The interview with the US Consular Officer is the single most important step towards getting a US tourist visa. Along with the fact that there’s no standard interview questionnaire, many visa applicants tend to freak out as their appointment date approaches. To help you get an idea about what happens during a visa interview, let me share my story. So here we go.

US Tourist Visa Interview : Before the Interview

I have completed all the basic steps on August 9^th 2014, and I was fortunate enough to find an interview time slot on August 18^th at 7:30 AM. I arrived at the US Embassy in Roxas Boulevard, Manila, at around 6:00 AM, and I immediately noticed the large number of applicants, all scheduled for interviews from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM.

There’s a 7-eleven just across the road so I decided to pass time there. I highly suggest that you empty your bladder before leaving your house, as the nearest public toilet, located about 500 meters away at the junction of Sta. Monica and Guerrero Streets., opens at 9:00 AM. You cannot even go near that facility before it opens because there’s a big dog guarding the door and it looks rabid to me.

The nearest toilet that should’ve been open at 7AM is closed. Argh.

US Tourist Visa Interview: Pre-screening Process

I prepared the following for the US Tourist Visa Interview:

Machine-validated visa deposit slip

DS-160 application confirmation

Appointment confirmation

1 piece 2×2 picture

A piece of tissue paper, just in case I will need to cry after the interview.

I was allowed to enter the embassy premises at 7:15 AM. There are a bunch of official US Embassy employees to assist applicants and the process is really streamlined, so there’s very little room for confusion.

I also brought the following documents, just in case they ask for it:

Bank statements

Employment Certificates

Utility Bills

Essentially, the pre-screening process goes like this:

Go to the counter that validates your appointment schedule and issues an queue number.

Stay in the first waiting area outside the embassy building. Wait for your number to be called.

Go to the second counter (inside the building) to submit your photos and to check if you’re applying for the correct visa class.

Go to the second counter for biometric capture (fingerprints).

Stay in the second waiting area inside the embassy building. Wait for your number to be called.

Go to the assigned counter for your interview with the consular officer.

The Applicants’s Waiting Area inside the US Embassy Grounds

US Tourist Visa Interview: The Interview

Okay, so the public announcement screen thingy lit up and it showed: 4049 8, which means that I (applicant # 4049) should go to counter 8 for the interview. All the other applicants before me were interview for around three minutes each. I felt like mine lasted forever.

Truth be told, I was slightly cocky (and slightly annoyed) because I felt like he was going to deny my application because he wasn’t asking for documents. Apparently, consular officers usually don’t ask for documents unless they feel like you’re lying. It also seems that the US Department of State has already done a background check on me even before the interview started.

This is how the interview area looks like. Note that I am not the guy in the picture.

This is exactly what happened during my US Tourist Visa Interview. Verbatim.

Visa Officer (VO): Please state your full name and date of birth please.

RJ: Rey Joseph Nieto, DD Month YYYY.

VO: Where will you go in the US?

RJ: San Francisco.

VO: What’s the purpose of your visit to the US?

RJ: Well, I wanna see snow, among other things.

VO: Huh? There’s no snow in San Francisco.

RJ: (teeth clenched) Really?! My Aunt A****** said I’ll be able to see snow after a 2-hour drive from her place. Don’t worry, I’ll blame her when I get there.

VO: Who will be paying for your trip?

RJ: Myself.

VO: What’s your job?

RJ: I am a travel writer but that’s just a sideline.

VO: Do you own that company?

RJ: Well, I own the site and I run pay-per-click ads on it. But my day job is proposal writing, I telecommute.

VO: How much do you earn a month?

RJ: **** US dollars. No bonuses explicitly stated in the contract.

VO: You earn that just for writing?

RJ: Yes, and I am very thankful. And that’s also why I am here right now. (smiles)

VO: (smiles).What do you do in that writing job?

RJ: I write technical proposals in response to invitation to tenders from energy companies, national governments, non-governmental agencies etc. The US Embassy in Baghdad was actually one of our clients.

VO: What’s the name of your company?

RJ: *****

VO: (lights up) Ah, yeah! I’ve seen their people when I was in Baghdad. (It appears this officer was formerly stationed in Baghdad).

RJ: That’s cool. They’re great people.

VO: Where did you study?

RJ: UP Diliman.

VO: What did you study?

RJ: Theoretical Mathematics. I know it’s not related to my job. (laughs)

VO: So how long do you plan to stay in the US?

RJ: I don’t have concrete plans yet. Possibly five plus minus two days. I plan to spend Christmas there.

VO: What countries have you visited?

RJ: Italy in 2002, then a long lull up to 2013, then Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, UAE, and Indonesia.

VO: Why didn’t you travel between 2003 to 2012?

RJ: I was a Government Science Scholar, a DOST Scholar, so I wasn’t allow to travel abroad until they lifted that travel ban mid-2012. I hopped onto a plane as soon as I got the news. I literally hopped when I boarded the aircraft bound for Singapore in 2013.

VO: (smiles) What is your living situation?

RJ: I am single if that’s what you’re asking. (The officer literally looks like Ryan Gosling who ate just a couple of extra Big Macs. Really cute. LOL so it was a relatively subtle Freudian Slip.)

VO: No, I mean, where do you live?

RJ: Ah! I rent an apartment in Mandaluyong City. My landlord is a close relative.

VO: Do your younger siblings live with you?

RJ: I live alone. I don’t like complications.

VO: Where are your siblings?

RJ: I am not really sure. I am not close to my immediate family. Days of our Lives stuff. Trust me.

VO: (nods gently) Do you have kids?

RJ: I’d love to, but I can’t.

VO: Why?

RJ: I bat for the other team (smiles and winks)

VO: (laughs) So I guess we can strike out the possibility of you marrying someone over there. (smiles)

RJ: Yeah, I need to go the gym more.

VO: (laughs)

RJ: Don’t you laugh. (smiles) I am well aware of the reality that I have ceased to become the bastion of insurmountable beauty that inevitably bordered on absolute perfection.

VO: (laughs) Okay, your visa is approved. Please wait for 5 business days for your passport to be delivered at the designated address.

RJ: Really?

VO: (smiles and nods)

RJ: Don’t I get a piece of paper or something?

VO: (shuts eyes and shakes head)

RJ: Oh, okay! Thanks!

VO: You’re welcome.

RJ: Peace out! (flashes the V sign on both hands).

VO: (smiling and confused stare).

So there, my US Tourist Visa (B-2) application was approved.

US Tourist Visa: After the interview

So I went home and waited, and waited, and waited. After a few hours, I visit the US Embassy Website to check my application status. To my horror, the status popup showed that my application was under administrative processing!

This means that an application is undergoing further investigation.

However, the next day, I checked the same site again and I got this message:

This means that the visa has been issued and all you need is wait for your passport to be sent back to you.

For US Tourist Visa Interviews, It appears that the term administrative processing can mean two very different things: that you’re being background-checked OR the embassy guys are just taking their time to paste that visa sticker on your passport. So there it is. My US Tourist visa has been issued and I am just waiting for the courier to deliver it to me.

Do you have questions about the visa interview? Please leave a comment below!

Experiences: My US Tourist Visa Interview - August 18 2014