And I don't care to stay here long

More or less a year after I started thinking seriously about going to the US I got my visa. It has been a highly instructive year and I am inclined to say that the last year’s debacle was a good thing after all. Strangely enough, I am not exalted. I figure I have been so mush into planning my first year there that I did not even consider the possibility of visa refusal.

I waited roughly a month for my interview in the Embassy. It took place yesterday and I received my passport with the stamped visa today in the morning. As for the interview itself, in my opinion it was not really sexy. Only there I recognized that although H1B is sacred in our hi-tech world, from the Embassy’s point of view it is just one more nonimmigrant visa. As such, it takes just a couple of hours in a few lines, a few trivial questions from the officer and that’s it. There is no feeling that it is the recognition of years of pretty strenuous work.

We arrived to the Embassy as was recommended at 8 AM. There was already a rather unorganized line there. Later it turned out that about twenty people had appointments at 8.30 AM. Outside of the building there were two initial checks – local passports (I guess against the list of people with appointments for that day) and weaponry search with a hand-held scanner.

Inside the building there were two more checkpoints – the place to leave all the electronic devices and a stationary scanner. In contrast to airport counterparts this particular scanner was fine-tuned to the point where I had to remove my belt in order to pass the device. On our way further we left scans of out index fingers. The device resembled a PIN-pad used in banks interbred with an optical mouse turned upside down.

At about 9 AM interviews were started. There were four officers in four windows and in general it was like in any other Embassy I had visited. I was the third from my company undergoing an interview this week so probably that’s why I was not asked anything about the company. As a matter of fact, I was asked if I had ever been to the US before and if I had anything to prove my qualification. Suffice it to say, the only paper the officer looked at was my CV. The rest of the pile of reference letters, diplomas etc was completely ignored. My wife was asked about her previous visits to the US but again it took not more than five minutes. We left the Embassy at 10 AM.