This is immigration attorney, Parviz Malakouti.
And in this video, I want to go over eight quick tips for attending a consular interview.
So whether you're applying for an immigrant visa, which comes with a green card or a non-immigrant
visa to come to the United States temporarily, both processes typically culminate with an
interview at the consulate.
You want to make sure that you come prepared, you want to come in the right mindset and
basically do everything that you can to put yourself in a position to increase your chances
of success, which of course is an approval.
So without any further ado, let's get right into it.
My first tip is when you come to your concert interview, dress nicely.
Okay.
Most people understand this, but some people don't understand that.
So you want to avoid coming in jeans and sneakers, t-shirts, things like that.
You want to come business casual at least, you want to come dressed to impress, make
sure that you come to make an impression and a positive impression because first impressions
still exist in this world.
My second tip is, come with your documents well-organized in a folder or multiple folders.
Okay.
Know what each one of those documents are, and don't just hand all of the documents in
at once, once you get there.
Okay.
I've heard from many consular adjudicators interviewers that they get annoyed when somebody
comes through the window or it comes before them and basically just shoves a packet of
documents into them.
They don't like that.
Okay.
So have your documents with you here.
Okay.
And ask for what documents that the adjudicator wants you to give.
So when they ask for the document, then you can hand the document one by one.
Okay.
This is the preferred way of going about it.
This is also the more orderly way of going about it.
That is my second tip.
My third tip is to know about your case and be prepared to talk about it.
Okay.
So you need to know the basics of your case.
So what visa you're applying for, why you're coming to the United States, when you want
to come to the United States, maybe even a little bit about what your goals are when
you come to the United States, depending on the type of visa you're applying for.
But understand your case, understand why you're coming to the United States.
And I find that this is particularly a pitfall for people who have a lawyer, such as myself,
prepare an application for them or people who are having somebody else assist them heavily
in preparing the application.
Sometimes they kind of skip steps mentally, and don't really take the initiative to understand
the details of their own case.
You don't want to be caught in that situation because you could be asked questions, and
if you don't know the basics about your case, it's not a good look for your interview.
My fourth tip is if you're bringing an interpreter with you to the interview, you need to go
onto the website for the consulate ahead of time and find out what the protocols are to
bring an interpreter.
Now, remember each one of these US consulates around the world has their own little rules
about how they conduct the interview, how they basically let people into the consulate,
their security protocols, et cetera, et cetera.
So each one of them has their own set of rules for how somebody can bring somebody to accompany
them.
So if you have an interpreter, you want to make sure you check those rules and it could
be the case that you have to submit the interpreter's name ahead of time, possibly a copy of their
ID.
You need to check on that because you don't want to be caught on the day of your interview,
trying to bring an interpreter in with you and surprise, surprise.
You're not allowed to because you didn't check the protocol ahead of time.
My fifth tip is answer all the questions truthfully.
I think that's self-explanatory.
Let's move on to the sixth step.
My sixth tip is when you're being asked questions, listen carefully.
Make sure you understand all of the questions and ask for clarification if you don't.
You don't want to be put in a situation where you didn't understand a question, and then
you just guess, and you give an answer.
Maybe you give an incorrect answer or you answer something that's irrelevant to the
question that's being asked.
So listen carefully, and don't be afraid to ask for a clarification if you don't understand
a question.
The seventh tip has to do with documents.
Now, each consulate usually lays out instructions about what documents the applicant has to
bring to the interview.
Okay.
And the instructions will usually say bring an original or bring a copy or both.
As a general rule of thumb though, you want to make sure that you bring at least one copy
of every original document that you're bringing to the interview.
So as an example, let's say you have a marriage certificate, you have a birth certificate,
you have a death certificate, you have a baptismal certificate, whatever you're bringing as an
original to support your case, make sure you bring at least one copy with you.
That's a good rule of thumb.
And in addition, you want to make sure that you follow the instructions from the consulate
as well.
The eighth and final tip is you need to understand that when you present yourself there for the
interview, you are being evaluated.
Not just your documents, your person, how you act, how you speak, how you look, your
body language, all of that is being evaluated by the adjudicator.
And from what we hear, that's at least as important as the documentation and some adjudicators
at the consul level think that actually the presentation of the individual and how they
answer questions is even more important than the documentation.
So understand that you are constantly being evaluated.
Keep that in mind because of course how you present affects how your chances are of being
approved and you want to be approved.
So that's it for my eight tips.
If you are one of my clients, good luck to you in your consulate interview.
If you're not one of my clients, but you're interested in being one.
Click on the link below, book a consultation, and we can talk about your situation and get
into the details.