Looking for visa interview dos and don'ts.
October 25, 2011 11:23 AM Subscribe
Looking for some helpful tips for a young Chinese student about to have his visa interview to come to the US.
This student is coming here to visit and has applied for his tourist visa. He'll be a guest of our family for several weeks. He has to go home in order to graduate from college. There is zero risk that he would jump ship. He has strong family ties, his parents are reasonably well-to-do, and he loves both his country and his hometown. He is considering coming back to the US at some future point to go to graduate school, so we'll be looking at some schools while he is here.
The visa interview is coming up. He's a little bit nervous. Can you give any advice as to interview dos and don'ts - especially with regard to Chinese applicants? His English is pretty good, but certainly not perfect.
Thanks in advance!
This student is coming here to visit and has applied for his tourist visa. He'll be a guest of our family for several weeks. He has to go home in order to graduate from college. There is zero risk that he would jump ship. He has strong family ties, his parents are reasonably well-to-do, and he loves both his country and his hometown. He is considering coming back to the US at some future point to go to graduate school, so we'll be looking at some schools while he is here.
The visa interview is coming up. He's a little bit nervous. Can you give any advice as to interview dos and don'ts - especially with regard to Chinese applicants? His English is pretty good, but certainly not perfect.
Thanks in advance!
Best answer: I've tutored two Chinese students to pass the visa interview, and known quite a few friends who have gone through it, all with varying degrees of English.
The tourist visa interview will be relatively easy (compared to the one to be a student), and it's actually in the best interests of the US to get him through. Tourist dollars--especially Chinese tourist dollars--are very much wanted these days.
He needs to show a lot of proof that he'll be coming back, I'm sure he already knows this. There's a whole stack of documents involved.
Don't memorize the answers, it just looks really bad, and the interviewer has heard it all before. When I did my tutoring, I put my students through the wringer with friends who were not me, and my friends would be very mean and shoot off a ton of questions about why they wanted to come to the US at rapid fire. Unpleasant! The visa interview by comparison was easy.
One tip too is that when he greets the interviewer, greet him or her in CHINESE. My boss at the company that I worked for at the time told me that when he did the interview for the tourist visa, the person ahead of him greeted the interviewer in English, and they proceeded to do the interview in English. That person did not pass. My boss--who spoke great English but was nervous about the whole process--greeted the interviewer in Chinese and they did the interview in Chinese. He passed.
Good luck to your friend!
posted by so much modern time at 12:42 PM on October 25, 2011
The tourist visa interview will be relatively easy (compared to the one to be a student), and it's actually in the best interests of the US to get him through. Tourist dollars--especially Chinese tourist dollars--are very much wanted these days.
He needs to show a lot of proof that he'll be coming back, I'm sure he already knows this. There's a whole stack of documents involved.
Don't memorize the answers, it just looks really bad, and the interviewer has heard it all before. When I did my tutoring, I put my students through the wringer with friends who were not me, and my friends would be very mean and shoot off a ton of questions about why they wanted to come to the US at rapid fire. Unpleasant! The visa interview by comparison was easy.
One tip too is that when he greets the interviewer, greet him or her in CHINESE. My boss at the company that I worked for at the time told me that when he did the interview for the tourist visa, the person ahead of him greeted the interviewer in English, and they proceeded to do the interview in English. That person did not pass. My boss--who spoke great English but was nervous about the whole process--greeted the interviewer in Chinese and they did the interview in Chinese. He passed.
Good luck to your friend!
posted by so much modern time at 12:42 PM on October 25, 2011
Response by poster: These are both great suggestions. I'll pass them on. Thanks!
posted by clarkstonian at 2:09 PM on October 25, 2011
posted by clarkstonian at 2:09 PM on October 25, 2011
Bring every piece of paperwork possible. Even if it seems unlikely that he'll need it. You want to be as prepared as possible. If it's anything like mine, it won't be much of a hassle - but you never know!
posted by divabat at 12:48 AM on October 26, 2011
posted by divabat at 12:48 AM on October 26, 2011
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posted by phunniemee at 11:26 AM on October 25, 2011