F1 Visa interview- help needed

[poissonpilote]

Hi all,

I'm a French student accepted for a PhD program in the US next fall. Essentially all that's left now is the F1 visa procedure.

Thing is, I'm a bit worried about the interview. Specifically, I've heard that you need to prove that you have sufficient ties to your home country and that you plan to return after your studies in order to get the visa- if the officer suspects that you will be an immigrant, that it's a no-no for the visa.

But my girlfriend is American (we'll have been together for almost 2 years at the time of the interview) and things turn out perfectly because I got my PhD in her hometown. However, I'm guessing that if I say that to the officer, my visa is going to get denied- which would blow.

I could not mention my girlfriend. Thing is, I've been in the US to visit her 4 times since last summer, and I'm guessing the officer will have a record of my entries on US territory. Each time I entered the US territory and the officer asked me why, I said I was visiting my girlfriend. Do they keep track of that?

Ie., if during the interview I say that I visited the US this year to see friends- will I get busted because they keep everything on the record and cross check everything? Or will it fly?

I'm a bit lost and confused, and definitely do not want to lose a fully funded PhD opportunity PLUS being with my girlfriend over something minor like that, now that most of the work has been done.

Any help is very appreciated!

[ebaronov]

You need to relax. I don't think that there is even a single case of admitted student who didn't attend the program due to visa issues. I haven't applied for F1 but when I applied for J1 last summer my impression was that if you have all the required documents you will be ok. So just make sure you have all the forms needed and you will be fine.

On the off chance that you get denied I am sure that your school can help you. A friend of mine did an internship in a US company last summer. When he was applying for J1 he forgot to bring the training plan to the embassy (the training plan is the second most important document for J1 after ds-2019 form). He got denied visa, of course, then he contacted the company and the company lawyers contacted the embassy and he had his visa in a week, which is remarkable since you usually must wait at least a month to schedule an appointment here! So don't worry about the visa, you'll be fine. The hard part is over

[79litter]

I am in exactly the same situation. Funded Phd starting this fall, nothing left to do but the F1 visa and a US girlfriend of a few years.

I would be surprised if they recorded what was said as you go through customs as they rarely wrtie/type stuff down. I think the questions are more of a test of your confidence and to see if you contradict yourself. *This is just my opinion so don't take my info as fact*

When is your interview? Could you keep me posted as to what the outcome was and what questions they asked? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[dant.gwyrdd]

I'll have to second ebaronov--I've just had my interview today and the consular officer just wished me a good morning and asked me literally TWO questions: "So, you're going to <university>?" and "Why did you choose <university>?" After that he typed something on a computer and informed me that I was eligible for an F-1 visa and that my passport should arrive to my home address in two days.