A student’s application for an F1 visa was rejected by a visa officer at the US consulate in Delhi. The applicant who shared his experience on Reddit claimed he wasn’t allowed to complete answering questions, despite not “fumbling” or “stretching” his words.
“F1 visa rejected | Delhi consulate,” wrote the applicant a few hours ago on Reddit. He applied for an F1 visa for an MS in Game Science and Design from Northeastern University, Boston. An F1 visa is issued by the US to international students who wish to study full-time at a SEVP-certified college or university. This type of visa allows students to live in the US during their academic program.
In his post, where he sought possible explanations for his visa rejection, he shared a full transcript of his interview questions and answers to help Redditors better understand it.
F1 student visa interview in Delhi
The visa officer asked the applicant to hand him his I-20 form and passport. He then asks him if he has applied to Northeastern University in Boston. In response to this, he said, “Yes.” The I-20 form is the Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status, which is issued by a US college or university to those admitted to a full-time study program.
The visa officer then followed up with: “What are the other universities you have applied to?”
The applicant was able to name only three universities before the officer interrupted him. “Kingston University, London, Rochester Institute of Technology and SMU Guildhall.”
The visa officer then asked him to explain his choice of college. “NEU’s course curriculum has some topics like business model in the game industry…,” he could only answer this much when he was interrupted again. The officer asked him about how long he had been working as a game developer.
The applicant responded that he had been working as a self-employed game developer for the last five years and had worked at a company. He was interrupted again, and the officer asked him: “So, you are a game developer?” The officer then asked him to put his hand on the scanner and said that he could not grant him a visa.
“He passed me my passport and 214b slip saying: ‘You can apply anytime soon, but right now, I can’t grant you the visa.”
He ended his post with the words: “Can anyone suggest to me what would be the problem in my answers? As I didn’t fumble or stretch any words, but he didn’t allow me to give him my full answers.”
Netizens highlight ‘red flag’
Some tried to give him possible explanations. One Reddit user asked him: “Why didn’t you apply to the top game design universities like NYU and USC?” This Redditor further explained, “I think it could be because you said you’re already a game developer and worked for a company. So he could assume you’re coming to the US just to live there without any ‘need’. That’s all I can think of right now.”
Another also believed that his choice of universities could be the “red flag”.
“NEU and RIT have really high acceptance rates for master’s programs and are also really expensive, so most students take up a loan and try to pay it back by taking a job in the US, which F1 doesn’t allow,” they said, before suggesting, “Just my 2 cents, maybe apply to other universities.”
A third comment read, “Why mention London. When they ask which university, it’s implied they only care about US universities, considering it’s a US Visa. I don’t see a point in mentioning other countries at all?”
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