A
Ahmed A. Oraby
:: مسافر ::
تجربة سريعة في الحصول على فيزا سياحة لامريكا.
My B1/B2 visa experience.
So I was lil bit bored in July and out of the blue I decided to apply for a US visa, B1/B2 to be specific although I'm not intending to travel there anytime soon. Just having it would be cool. I prepared some papers and a photo and booked the interview.
The Interview
(The Consular officer was a guy aged around 40 and he kept asking his supervisor I guess about a lot of things and showing her something on the screen for like 3 times while our conversation continued)
Me: Morning!
Co: Morning, how are you?
Me: Fine thanks
Co: Can you please hand me your passport?
Me: Sure
He scanned it and kept looking at the screen and typing for like 3 minutes. He flipped its pages and they were all blank except for a previous US visa (5 years ago) with 3 stamps on the opposite page.
Co: So Ahmed, What do you do for work?
Me: I'm an Internal medicine resident at ....... at the beginning of my 2nd year of 3 years residency and still have 2 years remaining to finish. ( Can't stress on this point enough!!! ) And I have my HR letter ( with a certified translation ) stating that.
Co: Ok can you pass it please.
Me: Here you are.
Co: Why do you want to travel to the US?
Me: Because I've been there before but unfortunately I didn't have the chance to visit a lot of touristic cities and attractions.
Co: Do you know exactly which cities will you visit?
Me: Yeah 4 cities actually, New York, Orlando, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I have a trip plan if you would like to take a look at it.
Co: Yes please.
It was a 3 pages plan showing the most famous attractions in these cities ( Empire state building in NYC, SeaWorld in Orlando, Hollywood walk of fame in LA and so ) with an approximate cost for each trip.
Co: Who made this itinerary for you? A travel agency?
Me: No, I made it myself.
Co: Who will pay for your trip?
Me: My dad. He's a surgeon & works at ......... . And I have his bank statement if you want to take a look.
Co: No it's fine just wait a second.
Co: Have you traveled abroad except for the US & the UAE ( I used to live there 10 years ago) ?
Me: No. ( I even forgot to mention Saudi Arabia that I visited multiple times. And I guess it was better not to mention it
)
He was checking something out at the screen when I start talking; I didn't travel during the past 3-4 years because I had to finish my last year at medical school and to do my compulsory military service, And I have my military service certificate copy with me.
Co: Don't need it. It's OK.
Spent about a couple of minutes talking with his supervisor before turning on the microphone and the Co said:
Ok your visa is approved but you will have to pass through some administrative processing. It's normal and in most cases nothing would change and you will most probably get your passport delivered in 10 days insha`Allah. ( He passed me the green paper given to accepted applicants )
Me: Ok great thanks. Have a nice day.
Co: Thanks bye bye.
My interview was on 2/8/2017
Visa issued for 5 years on 14/8/2017
Got my passport via Aramex on 16/8/2017
My two cents :
الموضوع كله بيعتمد عالانترفيو و ردودك و ثقتك في نفسك مش عالورق
يكون عندك و لو سبب واحد بس قوي يربطك ببلدك هنا ، و تكون عارف انت رايح هناك تعمل ايه. رد بثقة و بص في عين اللي بيسألك ده مش انترفيو الجنة يعني
لما ترد على سؤال و يكون معاك ورقة تدعم موقف اعرض انك تقدمها.
Don't be too pushy or garrulous though.
محدش طلب يشوف الحساب البنكي رغم اني عرضت كده
مش هتفرق سينجل ولا متجوز ولا سألني اصلا عشان الناس اللي بتقول لو سنجل و شاب صغير فرصك اقل
موضوع اللوتري و الهجرة العشوائية ملوش اي علاقة، شخصيا قدمت اخر 7 سنين منهم سنة اتقبلت فيها بس مكملتش
بس كده لو افتكرت حاجة تاني هبقى ازودها و بالتوفيق للكل
My B1/B2 visa experience.
So I was lil bit bored in July and out of the blue I decided to apply for a US visa, B1/B2 to be specific although I'm not intending to travel there anytime soon. Just having it would be cool. I prepared some papers and a photo and booked the interview.
The Interview
(The Consular officer was a guy aged around 40 and he kept asking his supervisor I guess about a lot of things and showing her something on the screen for like 3 times while our conversation continued)
Me: Morning!
Co: Morning, how are you?
Me: Fine thanks
Co: Can you please hand me your passport?
Me: Sure
He scanned it and kept looking at the screen and typing for like 3 minutes. He flipped its pages and they were all blank except for a previous US visa (5 years ago) with 3 stamps on the opposite page.
Co: So Ahmed, What do you do for work?
Me: I'm an Internal medicine resident at ....... at the beginning of my 2nd year of 3 years residency and still have 2 years remaining to finish. ( Can't stress on this point enough!!! ) And I have my HR letter ( with a certified translation ) stating that.
Co: Ok can you pass it please.
Me: Here you are.
Co: Why do you want to travel to the US?
Me: Because I've been there before but unfortunately I didn't have the chance to visit a lot of touristic cities and attractions.
Co: Do you know exactly which cities will you visit?
Me: Yeah 4 cities actually, New York, Orlando, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I have a trip plan if you would like to take a look at it.
Co: Yes please.
It was a 3 pages plan showing the most famous attractions in these cities ( Empire state building in NYC, SeaWorld in Orlando, Hollywood walk of fame in LA and so ) with an approximate cost for each trip.
Co: Who made this itinerary for you? A travel agency?
Me: No, I made it myself.
Co: Who will pay for your trip?
Me: My dad. He's a surgeon & works at ......... . And I have his bank statement if you want to take a look.
Co: No it's fine just wait a second.
Co: Have you traveled abroad except for the US & the UAE ( I used to live there 10 years ago) ?
Me: No. ( I even forgot to mention Saudi Arabia that I visited multiple times. And I guess it was better not to mention it
)He was checking something out at the screen when I start talking; I didn't travel during the past 3-4 years because I had to finish my last year at medical school and to do my compulsory military service, And I have my military service certificate copy with me.
Co: Don't need it. It's OK.
Spent about a couple of minutes talking with his supervisor before turning on the microphone and the Co said:
Ok your visa is approved but you will have to pass through some administrative processing. It's normal and in most cases nothing would change and you will most probably get your passport delivered in 10 days insha`Allah. ( He passed me the green paper given to accepted applicants )
Me: Ok great thanks. Have a nice day.
Co: Thanks bye bye.
My interview was on 2/8/2017
Visa issued for 5 years on 14/8/2017
Got my passport via Aramex on 16/8/2017
My two cents :
الموضوع كله بيعتمد عالانترفيو و ردودك و ثقتك في نفسك مش عالورق
يكون عندك و لو سبب واحد بس قوي يربطك ببلدك هنا ، و تكون عارف انت رايح هناك تعمل ايه. رد بثقة و بص في عين اللي بيسألك ده مش انترفيو الجنة يعني
لما ترد على سؤال و يكون معاك ورقة تدعم موقف اعرض انك تقدمها.
Don't be too pushy or garrulous though.
محدش طلب يشوف الحساب البنكي رغم اني عرضت كده
مش هتفرق سينجل ولا متجوز ولا سألني اصلا عشان الناس اللي بتقول لو سنجل و شاب صغير فرصك اقل
موضوع اللوتري و الهجرة العشوائية ملوش اي علاقة، شخصيا قدمت اخر 7 سنين منهم سنة اتقبلت فيها بس مكملتش
بس كده لو افتكرت حاجة تاني هبقى ازودها و بالتوفيق للكل