Myth Shattered !!

Have been busy off late with my preparations to head to the perpetual land of Opportunities - The United States Of America- for my MBA. Got done with one of the biggest pain points of travelling to the USA -the visa - over the last week. The Visa interview was pretty simple and lasted only 2 minutes.

Here is how it went about

Visa Officer(VO): So u r going for a one year MBA in US ?
Me : Yes , sir
VO: Looks at my funding and asks who is funding?
Me: Self and funds from School(loans, Scholarship etc)
VO (Looks at my passport): Oh you have an H1B from XYZ company.
Me : Yes, Sir.
VO: Did you work on the H1B?
Me :Yes sir 15months .
VO: Why did you come back?
me : Personal reasons.
VO: Show me your Degree certificates.
Me: Here they are sir.
VO : Oh you have a degree in XYZ engineering. What are you doing in a IT company?
Me : I do ABC stuff for my company sir .
VO(after listening intently) : You visa is approved. Passport will reach you in 2 days
Me :thank you !!

What is the "myth" I am talking of here? Well this is my 2nd visit to the American Consulate in the last 3 years and I found an interesting new addition to the entire visa stamping experience. The new addition is the manager of the Visa processing division of the Consulate who gives the Visa aspirants a pep-talk on do and don'ts of getting a visa. Apart from the usual "Don't lie", "No fake certificates", the one thing which shocked me was this statement by the Consulate manager. "What do you say when you are asked whether you intend to work in USA post your graduation?" So far the unanimous answer to this question in order to get the visa was "I intend to return back to India as soon as I complete my studies and serve my home country" and every damn so called "Visa consultant" wanted us learn this answer by rote. This despite knowing very well that no one wants to return to India without repaying at least some part of the hefty loan taken for the education and not many actually return without working unless of course you are on Full scholarship or have family business.

But the Visa Consulate manager's answer was "If you want to work in USA post ur studies, be honest about it. I mean how many of the visa aspirants for the F1 student visas want to spend 30K USD on US education and then not have the opportunity to repay it in the fastest possible way". This is the greatest myth I am talking off since I have heard the "No work in USA” statement from hundreds of aspirants of the coveted US Visa.

So next time any of you goes for the visa interview, make sure you are honest and confident about your intentions to go to US and the green Signal from Uncle Sam is yours for sure.