F1 Visa Interview Experience 2025: Real Interviews & Reasons for Acceptance or Rejections
Talk to Expert
If you are going for your F1 visa interview soon, then you can go through some of the real F1 visa interviews from this article. These F1 Visa Interview Questions are real interviews and include the reasons for acceptance or rejection. This will help you understand what to say and what not to say and how to tackle certain types of questions.
Candidates who are looking to pursue higher education in the United States of America (USA) are required to apply for their F1 Visa successfully. The USA has been a popular study-abroad destination for students from India and globally due to its state-of-the-art infrastructure, world-class faculty and a student-friendly post-study stay period. All undergraduate and graduate programs, such as MS, MBA, and B.Tech, which require more than 18 hours of study per week, require students to apply for an F1 Student Visa in the US.
One of the major steps to effectively acquiring an F1 Student Visa is to have successfully cleared your F1 Visa interview. The US Student Visa Interview is an integral part of the US Student Visa Application and can last up to several minutes. Candidates looking to ace their US Student Visa interview can check our guide to excel on their interview day. US VISA Appointment in India Step-by-Step Guide is another comprehensive article that provides a step-by-step guide to the US Visa process in India.
- Do's & Don'ts of F-1 Visa Interviews 2025
- Real F-1 Visa Interview Experiences 2025
- F-1 Visa Interview Experience Leading to Rejection
- F1 Visa Interview Experience FAQs
Do's & Don'ts of F-1 Visa Interviews 2025
If you are planning to study in USA soon, and are about to submit your US student visa application, then brace yourselves. Before getting on to checking the real F-1 visa interviews, check out the following video to understand the do's and don'ts of F-1 visa interviews:
Real F-1 Visa Interview Experiences 2025
Our Shiksha Study Abroad counselling team has prepared hundreds of applicants for their student visa interviews. Often, we tend to learn from our experiences, provided below are conversation snippets between candidates and visa officers’ (Visa Officers) for the benefit of first-time F1 Visa aspirants.
Predict your IELTS, TOEFL, and PTE in just 4 steps!
Case Study 1
Date: 2nd Aug
Status: Approved
Consulate: Delhi
Slot: 11:15 AM
Counter: 18
Course: MS in CS
Candidate: Good morning mam.
Visa Officer: Can I see your passport, please?
Candidate: Sure. (I gave her my passport)
Visa Officer: Can I see your i-20?
Candidate: (I nodded with a smile and passed the i-20)
Visa Officer: So, you did B.Tech?
Candidate: Yes.
Visa Officer: How was it?
Candidate: It went great. I just finished it in electronics and communication majors.
Visa Officer: In how many schools have you applied?
Candidate: I have applied to 4 universities. (named all 4)
Visa Officer: How many acceptances?
Candidate: Actually I got accepted in NYIT even before submitting all the required documents and it was my priority so I aborted the admission process in other universities.
Visa Officer: Oh…You got early acceptance.
Candidate: yes ma’am.
(while typing she asked me are you okay coz I was injured.)
Visa Officer: How are you going to manage your finances?
Candidate: My father is sponsoring me and I have also taken an educational loan.
Visa Officer: What does he do?
Candidate: He is an agriculturalist and farms approx 35 acres of land.
Visa Officer: what’s the loan amount?
Candidate: 3 sorry Rs 30 Lacs.
Visa Officer: Ok approved
Candidate: Thank you
Case Study 2
First Visa Experience
Status: Rejected
Consulate: Chennai
Visa Officer: Please come over
Candidate: (Entered and wished him) Good Morning
Visa Officer: Good morning pass me your i20 form
(Passed on the i20)
Visa Officer: So the University of South Florida is it?
Candidate: Yes sir
Visa Officer: So tell me about your funding
Candidate: Sir I have a savings of Rs 11 lakhs, and Rs 24 lakhs are in the form of fixed deposits and in addition to that I have a bank loan of 20 lakhs.
Visa Officer: Are you taking the loan from three different places?
Candidate: No sir the loan is only 20 lakhs.
Visa Officer: What does your mother do?
Candidate: She is a central government employee and works for LIC of India.
Visa Officer: What is her annual income?
Candidate: 12 lakhs per annum sir.
(He typed the information onto the computer and told me to hand over the passport. Later he looked at me and told me that he would not be able to issue a visa and handed me the 214(b) denial form.)
Candidate: Sir is there anything I’m missing from my end or I have not answered the questions properly?
(He smiled back at me and told me to re-apply later.)
Rejection Reason: Insufficient financial status
Check out the Top Reasons for US Student Visa Rejections
Case Study 2
Status: Rejected
Appointment time: 10
Consulate: Hyderabad
Visa Officer: Please come over
Candidate: Good Morning
Visa Officer: Good Morning (with a smile. Then she took my i20 and looked at the screen for 20 seconds and then she looked at me).
Visa Officer: What is your Graduate percentage?
Candidate: I have got 76.9%
Visa Officer: What is your GRE score?
Candidate: I scored 296 on the GRE.
Visa Officer: Which stream you will be doing your masters in and what specialization you will be doing?
Candidate: I’ll be doing a master's in electrical and electronics engineering and will be specializing in Nano Technology.
Visa Officer: What is Nano Technology?
Candidate: Nano Technology is nothing but a technology that deals with nanoparticles and integrating any technology into small-sized particles and Nanotechnology is the future.
Visa Officer: Alright but what is the mathematical value of Nano?
Candidate: It is 9
Visa Officer: Impressive. (then she asked when I graduated)
Candidate: In 2016 from GITAM University.
Visa Officer: What have you been doing since then?
Candidate: I was working with Tech Mahindra Limited as a network admin—(I was about to complete my answer when she interrupted me.)
Visa Officer: You were working with them till 2017 right?
Candidate: yes
Visa Officer: What was the latest novel or a book you have read?
Candidate: I am really sorry ma’am I do not have the habit of reading novels.
Visa Officer: What was the latest movie you've watched?
Candidate: Mission Impossible Fall Out.
Visa Officer: Can you briefly describe the movie?
Candidate: The movie is the continuation of Ghost Protocol and Tom Cruise defies all odds and ends up saving the world and restoring the plutonium bombs.
(The Visa Officer gave a smile handed me the rejection form 214(b) and told me to apply later)
Candidate: Thank You, Ma’am. Have a wonderful day ahead.
Rejection Reason: Can be inadequate personal details shared in the student visa interview.
Download this guide to read it offline
Case Study 3
Status: Approved
Consulate: Hyderabad
Time: 9:30 AM
Candidate: Good Morning
Visa Officer: Good Morning. What is you’re under graduation course?
Candidate: Computer Science
Visa Officer: How many universities did you apply?
Candidate: 3
Visa Officer: What are they?
Candidate: (named all three)
Visa Officer: Who is sponsoring you?
Candidate: My parents are sponsoring me.
Visa Officer: What do they do?
Candidate: (just told about their occupation)
Visa Officer: Your visa is approved and you can collect it in 2 days.
Candidate: Thanks, ma’am.
Case Study 4
Visa Officer: Good Morning
Candidate: A very Good Morning madam. (I was searching for the mike. Then the Visa Officer said its placed above me, so no need to search)
Visa Officer: Pass me your I20, Passport, SEVIS fee
Candidate: (passed them)
Visa Officer: (was typing something) Why CLU?
Candidate: CLU provides a flexible course curriculum as they offer two major specializations, Data Analytics, and Information Technology Management apart from that they also offer courses on Information Security. I would be grateful to work under Dr. Paul D Witman. He is an expert in Information Security and Information Management. At present, he is researching on Social Networks.
Visa Officer: Who is funding you?
Candidate: My parents are funding me. We have savings of Rs 30 lacs, a secured loan of 18 lacs and immovable assets worth 4 crores—(interrupted)
Visa Officer: What does your father do?
Candidate: My father is a businessman, his business is related to the construction field in which we buy and sell lands, and construction materials and in addition to that we provide hand loans.
Visa Officer: What is your father's annual income?
Candidate: 7 lakhs per annum.
Visa Officer: (was typing for five minutes, and enquired about my finances again)
Visa Officer: which specialization u want to go with and what plans?
Candidate: I want to start a company in India. It’s related to antivirus for personal computers and mobiles, I will go with information security and as I mentioned before Paul D Witman is an expert in Information Security. It will be helpful to me.
Visa Officer: How did you know about the University?
Candidate: I have my super seniors living in California and they suggested me this university.
Visa Officer: How many universities have you applied to?
Visa Officer: Four universities. They are Pace University, California Lutheran University, Dakota State University and Gannon University.
Visa Officer: How many admits?
Candidate: I have 3 admits and 1 reject. (Named the three universities I got selected in and mentioned Dakota State University where I was rejected)
Visa Officer: What is your UG stream?
Candidate: It's electronics and communication.
Visa Officer: Do you have any relatives in the US?
Candidate: No.
Visa Officer: (was typing for 2 minutes again) Why only the USA?
Candidate: The USA is a perfect combination of theory and practical knowledge which gives perfection in students—
Visa Officer: I'm approving your visa.
No document was asked, except for SEVIS, i20, and passport.
F-1 Visa Interview Experience Leading to Rejection
Following are some of the F-1 visa interview experiences that have led to the rejection of USA visas for international students, check them out below:
Visa Officer What is your major in undergrad
Candidate: I've completed my bachelor's in electronics and communication stream
Visa Officer What have you done after that?
Candidate: I got campus placement in a company called Gridlex as a full stack developer where my role includes in creating and designing websites according to client requirements and managing their data, generating reports
Visa Officer What are the other universities you applied
Candidate: I have applied to the following universities:
Visa Officer: Why this University?
Candidate: The course curriculum officer, which includes subjects in various fields like coding, business analytics and UX.
Visa Officer: (interrupted and said) I'm sorry!
With social media vetting becoming a crucial factor, acing the F1 visa interview can become even more challenging. Admissions
F1 Visa Interview Experience FAQs
Q. Is rejection rate higher for F1 visa applicants?
A. It cannot be generalised if F1 visa rejection rate is higher. But since a lot of applicants apply for F1 visa in USA for studying, the chances can be high. Even if there is a small scope for rejection, either based on application, overall demeanour, contradictory talks in interview or other reasons, chances are that the application will be rejected.
Q. How can I pass my F1 visa interview?
A. Passing an F1 visa interview can be challenging, but by following these tips, you can aim to ace your F1 visa interview:
- Be well prepared
- Be very confident and do not fake it
- Answer as honestly as possible
- Avoid showing interest in staying back in the country for jobs/PR
- Ensure you are well dressed and have a pleasant demeanour
- Also keep all your documents in order
- Answer straightforwardly and avoid beating around the bush
Q. What to expect at US F1 visa interview?
A. Applicants going for their F1 visa interview to study in USA can be expected to be asked about their - future study plans in or out of USA, choice of university, assess applicant's academic capability to pursue and complete the course, understand their financial status and how they plan to finance their education and understand about the applicants' post-graduation plans if any.
A strong academic background in subjects like Mathematics, Statistics, and Programming (C+, Python, R languages) is required. Mentioned below are the MS admission eligibility fror Data Science courses:
- A bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in STEM fields (Maths, Statistics, Computer Science, Engineering, or related disciplines)
- Minimum GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
- Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, C+, or R is expected
- English language proficiency by taking tests like IELTS/TOEFL iBT
- GRE is generally optional, but submitting it might strengthen the application
- Coursework in linear algebra, probability, and statistics is preferred.
The average GMAT cutoff for MBA in USA ranges anywhere between 545 to 755. The applicants can aim for B-schools in USA accordingly.
Pick your stage and get free guidance from counsellors who've helped thousands get into top universities.
Starting research
Shortlisting colleges
Exam preparation
SOP/LOR writing
Scholarship & finance
Visa application
Statement of Purpose
Letter of Recommendation
Student Visa Application
Admission Essay Writing
Student Curriculum Vitae
Comments
(5)
e
3 years ago
R
3 years ago
Hello aspirant. Yes, your profile is evaluated before your F1 Visa Interview. You can get in touch with our Shiksha counsellors for more information on the same: https://studyabroad.shiksha.com/apply
R
4 years ago
View More Replies (2)
The University of Illinois is among an exclusive group of US based universities to be classifed as a Tier-1 research institution (R1). As per an official media release by UIC, the institute retained its status of being a R1 university since 1987.
The R1 universities are known for conducting an high volume of research & an minimium expenditure of USD 50 million in research related activities over the course of an academic year.
The R1 status is awarded by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.