To obtain a US visa, you need to go through a consulate interview. The interview lasts only 30 seconds to 2 minutes. This limited time is due to the large number of US visa applicants. Throughout the day, quite a lot of applicants come into the consulate for interviews.
Consular officers have the knowledge and experience to know what questions to ask during the interview, and based on your answers, decide individually whether or not to grant the visa. 30 seconds to 2 minutes is very little time to fully share information about yourself with the consular officer. That's why it's important to have your answers prepared in advance. Your answers should be well formed. Try to use positive language. Answers like "I don't know" or "I can't tell you" will affect the interview negatively.
Possible questions during the interview
- If you're in Europe or another third country: why did you come here for the interview?
- Where are you going?
- How long are you going for?
- What do you plan to visit in the US?
- Which airline are you flying with?
- What's the name of the hotel where you'll be staying?
- How much did you pay?
- What is the trip costing you?
- What is your relationship to each other?
- Why are you traveling alone?
- Have you traveled together before? (if several people are traveling)
- Do you have a family member in the US?
- What status do your family members hold in the US?
- What does your family member in the US look like?
- Where does your family member in the US work?
- Do you have an invitation from your family member?
- Tell me about a typical work day of yours.
- How many employees are there at your workplace?
- What's your salary, in euros, in dollars?
- Who is paying for your trip?
- Who is financing you?
- Do you have children?
- Where do you leave your children? Who do you leave your children with in Georgia?
- Have you traveled to the US before?
- Have you had a US visa before?
- Who is your favorite writer?
- Do you have children together?
- If you were refused before: what has changed since your first refusal until now?
- Why is it important for you to continue your studies at this university?
- Have you paid your university tuition?
- For exchange programs: why are you going on this program, why is this program important to you?
Additional tips
- The documents you bring to the consulate are meant to help you feel more confident. There's only a 1% chance that the consular officer will actually ask for any document. Keep the documents in your hand. You only provide the document the officer wants if they specifically ask for it.
- Smile and create a positive atmosphere.
- The consulate is very quiet, so don't speak too softly. Instead, speak loudly and confidently.
- During the interview, be sure to look the consular officer in the eyes, regardless of whether they're looking at you.
- Formulate your sentences carefully. Many kinds of questions can be asked. What matters is that your answer contains positive language, in an assertive form. Don't use negative words like "no," "can't," "probably," "I don't know," and similar in your sentence. Your answer should consist of a few sentences and should directly answer the question. For example: if asked to describe a typical work day, describe the important tasks you handle and what you're responsible for at work.
- During the interview, the consular officer opens your application and asks 4 to 6 questions based on it. The question-and-answer exchange is a bit like a game of table tennis: question... answer, question... answer, question... answer, and the interview is over.
- It's important to listen to what the consular officer is asking and why. For example, if you're asked to describe a typical work day, they want to know whether you actually work where you stated in your application.
- It's impossible to predict every possible question in advance; what matters most is keeping the tips above in mind. Listen to what and why the consular officer is asking, and answer accordingly.
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