How important is an affidavit-of-support in an F-1 visa interview?

[Lex Shrapnel]

The graduate program (Physics) that I am admitted to is about to send me the I20. Annual expenses for this program are expected to be around $25328 . I have a scholarship that will waive all the tuition fee which brings down my expenditure to $19298 (maybe even less). My father is going to pay for the whole thing. He has two separate bank accounts that has a total worth of at least 10 times more than what I would possibly need for my entire course of study. This, is a huge relief since it is a vital part of the visa application/interview process, right? I do have the proof of these accounts (original) but not their transaction passbooks. He is working abroad and these are in his possession.

 

Should I ask him to mail me these documents? Also, should there be an affidavit statement that acknowledges his willingness to pay? My university gave me one, but didn't had the space for his signature. Could I go through the interview just with the bank-balance documents? What should I type in an affidavit?

Edited November 15, 2014 by Lex Shrapnel

[Lex Shrapnel]

One more thing - do I have to convert these bank amounts from local currency to USD before I present them? I was planning to do so afterwards, but is this common practice?

 

Thank you for taking your time to read this. I'd be very grateful if you could leave me a reply - anything you know about this, especially since I am very close to the interview (2 more weeks). 

Edited November 16, 2014 by Lex Shrapnel

[biisis]

Don't know much about interviews (sorry!) but I just wanted to let you know that I think you'll do just fine. These things are rarely as involved as they have the tiny potential to be. I don't think you need to worry about converting cash into USD in advance, nor will it likely be necessary to get the original passbooks for your dad's accounts. Be as prepared as you can, within reason, but don't let it stress you out too much! You'll be fine!

[Lex Shrapnel]

@biisis Thank you. I will try not to get too stressed about this. Also, thank you for the information about USD convertion and passbooks; I couldn't find it elsewhere in the forums.

Edited November 17, 2014 by Lex Shrapnel

[Lex Shrapnel]

I have another doubt regarding the exact amount that is marked in the I-20. While filling out the grad-application I typed in the exact same number from the expense column to the funds column. That is, expected expense = 25328 and funds available = 25328. Is this going to be a problem (with the visa interview, ie). Of course, I do have more than that in the bank.