One of the factors that affect the chances of your visa application being approved or not is how confident or nervous you are. That is why one of the most frequent questions I get asked is how to hide nervousness in B1/B2 US visitor visa interview or rather how to overcome B1/B2 US tourist visa interview nervousness.
But before we delve into how to hide nervousness in a visa interview, its only fair to discuss the causes of nervousness in B1/B2 US visit visa interview.
Some of the causes of nervousness for visa interview include: lack of adequate preparation, taking it too seriously, too much negative energy, not staying in the moment, giving false information, etc.
So without much further ado, following are some things you can do in advance to prevent B1/B2 US visa nervousness.
What's Covered in This Article
Prepare adequately
If you are scheduled for a B1/B2 US tourist visa interview in Nairobi or wherever, you must be prepared.
Check out any frequently asked B1/B2 US visit visa interview questions and prepare your answers to them, as well as the documents to support your answers.
Beyond the FAQs, also think about the very hard questions you’re likely to be asked based on your individual circumstance and prepare some great technical responses as well.
For example, if you have never gone beyond the border of your county and suddenly are applying for a US tourist visa and the visa officer asks you where else you have traveled to, don’t say oh I didn’t have money, bla bla bla. Instead just say what the real issues were and what you lessons you learned about not taking advantage of the benefits of travel seriously and how you plan to handle the issue following your return from the US.
Tell yourself its never that serious. And believe it.
What is the worst that can happen if you’re denied the B1/B2 tourist US visa?
Honestly speaking, not that much.
The United States is just 1 among 190+ countries in this world. And 70+ of those countries, you can travel to or visit visa free with your Kenyan passport.
Unless of course you were planning to immigrate to the US illegally.
Actually, Kenya is not that bad after all. If you were looking for greener pastures, you can do those same jobs by US companies from the comfort of your coach in Kenya. Here is a list of 100+ work from home jobs that are open for people living in Kenya.
But in a worse case scenario if you’re hell bent on going to the US, you can always reapply for a B1/B2 US visitor visa.
However, there are cases of gross misconduct such as lying to a visa officer that could result in you being banned from stepping in a US embassy of on US soil.
Which leads me to my next point on how to prevent how to overcome B1/B2 US visitor visa interview nervousness.
Do not lie
I am not sure how much stress I need to put on this point.
It’s not only morally wrong, but also puts too much pressure on you, and adds on to your nervousness. In case you’re wondering, you’re not the first applicant the visa officer will be interviewing. These people are trained to catch liars. Or so I hear.
And don’t start me on I know so and so who lied and still got a visa.
Well, a) you are not so and so, and b) that they got a visa doesn’t mean the visa officer didn’t detect it. Both you and I weren’t inside the visa officer’s brain, so we shall never know.
My point? These officers know every trick in the book.
So give false information at your own risk. If caught, it could actually result in you being permanently barred from ever stepping onto US soil. Ever.
Be in the moment
One of the causes of nervousness before or during a B1/B2 US visitor visa interview stems from overthinking the whole process.
You haven’t even fikad Gigiri and you’ve already started thinking of how your dreams are going to be shattered if you’re denied that visa. Who told you your visa won’t get approved?
Stay in the moment, think positive vibes, and stop overloading your mind with negative thoughts that might not even happen. It not only drains you emotionally but creates a lot of anxiety and you may end up not being to adequately respond to the B1/B2 US visitor visa interview questions the officer asks you.
And just like that, your visa gets denied.
Instead of this negative vibes, fill your thoughts with things like ‘what if my B1/B2 US visit visa gets approved?’
If you have read this far, I hope you fill much better and a little more prepared for your interview.
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