In this guide, you we will learn 5 visa application mistakes to avoid. These are the mistakes that may lead to your VISA denial. Avoid these mistakes, and your U.S VISAS (B1/B2, F1) will be approved.
Many people get their visas refused because they make avoidable mistakes. Below are some important things we need to avoid and what we need to do to get our visa approved and overcome multiple visa rejections.
5 visa application mistakes to avoid
- Information mismatch
Your visa can be rejected because the information you provided on the DS-160 form do not match with what you give as a response in the interview room. For example, on the DS-160 form, there is a question, who is paying for the trip?
If you select self and during the interview you are asked who is sponsoring your trip? And you say your uncle or your sister or your parent or whoever that is not you, it is going to affect your visa approval.
Many people think that on the DS-160 form, when they ask them who is paying for the trip, they are asking of flight tickets. So they put self on the DS-160 form and when they go for the interview they show a different bank statement that is not even for them.
When you do that, your visa can be rejected.
If you are going for B1/B2 visa, make sure that whoever is sponsoring you is what you put on the DS-160. If you are going for F1 visa as a student, make sure that whatever you put on your DS-160 form as your sponsor matches with whoever is your sponsor on your I-20 and the information you give during the interview.
Another mistake with regards to mismatch of information is, on the DS-160 form there is a question about length of stay in the United States. If you choose three weeks, it means that you are going to stay in the United States for three weeks.
You get to the interview room and they ask you how long will you be staying? And you say you’ll be staying for two weeks or two months. That is a mismatch of information and it is going to affect your vessel approval.
Make sure that the information you put on the DS-160 form will match with the responses you gave during the interview. This is a very common mistake that affects a lot of people and affect their visa approval.
- Lack of strong purpose of Travel
When you appear for the interview, the first question they usually ask is your purpose of traveling to the United States? Mind you, whatever answer you give will determine the follow up questions and the flow of the interview from them.
If you are not able to give a very strong and clear reason for your travel, you won’t get your visa.
It’s not just enough to say I am going to the U.S to visit my friend or family, speak to why you are going to visit them and why you need to visit them.
Maybe you are going because your sister is doing her wedding and it’s been a long time you met your sister and as a family member, you need to be there as part of your tradition. You must be part of your sister’s wedding.
If you are a student, it is not enough to say you are going to U.S or you are going to this school to study, speak to why you need that program and why you even selected that school in U.S.
Speak to the why because why is very important than just giving a flat answer.
If you are going for a conference, speak to why you are going for a conference. It is not just I am going to the U.S to attend a conference, no.
Say: “I am going to the U.S to attend a conference, and this is because, as part of my work requirements, I am required to attend this conference for my promotion, or I am required to attend this conference to learn the skills or to report this or that to the board members of the organization.
I am required to attend this conference in order to acquire the knowledge, skills and bring it back for the organization.”
It is not just enough to say I am going for a conference, speak to the why.
There are a lot of people who want to go to the United States, so your raising must be unique, your raising must be different, your raising must come out and it must show to the consular that you really need to come to the United States for your studies, for your visit or for your conference.
It is very important get a clear purpose and a strong reason for your travel.
- Incomplete details and errors on DS-160 form.
The DS-160 form is your visa application form that has all your details for your visa approval. It is a very important document in the application process.
You must always make sure that you respond to all the questions on the DS-160 form correctly, and you must avoid any error, be it spelling or typo errors on the DS-160 form.
Also, information you put on the DS-160 form must agree with the story you tell at the embassy. You must always make sure you can defend any information that you put on the DS-160 form.
If someone fills your DS-160 form for you, make sure you go through every bit of it yourself been submitted.
When you make errors or when you don’t complete the DS-160 form in the way that you should, it leaves a red flag even on your profile and the visa’s officers do not have time to spend and ask you why this or why that. Because a lot of people are in the queue and they may flag you out and they give you the denial.
All the time they will give you the 214(b) paper telling you that you did not prove your ties back home. No, there are sometimes the reason does not have to do with ties back home, it has to do with your DS-160 form.
You must always correct it. Always make sure you know what is being put there. You know why you are putting this there. You can defend it. You avoid errors in your name, you avoid typing mistakes, you avoid spelling error and you write good and clear English.
- Lack of ties to home country
This is one of the popular reasons for visa rejection. You must always, all the time make the consular believe that you will come back after your trip to the U.S or after your studies. Do not expect the consular to ask you if you will come back or not.
So make sure that in every question that they ask you, you connected to your ties back home. It is always important to get a good reason to convince the consular that you will come back after your trip or after your studies.
Mind you, they will not ask you. It is not all the time that they will ask whether you come back or not. Don’t expect them to ask you before you say it. Show it, prove it. Let them move through your response.
- Don’t prepare with internet questions and answers by copying them
It is always good to prepare before you go for your interview. For example, watching videos on youtube and reading around to get a general overview about how some questions are being asked and how people answer them.
But let these always guide you. Always let your unique self and story show in the responses you give to the consular. So do not copy answers that people give for yourself.
However, speak to your own story and uniqueness. When you copy answers given by others, it may not speak to your story and make you unique and that will affect your visa approval.
The consular hear a lot of these responses. What is unique about yours?
Don’t just copy answers people give on the internet. Copy suggested answers for yourself. Let it guide you and help you to form and shape your own answers that meets your unique situations and stories for your visa interview.
Thank you so much for reading this guide (5 visa application mistakes to avoid).