‘When your studies are over…’: Expert advises how to answer officer’s trick question for US student visa interview – The Times of India

Immigration lawyer Brad Bernstein offered five simple tips to students seeking higher education visas in the US, at a time when US authorities are carefully weighing every visa request and rejecting it more than ever, for a variety of reasons. Bernstein said applicants must show strong ties to their home country so that officers are confident the applicants plan to return to their country after their course in the US is over. The State Department is extra cautious in cases where they have reason to believe that an applicant wants to settle in the US. All student visa applicants are considered to have immigrant intent, meaning they intend to live in the US indefinitely. But given the current situation, an applicant must prove to the interrogating officer that he is a non-immigrant.

“So if they ask you if you plan to work once your studies are over, and you say ‘yes, I would like to get a work visa and eventually a green card,’ your visa will be denied,” Bernstein advised. The second tip to remember, Bernstein added, is to make sure you have financial documents that prove the applicant has enough money to sail through college life in the U.S. and that the family can support themselves at home. “Make sure you speak English. You shouldn’t be picked up at the airport by your illegal alien brother and finally have a positive attitude,” the lawyer said.The US does not issue student visas to a number of countries for security reasons. Countries listed with a complete travel ban are now ineligible for student visas unless there are some exceptions. People from Afghanistan, Burma, Burkina Faso, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen – and those traveling with travel documents issued or approved by the Palestinian Authority, are not permitted to travel to the US on any visa, including student visas. Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe have also been added to this list.