‘Took education loan of Rs 1.24 cr’: Indian student denied F-1 visa after revealing family income to visa officer
An Indian student shared his experience of being denied an F-1 visa at the Delhi Consulate. At that time, the visa officer’s approval was extremely strict. The student is a 2025 graduate and hopes to pursue a master’s degree in computer science at Columbia University. The interview lasted only 2-3 minutes and was denied under Section 214(b), meaning the applicant had not sufficiently demonstrated to the consular officer that they qualified for the non-immigrant visa category for which they were applying.This student reveals interview questions and answers, as well as red flags that could lead to rejection.Q: Why choose Columbia University?A: Columbia University has updated courses and a portfolio of courses across different fields.Q: Who sponsors you?The applicant revealed that he had obtained a student loan of Rs 125 crore from an Indian bank with the support of his parents.Q: What is your parents’ income?Answer: Rs 12LPA.Applicants were also asked whether they would return to India after the course. The answer was “yes” but the application was denied.As this student shared his experience RedditSocial media users pointed out that the interview answers were mostly less than impressive and that the financial burden was a red flag.Reddit users pointed out that the student loan of Rs 124 crore is a huge burden and the parents’ claimed income is insufficient compared to it. Others pointed out that the answer about Colombia was also rehearsed and not impressive.When the applicant sought advice to retry the visa, citing additional financial resources including parents’ savings of Rs 9.8 million and a yet-to-be-awarded Rajasthan government scholarship of Rs 6.2 million, social media users said the visa officer actually saved the student’s life. The student explained that without the scholarship it would not have been possible, but it was not mentioned on the form because the scholarship had not been announced yet“Your visa was rejected because your parents’ annual income of Rs 12 LPA (LPA) is totally insufficient to support a huge loan of Rs 125 crore, which indicates to the officials that you have zero financial cushion and will be forced to work illegally in the US to survive. To fix this, you have to get a scholarship of Rs. 62 Lakhs and apply for an updated I-20 from Columbia University to reflect the new lower cost since a new I-20 is absolutely mandatory whenever your funding structure changes. Combined with your parents’ net worth of Rs 98 lakh, this scholarship can reduce the remaining loan amount to a realistic level that your family can actually support, allowing you to breeze through your next interview by demonstrating solid financial stability. There is no way it will be approved,” one wrote.Another said visa officers saw through the lie that the applicant would return to India with a loan amount that exceeded his parents’ net worth.
