How important are the documents at your U.S. visa interview?

Visa applicants put a lot of effort into assembling the documents they will need for their visa interview, and with good reason.

Depending on the visa class you are applying for, you will need all sorts of documents, like academic transcripts, a study plan, itinerary, a C.V., etc. But don’t let that distract you from the most important part of the interview: the interview itself!

All the documents you prepare are useless if you can’t convince the visa officer to even look at them. The primary focus of your preparation should be for the conversation you are going to have with the visa officer. It’s only through your conversation with them that you’ll be able to convince them to look at your documents. Or better yet, they might even approve your visa without even looking at your documents! Visa officers are under a lot of pressure to move through their visa interviews quickly.

They will usually do over 100 and sometimes even up to 200 visa interviews per day, with only two to three minutes on average to devote to each visa applicant. This means that they have to be very efficient in how they choose to spend their time. Reading through a stack of documents takes precious time, so they would prefer to get all the information they need directly through asking questions.

They only want to look at documents if the verbal answers aren’t sufficient for them to make a decision. So remember, the primary focus of your visa interview is the conversation you are going to have with the visa officer.

Prepare your documents, and have everything well-organized and ready to present if you are asked. But make sure you are not neglecting to prepare for the most important part, speaking to the visa officer and convincing them verbally that you are qualified for your visa.

To get it right the first time, book a consultation with Argo! If you have questions about your case or if Argo is right for you, send us an email at hello@argovisa.com.