H1B visa interview experience

Imagine this. You entered into the H1B lottery in March. All your prayers were answered and your name actually came up in the lottery. You worked with your company and the immigration lawyer to file your petition and your H1B visa got approved. However, you now need to appear for an interview at the U.S. embassy. 

Darr Ke Aagey Jeet Hai - is the tagline of a popular soft drink brand in India. And today, that is exactly what we want to tell you guys. Don’t worry, because Main Hoon Na.

In this blog post, we are going to share everything you need to know about going in for an H1B Visa Interview at a US embassy. We will cover:

• How to get an appointment for the interview

• The Documents needed

• Biometrics Process

• Interview Questions & Answers

Let’s begin. 

First, How To Get An Appointment For The Interview

This is the most important and time-consuming step. 

Please pay close attention and make sure you follow all the steps properly. It’s not that difficult. Just that you’ll have to be patient and follow multiple steps. 

1. First, go to the US Travel Docs Website (https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/) and fill out the form DS-160

2. Please enter all the details correctly. It will take around 20-30 minutes to fill out this form and submit it. You’ll need your Passport details, your home address, details about your company, which city you’ll go to when you land in the US, your company’s address there, and some more job-related details handy

3. After submitting this form, you’ll get a confirmation page. Please download and print that page. You’ll have to carry this page with you during your interview

4. If you want to make any changes to this form later, you cannot. You’ll have to fill this form again and take both the old and the new form with you during your appointment.

5. Now, you need to pay the fees. For that, visit the website - US Visa scheduling.com (https://www.usvisascheduling.com/) and create a new profile there. If you already have a profile, you can use that too. Choose the Schedule Appointment option. On the payment confirmation screen, you will be presented with payment options and further details of how to initiate payment. Note it can take up to 1 business day from time of payment for your receipt to be activated.

6. The current fee is $205, which is slightly more than 17000 rupees.

7. Just one more step to schedule an appointment.

8. Go back to the US Visa scheduling website and log in using the same credentials you used to pay the fees. Post that, select the Schedule Appointment button

9. You must schedule two appointments, one for the Visa Application Center (VAC) and one for the visa interview at the Embassy or Consulate.

10. First, schedule your appointment at a Visa Application Center. This appointment will allow you to go to one of the five Visa Application Center locations for your biometrics. 

11. Second, schedule your visa interview appointment at the Embassy or Consulate.

You will need three pieces of information to schedule your appointment:

• Your passport number

• The visa application fee receipt number.

• The ten (10) digit barcode number from your DS-160 confirmation page

As you go through the process, you will be able to select your visa type, enter personal data, add dependents, select your document delivery location, confirm visa payment, and schedule your appointment.

That’s it. Your appointments are now scheduled. 

Next Step: Biometrics

On the day and time of your biometrics appointment, go to the consulate where your interview is scheduled. 

Here’s a list of documents that you need for your biometrics appointment:

• Original Passport: Please carry all old or expired passports with you as well.

• Appointment confirmation page: Carry a hard copy of the appointment confirmation page that you get after paying the fees and scheduling the appointment. 

• DS-160 confirmation page - hard copy. 

You don’t have to carry your photos. You are going to get your photos clicked. You can carry your I797 approval notice with you if you want, but it’s honestly not required. 

What is the biometrics process?

When you reach the consulate, you will have to stand in line outside the consulate. You will be allowed inside only 10-15 minutes before your scheduled appointment time.  

Before you can enter, the authorities might ask for your appointment letter, original passport and receipt for the visa application fee. They will also ask you to arrange all of them in a particular order. 

You won’t be allowed to take anything else inside. Not even your mobile phones. And some people have made a business out of renting lock boxes outside these consulates to store your valuables. I would suggest taking a friend along who can wait outside for you while you get done with the biometrics.

After the security check, just follow the queue and wait for your turn to be called. Once you are called, all your 10 fingers are scanned. This is known as ten printing. Your photo will also be taken. 

That’s it. Your biometrics are done.

Next step - The Final Interview.  

On the day of the interview, reach the US embassy at least 15-20 minutes before your scheduled time. 

Here’s the list of documents. No one will be able to share an exact list with you because there’s no exact list mentioned by the US Embassy. Most of the information about your case is already with them because they receive your DS-160 and your entire H1B application from the USCIS. 

• Your passports

• Your appointment confirmation

• DS-160 confirmation page. Do not print and carry your entire DS-160 application

• Your H1B approval notice

• Employment Verification letter - original. Your employer will be able to provide that to you.

• Client letter if you’re going to work through a consultancy

• Your H1B LCA copy - carry a copy of the LCA posting. 

• Last 3 pay stubs

• Form I-129 (H1B application) copy – Carry a color or Black and white copy of Form I-129.

• Your Resume or CV

• Your Transcripts / Degree/mark sheets to prove your education. 

In most cases, the visa officer will ask only for your passports, appointment confirmation page, and H1B approval notice. 

If your spouse and kids are also with you and applying for an H4 visa, then please carry your marriage certificate and birth certificates of your kids. 

Please carry these documents in a transparent folder. Similar to your biometrics appointment, nothing else will be allowed inside the facility. 

Process on the day of the interview:

You will be directed by the security to follow a queue at every step. There will be a document checkpoint once before you enter the final line. You will eventually be assigned a window where your interview will take place. 

Now, let’s discuss some of the Questions You Can Expect During Your H1B Visa Interview

The internet is filled with articles about the questions to expect. They do a good thing to cover every question possible, and we can do that too. But we think it’s more overwhelming than helpful in most cases. 

The idea is to prepare for the interview and not just learn the answers to these questions by heart. 

Try to understand what the visa officer wants to know about you and prepare accordingly. That’s a smarter way to prepare for this interview. 

Now that we’ve explained that. Let’s try to understand what the visa officers are looking for and how we can prepare for this interview. 

If your spouse is with you for H4 visa, most likely they won’t be asked any questions other than when did you guys get married and how long have you been together. If your spouse is going by themselves for their H4 visa interview, then we have an entire video for that. I'm linking it here and will drop the link in the description below. 

The visa officer wants to check the following:

1. Whether you are a genuine person - Your Identity

2. Your Intent

3. Your Education

4. Your Qualification to do the Job You’re saying You’re going to Do

5. The Legitimacy of your company

6. The Legitimacy of your role

All the questions that they will ask you will be to check one of these things only. So, here’s a possible list of questions to expect:

1. Your name

2. Visa category through which you’re traveling to the US

3. Your Passport

4. What have you studied?

5. Where do you work?

6. How long have you been working for this company?

7. What is your role in the company?

8. How long have you been working in the company?

9. What is the purpose of your visit? Or Why is your company sending you to the US now?

10. Briefly explain the duties you will be performing in the US. This question is to understand if the work you’ll be doing in the US does in fact qualify for a H1B visa or not. 

11. Why can’t this be done from India itself? - This question is to understand why you really need to be there in person. Your answer can be related to the criticality of the work that you’re doing for the company or daily client interaction requirement. 

12. Why can’t someone do this in the US itself? - Through this they want to understand your specialized skills which the company can’t find in the US.

13. Where will you be staying in the US

14. What is your pay in the US?

15. How long will you be in the US

16. What do you intend to do after the validity of your visa ends?

If you are going through a consultancy, then they can ask additional questions such as:

1. Is your work related to a client?

2. Who is your client?

3. What does your client do?
   

We hope this blog post was helpful for you. We’ve tried to cover almost everything that you need to know about the H1B visa interview process.