May 18, 2026 · 6 min

The 20 US F-1 visa interview questions to prepare for

Why this university, why this program, how will you fund it, do you plan to return — the standard consular arc.

USA#f1#interview

US F-1 interviews average 90 seconds. The consular officer decides quickly. The 20 questions almost every applicant sees:

1) Why this university? 2) Why this program? 3) Why not India? 4) Have you applied to other universities? 5) Who is funding your education? 6) What does your father/mother do? 7) What is their annual income? 8) Do you have any relatives in the US? 9) What are your GRE/TOEFL scores? 10) What was your undergraduate GPA?

11) What will you do after graduation? 12) Will you come back to India? 13) Have you visited the US before? 14) What is your backup plan? 15) Do you have a job offer already? 16) How will this program help your career? 17) Why not do this program in India? 18) What is the cost of your program? 19) Have you paid the SEVIS fee? 20) Do you have loans?

Turn this into your plan.

A 30-minute session applies these ideas to your profile.