"Okay, so 5th & 6th are the dates for the finger print scanning & the interview.Prepare your documents well in time", he said.
I took a deep breath and took this first step of my journey of 7844 miles.
From birth certificate to my latest marriage certificate, I collected everything along with my much-organised dad. As per him, every individual should at least have 10 sets of all the life-certificates and that too handy.. With his constant annoyance towards my ill-organized documents, it was an herculean task to get it all done.
As per my upbringing, I reached the visa office 1.5hrs prior. With nothing to do,I found an uptown restaurant to have my all time fav breakfast of cheese omelette.
After almost 60 min to standing outside the US embassy in the scorching heat of Delhi, my entire make up faded, my sunscreen gave up and my ironed clothes were all drenched in sweat. So if they were to give visa on basis of appearance, I hardly stood a chance.
Inside, I could see already 4 rejections right in front of my eyes. Chill ran down my spine.
Then came the final interrogation.
He: "Purpose of your visit"
Me: Tourism
He: Where in US
Me: SF, San Diego, LA Disney...
He: Thats it, thats it
He: Have you ever been outside India
Me: No (who ever had the money)
He: What do you do
Me: I work with SBI, Govt Bank as Dy Manager ( The bullshit job)
He: Where in India do you live
Me: Jaipur
He: With?
Me: In laws
He: Whose property is that
Me: (Going breathless by now) My FIL's
He: Do you have any property
Me: Yes
He: How long will you be staying there
Me: (Lying... )Till May
He: Why is your husband there
Me: (With drying throat) Conference
He: Show me his VISA
He: Okay.. Your visa has been approved for 10 years.
Me: BCCCCCCCCCCCCC.
It felt as if I cleared the toughest viva of my life.
I could see the American Dream coming true. The biggest hurdle has been crossed and there seems to be no stopping by.
That night was elaborately celebrated with bhai-bhabhi's.
With no wait, I booked my tickets to The US of A for 21st of April.
And this is how the story begins... from Visa to Videsh.
See you in the next post with more of the unusual stuff about the life, the trip
I took a deep breath and took this first step of my journey of 7844 miles.
From birth certificate to my latest marriage certificate, I collected everything along with my much-organised dad. As per him, every individual should at least have 10 sets of all the life-certificates and that too handy.. With his constant annoyance towards my ill-organized documents, it was an herculean task to get it all done.
As per my upbringing, I reached the visa office 1.5hrs prior. With nothing to do,I found an uptown restaurant to have my all time fav breakfast of cheese omelette.
After almost 60 min to standing outside the US embassy in the scorching heat of Delhi, my entire make up faded, my sunscreen gave up and my ironed clothes were all drenched in sweat. So if they were to give visa on basis of appearance, I hardly stood a chance.
Inside, I could see already 4 rejections right in front of my eyes. Chill ran down my spine.
Then came the final interrogation.
He: "Purpose of your visit"
Me: Tourism
He: Where in US
Me: SF, San Diego, LA Disney...
He: Thats it, thats it
He: Have you ever been outside India
Me: No (who ever had the money)
He: What do you do
Me: I work with SBI, Govt Bank as Dy Manager ( The bullshit job)
He: Where in India do you live
Me: Jaipur
He: With?
Me: In laws
He: Whose property is that
Me: (Going breathless by now) My FIL's
He: Do you have any property
Me: Yes
He: How long will you be staying there
Me: (Lying... )Till May
He: Why is your husband there
Me: (With drying throat) Conference
He: Show me his VISA
He: Okay.. Your visa has been approved for 10 years.
Me: BCCCCCCCCCCCCC.
It felt as if I cleared the toughest viva of my life.
I could see the American Dream coming true. The biggest hurdle has been crossed and there seems to be no stopping by.
That night was elaborately celebrated with bhai-bhabhi's.
With no wait, I booked my tickets to The US of A for 21st of April.
And this is how the story begins... from Visa to Videsh.
See you in the next post with more of the unusual stuff about the life, the trip
