Guidelines for Applying for visa and Interview at the Embassy:

An average interview at the Consulate is around two minutes; therefore, being prepared is very important. Consular officers are told to consider every applicant as an intending immigrant, therefore, as mentioned earlier any document that could elucidate to them that your stay in the US would be temporary, is very essential. Below are a few recommendations:  

1. Prepare and practice a thirty second to one minute account of your case, in which you should highlight your purpose of seeking training in the US and clearly indicate your ties to Pakistan .

2. Start talking even if the visa officer has not asked you any questions. Offer information on your own.

3. To highlight the reason for going for a residency or taking a qualifying examination you can say something like: " I want to get the best training from this US institution and come back to utilize my acquired skills in Pakistan .” A letter of job offer from a Pakistani institution helps tremendously. This is an example of strong ties and intent to come back.

4. However this is usually not enough. In addition, evidence of the financial security and other family ties in Pakistan will be required, along with supporting documents.

5. It is important that applicants take every possible education credential document to the US Embassy. This should include the DS 2019 (for J1 visas), residency contracts, MBBS diploma, TOEFL results, PMDC certificate, Certificates of job experiences, Current job letters etc. In addition, since the most common reason for visa refusal is “not able to show strong ties with home country and therefore, projected stay in the US may not be temporary “, therefore, anything that can reflect on the fact that the applicant would return should be taken to the Consulate. This may include bank statements or land documents etc.

We also advise interviewees to ask the name of the consular officers. Most of them should be wearing name tags. Please report to us any condescending or inappropriate attitude. We would pursue that to the highest level. Since they should behave with candidates in a professional manner and any unprofessional remark or behavior would not be tolerated.

We also strongly discourage physicians not to extend stays in the US, since this reflects very negatively on any future application for visa or security clearance.