Visa Approved-Mumbai Consulate!!!

[Abhinav]

Hi Guys,   Here is how it went...   Decision: Accept Consulate: Mumbai Date/Time: 2nd June, 0815 hrs University Heading to : University of Cincinnati Program + Department : MS IS Cost on I-20: $ 35,004/- Funded/Unfunded/Partially funded (details): Partially Funded(Aproxx $7k) Work Experience : 1 year 1 month Guys,finally I get to post this Heres my experience... Reached VFS at 7.15 am,called in lounge at 7.30am,Single ladies for 8.15 appointment called at 7.50(and I thought I was going to the US )... Then we get the news that interviews are delayed by 45 mins... Reached consualte at 8.50 am... After all the procedure is done,I sit in front of counters 5,6,7,8(it really helps)... Besides me there is this lady who comes with her baby,she needed to arrange her docs and she asked me to just hold the baby on the chair for a while....Wailing baby in hands of someone who doesnt know anything about baby handling=recipe for disaster..Add to that the man behind who tries to make the baby laugh by waving pink token and making weird sounds,baby cries more loudly Finally token number is called,Counter number 10...I was last in queue,there were 6 people in front of me...VO was a young American guy... He was asking a lot of questions to everyone,on an average 7-8 mins per candidate... Out of 6 in front of me 3 got rejected!!! Finally its my turn... VO:Hi,how are you doing? Me:I am doing gud Sir,wat abt you... VO:Me gud... VO:So where are you heading(in a very condescending tone) Me:I am heading to the University of Cincinnati... VO:Cincinnati huh?Why would that be? Me:Nice course structure,flexible,exhaustive...Plus I work in Accenture(got interrupted here)... VO:You are working with Accenture? Me:Yes...(he typed something right now,I guess he approved my visa at this moment itself ) VO:Yea you were saying something about how your job relates to this degree... Me:Yes Sir,I work with Accenture in SAP and UC course has a strong flavour of SAP..It is going to help in my Masters... VO:But why are you leaving a high paying job and going for your education which is so expensive? Me:(wondering,high paying job)...I believe one should complete his education in one go because it gets difficult to get back to school when you are settled in a job...Plus UC has offered me a scholarship which makes it very affordable for me... VO:Where are you going to get the other 28,000$ from(he comes really forward while asking this,thank god theres a glass in between ) Me:Sir,I am going to use money from my parents savings bank account... VO: Do your parents know you are going to use their money? ME:Yes Sir... Vo:Why would they let you use their money?? ME:(wondering)..Because I have been a good son Sir(retard reply,should have spoken something about Affidavit of Support).... VO:What do your parents do? ME:Dad works in Heavy Water board,mom is a house wife VO:What Water board?? Me:Heavy Water Board Sir... VO:What is Heavy Water?? Me:(was kind of weary of this,TAL list constantly on my mind)Its used as a moderator in Nuclear reactors... VO:(out of the blue) So you are a SAP developer... ME:Yes Sir... VO: DO you have any siblings? Me:Yes Sir..I have an elder sister... VO:What does she do? ME:Told VO: OK,here is your I20..Keep it safely with you and carry it on your plane...I am issuig you your Visa,you have a perfect record Sir... ME:Thank you sir,have a good day.. VO:You too... All the best to everyone for their VI...   @shekhar..congrats buddy!!

---

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[Siddharth Shetty]

hey congratulations dude!! All set for shopping ;)

Siddharth

[sushant hs]

Hi All,

 

Even I cleared my visa.

 

Regards,

 

Sushanth H.S.

[Siddharth Shetty]

Hey Sushanth please share your VI experience.

Regards,

Siddharth

[rishikesh]

Nice one Abhinav, n u too Sushant..Congrats.

Guys, is the degree certificate a necessary document for the VISA
interview?
Coz, I've just finished my final exams n there's no way I'm gonna get
mine before my visa interview(18th June).
Will that be a problem?

Regards,
Rishikesh

[Abhinav]

@rishikesh..thanks dude...   If you are just thru with ur final exams,the VO will not be expecting the degree...Just make sure that you carry all the marksheets till your 7th sem... All the best for your VI... Let us know what happens...   Cheers, Abhinav --- On Thu, 4/6/09, rishikesh <a.ris...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Terry]

Hello ppl !

Here are my details....finally !!

Decision: Accept
Consulate: Mumbai
Date/Time: 4th June, 0815 hrs

University Heading to : University of Cincinnati
Program + Department : MS IS
Cost on I-20: $ 35,004/-

Funded/Unfunded/Partially funded (details): Unfunded
Work Experience : 2 year 11 months

Got to the VFS office by 7:35am. Was taken into the 'Stars and Stripes
Lounge' after depositing my bag, cell, etc.
It was pretty much full when I got in...kinda like waiting in a air
condition Rly platform with NDTV and a ticker telling u the rules and
stuff.

Got myself a coffee (didnt feel like eatin cuz of the nervousness).
Arranged for the docs to be kept handy and then began the activity
which I would do a lot of in the day - Wait ! Was watchin some prog
called 'Mission Admission' on NDTV with their focus being on Dehli
Univ and St Stephens and Jesus and Mary college (Helped relieve my
nervousness)

After the single women were taken, and I got in the 2nd batch of ppl
to go in the Bus...reached the Consulate by 8:45am and resumed my
waiting activities outside the gate amid thick security.Got inside by
9:05 and went thru all the routine procedures and security checks.

Waited in front of counters 5,6,7,8 in the front of the second
section. Lot of activity going on all around me. Newly weds, infants,
school kids with teachers, elderly folk, fellow students,
professionals (even saw a guy from Hexaware...my company with his
kid !)

Here u gotta be very attentive and concentrate with all the ruckus
goin on around u. Believe me, all kinds of ppl are on display in that
office! Besides the VO's announce the token nos just once that too in
a thick Amrikaan accent. In case u miss it, they call u out by ur name
which may not be such a good omen. So u really have to be on ur toes.

So, there I was waiting for my no to be called out for about an hour
when I finally heard it. And yes it was counter No 10 !! Ahead of me
there were 3 guys I think. After they were done and all got Visas, I
went in and wished the VO.
He was like 'Im really sorry Sir, but Im gonna take a break now. Could
you please join the queue to the next counter i.e. 11 and tell the
gentlemen behind you to do the same? '. I was like 'Damn man !'
hehe... no kiddin.
Sed, 'Ok sir, will do that. No problem. Ill WAIT !!'.

So I join the next line with 2 guys ahead of me. The person who was in
11 had gone inside long before I joined that line, but he was still
not done. The VO was seemingly grilling him and checking all the docs
in his folder. That lasted a good 10 mins while I was waiting in 11's
line which means it could well have taken him over 15 mins.... But he
got his VISA.

One of the guys in front of me got rejected after a 5/10 min session.
Then came my turn.

Me: Good morning Sir. How are you doing?
VO: Im good. Thank you. Which school are you going to?
Me: Im going to the University of Cincinnati.
VO: How many schools did you apply to?
Me: Seven.
VO: Can you name a couple from which you got an admit?
Carneigie Mellon, Texas A&M, Syracuse....
VO: You got into Carneigie? (Sounded impressed, was akmost certain he
would approve the VISA now...)
Me: Yes Sir.
VO: And why are you choosing Cincinnati over these other schools?
Me: Because, I had a chance to interact with and attend a seminar
given by Dr Umanath on his trip to Bombay. Was impressed with his the
course he takes 'Data Modelling and Database design'. He had co-
authoured a book on it as well and Im really interested in pursuing
this course under him.
VO: How much is your GRE and TOEFL score?
Me: 1390 and 112.
VO: Who is sponsoring you education?
Me: My father.
VO: What is his annual income.
Me: Told.
VO: Does he have a savings account?
Me: Yes he does.
VO: U have any siblings?
Me: No sir.
VO: Any family in the US?
Me: Uhhh.... No sir (was wondering y I sed 'Uhhhh'...he gave a look)
Then he began typing something and said.
VO: Im approving your Visa sir. Congragulations. We will courier your
passport to u in 2-3 days time. Enjoy you time at school !
Me: Thank you very much sir !!

Didnt ask me a single document and here I was going beserk with all
the paperwork. Nut it did give me confidence that I was ready with all
papers shoud the VO ask me.

It is a wonderful feeling to be done with it ! Feel like a major load
is off my back :)

Congo to every1 done with their VISAs and ALL THE BEST to those who
have it comin in the next few days....

Confidence is the key !

Enjoy!!

Terry

On Jun 4, 10:39 pm, Abhinav <abhinav1...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> @rishikesh..thanks dude...
>  

> If you are just thru with ur final exams,the VO will not be expecting the degree...Just make sure that you carry all the marksheets till your 7th sem....

> All the best for your VI...
> Let us know what happens...
>  
> Cheers,
> Abhinav
>

> --- On Thu, 4/6/09, rishikesh <a.rishik...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> From: rishikesh <a.rishik...@gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: Visa Approved-Mumbai Consulate!!!
> To: "UCinn (CoB) MS-IS Fall 09" <ucinn-msi...@googlegroups.com>
> Date: Thursday, 4 June, 2009, 10:52 PM
>
> Nice one Abhinav, n u too Sushant..Congrats.
>
> Guys, is the degree certificate a necessary document for the VISA
> interview?
> Coz, I've just finished my final exams n there's no way I'm gonna get
> mine before my visa interview(18th June).
> Will that be a problem?
>
> Regards,
> Rishikesh
>

>       Explore and discover exciting holidays and getaways with Yahoo! India Travelhttp://in.travel.yahoo.com/

[Raunak Sikchi]

Here's my VI experience:

Decision: Accept
Consulate: Mumbai
Date/Time: 5th June, 0815 hrs

University Heading to : University of Cincinnati
Program + Department : MS IS
Cost on I-20: $ 35,004/-

Funded/Unfunded/Partially funded (details): Partially Funded(Approx
$7k)
Work Experience : 21 months in Infosys

Here comes the dream post!!!
Heres my experience...Ill skip the usual part...

After all the procedure is done,I sat in front of counters 5,6,7,8
Finally token number is called at 10.40 am,Counter number 6...I was
second in queue,VO was a young American guy...
He was asking a lot of questions to everyone whose token no was called
before 10am(after that he was tired i guess..),on an average 5-7 mins
per candidate..But in our group he interviewed the guy in front of me
for just a minute...
Finally its my turn...

VO:(Before i could even keep the harmonium file aside)Good morning
Sir.how are you?
Me:I am fine Sir.Good morning.how are you?(Handed him the pink token)
VO:Me gud...
VO:So why do you intend to go to the US Sir?
Me:to pursue my masters in Information Systems from the University of
Cincinnati...
VO:What is your GRE score?
Me:one-three-eight-zero(at this point he started typing.I tried to
maintain eye contact but he was looking at the monitor)

VO:What do your parents do?

Me:My father is a businessman who deals in electronic goods and my
mother works as a Private Financer.
VO:Ill try to say what your mother does...Is it something like a
Financial Advisor?
Me:No Sir.Its Private financing(a bit more firmly this time)
VO: Ok.I am issuing you the VISA.U'll get ur Passport via courier in 3
days.
Me:Thank you Sir.
Thats it.....done in 45 seconds.My friend had actually used his
stopwatch to record the time.

All the best to everyone for their VI!!

[rishikesh]

Heyy Guys..
Had my Visa interview today..here's my experience.

Decision: Accept
Consulate: Mumbai
Date/Time: 18th June, 0815 hrs

University Heading to : University of Cincinnati
Program + Department : MS IS
Cost on I-20: $ 35,004/-
Funded/Unfunded/Partially funded (details): Partially Funded(Approx
$7k)

Work Experience : None (Just graduated)

Reached the VFS Lounge at 7:15. First look at it, n Terry's definition
of it being an AC Railway station made complete sense.. Then followed
the usual boring process of waiting n waiting..till da 8:15 batch was
called up. at 9:00.

The short bus ride was eventful to say the least..We were asked to
wait for a lill' while in da bus, n in dat time, another driver
mistook our batch as having done with da interviews..n started to take
us back..
Da confusion dat followed finally resulted in a couple of U-turns back
to da consulate..

Inside da consulate @ 9:30. Had to undergo the usual security checks n
finger printing..which finished by 10:20.
Took up a place in front o da counters 5,6,7,8...waiting my turn, n
fervently hoping to avoid da Rejection Lady at counter 6
dat everyone on edulix warned about...

Just my luck...At 10:40, Counter 6 beckons n Miss Reject awaits...
was 3rd in da queue...It didnt exactly help my confidence dat the two
guys ahead of me were both grilled for 5 minutes, only to get rejected
at the end....the 1st guy being rejected for showing 'Excess funds
than necessary'... that was a first for me..
My turn came at 10:55..I was nervous...OK, I was mighty nervous..

Me: Good Morning, Ma'am
VO: Why do u want to go to Cincinnati?
(So much for being polite..)
Me: The course at Cincinnati has just the correct blend of business n
Technology courses dat I'm looking at...n I met with
one of the faculty, Dr.Umanath here in Mumbai. He teaches Data
Warehousing n Modelling, which is a subject I'm
particularly interested in..
VO: Wats ur GRE score?
Me: 1500
VO: ...Out of 1600?? .......I'd like to see your Ofiicial score
report..
(Well, I'm getting used to people being skeptical about my score...)
Me: Showed.
VO: Wats ur TOEFL score?
Me: 114
VO: Ok, I see dat you are being partially funded by the university...
How will u manage the rest?
Me: My parents are going to sponsor me.
VO: Wat do your parents do?
Me: Both my parents are bankers...details....
VO: Do u have proof for da money?
Me: Yes, I've got the certified bank statement..(showed)
VO: Wat about da 2nd year?
Me: The money is in place in da form of FD's n EPF account..
VO: Alrite, your visa has been granted... You'll get your passport
shorly.
Me: Thank you.

Whew!! Done with it finally!! And I agree...Its a relief to get it
over with..

Guys who r yet to give their interview...All da best!!
Rest o u...its a good feeling..
Ciao..

[Abhinav]

Hey congrats rishikesh... You done with booking of your flight tickets??   Cheers, Abhinav l.com> wrote:

From: rishikesh <a.ris...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Visa Approved-Mumbai Consulate!!! To: "UCinn (CoB) MS-IS Fall 09" <ucinn-msi...@googlegroups.com>

VO: Alrite, your visa has been granted.... You'll get your passport

shorly. Me: Thank you. Whew!! Done with it finally!! And I agree...Its a relief to get it over with.. Guys who r yet to give their interview...All da best!! Rest o u...its a good feeling.. Ciao..

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[karthik padmanabhan]

@ Rishikesh

Congrats on your visa. Were any documents asked to be shown by the visa officer?

Karthik

[rishikesh]

Heyy, thanx a lot guys.

@Abhinav
I'm also gonna book my ticket for da same flight as you n da others.
Should be done in a couple of days.
Just to confirm, its da Delta flight, non-stop to Atlanta n an onward
connection to Cincinnati, rite?
And its for early morning 31st at 12:25am, nah? Plz do let me know wat
price u paid for ur ticket...I'll be booking mine directly thru da
Delta website..

@ Karthik
Yes, I was asked to show my official GRE score Report n da Bank letter
for 1st year's financial arrangement..
U've got ur interview tomorow nah? All da best...to u, as well as the
others.

Regards,
Rishikesh

[Abhinav]

@rishikesh, Yup its the same flight...DL 185 from Mum to Atlanta and DL 1702 from Atlanta to Cinci...We paid Rs 29,191 for a ticket...Let me know if you need any other information :)   @karthik,All the best man,hoping to hear the good news from you as well tomorrow...   Cheers, Abhinav

--- On Sun, 21/6/09, rishikesh <a.ris...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: rishikesh <a.ris...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Visa Approved-Mumbai Consulate!!! To: "UCinn (CoB) MS-IS Fall 09" <ucinn-msi...@googlegroups.com>

[$aurabh]

Decision: Accept
Consulate: Mumbai
Date/Time: 13th July, 0815 hrs

University Heading to : University of Cincinnati
Program + Department : MS IS
Cost on I-20: $ 35,004/-
Funded/Unfunded/Partially funded (details): Unfunded

Work Experience : 3 years 8 months

and thats(see below the mail from Terry) exactly - word to word - how
it went for me ... except that she didn't even ask about TOEFL or GRE
score neither did she went in detail about who's who's in my family...
and for me the reasons for choosing UCinn was the major cost advantage
over CMU and better course against TAMU... interview didn't lasted for
less than 2 mins..

frankly i fumbled couple of a times .. and was lil pissed at myself
for doing so .. but that seems hardly a matter to her (VI) ... but yes
be sure of what you carry in that harmonium folder... that confidence
of 'knowing it all' shows up even if u do not have to open that folder
anytime :)..

and one bad thing i did was to carry TOO many things around -
1. VI letter and I20
2. An umbrella - not needed .. they allowed it inside and thats y i
carried
3. A fat novel - not needed ... with VI chaos both within and
outside.. hardly u get time to do a quite read
4. Harmonium Folder
5. File containing all the MF Statements and property docs - i guess
not needed .. too much of docs messes things up
6. And a wooden token.. VI token no. .. leather belt :) ..

it would have been a good idea to wear 6 pocket cargos for VI.. :p

On Jun 5, 4:31 pm, Terry <terry.sla...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Abhinav]

Congrats Saurabh... Have a great time shopping now!!   Cheers, Abhinav --- On Sun, 19/7/09, $aurabh <smile.a...@gmail.com> wrote:

score neither did she went in detail about who's who's in my family....

and for me the reasons for choosing UCinn was the major cost advantage over CMU and better course against TAMU... interview didn't lasted for less than 2 mins.. frankly i fumbled couple of a times .. and was lil pissed at myself for doing so .. but that seems hardly a matter to her (VI) ... but yes be sure of what you carry in that harmonium folder... that confidence of 'knowing it all' shows up even if u do not have to open that folder anytime :).. and one bad thing i did was to carry TOO many things around - 1. VI letter and I20 2. An umbrella - not needed .. they allowed it inside and thats y i carried 3. A fat novel - not needed ... with VI chaos both within and outside.. hardly u get time to do a quite read 4. Harmonium Folder 5. File containing all the MF Statements and property docs - i guess not needed .. too much of docs messes things up

6. And a wooden token.. VI token no.  ... leather belt :) ..

> professionals (even saw a guy from Hexaware....my company with his

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