My Journey to US Visa Part 3

Continued from part 2: My Journey to US Visa Part 2

THE D DAY ARRIVES

It was a hot and sultry Thursday and I woke up at 7:30 AM. I was visualizing the day. Yesterday my practice head called me to provide the vital information I was seeking. He wished me luck and asked me to stay confident. I told him yes I will give my best and will be on top of my game. But he mildly chided and told me I will have to get the visa. Boy o boy I didn’t have enough information 24 hours ago and now I am expected to nail this interview where the rejection rate is close to 80%. This was preposterous. I left behind those thoughts under the bus. First thing I planned to calm my nerves was to have a good serving of breakfast buffet the hotel provided complimentary. I had good amount of cornflakes with hot milk and that’s all I had. I was not having a good appetite that day.

I had planned to stay hydrated all the time because Chennai heat and humidity is always energy sapping and taxing. I got ready and for no good reason wore the same shirt that I was wearing on my passport photograph. Yes you can’t leave any stone unturned. After Clark Kent was totally unrecognizable by just removing his spectacles and became superman. I couldn’t take risk. I had to wear same clothes matching my passport photograph. I got ready, packed my luggage and headed to hotel reception to clear my bills. The hotel manager gave some confusing number and asked me to pay them now and they will be reimbursed by my company. Well that was surprising. I thought all the payments were done in advance by my AMEX.

To put things back into the focus and not distract my thoughts on monetary issue, although that’s a tough ask, I held the payment and kept my luggage there. I promised to clear the due upon return. This time I booked an OLA and kept enough paper bills of Indian rupee for my return trip from consulate to the hotel. The OLA driver came on time and I reached at 9:45 AM. My appointment was at 10:45 AM. Now I could understand what the guy at finger printing was saying. Don’t come early or late just be on time. To stand in a long queue without a shade in such humid weather would take a toll on me. It was bus stand and they placed placard of all time slots on left and right sides towards the end of the bus stop. This was done to maintain two queues. If one queue was for 9:30 AM the other one was for 9:45 AM. As soon as 9:30 AM appointees have entered the queue a fellow would remove the placard and replace it with the next slot placard. This ensured there was no chaos and queues were properly managed.

I got to cross the queue at 10:30 AM. Then a person was checking appointment confirmation and passport and directing people for next step. I proceeded and it took me to circumambulate the entire building to reach the destination. The officers were repeating “no cellphones beyond this point”.  There came a final entrance where again frisking was done by metal detector. At this point of time again I felt the need to quench my thirst.All of us who were in the queue were directed to another building inside the main building. This time an officer shouted for any L1 visa candidates. I came out of the queue and ran where he was directing us to. I was guided towards a shaded tent kind of stall where one consulate helper was sitting and was giving candidates a card (laminated a postcard sized printout) which described how to arrange the documents. I was doing the arranging the documents stuff from last one week. My expertise rose to such level that I could do that in my sleep. I handed back the arranged stuff back to the helper. He took out 80% of the documents and gave it back to me. I was astonished that why was I carrying this gibberish the whole time when there are no takers.Once I was done with document sorting for the nth time. The helper told me to proceed ahead. There was a big queue inside but again my L1 B application put me in advantage. Within 10 minutes of entering the premises I was done with submission of demand draft and one more set of finger printing where obviously my curved pinky finger again made a mess of the process.

All the processes were completed but the interview. It was still a long queue and here there was no advantage for L1 candidates. The queue was moving in a snail pace. B1/B2 applicants formed a major chunk of applicants as well as the queue. Some sisters were trying to meet their brother in California or some old parents wanted to meet their only son in San Francisco. The embassy duly provided translators for B1/B2 applicants if they are not comfortable with English. I could sense elation in the voice of those old uncle and aunty when the officer approved their visa. They could finally meet their son. I could sense a milieu of anticipation, anxiety and excitement among the H1 and L1 applicants who wanted to move ahead in their careers, make more money, prove their mettle by competing with the best.

I saw much heartbreak and many smiling faces. I could not fathom how much a visa mean to people who flocked the embassy as if it was an Indian idol or roadies audition. In both the places the real talents are discarded. My analytical mind jumped into the action. I started counting the number of selections and rejections in each counter. In half an hour I figured out the center most counters has most acceptance rate and I badly wanted to get interviewed in that counter. Finally my turn came and I was about to be guided to some other counter but some people forgot to bring required documents and the counter which was about to be assigned to me was allocated to someone else. As God was on my side that day I was actually in the counter where most approvals were happening.

This was the moment I had to nail. There was a lady in front whose interview was still going on. Meanwhile I was taking deep breath to sway away last bit left of anxiety and nervousness. Though I was hungry I wanted to eat like a king after a good news. Finally my turn came. I greeted the officer and noted her facial expressions. She looked like no nonsense but still a candid person. She greeted me back.

To be concluded in Part 4.