2019 F1 Shanghai Visa Interview Experience
This content was automatically generated by gpt-4o-mini (No human review). The original post is in Chinese.
I want to share my experience from the visa interview in Shanghai yesterday.
SEVIS FEE Wasn’t Paid?!
When I was in line at the beginning, I noticed that there was a small label on the back of my passport with “Fee” written in red pen.
When it was my turn for the interview, the person at the window was a young white man. I first handed over my passport, and then the visa officer asked for my I-20 form and inquired about what I did during the two months I spent in the U.S. in 2017. I mentioned that I was doing summer research at the University of Pittsburgh, as I had shown the invitation letter for the summer exchange when I applied for my B visa.
Next, the visa officer asked to see the SEVIS fee receipt. I took out the receipt I printed from the CITIC Bank for the visa fee, which was sent to me via email in Chinese. The visa officer said that wasn’t it and that he saw in the system that I hadn’t paid the fee. I was completely confused, thinking that I had indeed paid the $160 visa fee, and I even argued with him that I had paid, which made me quite anxious during the interview. In the end, I asked the visa officer what I should do, and he asked for my advisor’s CV, my CV, study plan, and admission letter. Then he gave me a yellow slip and a pink slip, telling me to pay the fee and send the receipt to them via email. He said to follow the instructions on the slip, and it would take about a month afterward.
After I got home, I searched for information and found out that I indeed missed a fee. I always thought the visa fee was the SEVIS fee, but in fact, they are different.
| Item | Fee | How to Pay |
|---|---|---|
| F1 Visa Fee | $160 | Online or at an ATM at CITIC Bank |
| SEVIS FEE | $200 | Pay through the website https://www.fmjfee.com/i901fee/index.html |
Why did I miss this fee? When I was looking at tutorials before, I saw multiple times that I needed to pay the SEVIS fee and knew I had to bring the SEVIS fee payment receipt to the interview. However, since I confused it with the visa fee, every time I saw this, my mind automatically replaced it with the visa fee, so I thought I had paid it. Moreover, when I applied for the B visa, there was no such fee required.
Visa Interview Process
I scheduled my visa interview for May 2 at 2:30 PM, and I arrived at Meilong Town Square around 1:30 PM. I first walked around the mall and then realized that I needed to queue outside the building for the visa application. Since I was going for the interview alone, I had to store my belongings at the baggage storage. Items like water bottles, mobile phones, all electronic devices, and backpacks were not allowed inside. Following the staff’s suggestion, I went to a store next to FamilyMart that specializes in storing bags for visa applicants. It cost 20 yuan per bag, and the staff were very familiar with this service. The store only had some lockers without locks, which didn’t seem particularly secure, but I had no other options.
Next, I went to the small green umbrella by the roadside to get a number. I showed my DS160 confirmation letter and the visa interview appointment confirmation letter to receive my number, and then I queued up. The staff led us to the elevator to the 8th floor, followed by various queues and security checks, until we finally arrived at the interview hall.
First, I went to get my fingerprints taken. It was quite strange that the staff didn’t ask for my 2-inch visa photo. Then I queued at another window, but I forgot what it was for. The third queue was for the actual visa interview. There weren’t many people, and the line moved quite quickly. After the interview, I looked at the time and saw it was only 2:41 PM; it had only been an hour since I stored my bag, which was much faster than I had expected.
After the interview, the documents taken from me included: my passport, my CV, Study Plan, my advisor’s CV, and the admission letter.
During the interview, they reviewed some documents but returned to me the i20 form and the financial offer letter.
The other materials I prepared were not used at all. After talking with other students who also had F1 visa interviews, it seems that the documents commonly taken were the CV and study plan. Therefore, when preparing visa materials, it’s essential to have the necessary documents well-prepared, while the others can be optional. Below is the list of materials I prepared at that time.
| No. | Type | Required Materials | Nature |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visa Application | Personal passport for private use | Necessary |
| 2 | Visa photo | Necessary | |
| 3 | DS160 confirmation page | Necessary | |
| 4 | Visa interview appointment confirmation page | Necessary | |
| 5 | SEVIS payment receipt | Necessary | |
| 6 | Visa application payment receipt | ||
| 7 | I20 document | Necessary | |
| 8 | Admitting School | Admission letter | Necessary |
| 9 | Advisor’s personal profile, CV, or printed webpage | Necessary | |
| 10 | Introduction to the major or program I will study | ||
| 11 | Student Information | Enrollment verification | |
| 12 | University transcript | ||
| 13 | TOEFL score report | ||
| 14 | GRE score report | ||
| 15 | Personal visa resume | Necessary | |
| 16 | Study Plan | Necessary | |
| 17 | Financial Materials | Bank deposit proof | |
| 18 | Financial offer letter | Necessary | |
| 19 | Social and Family Relations | Household registration book/residence proof | |
| 20 | Marriage certificate | ||
| 21 | Family photo | ||
| 22 | Spouse’s enrollment verification |
I should mention that when preparing the interview materials, I wrote my Study Plan and CV based on templates provided by UCSD CSSA, and there are also templates available on the visa official website. You can download relevant documents from the Feiyue group or refer to other online visa tutorials, freshman handbooks, etc., for preparation (including how to fill out the DS160 form, etc.).
F1 Visa Application Websites
Here’s a list of commonly used websites for U.S. visa applications. It would be great to have a navigation page for this.
| Purpose | Website |
|---|---|
| Overview of Student Visa | http://ustraveldocs.com/cn_zh/cn-niv-typefandm.asp |
| Passport Tracking | http://www.ustraveldocs.com/cn_zh/cn-niv-passporttrack.asp#ChecktheStatusofYourVisa |
| Check Visa Status | https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?eQs=WwjqOlbeRYzCYubaSQI+RA== |
| B Visa EVUS Registration | https://www.evus.gov/evus/#/ |
| Pay SEVIS Fee | https://www.fmjfee.com/i901fee/index.html |
| Fill out DS-160 Form | https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/ |
| Schedule Visa Interview | https://cgifederal.secure.force.com/?language=Chinese%20(Simplified)&country=China |
