Should I mention my US girlfriend in my F-1 visa interview?

[HFM181818 750]

for those who might be interested, a 'letter of support' from some congressman/senator would read something like this:

Dear Consul General Smith:

I have been contacted by my constituent, Ms. Suzy Sweetcheeks, who has asked me to lend my support for the upcoming F1 nonimmigrant visa application of her friend, Crocodile Dundee. I have been assured by Ms. Sweetcheeks that Mr. Dundee fully intends to return to Australia upon completion of his studies.

I respectfully request that you give Mr. Dundee's F1 visa application every consideration according to current U.S. law.

Regards

The Not Quite So Honorable Congressman Kiquebaque

These boiler plate letters are literally churned out by the dozens every day, and as you can see, there is no meaningful content in such a letter. 'I've been assured?" What does that mean? Zilch. But people traipse to their representative's offices everyday to get one of these, hoping that it will turn a bad case into a good one, or somehow intimidate a new CO into doling out a visa for fear of I don't know what.

But mostly these letters are just fluff.

And, we had a boilerplate response prepared to send back to Congressman Kiquebaque - all we had to do was fill in the name and date of the denial!

[HFM181818 750]

and for those still in the audience, that boilerplate response letter would read something like this:

The Not So Honorable Congressman Kiquebaque

On a fact-finding mission somewhere

Dear Congressman Kiquebaque:

We are writing you today regarding the recent F1 nonimmigrant visa application of Mr. Crocodile Dundee. According to our records, Mr. Dundee applied for an F1 visa on (date) in order to study at the renowned institute of higher learning, MTSU.

As you may know, each applicant seeking a nonimmigrant F1 student visa is presumed, under section 214b of the INA, to be an intending immigrant and therefore ineligible for such a visa until such time as he or she is able to convince a consular officer that he or she fully intends to depart the US upon completion of their studies.

Unfortunately, Mr. Dundee was not able to convince the interviewing officer that he fully intends to depart the US upon completion of his studies and as a result, his visa application was denied.

While Mr. Dundee is welcome to reapply in the future, he should do so only when he is confident that he will be able to convince a consular officer that he fully intends to depart the US upon completion of his studies. You can rest assured that any new application of Mr. Dundee's will be given every consideration according to current US law.

We are sorry that our response could not be more positive.

Your truly

Consul General Smith

US Embassy Melbourne

as you can see, the response letter has no more content than the 'letter of support' that might be offered. From MacBeth...'full of sound and fury, signifying nothing!'

[jamontoast 0]

....which just happens to be three blocks from your girlfriend's house........what an astonishing coincidence...

Your bitter words masquerading as advice are too transparent. From this post and others, you seem to have a real chip on your shoulder, nothing you say is useful and instead seems to have the intention of ridiculing people and pushing them away. Is this intentional our do you not realise how your words appear to others?

....which just happens to be three blocks from your girlfriend's house........what an astonishing coincidence...

Your bitter words masquerading as advice are too transparent. From this post and others, you seem to have a real chip on your shoulder, nothing you say is useful and instead seems to have the intention of ridiculing people and pushing them away. Is this intentional our do you not realise how your words appear to others?

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Your bitter words masquerading as advice are too transparent. From this post and others, you seem to have a real chip on your shoulder, nothing you say is useful and instead seems to have the intention of ridiculing people and pushing them away. Is this intentional our do you not realise how your words appear to others?

Your bitter words masquerading as advice are too transparent. From this post and others, you seem to have a real chip on your shoulder, nothing you say is useful and instead seems to have the intention of ridiculing people and pushing them away. Is this intentional our do you not realise how your words appear to others?

You're speaking to a well respected poster here who was a CO. He knows a thing or two about this process.

[Boiler 45,516]

Ok, so I am going to punch some holes in your reasoning for studying at MTSU. First I live 25 miles from that college, second MTSU is the college in Nashville that locals go to if they don't have any better options. If your true intent for getting a F-1 Visa to study was to actually pursue a degree in Economics you should be looking at Belmont and Vanderbilt, both of which have Nationally accredited Ph.D programs in Economics, and both have great programs for international students to come and study. Vanderbilt is ranked 27th in the country for MBA programs, MTSU doesn't rank.

Your F-1 visa for studying is a little bull, I suspect your true intentions are just to be with your girlfriend, and felt that the F-1 was your easiest option.

Oh and final note. The University of Melbourne in Australia is ranked 11th in the world for best Economic programs.

Wonder why I have never heard of it.

[aengelhardt101 2]

MTSU's entrance requirements: (a) the future student's check cleared the bank

(b) the future student managed to fog a mirror

© if the above criteria are met, welcome to MTSU!

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard the excuse for choosing a certain university (even a community college!) is that the course(s) I wish/need to take are not available in my country (Australia??? really?), that the entrance requirements met my situation (see above) and though I flunked out of college in my own country, now I plan to be a 'serious' student (living three doors down from my American GF)....and of course, return promptly because Australian businesses will be jumping over fences to employ me....in fact, lookee here...I have a job letter for 5 years from today! (often written by their uncle)

Now, you may prevail during the interview - hard to say.....but I can see enough holes in what you presented here to be fairly confident that returning to Australia after graduation is low on the list, that this is probably the usual 'F1 in lieu of K1' visa request, that the plan is to marry before the end of the first semester. In fact, I would ask you these questions....and watch your face while you try to answer. That would tell me a lot.

The bottom line: the odds that amongst hundreds of universities, the 'only' one that fulfills some vague or nebulous criteria is the one that is within shouting distance of your American GF is about the same as finding life on Mars.....and therein lies the biggest flaw in your visa application.....because the odds of you (a) graduating and (b) returning to Australia to become their Economic Minister (or whatever you think you are going to do) is around zero.

I imagine that since you and the GF have figured out that the K1 process will take too long and arriving in the US on the VWP with 8 pieces of luggage will arouse suspicions about your intent to 'visit' for two weeks, either she or some immigration attorney (or both) offered this route instead.

I cannot answer for any current COs, but I've seen this one at least 10,000 times....it is one of the most common reasons for an F1 visa request, to circumvent the K1 process, show up for school on day one, run to the courthouse to marry on day two.

But who knows....maybe you'll get a newer CO who lacks the experience to see through it all....now, I am not saying that you are some sort of 'bad person'; only that just from what little you have posted here told me just about everything I would need to know to make a decision....I would throw a few more questions at you that would connect the dots and confirm what I already believe...and your body language would likely be the final indicator.

Anyway, it's up to you now, not me nor anyone else on this site. You've told your story (though not all of it, by any means) and the rest will be up to you (and no, a letter from some congressman that your GF contacts, stating that he or she is 'fully confident that you intend to study, then return to Australia' would be a joke....the congressman doesn't even know you, and moreover, opinions from someone who churns out dozens of these 'character reference' letters every day have no more veracity than an opinion written in beach sand.

I've said enough. Who can say what the outcome will be?

Hello Sir/Madam,

I'm well aware of everything and yeah I'm well informed by your post that I won't be accepted in to the US under a student visa, which I do thank you for being completely honest although:

You don't have to act so rude and forthright. I don't want to be Australia's "Economic minister", your cynicism is blatant and completely unnecessary.

I get you've heard these bad and stupid excuses every single day and yeah you're completely sick and tired of people taking advantage of that but I'd appreciate a more friendly response in telling me "You have absolutely no chance, it's stupid and crappy" but this was my first time considering that it wasn't the best choice and now i know it's not a viable option.

I'm a 19 year old teenager, I'm young, immature, still living a stupid dream world. It's young love. We're kids and we make mistakes, we have dreams that we want to live and can't always fulfil. This being one of them. I'm only 19 Mr/Ms. HFM181818, this is a mistake that I have made in thinking that I can be happy studying while being with my girlfriend because legally it's not right.

Please know that not everybody has had life experience like you have had so far throughout your years, as another poster mentioned you were a CO and I imagine you've lived through a lot of things. Despite this, I'm sure you've made mistakes when you were young and had dreams that were never going to work You can't ever tell me you've made no mistakes and if you can then you'll be lying more than you say I am.

I'm sorry for this emotionally based response, I guess I'm young and immature still and don't get how the world works. This has just brought my world crashing down, I just guess i'm a bit upset and bummed that I won't be able to live this dream out and that I'm going to have to find another way to make it come true.

In addition, I just wanted to note that my girlfriend will be leaving to bootcamp and AIT for the national guard when I get there so we wouldn't even have a chance to marry anyway! I'm 19 and there's no way I want to get married this early so that wasn't even an option. I have contacted no lawyers or anything about this. I'm more traditional despite being a lesbian (not very traditional) that marrying someone should only be done after a long period of getting to know them and I've only known my girl for a year and met her once for a week. Not my style.

Thank you for your correspondence throughout this thread.

It's been valuable but very upsetting.

Regards,

aengelhardt101

Edited January 23, 2016 by aengelhardt101

[aengelhardt101 2]

I apologise if I came across as rude in the previous post. I'm just very angry at myself.

[cdneh 3,112]

You're speaking to a well respected poster here who was a CO. He knows a thing or two about this process.

It's a pity really. The poster you are referring to probably has a lot of sound useful information. Trouble is, a lot of the good in it is lost in the delivery.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

It's a pity really. The poster you are referring to probably has a lot of sound useful information. Trouble is, a lot of the good in it is lost in the delivery.

I'll admit I have been rubbed the wrong way by the poster at times (maybe the Canadian in me?) but it's best to heed the advice more often than not.

[HFM181818 750]

While my responses are at times, blunt, please note that I have never stated categorically that your visa application will be denied....my reference to becoming the 'Economic Minister of Australia' was made in a tone a jest, as often student visa applicants have tried to sell me on the alleged fact that they have big plans to become a big shot in their country, which is why they will return....in other words, thousands have exaggerated their 'plans' for the future to try and take my attention away from whatever it was that they were trying to hide.

Your reasons for choosing MTSU are rather fragile...you admit to being a struggling student in your own country, this university is not a top tier school by any means and trying to make it sound better than it is, is an example of the kind of exaggerated claims that are (or might) made during an F1 interview by an applicant who has other undisclosed reasons for having chosen a particular college.

I outlined the weaknesses in your case from my perspective, having done in excess of twenty-some odd thousands of F1 interviews, having sorted out the bona fide student from those who might have been using it for some other purpose that had nothing to do with earning a diploma. As I mentioned previously, I am only reading what you wrote....a personal interview might tell me something else...hard to say....I am just telling you that a seasoned CO is likely to be very circumspect when interviewing you...because the entire story is a bit choppy. Maybe you can smooth it out, hard to say. But it wise to consider that many COs are not naïve nor stupid and the best are not easily fooled nor swayed by a sympathetic story....our job (when interviewing B2/B1/F1 and J1 applicants) is to determine the intent of the applicant....something that cannot be demonstrated with pieces of paper, but rather through a series of questions, the answers to which helps the CO make that call.

The advice, however camouflaged with bits of light sarcasm, that I have provided, was free, but worth a lot more.

Edited January 23, 2016 by HFM181818

[aengelhardt101 2]

While my responses are at times, blunt, please note that I have never stated categorically that your visa application will be denied....my reference to becoming the 'Economic Minister of Australia' was made in a tone a jest, as often student visa applicants have tried to sell me on the alleged fact that they have big plans to become a big shot in their country, which is why they will return....in other words, thousands have exaggerated their 'plans' for the future to try and take my attention away from whatever it was that they were trying to hide.

Your reasons for choosing MTSU are rather fragile...you admit to being a struggling student in your own country, this university is not a top tier school by any means and trying to make it sound better than it is, is an example of the kind of exaggerated claims that are (or might) made during an F1 interview by an applicant who has other undisclosed reasons for having chosen a particular college.

I outlined the weaknesses in your case from my perspective, having done in excess of twenty-some odd thousands of F1 interviews, having sorted out the bona fide student from those who might have been using it for some other purpose that had nothing to do with earning a diploma. As I mentioned previously, I am only reading what you wrote....a personal interview might tell me something else...hard to say....I am just telling you that a seasoned CO is likely to be very circumspect when interviewing you...because the entire story is a bit choppy. Maybe you can smooth it out, hard to say. But it wise to consider that many COs are not naïve nor stupid and the best are not easily fooled nor swayed by a sympathetic story....our job (when interviewing B2/B1/F1 and J1 applicants) is to determine the intent of the applicant....something that cannot be demonstrated with pieces of paper, but rather through a series of questions, the answers to which helps the CO make that call.

The advice, however camouflaged with bits of light sarcasm, that I have provided, was free, but worth a lot more.

Yes I do understand thank you.

I just don't read sarcasm very well when I'm stressing and freaking out so I will take responsibility for that, my apologies.

I really do appreciate the advice that you have given me, I am very thankful considering your large amount of experience and it will give me a lot to focus on, things I would not have considered at all without your responses.

Thank you everybody for your contributions to this thread and helping me out!

[HFM181818 750]

another thing to consider....COs are also tasked to determine if an F1 visa applicant is going to be a serious student. One who intends to study and earn their diploma. This assessment can be made more complicated if the applicant has not succeeded scholastically in their own country...if you cannot make the grade, so to speak, where you live and have grown up and where the tuition is often free or nearly so, then the big question remains: why will you become a better student in America than you were in Australia? And if the answer is because the American university's standards for earning a diploma are very low (accomplished mostly by paying the tuition), then that is where a seasoned CO asks him or her self, 'why did this applicant choose this particular school? Was it because they can get a diploma by just showing up? And why, then, this particular one, out in the middle of nowhere? How did the applicant find out about this particular university? (It's not like second tier schools wave a banner around telling future enrollees that anyone can get a diploma at their school with no effort).....and then the light bulb comes on....someone must have told the applicant about the school...and who was that person? and what relation is that individual to the applicant? How did that conversation even begin?'

And then, a different reason for the visa request may bubble up to the radar screen.....do you see how this can go? It is not just as simple as shoving an I 20 through the interviewing window....it is not a rubber stamping of applications event....the rules for overcoming immigrant intent are not waived....

Again, I don't know how seasoned or not the CO will be who interviews you....I am only sharing bits of my own considerable experience and given you some insight on the thought process that a seasoned CO engages.....any way, good luck to you.

Edited January 23, 2016 by HFM181818

[HFM181818 750]

for those who believe that I have been picking on the OP, just take a look at the heading of her inquiry...'should I mention my US girlfriend during my F1 interview?'....in other words, should I lie or evade the question or ???? Now, those who come on this site asking however directly or indirectly for advice on how to game the visa system will not receive any supporting feedback from me....instead, I have pointed out how transparent (from my perspective, not someone else's necessarily) this request is...full of weak spots....and how a seasoned CO will see right through the plan. Now, as I have also mentioned, I did not state categorically that her application will be denied....it's not for me to say...I merely pointed out the flaws and then you have read her responses....which sound a bit desperate at times....as TBone said, if she's this shaken by my written inquiries and comments, well, imagine how the interview might proceed, with only 3-5 minutes to make her case, with her body language and vocal inflections right out in the open...as I said, she may prevail or may not....but her case is far from strong.

[yuna628 9,676]

OP: I would like to make a suggestion. At 19 you say you are young and immature, but you do seem like you would like to study. So I would like to say that if a further course of study is something you want to do in your chosen vocation, I would do everything you can do to seek it within your own country. Pull those grades up if possible. I am not a resident of TN, but I can tell you this school would probably sound good on paper but not expressly offer the true and fulfilling learning and challenge in your vocation, which to be very successful at it would I think require a higher ranking school. As an Australian, you have the right to visit the US and your gf under the VWP. This is a nice thing to have, which should not be dismissed so quickly. Visit a bunch, get to know your gf even more. Go back home each time and don't abuse the program. Work hard at school, because your gf is going into the military and she will have a lot of changes happening in her life too. Not a lot of time I suspect, either. When you are both ready, and if you still wish to be with each other in this country - apply for a K1. It's not difficult. If you work on your studies abroad, it will prepare you better for a career or even further study in the US as an option. Yes, it's hard to be apart, but you may find yourselves in a much better and successful place.

I first met my now husband in 2004, and we had been apart until our K1 was approved last year. He made the decision to get his BSc in his home country, but he had to work beforehand to get his grades up to enter the university he wanted and after uni found a job for a while. We wanted to be together right away but it was better this way and we visited each other as much as possible. This left us a lot older, wiser, financially stable and ready for marriage. It was hard work and difficult, but it paid off.

Wishing you two best of luck.

[Boiler 45,516]

Did not know they ask about GF's at F1 interviews.