Unfortunately, my plan couldn't come to action because I was scared that they might notice that I was faking the whole bathroom emergency situation. Moreover I did not want to get any bad attention on myself. I walked up to the interview box expecting the worse. I even took it as a sign of bad luck when I almost tripped over the metal box you stand on.
My fears about this lady was true, because she did not smile back at me when I smiled at her, neither did she reply my 'good morning' greeting. My heart was pounding fast and even though I tried to control my countenance, I could hear my voice was shaking so badly. My only consolation was that I wasn't doing as bad as the man right before me. This guy was well dressed in a suit and tie, but he was so nervous that he stammered all the way and even froze when asked some questions. Well its not too hard to determine whether he got it or not.
A minute into my interview, the lady paused, as she was confirming some information on the computer, These few seconds gave me sometime to regain my composure, and when she resumed the interview, I looked straight into her eyes while answering the rest of the questions. After 2 minutes, she asked to wait a bit, and she told me she was deciding whether to approve my Visa or not. She then asked for my passport and told me to come for it in the after 2 days. She handed me a note that had a time on it, and it was at that moment that I realized I had gotten my Visa!
I proceeded to leave and of course I changed my walking to emulate how I saw the other successful applicants walk, smiling all the way through. I was so excited that I even told the security guards at the gate I was going to America very soon, and they asked me remember them when I went.
I took my phone and called my husband, 'I got it!' was all I could say.
I always ask myself now,'what it was about the US Visa interview that got me and a lot of people so nervous?'. Was it the fear of being rejected? If you have any stories kindly share
Am waiting for d stories to roll in.
ReplyDeleteHey! Nice blog you have here!
ReplyDeleteI recently moved to the US from Nigeria to go to grad school, and I must say, the most nerve-wrecking part of the whole process was the visa interview.
There's just something about having all your hopes, dreams and aspirations tied to a single "YES" or "NO" from someone behind a glass window.
To God be the glory though, I got mine without too much discussion. I think it helps to just breathe deeply and have a "why wouldn't they approve my visa application?" mindset.
Shalom y'all.
Ohgey A
I was interviewed by a white gentleman. I have an 8 letter long native first name, so when he pronounced my name without a glitch, I was super impressed. My interview was more of a conversation/discussion. He asked me confirm my name and birthday which I did. After that, he went through my info, and when he found out I had a degree in French, he asked if I spoke the language, an I said yes. He told me he did not understand French. Then he proceeded to ask me about a French literature we studied in school. We talked about the genre of the book, what the author was trying to portray, it was pretty good. It was a book I enjoyed reading and had done a couple of papers on it, so I was glad. However, I found it odd that if he claimed to not understand French, how did he know about the book...lol! It was a 16th century lit. by Voltaire.
ReplyDeleteOyibo wan use sense on me..lol!
Good for you, seems you have the best interview experience I've ever heard. Wait, you didn't mention if you got it or not
DeleteLol! I did. I'm the lady that posted about refunds under the shopping experience story. I guess I have to create an Id since I will be commenting more often :)
DeleteHmmmmm! This got me laughing at ma own experience.. I wasn't nervous until I had about 4 people left in front of me, before my turn.. Prior to dis time, wen I was outside and watchin those coming out, I noticed d ones denied visa still had their passports, so I planned that if I was denied, I'll hurriedly put my passport in my envelop so no one will know and dey'll keep guessing if I got or not...ℓoℓ.. and that's wat I did! My interviewer was harsh, a middle aged woman dat wasn't smiling at all, I watched her deny a guy visa even before he spoke more than 2 sentences. She asked me all d questions and I answered well enough, even though I was a bit nervous, and shen then gave me a really scrutinizin look and asked again "Are u single?" I said Yes and she goes "I'm sorry u do not meet the requirements of a visa at this time..blablablaaa".. Whether she don reason say, this fine girl go there, she go find oyibo marry, she no go come back..ℓoℓ. Well, there judgements are wrong a lot of times, but what can we do? They hold d key, if dem open, u enter, if dem no gree, you try again.. Phewwww! Long story abii, sorry guys!
ReplyDeleteI liked that you are able to see comedy in such a disappointing situation..Lol I also noticed the hiding of passports tactics, but like I said their eyes always gave them away.
DeleteAnyway I think that if you are single, they feel that you do not have any emotional ties to you home country, thus you can decide not to come back. I hope you get the Visa on your next try, All the best Frances
Hmmmm.... Ok my experience when thus,my interview was scheduled for 10:30am and I got there by 7:00am.stood outside till 11:00 bfor we were allowed inside ,did all the biometric etc.while standing for the biometric I could hear different interviewers voice and the one that asked many questions was the most dreaded and people were so scared and nervous.though I was praying nt to be interviewed by him because he was literally denying students,but when I got to him my confidence level sky rocketed,though when I greeted him he didn't answer me ooo.I was looking straight into his eyes while he was asking a lot of questions even while he started typing seriously on his computer I was still looking at him.after 9mins to the interview he just said"I will be keeping your passport with me while u go to address in 3days to pick it up and I said tank you:)even with my smile while walking out the embassy the security guards were congratulating me......#long story#
ReplyDeletelol....another master piece from you my dear...I wish I had a similar experience to share but i guess mine...i have been so so scared of being "Bounced" that i didn't even get to that stage. I wanted to just go for a vacation but my boss told me that I didn't have enuf reasons to return so i may be bounced...... so i just decided to go for the SA visa(because its much easier to get)...and i got that. Hopefully with more traveling trips around africa....they(the US embassy) may give me a visa ....lol
ReplyDeleteAh US interview is serious in Africa. I am Nigerian by the way. I think it is mostly has to do with the fear of being rejected plus everyone wants to live the American dream. A lot of times, friends and families come to visit and they make it seem like America is everything and make people hungry to travel and have their own experience. They think money grows on trees and everything is a pot of gold in America. I don't blame these people though cos they are probably fed up living in a country that doesnt care for its citizens. On the other hand, the interviewers know this and take advantage of this by intimidating the candidates and asking endless questions.
ReplyDeleteHi there! like your blog, will read more of it going forward, however, would u mind changing the font and outline of your page? Its making reading a bit difficult and not much fun...seems like one is reading an office document and not something light like a blog!! This is just my thought tho and a suggestion, nice writing anyway...you have a flair- keep it simple and clean!
ReplyDelete