Today I was finally able to book an interview with the US Embassy in Denmark in order to get my visa to get in to the United States. And it has been a jungle. You see, to get a visa you need to go to an interview at the American Embassy. To book an interview at the Embassy, you first have to pay the MRV fee. To pay this fee you must first fill out th DS-160 form. In this form you need to state your SEVIS number, which is on the I-20 form that is sent from the US university, where you are enrolling. But before they can even consider issuing your I-20 form, they need an original (physical!) bank statement, stating that you are able you raise the funds required to live in the country during your stay.
Oh, and by the way, if you are applying for a F-1 visa, you also need to pay the SEVIS fee before you can go to the interview at the embassy. To pay this fee, you need to fill out the online I-901 form, for which you also need the I-20 form. Confused? I was too, but I think I’m all set for the interview now.
As expected it is not easy to go to the states, and the information about the process is spread all over; the embassy website points to several different other websites and I don’t think two of the forms were on the same website. I waited a long time for the I-20 form from Boston, as I was not aware they needed a physical copy of the bank statement. I actually still haven’t seen my I-20, but an official from the university e-mailed the SEVIS number, I needed to complete the process.
In my profession I like structured data and I am especially fond of diagrams; so of course I made a digram showing the process.
The most time consuming part of the process was probably the DS-160 form. It is filled out online, and you need to fill out information for just about your entire life; addresses, education, family members, school officials in both Copenhagen and Boston, and 30-40 questions about whether you are a prostitute, drug dealer, terrorist, have committed genocide, and so on. When you have filled out this form (with the SEVIS number from the I-20 form), you are ready to create an online profile to pay for an interview. For this profile, you fill out most of the information again, pay the fee and then book an interview.
Because I am going to study in the US, I am Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) and have to fill out yet another form (I-901) (with most of the same information (again!)) and pay the SEVIS fee. SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) apparently is a system keeping track of all my academic activities while I’m in th US.
So when I go to the interview at the embassy, I must bring confirmation of my filled out DS-160 form, my I-20 form, proof of paying the SEVIS fee, and (another) original bank statement (remember to get all official papers in at least three original copies).
I guess this is some kind of test, that you really (really) want to go to the US. Now I have spent a lot of time and 360 dollars, and I really (really!) want to go!