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Consul General David Hopper at Peking University from BEIJING YOUTH
DAILY Last Tuesday
afternoon Consul General
David T. Hopper, the head
of visa operations at
the American embassy, came to Peking University with
three other visa officers to explain the "secrets" of applying for a US student visa, and were
welcomed by the
students. They will
go to Qinghua
and People's University in the near future. In the
past, visa officers have
seemed rather mysterious and cold. They
hold the power to
grant or deny
you a visa -- they say yes and
you get a
visa, they say
no and you
are rejected. There is
nothing you can
do about it;
separated from them
by a glass window,
you cannot make busy officials
stop and listen
to your explanation. This time
the Americans came out
from behind their
glass wall to
talk to students face
to face, and the
officials' friendliness was
immediately apparent. What questions
do visa officers
have in mind
when they face
a student applying for
a visa? Here
is the gist
of what Mr.
Hopper explained: Are you
a genuine student,
headed to the
US for the
purpose of studying? Some
applicants use fake
documents, or have
no real intention
of attending college
in America -- the whole
project is just
a ruse to
get to the US. The
officers look closely
at I-20 forms,
diplomas and school
records for evidence of
fraud. Can you
pay for your
studies? Some applicants have full scholarships, but many
are self-supporting, in
whole or in
part, so the visa
officer must make sure
the money is available. Are you
really going to
America to study
and only to
study, not to work? [The problem
here is work
after graduation, not part-time
campus jobs while the student
is in an academic program.] Do
you intend to
leave the US
when you have
your degree? Of
course this is
quite difficult to
prove to the
visa officer, and
correspondingly difficult for
the visa officer
to judge. But the
visa officer cannot
simply ignore US
visa law, which states
that if you
give a person a
student visa, you
must be convinced
that he intends
to leave the US when
his studies are
finished. How do
we assure ourselves
that the applicant
has such an
"intention"? First of all,
we listen to what
you say. The
visa officer will
try to move
you away from prepared speeches. We
need to know
what your answers
are, not what someone else advised you
to say. What
is your career
plan? Why are
you going to America?
What do you
plan to study
there? What plans
do you have for
after graduation? We know
how difficult it
is for a
student to have
a clear idea
of what he means to
do after receiving
his US diploma.
If you are
not sure, just
tell us you are
not sure. The
admission will give
greater credibility to
your other answers. We
are not looking
for certainty, but
for evidence that you've given serious thought
to the matter:
Do you have
a plan or
ambition of some
sort? Is
it believable in
the Chinese context?
If you tell
us that you
mean to study
a subject that
appears of no
use in China, then what are we
to think? But
if you can
explain how what
you learn will
be useful in
China in the
years to come, that
will help you
to qualify for
a visa. Another thing
we look at
is your current
situation in China.
What family do you have
here -- and abroad? What
do your parents do
for a living?
Do they occupy positions
in government, industry, commerce
or education from
which they can
assist you when
you return from
America? We are
also interested in
your family's financial
situation. If your
family can afford to send
you to the
US to study
and are doing
well in China,
we are likely to
believe that you too
will prosper after
you come back.
On the other hand,
if your family has no money
and you are
borrowing thousands of dollars to finance
your US education, it will be more difficult to persuade us
that you intend to
come right back to
China after finishing
your studies. Where
are you going to get
the money to
repay those loans? There is
no one thing
that determines whether
we grant a
visa or not.
We consider all the
factors in coming
to what we hope
is a sound decision. We don't claim
that our decisions are perfect. We work
fast because we
have to: interview time
is necessarily short.
But we always
try to make
the best decision
we can. If you
are denied a
visa, please listen
carefully to what the
visa officer tells you. For
example, if he
says, "I'm not sure of
your finances," then
the next time you
come, bring new information that shows where
your money is
from. If the officer says, "I'm sorry
but I'm not
convinced that you
intend to come back," think
about your plan
again and figure
out how to explain
it more clearly and
persuasively; then reapply.
If you come back
a second time
and say similar
things, you will probably get the same
response. On 7th
March, U.S. Consul
General David Hopper
and three other officials from the
visa section of
the American embassy met with students at
Peking University. One
of the officials presented
"five secrets" for
getting a student visa: Secret One:
Get free, accurate information on applying for
a student visa. Visit the
US embassy web site
www.usembassy-china.org.cn). There is
no charge for using these resources. Why pay
to get the same information from
other sources? Secret Two:
Be thoroughly prepared. Make sure you bring: * Your
I-20 form or IAP-66
form * Your
diplomas All letters
and e-mail from
the school, especially those that discuss scholarships, assistantships, fellowships and
other forms of
financial aid * Evidence
of funding for
your studies bank
documents, etc. * Your
business cards if
you have a
job * Any
other documents that
you think might
be important Secret Three:
Answer that questions
that are asked.
Don't give the
visa officer a
prepared speech! Here's
an example of what
to avoid: Visa officer:
Hi, how are
you today? Applicant: I'm
going to study
chemical engineering at
X University. VO: X
University? I've been
to the campus
many times. Applicant: I
will surely return
to China and
find a good job
with a major multinational company. VO: [Recognizing the disconnection and
robotic tone] So tell
me, what color is
the sky? Applicant: I
was given a
teaching assistantship because the school believes my
test scores and
credentials are excellent.
These people are
not communicating, and
the applicant is not
advancing his cause! Secret Four:
Tell the truth.
If the visa
officer thinks you're lying,
you won't get a
visa. Secret Five:
Come back to
China. We mean
that in two ways: Come back
to see your
family and maintain
your ties to China.
Keep up your
friendships and professional contacts here.
Students returning on vacation don't
even need to come
in for an
interview; they can
simply use the drop-box service
offered at many
CITIC Bank locations. 2 Come
back to China
after you graduate. Use those
advanced skills and theories
that you learn
in the US to
make China a
better place. Study
in France had
a great impact on
the lives of
leaders like Zhou
Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. Will
study in the
US have a
similar impact on the
lives of China's future leaders? After the
speech by the
visa officer, the
four officials asked the
students for any
questions they had.
Unprepared for the
switch to question-and-answer format, the students were slow to
come up with
questions. Consul General Hopper interjected, with a touch
of humor, "All
questions are welcome. If
you ask a
question we don't
like, we won't remember you and refuse
you a visa because of
it, so really -
don't worry." The
students laughed and
began to open up. One question
was "Do we
need to wear
formal clothes to
the interview?" Answer: no.
Another student said
he'd been in the
US for a
month, so he wondered if
he could use the
drop-box. The answer
was in the
negative, because he'd
gone to America
on a different type of
visa. After getting
through all the
questions, Mr. Hopper pointed out that people seeking
student visas should
apply no earlier than
90 days before
the date when they
must report to their
new university in
the US. Visa
rules do not allow officers
to issue visas
more than 90
days before the start
of the academic program
the applicant is
enrolling in. |