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-Manjeeth Kolli
We dont talk anymore. We dont talk anymore like we used to do. Kidding Lol. I am back again.
Been a long time since we had some good discussion and enlightenment about the MS process.
For those who know me, Hello there! For those who dont know me, I am Manjeeth Kolli. I am a
Masters Student in the Construction Management program at Purdue University. (Yes, We civil
engineers do exist and yes, we come for MS too). The last time I wrote something about the MS
process, people really liked it and requested me to do the same for VISA process as well. If you
feel that the VISA guide hasnt covered any query you are stuck with, do mail me on
mkolli@purdue.edu or search for me on Facebook and message me. If you feel that this VISA
guide was not well made and done in haste, well deal with it. I just had two hours to do this. As I
said, I have tried answering almost all queries about VISA process. But if I havent, hit me up on
my mail id or Facebook id. If anyone doesnt know about my previous MS in US guide for
application process, do take a look here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1b-rI3vOYpuWWtCZnNLbU9TNFU/view?usp=sharing
How does it feel with admits in your hand? Good? Well, enjoy while it will last because its not
going to be the same from tomorrow when you land in USA. You are going to get up and not
snooze your alarm and pull your ass into the bathroom and then cook your own breakfast and
pack your lunch and then complete your assignments and work on a part time and attend classes
and then reach home with a tired look on your face thinking whether to eat dinner or not and in
this thought process, you will get up next morning realizing you dozed off without dinner. I am
going to give it to you as straight as I can, It is not going to be easy. But again who said it would
have been easy in the first place? And more importantly, Nothing worth ever comes easy. So
brace yourselves, you are in for a rollercoaster ride. I cant guarantee you that its going to be
good, but I can tell you in the end, it will be worth every drop of tear, sweat and blood. Anyways,
I will save the emotional ride for you in my next guide where we will be discussing about what
you have to do after coming to US and how to cope up with your internships. But for now, lets
get done with this VISA process. Finish the guide and you will have a Gift in the last page waiting
for you for the VISA process.
Firstly, these are the steps outlined and detailed in the VISA process:
I am assuming you already have your university finalized. If you havent, time to get on it
buddy. Make sure you have the required university i20 ordered by June (worst case).
Dont extend it to July and just make a hasty end. This is the last step. You dont want to
mess here and spoil everything you have built carefully. So order your i20 and get it asap.
For getting your i20, some colleges ask you to upload a financial proof of statement
showing that you are able to financially fund yourself. This amount, they request you to
show is normally the i20 amount. Okay. You need to listen to me carefully now. This i20
amount is not a representation of the actual fees you will be going to pay. This is just a
bloated and overblown proportion of the actual fees. Let me explain it even more clearly.
Your tuition fees is much less than the i20 amount and will be specified separately on the
i20 document. If not, inquire with the seniors from the univ. Some tuition fee is based on
the number of credits you take and some fee is independent and fixed every semester.
Normally the tuition fee ranges around 10k $ to 15k $ depending on the univ. This is the
fees which you pay to the university. The i20 amount is much more than this because they
include a lot of miscellaneous fees such as on campus living expenses which makes it costs
much more than it already is. Remember, dont worry about how expenses are written
on your i20. They assume that you live like oncampus like a richfuck who throws money
around lavishly when in reality, you live offcampus like a pauper. Just kidding. Living
offcampus is fun too and poor also :p Lol still kidding. Dont worry. Anyways, coming back
to our point, there is a lot of miscellaneous expenses which get added to the tuition fee
and make the total amount (i20 amount) to look large. For example, my degree here at
Purdue has a semester fixed fee of 15k$ per semester. That means it equals 30 k $ for the
year. But when it comes to my i20 amount, it shows a total of 45 k $ per year. So all you
need to know for now to get your i20 is just show some financial proof which says that
you have enough money to sponsor yourself for an academic year, which is basically your
i20 amount (according to your college). But in reality, you need 30k $ (tuition fee) and
monthly expenses to survive. Note the keyword survive. I didnt say live. :p Yes, you just
survive everyday and wake up to live another.
Okay, you may ask what do I need to show for the financial proof to univ to get my i20.
You can most preferably show a bank statement of the required amount or a loan
sanction letter of that amount. Yes yes, I know. Its a contradiction in itself. Bank needs
i20 to sanction loan and univ needs loan sanction letter to give i20. You may say, its a
fucking cyclic process and how the actual fuck can I do this. Well, life is unfair buddy. You
have to make your peace with that. On a sidenote, its possible too. So there are some
greedy organizations called Credila or Avansee etc who like to suck the money out of your
life once you start earning after graduating. So to do that, they will sign a deal with you
saying they will approve your loan just based on your admit letter and profile. As much as
tempting and evil it is, we sign it because as I said, I didnt want to mess up in the last
step. Yes, I am also a happy victim of theirs.
Anyways, so you first pay some transaction fee to credila upon a pre-written deal and get
the initial loan sanction letter. You can submit this loan sanction letter to Univ to get your
i20. And dont worry, the specifications of the deal can be negotiated later too. This is just
a primary deal which can be mended later once the actual i20 comes in and you start the
loan processing. But again, be careful, just keep talking to them and confirming them
about each and every point in the whole deal. You get various sorts of deals in various
branches of Credila, so all it matters is how good you negotiate it. There are loans given
upto 35 lakhs with no collateral and high rate of interest sometimes and loans given above
35 lakhs and with collateral and good credit history and low ROI too. So all that matters
is how good your sponsor (preferably your parents) credit background is and how good
you can use that to negotiate.
Okay, have you got your i20? Good, now lets go onto the next step.
Go to the link where the you can see the hyperlink at the bottom to fill the DS 160 Form.
About the details what you have to fill, just see below:
Have you ever used other names (i.e., maiden, religious, professional, alias, etc.) Say
NO
Say Yes ONLY if you are a married female applicant who had a passport with a maiden
name and currently hold a passport with a new name/surname OR If you ever had
officially changed your Name/surname by publishing it in the gazette.
Do you have a tele code that represents your name? Say NO.
National Identification Number If you have your Aadhar UID number, mention it else
leave it blank and click Does Not Apply
Mention your current address (where you currently reside) and NOT the address on your
passport if it different from your current address. Home Address and Mailing address can
be same. Your address on the passport is irrelevant information and need not match your
current address.
PASSPORT
Passport/Travel Document Type: Select Regular
Passport Book Number: Select Does Not Apply
TRAVEL
Purpose of Trip to the US: ACADEMIC OR LANGUAGE STUDENT (F)
Specify: F1
Have you made specific travel plans? Select NO (even if you have booked your tickets).
Intended Date of Arrival: Put approximate date when your plan on leaving for the US
Intended Length of Stay in the US: Write 1 Year, if your masters program is a 1 year
degree program. Write 2 years if your program is a 16-24 months program. PhD students
can put 5 years. (Irrespective of what you put here your duration of the visa that gets
stamped on the passport does not change. Your I-20 may say 30 months or 36 months as
the normal duration of the course, but you need not put duration in the form)
Address Where You Will Stay in the U.S.: Put the university address here as mentioned
on your I-20.
Person/Entity paying for your trip: Give the name/details of your primary Sponsor here.
Even if you are paying through a bank loan, mention the name of your parent/sponsor
who would stand as a guarantor for you loan or whose funds you plan to show partially.
TRAVEL COMPANIONS
Are there other persons traveling with you? : Say NO even if some you have booked
tickets together as a group.
Have you ever been refused a U.S. Visa, or been refused admission to the United States,
or withdrawn your application for admission at the port of entry? - If your visa was ever
rejected then say YES. In the explanation just mention the date on which the visa was
rejected and the type of visa that was rejected without giving an explanation on what
you feel was the reason for the rejection. For instance just write Visitor B1/B2 visa
rejected on ___ (mention date) or F1 student visa rejected on ____
Has anyone ever filed an immigrant petition on your behalf with the United States
Citizenship and Immigration Services? Say YES only if you had filed for a US Green Card
sometime in the past and explain who had filed a Green Card Application for you and the
status of the application.
U.S. CONTACT
Contact Person or Organization in the United States: Mention the name of the Person
who signed the I-20 as your Contact Person. The organization name would be the
Universitys Name, Relationship to you would be SCHOOL OFFICIAL, and address would
be the Universitys address from the I-20 or the universitys website. You may mention
the phone number from the I-20 or from the universitys website. You may say Does not
apply for the email id.
FAMILY
Mention details about your parents as asked. The names of your parents need not
necessarily match exactly on their passports.
Do you have any immediate relatives, not including parents, in the United States?: Say
YES if you have a brother/sister in the US. If they were on a Visa, the status would be Non-
Immigrant. If they hold a Green Card, the status would be US Legal Permanent Resident.
Do you have any other relatives in the United States?: If you do have
uncles/aunt/cousins in the US say Yes.
PS: Saying Yes does not affect your visa chances.
WORK/EDUCATION/TRAINING
Present Work/Education/Training Information
Primary Occupation: If you are currently in college (or just finished your final exams), you
may select STUDENT. If you are currently working, select the occupation that you feel best
matches your job profile.
If you graduated more than a semester earlier or were working and currently resigned
then select NOT EMPLOYED.
For Students/Presently Employed Mention your College/Company Name, Address.
Phone Number etc. Briefly describe your duties: Mention in just one sentence what you
do (do not paste your resume here or write an essay).
If you selected the NOT EMPLOYED option, you will see a box asking you to Explain. There
if you were a student who graduated a semester/year ago mention graduated in (Month
Year) and have been working on my Masters application. If you had a job and reassigned
mention: Worked with ___ (company name) till ____ (month year).
Okay you are done with your DS 160 Form. Good. Now onto next step.
If you happen to make a mistake in the DS 160 form, just fill a new one and submit it. All
that matters is the DS 160 number you get after filling the form. You will be using that to
book your VISA Interview date. So did you commit a mistake? Its okay, go and fill the form
again afresh and use the new DS 160 number.
Go to the above link, create an account and login, and fill the required information until
you come to the payment page. Say no to the questions where you are asked if you qualify
for a VISA waiver program. Now you have to pay your VISA Application fees. You can pay
this online (takes 2 days to get processed) or you can pay it at your nearest Axis Bank
branch or Citibank where the receipt is generated immediately. You must carry the US
VISA Fee Collection slip to the bank for this payment. This is available after logging into
your profile. The fees, if I am not wrong is 11200 INR or 70 $ for F1 VISA. Once the payment
is made in the bank, the payment receipt number is automatically updated on payment
page within the same day (hopefully) and you will be allowed to book your visa date. For
NEFT (online banking), it takes 1-2 days to get reflected on the payment page. Now you
will be asked to book two dates:
1. OFC Appointment. This is just for fingerprints and photographs and is NOT an
interview. You will need to carry your Passport and DS 160 Confirmation page
(should consist DS 160 number) and OFC Appointment Confirmation letter and
your university i20. The difference between your OFC Appointment and VISA
interview appointment date should be atleast 1 day.
2. VISA INTERVIEW Appointment: This is the shit bruh. Select according to your
convenience. Dates open up within 2 to 3 weeks. So check accordingly and take a
date. And careful, you cannot appear for VISA interview more than 120 days
before start date of your program as mentioned in your i20. And you cant enter
US not more than 30 days before the start of your program.
Step 4: SEVIS Fee
All students have to pay the SEVIS fees. This has to paid atleast 3-4 days before the VISA
Date so that its processed accordingly by the time you arrive for your interview. Payment
is not required to book a Visa Interview date but is required to be paid 4 days atleast
before your interview.
The link to pay SEVIS fee is www.fmjfee.com
Fill the I-901 form that you will get after paying the fees. Dont avail the service where
you get fast receipt delivery with additional payment of 35$. You just need to print the
online receipt that you did a payment and thats sufficient.
If you have funding from univ and if the funding is mentioned in i20, well and good.
If not, do carry an official letter which states the funding or the email which states
so.
Generic Docs:
Passport
I20
Ds 160 confirmation page (with stamp from OFC Appointment)
VISA Appointment letter
SEVIS FEE Confirmation page
Funding Docs:
Loan sanction letter or loan approval letter
Bank passbooks or account transaction statements
Fixed Deposit receipts
Demat account for mutual funds
IT TAX returns for the past two years
Salary slips of sponsor (if employed)
Academic Docs:
Bachelors degree certificate and marksheets
GRE TOEFL Score cards
Step 6: The Real Shit: VISA Interview:
I really want you to understand this is a smooth process from here onwards, until and
unless you want to fuck it up. What I mean to say is, if you have done the above steps
perfectly, you shouldnt have any problem from here onwards too. Remember, you have
all proper documents for your interview. All that matters is you keep your cool and
manage everything. Stop thinking that the interview is based on luck and that the VO will
reject if he is in a bad mood. If your documents are right and if you dont give a reason to
reject, he will approve right away. So if you are rejected, its either because of two reasons,
one that you dont have the right documents or you fucked up bad in the VI.
Most probable reasons why people mess up:
A. People lie. Dont do this. They can understand when you are lying. And if caught,
it will be entered as a reason why you were rejected and will slimmer your chances
the next time you go for a VI.
B. Show fake documents. This is even worse. You want to give proofs that you lied?
Lol. Atleast before point was better which had no proof. Dont do such shit. You
will be blacklisted if they realized that you faked something really bad.
C. Cant establish their profile in person. By this, I mean you somehow cant blurt a
word after going there. You may be going to TAMU or Purdue or CMU. It doesnt
matter if you cant show for yourself when you are talking. If you stutter and find
yourself short of words while speaking or if you speak broken sentences and if you
cant even convince the VO that you are fluent in communication, whats the point?
D. Lack of Confidence while talking. Remember, if you cant make it, fake it. Nope, not
about documents. About confidence. You just have to put on a strong face even if
you are losing shit deep underneath. Yes, everyone feels tensed. But remember,
if you have all your documents right, there is no point of feeling tensed and fucking
it up over such a minute reason of feeling tensed. Just wear that confidence like a
fucking mask and walk in like you own the place. Not literally, but metaphorically.
E. If they feel you are a potential immigrant. Okay now you can lie :p Yes, you could
say here that you would be coming back to India after working your OPT and
gaining relevant experience but wont be staying after the OPT limit. You just have
to convince the VO that you are not a potential immigrant. He may ask whether
you will be coming back? Take a deep breath and for yoursake, lie to his face that
yes, you will be coming back after your MS and finishing your OPT period. Even
better you could say that you just need Masters knowledge to open a business
here in India. So after graduating, you may come right back. Do whatever you need
to. Just use all your skills and convince him. Nope, dont threaten him :P
PROBABLE QUESTIONS and PROPER ANSWERS
So, here is a list of possible questions you will asked based on previous VI experience and
suitable answers you could say:
1. What will you study in the United States? What do you want to study in USA?
Mention your program first. And then explain how you feel the technological
innovation and research in this specific field in US can widen your scope and can
help you establish a business or pursue academic research or can earn a job for
you. The quality of education offered for graduate level in United States of
America is excellent. Additionally, the research being done in US in my stream is
way ahead than any other country. Moreover, universities in USA stress on
practical learning rather than theoretical learning, which suits my way of learning
things. And a degree from US is globally recognized as a standard benchmark of
quality education.
3. Why are you using most of the savings in your family? Is your family okay with
this?
I come from an educated family, which knows the essence and value of good
quality education in career growth. Therefore, they are fine with this.
5. Can you say something about your program and why you need this Masters
Degree?
In the longer term, I envision becoming an entrepreneur in the construction
industry of India. Basically, the construction industry is in the midst of a
transformation which is molding itself to make itself better regulated for the
Indian household. With India attracting global investments from around the world
for infrastructure, the construction industry in India needs to employ innovative
technologies and project management strategies to manage complex projects. In
such a scenario, I need to equip myself with managerial skills and technical skills
and I strongly feel that a graduate study or Masters in my stream only will give me
the relevant knowledge and skills to manage construction projects and fulfil the
dream of many average households of owning a house.
10. What may be the courses you will be taking in your first semester of Masters?
Mention any 3-4 courses. They need not be the ones you are actually taking too.
19. Which other universities have you applied to and where all did you receive
admits from?
Mention the names of other univs you applied to. If you have only 1 admit, it is
okay to mention that. It does not in any way harm your chances of getting a visa.
20. Why did you choose this university over your other admits?
Talk about what aspects of the university you liked that made you choose this
university/program. Talk preferably about the fact that your chosen university
offers a slightly more exhaustive coursework in your area of interest, talk of the
positive feedback you received about the program from some of the current
students at the university. If funding from the university was one of the reasons
for selecting it, you can mention that as the reason as well.
22. Whos paying for your education or how do you plan to pay for your education?
Mention your overall plan for paying for your education. If you taking an education
loan, it is absolutely fine to mention about it. Do not get into details of the details
of your sponsors finances unless asked so. For instance if you have plans of taking
a loan of Rs 20L and the rest is going to be paid by your parents, when asked how
you plan to pay for your education, just mention that: I will be taking an education
loan worth Rs 20 Lakhs and the rest of the costs will be borne by my parents. If
the visa officer specifically asks you how much funds your parents/sponsor have
only then tell them the approximate amount of funds that they have. Given
details of the split up if asked for. If asked what your sponsors do and their
incomes, then mention about their profession and their approximate annual
income.
Just keep your head high and answer all questions accordingly. Things will work out, dont
worry.
Gift: Lol, I know you skipped half the content and came here searching for the gift.
Anyways you need it more than you deserve it. So here it is:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1b-rI3vOYpuU0Nzc2pPMENPRGs/view?usp=sharing
This is a google drive link with a VISA Materials folder, which consists of a LOT of
materials which can be useful to you. It consists of sample questions or checklists or
processes and what not. So, here, put them to use.