US F1 visa interview

Have just completed my visa formalities in mumbai today. Am unable to post pictures simply because photography is not permitted even near the premises :)

So i had prepared my dossier of documents before leaving abu dhabi - the I20 form, the DS forms, the financial proofs, the education certificates, the MRV fee proof, etc. When i landed in mumbai on saturday, i travelled to mahalaxmi to see the US consulate which is at breach candy. I also went through a few typical questions for the interview on the internet, only to realize that the questions are fairly straightforward - why are you going to the US? where will you study? who will pay for the trip. I remembered prashant's advise on being prepared with questions on funding. That was helpful.

I also remember him sharing horror stories of people queuing up outside the consulate 3-4 hours in advance of the interview time. That was not very helpful. Turns out it was not required either (fortunately).

I left kandivli around 7 am and it took me 45 mins (nice) and 500 bucks (not nice) in a cab to the consulate. People were queued outside the consulate. The security guards were quite good at handling the crowd. Of course, since it is the american consulate, i did'nt expect very polite security, so probably that helped me adjust to the way crowds were handled there. At around 8.45 all those for an 8.30 am appointemnt were called to form a new queue, we were told to bundle our I20, passport, and the pink slip from HDFC together. A little ahead another security guy instructed us in chaste bihari english to not carry any medhicines, any mobhile phone, any drinking bhater, etc. Bhatches bhere allowed, i bhas instructed. So bhere accessories, much to the delight of the style bhai standing behind me.

The entrance of the consulate is like a small airport check in counter, where we were frisked, our documents rearranged and walked through a metal detector. The inteview lounge is like a railway ticketing counter, we were issued tokens and waited for one of the interviewers to beckon us to any of the 20 odd counters. Mumbai consulate covers the states of maharashtra and gujarat and inteviews are conducted in english, marathi and gujarati. so for every "Token numbers 704, 705, 707, 709, please come to counter number 7 with your pink tokens" there would be a "Kisanbhai rajubhai patel and family, counter solah avedu chhu" announcement. There were plnety and plenty of patels there, by the way.

I finally heard my token number 963 being called. The counter is like a confession chamber. The interviewer sits on one side, and you stand, sweating, on the other. My interviewer was an indian american who was joined by an american american (?) consular officer midway through my first question - "What are you going to study?" They started chatting with each other with me listening to how so and so candidate should be given higher priority than the other. Then he started explaining to his compatriot about how "IIT is a very famous school in India. Plus he has worked for all these top companies." She said "And he is an Art of Living instructor too." To which he told her "Yes he is a golden boy" and then both turned to me and said "Congratulations you have got your visa. It shall be mailed to you at your address within two days" So that was that, and i headed out to the Bandra station, where i celebrated my american visa in true indian style - having a couple of wada paos and a mango lassi.