F-1

VISA INTERVIEW QUESITONS AND

STRATEGIES
CHECKLISTS, TIPS AND VIDEO GUIDE


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Table of Contents
How to Prepare for F-1 Visa Interview .................................. 3
F-1 Visa Interview Questions ................................................ 5
Questions – Colleges and University ..................................... 6
Questions - Sponsors and Finance ....................................... 7
Questions - Family Members ................................................ 8
Questions – Work Related .................................................... 8
Questions - OPT or STEM OPT and Day 1 CPT University ...... 9
Questions - General .............................................................. 9
The F1 Visa Interview: Weakness Factors ........................... 11
Two F1 Visa Training Events ............................................... 12
Step 2 – Create Custom List of Questions ........................... 12
Step 3 – Craft Answers for F1 Visa Interview Questions ...... 14
Step 4 – Practice a Lot ........................................................ 16
Step 5 – Execute ................................................................. 17
Next Steps ......................................................................... 19
Additional Resources ......................................................... 20

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How to Prepare for F-1 Visa Interview

Here is a simple 5 Step Process that you can follow to Prepare for F-1
Visa Interview.

1. Create
Profile
Matrix

2. Custom
Questions
List

3. Craft
Answers

4. Practice a
Lot

5. Perform
Like a Pro


Step 1 – Create a Profile Matrix

In order to have a sold F-1 Visa Interview, you need a solid foundation
to base your preparation.

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Creating a Profile Matrix will help you visually map out a plan for your
F-1 Visa Interview.

P.S.

Watch two Free On-Demand F1 Visa Training to learn more how to
make complete this Profile Matrix along with 3 Sample Matrix.

Link to the Webinars are located towards the end of this guide.

You S/W

Test Scores
Academics
Rejections

Scholarship

Sponsors
Degree
Work
Ranking
Status
When

S = Strengths
W = Weakness

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F-1 Visa Interview Questions

The F1 Visa interview questions listed below are categorized as
follows.
Category 1:

• Academic Ability
• Financial Ability
• Future Plans (Potential Immigrant)

Category 2:

• Why – Involves Reasoning

• What/Who – Involved Reasoning and About People
• When/How – Usually Facts and numbers

From my experience coaching students for the F1 Visa

interview, questions involving reasoning determines if you are
going to get F1 Visa approval.
Examples of reasoning based questions:

• Why do you want to study in the USA?

• Why not study at the other University?
• Why do you want to study now when you have a good career?

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Questions – Colleges and University

Here is a list of possible F1 visa interview questions related to college
and universities.

Why do you want to study at this University?
Why do you want to study this degree?
Why do you want to study in the USA?
What are you going to specialize in?
How many universities did you apply?
Which universities did you apply to?
How many universities did you get accepted?
What is your undergraduate GPA?
What do you know about the university?
When did you complete your and where did you get your
bachelor’s or master’s degree?
When did you complete your bachelor’s or master’s degree?
How long will you study in the USA?
How do you know about this university?
What is your academic background?
Do you plan to study PhD after MS?
Why did you apply to these universities?
Why not attend University X?
What courses are you planning to take in your first semester?
Why not study in your home country?

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Questions - Sponsors and Finance


Who is sponsoring your education in the US?
What does your sponsor do?
Why is your uncle (ore relative) sponsoring you?
What is your sponsor’s monthly income?
What is your sponsor’s annual income?
What is your university yearly expense?
Did you get an education loan?
Can you show your Bank Statements?
What is your sponsor’s salary?
How long is your sponsor working there?
Why your parents are not sponsoring your education?
Why is your Mom sponsoring when your spouse is working in the
USA?
Your bank passbook shows large recent deposits. What is the
source of the money?
Do you have a statement from the sponsor on bank letterhead?
Do you have a financial affidavit from your sponsor?
Why is your company sponsoring your education?
How will you finance your education for 2 years or 3 years when
your bank balance shows 1 year worth of expenses?
Where did you get this bank statement?
Did you pay anyone to get this bank statement?

You might be asked to show bank statements, transactions, passbook,
latest transactions, and other finance related documents. Make sure
you have them handy.

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Questions - Family Members

How many brothers and/or sisters do you have?
Do you have any relatives in the USA?
What is your mother doing?
What is your brother/sister/relative doing in the USA?
Your brother/sister is working in the USA, would you do the
same?
Where did your brother/sister complete their studies?
Where do your parents live?
Do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend?
Are you married?
What is your spouse (husband/wife) doing?
Is your spouse and kids planning to apply for F2 Visa?
Where is your spouse working in the USA?

Questions – Work Related


Why are you leaving your current job?
Can show your work experience letter?
What is your current salary?
How much do you have in savings?
Do you plan to work in USA?
Are you planning to work in the USA? Why not?
How can you expect to earn when you come back after your
degree in the USA?

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Questions - OPT or STEM OPT and Day 1 CPT University

Are you working at the Client Location?
Why are you enrolled in second Master’s Degree?
Are you working on CPT?
When did you start working on CPT during Second Master’s
Degree?
Are you continuing to work at the same employer, client after
starting second master’s degree?

Questions - General

Why did you choose US but not Canada or Germany?
Why do want to study in the USA?
Why do you plan to do BS (or Associates, MS, MBA or PhD)?
Why is your Test Scores low?
Your TOEFL (or IELTS) scores are low.
What do you know about US education?
Why are you applying for Spring semester?
What will you do after completing MS?
Did you get any scholarship?
What are your plans after graduation?
How can you prove that you will going to come back?
Why are you attending visa interview in this Embassy?
Have you ever been to America?
Have you visited other countries?
What will you do after coming back from the USA?
Do you know anyone (in USA) in your university?

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 What will you do if your student visa is rejected?
Will you come home during summer?
Why do you wish to study in the USA and not in India?
Why are you changing the field of study?
What are you doing since your graduation?
Why do you think we should give you visa to study in USA?
Are there any reasons why you shouldn’t be given F1 Visa?
What were you doing for the past x years after your college?


These lists of questions are not exhaustive. Why?

Your profile, background and families background may require
additional set of questions.

That’s why you need to create the Profile Matrix.

When you have a profile matrix, you can map out the possible
questions you can expect.

You have to be prepared for worst case scenarios when it comes to
what F1 visa questions you could be asked. Plus, you need to have a
solid answer any possible set of questions. Here’s set of questions
about sponsors and finance.

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The F1 Visa Interview: Weakness Factors

In general, here are list of factors that could have a negative impact on
your F1 Visa interview.

Previous US Visa Rejections (all categories)
Low Test Scores
No Test Scores
Low Quality Universities
Pathway Programs
Conditional Admission
Second Graduate Degree (typically Masters)
Less Savings (or majority of expenses is funded by Loan)
Sponsors Low Annual Income
When the Spouse is in the USA
o H4 to F1 Visa
o F2 to F1 Visa
o L1/L2 to F1 Visa
Borrowed Money for F1 interview
Interview While on OPT/STEM OPT
Interview While Attending Day 1 CPT Universities
Application to 1 University
Lack of Confidence

Just because you have a weakness doesn’t mean your F1 Visa would be
rejected automatically.

Thousands of students have received F-1 Visa approval with one or
more weakness.

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The Key is to craft the answers that overcomes the weakness and
convince the visa officer that you are not perfect, but you are
qualified student.


Two F1 Visa Training Events

By, now you have an idea about how to prepare for F-1 Visa Interview.

To help you further, I have put together Two On-Demand F-1 Visa
Interview Training.

1. How to Prepare and Convince the Visa Officers with Your Answers
with Sample Answers with latest F1 Visa Approval Rate – Register Now

2. Avoid These DS-160 Application Mistakes and Strategies for F-1 Visa
Interview – Register Now

Both webinar can be watched on-demand. New Session Runs Every 15
Minutes (or you can watch the Replay immediately).

Step 2 – Create Custom List of Questions

Now, you have the list of Strength and Weakness from the Profile
Matrix.

I want to highlight something important here.

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11 Factors Listed in the Profile Matrix applies to all the F-1 Visa
interview applicants.

But, you could see several Weakness Factors.

The custom list of F-1 Visa Interview questions should take all the
Factors into account.

Then those factors should be mapped to one more possible questions.

I have seen visa interview experiences, where not even a single
question came from the above list of 100+ visa interview questions.

Why?

The applicants background looked like this:

Visited the US on B1/B2.

Attended F2 Visa interview – Denied and B1/B2 was cancelled.

Attended F2 Visa Interview – Approved.

Even though we are talking about F2 Visa interview here, the context is
the same.

The questions asked during the interview was a standard set of
questions.

Likewise, you may have factors in your profile that would result in
interview that looks nothing but standard!

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Step 3 – Craft Answers for F1 Visa Interview
Questions


When you watch the two F-1 Visa Training Webinars, you will learn why
most students are preparing for F-1 Visa interview in a way that would
result in the rejection.



1. How to Prepare and Convince the Visa Officers with Your Answers
with Sample Answers – Register Now

2. Avoid These DS-160 Application Mistakes and Strategies for F-1 Visa
Interview – Register Now


Pay attention to the word “Craft” in this section’s title.

Just like how you have listed and created a custom set of interview
questions based on your strengths and weakness, your answers should
be unique as well.

Let’s just deal with one specific question.

“Why do you want to study in this University?”

I want you to refer to the answer you have prepared.

Can you repeat the answer?

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You can either speak out lout or recall the answer before moving to the
next page. You have a simple exercise.

Ranking
Matches the Research Interest
Course Curriculum
Reputed, Renowned
Matches My Interest/Goals/Career
Student Faculty Ratio/Class Size



Now, refer to the above table. On the right-side column, if your
answers contain any words from the left side, check the box.

If you get even 1 hit, your answers are generic. And that’s a recipe for
disaster.

Your answers should stand-out.

That’s what you should focus while crafting the answers.

When, I work with the students one on one for F1 Visa Coaching, they
make use of a Framework that is used to craft answers that is not
Generic and their answers will be as unique as they are.

Watch the Two Webinar’s to learn more about this Framework and 3P
Strategy.

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Step 4 – Practice a Lot


Far too many times, when I review the F1 Visa Interview Rejections as
part of F1 Visa interview Rejection Review service, majority of the
students could have got their F-1 Visa approved in the first attempt.

They had the skills and solid profile.

But, they did not practice.

They thought they could handle the questions from the Visa Officer
during the interview.

So, how do you practice.

There are several techniques to practice. I will tell you one technique.

Ask someone to question you.

It may sound simple. But, it’s really effective.

You should practice by speaking and answering.

If you are not doing that, then it could be difficult to handle the Visa
Officer’s questions.

There are other techniques that I use to train the students, if the
answers are too long or they are having trouble with speaking fluency.

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Step 5 – Execute

Yes!

Execute.

Execute Well.

Execute Right.

As simple as it sounds.

Failure to execute on the day of the interview is leading cause of F1
Visa Rejection.

All your time, effort and money spent to get admission comes down to
few seconds of F1 Visa Interview.

In less than a minute, your fate and career will be decided.

So, you have to Execute it right.

Example: This guy got admit from 1 university. Applied to 1 University.

Student in front of him got rejected.

VO asked the student, why he applied to only 3 schools and then
denied him

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But, our guy in this example is attending the F-1 Visa interview after
applying to just one university.

He’s under tremendous pressure now after the guy in front of him was
denied.

So, he decided to change the answer.

If VO were to ask him, how universities did he apply, he would give a
higher number.

He walks to the window, shivering and feeling so much pressure!

VO: So, how many admits.
He: Just One Admit.

VO: How many schools did you apply?
He: 4 Schools

VO: Name them
He: Lists 4 Schools.

Guess what?

He just made up a school name.

He gave 3 university and 4th University doesn’t exist!

He just made-up a name - Florida South University

To his bad luck, VO asked why not study in Florida South University.

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He starts to Fumble!

Then VO check the university online and it doesn’t exist!

Do I have to tell what happened next?

So, what went wrong here?

He did not Execute this Plans.

He couldn’t handle the pressure!

Next Steps


These tips in this e-book are pretty simple and really effective.

Simple, 2 minutes exercise to create F1 Visa Profile Matrix will change
the course of your preparation.

How, do I know this works?

The version of the same matrix approach is used to help get F1 Visa for
applicants with multiple weakness. So, it been tried and tested several
times.

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Additional Resources

1. Free Boot Camp Course

1. Since, you have signed-up to download this guide, you are
automatically added to the Free F1 Visa Boot Camp Course delivered
by Email.

2. F1 Visa Interview Training Webinars

1. How to Prepare and Convince the Visa Officers with Your Answers
with Sample Answers – Register Now

2. Avoid These DS-160 Application Mistakes and Strategies for F-1 Visa
Interview – Register Now



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