Hello,
I am from the UK and a UK citizen. I have my F1 visa interview next month at the London US embassy.
I have a USC girlfriend, who studies her PhD in the same city (albeit a different university) that I will be going to for grad school. Her parents own the house she lives in, so I would live there with no costs. I found a course which is exactly what I want to do, and I'm lucky to have found it at a university in the same city as my girlfriend, living with her is an added bonus of this whole thing! We have no intentions of marriage or me staying etc, and she's going to do a post doc in the UK when she's finished and join me over there once I've finished studies and moved back home. Is this likely to be an issue if the embassy find this out when questioning me at the interview? Or will they most likely not ask this?
I had a J1 visa in 2012 for summer camp, and have visited 4 times on ESTA between Oct 2015 and now (when I met my girlfriend through a friend I worked with at camp). I have never been denied entry, and I have never ever overstayed or done anything outside of my J1 visa or ESTA rules. Should this work in my favour? Or is my amount of visits to the USA going to be questioned?
I have the I20 and my grandparents are supporting me. They have the supporting funds for both years, let alone the one that is required for evidence on the I20 form. I also have a scholarship from the school which covers 1/3 of my tuition costs - is this likely to be a positive thing for me at the interview when asked to prove finances etc? My other concern is my course required no GRE, so I didn't take it. Is this going to be a problem? I feel the schools reputation and me getting a scholarship, plus my undergrad GPA of 3.2, should be fine?
My issue is the ties to the UK - all I have is a very close knit, big family that all live close together, and I have no intention of moving for good away from this, because this is important to me and such a huge support network! I have a car I'll keep at my grandparents but that's about it. I am worried about ties to the UK side of things?
Does anyone have experience with the London embassy, or a EU one? I am hearing that being from the UK, my embassy interview will be pretty straightforward. Is this correct?
Sorry for all the questions! I am obviously very nervous and my situation is slightly different to other f1 visa applicants, and I am worried this will be flagged up, questioned etc. I really want to do this course so much and I'm worried I'll get rejected! I appreciate any answers etc!
