08:51say you have been refused under 221g do
08:53not let this discourage you if it's 221g
08:56it's not a refusal in the way that 99 %
08:59of humans think of refusal this word as
09:02meaning what it means is that they did
09:04not take a decision right then and there
09:06at the interview means a decision will
09:07be made later maybe after they got more
09:09information from you maybe after they've
09:11done more investigation and research on
09:12their own but a decision will be made
09:14later after that you're going to take
09:15that you're going to leave the embassy
09:17leave the consulate and you're going to
09:18follow the instructions that are on that
09:20sheet I hope that gave you a good
09:21rundown of what's going to happen on the
09:23day of your visa interview how the
09:25process goes even from when you're
09:27applying at the beginning to when you go
09:28and have your fingerprint taken all the
09:30way up until you get to that window
09:31where you're speaking to that American
09:33Consular officer who's going to make the
09:35Visa approval or rejection decision on
09:38your application and I hope that this
09:40helps you get your visa
