Finally, it is more clear how my next year will go! I got a US visa! So, now I can plan this large journey for the winter months. To say the truth, I didn’t expect that my visa application would be accepted. Right before me, visas were denied to two people, and I was the third to go to the interview. I submitted my documents not to the embassy, but to the visa application center. I know that it’s more expensive. But it seems to me that it’s more reliable. I submitted the following documents:
- My foreign passport;
- 2 photographs;
- Confirmation of the ticket reservation;
- Confirmation of the hotel room reservation;
- A certificate of enrollment from my institute (confirming that I study there);
- A copy of my student ID card;
- A bank account statement;
- A certificate for immovable property (if any).
If you are a student, it is best to provide them with a sponsor letter. However, a bank account statement will also do and, if possible, a certificate for immovable property. If you’re married, I recommend you bring the marriage certificate. All in all, you should show them that you have a lot of ties in Russia and you will by no means want to move to the US. Many people have written about it, but I’m repeating it here. You can see accurate details on the website of the visa application center where you’re planning to submit your documents, or on the website of the US embassy in your country.
After submitting the documents and filling out a form, you are registered on an interview and given back your foreign passport in several days. I was given an interview a month later.
The embassy itself came to me as a great surprise! It turned out that from 10 to 15 people are registered for one time. We all waited outside, under the rain, and were let in two people at a time. We had to leave water outside. In the embassy, they went through my pockets once and found all electronic devices. At the second check, all these devices were put away into a safe. I went through a metal door, they checked my documents (the fourth time now!), and I stood in another line. After half an hour of waiting (everyone thought it was the interview!) they checked our fingerprints again, and we stood in the third line—to the interview. Contrary to expectation, the interview was not held privately in a separate room, but through a window in the common room. They talked in Russian to me, as I was going to the US for the first time. I was only asked five questions:
- If I was going to the US for the first time;
- The purpose of the visit;
- If I have relatives there;
- What cities and towns I was visiting;
- How long I was staying in the country.
That’s all. After this, a rugged man with a severe accent said that the visa application was accepted, and left with my foreign passport. The passport was given back to me at the visa center, and there was now a visa in it. The visa was given me for three years!
All turned out to be simpler than I had thought.
I’m happy and joyful!