Note: This document is a compilation of a number of documents dealing with this issue. It is not legal advice. . .merely a set of tips from people who have been through this process. There can be substantial repetition. Contents: 1.Visa Fudaes 2.Visa Tips 3.A Walk-Through of the actual experience VISA FUNDAES The documents required are a) Passport b) Offer letter from the UNIV c) I-20 form d) Aid letter e) Xerox copy of GRE and TOEFL scores plus the originals f) Financial documents (if required) g) 2 DD's payable to "American Consulate General" made for Rs. 2025 and Rs.3375 For latest rates refer to http://www.sphynx.com/madrasus/wwwhnivfees.html h) Your grade card (just in case!) This list may not be exhaustive but I feel it is sufficient atleast from what she (Ms. Laura Livingston, the head of the consular section at madras)said. Each person can have a maximum of two personal appearances in a year. The most commonly asked questions are: a) Does the program make sense? b) Why study abroad? c) Why at this time? d) what are your career goals? e) What after this? The answer expected is obviously to come back to India. But there must be concrete arguments regarding this and what you want to do after coming here. She said things like I love my country, my parents are here, I have land, property,etc... wont do. "We have heard this over and over again". Coming to the Financial documents, They are necessary if you get admission and don't get aid or you get a partial aid like tuition waiver etc.. If the univ in the I-20 form provides you with the aid amount more or equal to the prescribed expenses then you need not show any financial info. Now, if you are required to show finances then they said the documents that they do NOT encourage are a) Charted Accountant statements: "Bcos anybody will give a statement for a few bucks". b) Provident fund: "Its your father's savings and if he spends all of it for you what has he got?" c) Property d) LIC : "To get the money you have to die, we don't want you to die" e) Agricultural Income : "Its vague and not accounted properly" f) Distant relatives, cousin brother/sister once removed etc... pledging support: " Why would someone so distant suddenly fund you so much money". The bottom line is that "When both parents working in the US plus the student himself earning fins it difficult to manage the $20,000 required per year, where will an average parent earning much less than his US counterpart get so much money unless we are talking of the Birlas etc.." I have tried to describe as much of this in her own words. These were only some observations made by her and NEED NOT be taken as the Holy word. Its very much possible that some of the above can be accepted. The documents that they have no cribs are a) Income tax returns b) Bank balances (Here too "If you have Re 1. and the next day you have Ten Lakhs then we will question where did you get it from? Please don't tell us your father won a lottery overnight!!) c) Support from a CLOSE relative from India or Abroad (In case of people from abroad they have to get the statement ratified by the US consulate or corresponding agency in case of US itself and it can be produced here) STUDENT VISAS - DOCUMENTS AND GUIDELINES The following must be presented to the consular section by you at the time you apply for a student visa: 01. Form I-20 or IAP - 66 (obtained directly from the university you intend to attend) 02. Visa application form and USEFI survey form . The visa application form is available at the Mount Road gate of the American Consulate General, Chennai, on the day you apply for the visa. The USEFI Survey form is available with us, Monday to Friday, from 1.00 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. except holidays. 03. One passport size photograph 04. A Valid passport 05. Application processing fee, a demand draft in Indian rupees for Rs. 1980/- (equivalent of $45) drawn in favor of American Consulate General, Chennai 06. Visa fee, 1demand draft in Indian rupees for Rs. 3300/-drawn in favor of American Consulate General, Chennai 07. Test score reports (original) 08. Latest degree /mark sheets 09. Evidence of financial support as described below: a) If financial assistance has been awarded by the university, please enclose letter from the university to that effect. It should also be indicated in your I-20. b) If your sponsor is in India, you will need the following documents: i) Affidavit of support on stamped paper (Rs. 10, 15 or 25) from your sponsor promising to bear the costs of your program for the entire duration of your and stay in the United States. This document has to be notarized as well. ii) A summary of your sponsor's financial resources . This statement should indicate that your sponsor has the means to support you during the entire duration of your study and stay in the United States. All original documents for the sources mentioned in the statement, including bank pass books, should be brought along, to produced before the Consular Officer, if necessary. c) If your sponsor is in the United States, the following documents must be provided: i) I-134 (available at Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) offices in the United States) promising to bear the costs of your program for the entire duration of your study and stay in the United States. ii) Bank account statement of your sponsor iii) Salary statement of your sponsor d) If your sponsor is from a country other than India or the United States, the following documents must be provided: i) a notarized letter or statement from your sponsor promising to bear the costs of your program for the entire duration of your study and stay in the United States. The affidavit of support from your sponsor can also be submitted by using a form I-134 available at the American Consulate or Embassy in the country where your sponsor is a resident. ii) Bank account statement of your sponsor iii) Salary statement of your sponsor. You may apply for a student visa no earlier than 90 days prior to the reporting date mentioned on the I-20. For example, if the reporting date shown on the I-20 is September 05, you may apply for a student visa between June 5 and September 5. If you wish to apply for a student visa, you need to get on the line at the Mount Road Gate (Visa gate) of the American Consulate General, Chennai before 9.00 a.m. on a work day, Monday to Friday, except holidays.. No prior appointment is necessary to apply for a visa. If you need additional information, please call the Consular Section at 8273040 between 2.00 p.m. and 4.00 p.m., Monday through Friday. DOs AND DON'Ts DURING A STUDENT VISA INTERVIEW 1. Do remember that the issuance of a visa is a privilege and not a right. 2. Do have clear and realistic educational and career goals. Be prepared to state them at the interview if queried. 3. Do not give vague and general answers to questions that are asked. Use the brief interview time that you have to provide specific information that would strengthen your application and prove family, economic and professional ties to India. 4. Do not misrepresent your educational and career objectives, your ties to India or the state of your financial resources. 5. Do not try to memorize a set of answers to questions you think may be asked. We have audio taped recordings, of discussions of consular officers on student visas, at our USEFI reference library available for library members. You may wish to contact our office between 1.00 p.m. and 4.30 p.m., Monday to Friday, except on holidays and schedule an appointment to listen to a tape on student visas. We also organize student visa counselling sessions with Consular officers as resource persons at our office. Please call us between 9.00 a.m. and 4.30 p.m., Monday to Friday, for information on such sessions. We encourage you to listen to these tapes and to attend the visa counselling sessions to get a clear perspective of the student visa interview process. Here's a walk-through of things to take and do. ---------------- 1. WHEN TO LEAVE : I reached the Consulate at 6:00am. There were about 200 people ahead of me! Apparently people land up at 4. Suggest being at USEFI by 5:15 types to be at ~100 (trust me, its worth it). Eat breakfast and go. You'll get out finally only by 11. 2. WHAT TO TAKE : I-20 FORM. SIGN IT AT THE RIGHT PLACES. GRE AND TOEFL ORIGINALS. NOTE ORIGINALS. THEY DO NOT ACCEPT COPIES. OFFER LETTERS FROM UNIV. BOTH ADMISSION AND FINANCIAL AID. ONE PHOTOGRAPH IS REQUIRED. TAKE MAX. 3. TAKE GLUE. TAKE WATER. (They sell Bisleri there for about a million). Bank Drafts : 1 draft of 2025.00 1 draft of 3075.00 Drafts must be payable to "American Consulate General, Chennai" ** Write your FULL NAME on the back of all the drafts and also write your PASSPORT NUMBER. (This is imp.). They do not require any other documents but I suggest taking copies of your LATEST GRADE CARD and your NAME CLARIFICATION FORM , the latter vary low priority. 3. ONCE YOU ARE THERE : Long wait till about 7 to actually get into the exalted building. ** THEY DO NOT ALLOW BAGS INSIDE. HUMANITY, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. ONLY POLETHENE BAGS ALLOWED. ENTHU AND POTTU LEFT THEIR BAGS OUTSIDE, WHICH PROMPTLY GOT FLICKED. TAKE EVERYTHING IN POLYTHENE COVERS. 4. INSIDE : You'll be ragged by all the security guards for about 10 minutes. Humour them. Then you shall be herded in. 7.30. The first 150 people will get concrete benches to sit on. The rest will have to stand. Security guy'll be handing out "VISA APPLICATION FORM". ** Ask SECURITY FOR THE "STUDENT QUESTIONAIRE FORM". All students have to fill it. The security will prolly forget to give this to you. 7.50. You are now inside and hopefully seated, packed like sardines. Start filling up your forms. Tricky business wih abs. no elbow space. ** Strongly suggest getting both these forms BEFOREHAND. Saves you a lot of trouble. The forms are sleicha lengthy to fill and have hajaar pain value. Get forms from your Travel Agent. 8.30 Forms filled. You are slowly moving forward in the queue. Can buy Coffee for 6 bux and Vada (I think masala) for 10 bux with a generous helping fo watery ketchup. Long wait. Fraternise or if lucky, sororise. 11.00 End of queue. Flurry of activity. You'll first encounter a counter (:-)). Give the 1935 draft (with name and passport written on the back) to Sujatha sitting behind the counter. She will give you a pink card with your TOKEN number marked on it and two recipts a YELLOW and a WHITE one. She will want to glance at your passport and your other drafts. This done and armed with your documents, go to the next room. This has 4 bank types counters. Go to one of em. The female there'll ask for your YELLOW recipt, your PINK card, your PASSPORT, and your documents, in that order. She'll hustle you like mad. Take it calm. This is what you've been waiting for all morning. Don't screw up. Give all the docs. and also YOUR GRADE CARD. (Don't kill yourself if she doesn't accept it, BAsu got his VIAS anyways). She'll finally return you a part of the PINK slip, with your token number on it. Keep it safe. Also keep the YELLOW recipt safe. 11.30 Exit. Reprise at 2.30. 2.30 Now queue order is immaterial. No need to RG and put fight. Will be taken to a comfy AC room with comfy chairs. Take WHITE recipt and PINK slip. Wait. Random number thingy etc etc and finally your number will be called out "23,45,1,345,23,...go to Counter 2". Go there and get the VISA and your documents. Pain 1 : Hope they give you a copy of the i-20 in a sealed envelope. Pain 2 : They will most certainly screw up either you name "Chandran" or your Uni. "Barclay". Get out. Near the exit is a kutti cabin with a security guy dishing out correction slips. Take one. Fill in the details. Attach to Passport and dump it in. Go next day and collect corrected visa. 3.30 That's it. Finally, Go by 5.30 Take only POLYTHENE BAGS. No bags allowed. Take GRE/TOEFl originals. Grade Card optional. 99.9%, no interview for people with full aid. Check VISA for corrections.