Well, there are a few things involved in the Visa Application process, so I’m going to take you through step-by-step.

1. Do you have these documents with you? If not, please proceed to Step 2.

• I-20 from your University
• Offer letter

2. For visa application, you’d need to take a special photo of yourself. Please refer to the site for these details.

• If not, go to a good photo studio, and tell them you need a few pictures for a US visa application.
• If they have no idea what you’re talking about, bring the printed photo specifications along.
• Make sure they give you the soft copy.
• With the soft copy of your visa photo, crop it to a size of 60opx x 6oopx, if not, make it slightly smaller than those dimensions, as long as it’s a square, and the file size is just under 240Kb. You will need it later.

3. Got your passport renewed? No? Then renew it immediately before proceeding to step 4. Renewed passports as of 2010 do not have the control number, so don’t worry. You will know what I’m talking about when you fill in the visa form.

4. Go to the nearest Alliance Bank branch in your area. Bring your passport along. And cash, of course. Depending on the rates, you’re going to pay a hefty sum. Unfortunately, you have no time to cry over it right now. Here’s the page about the fees, depending on your visa class. As a student studying there, your class shud be F, M or J. Mine was F-1.

• Keep your receipt.
• Your receipt number is your passport number.
• From this point onwards, nay, from the first step, ALL the documents you encounter are important, and therefore MAKE COPIES OF THEM.

5. Pay the SEVIS fee. Go to this website to pay.

• Do this if you are a student, and have your I-20 ready.
• Don’t do this if you’re going on a visit.
• PRINT OUT the receipt IMMEDIATELY. You’re in no rush to get the original receipt, as the temporary one is as good as the original for the interview. It says so on the page. *shrugs* you can sue them for misleading information later, if it isn’t.

6. Wait 24 hours. Really. Pray hard for your I-20 to come, if it hasn’t. You can’t move on if you don’t have it. Well, not move on much anyway. If you want to move on, go ahead.

7. Now, you may go to your visa application form. You can access it in two ways:

• Through the visa-vfs-my.com -> go to Visa Forms -> DS-160 form. (DS stands for Department of Homeland Security, I think. Hah. Fun fact.)
• Or, straight to this website: the CEAC.

8. Read the instructions carefully. Now, remember these:

• Documents important to your application, and therefore must be kept next to you for application:
  • I-20
  • Passport
  • Visa Photo – Soft copy, cropped version. Make sure file size is slightly below 240Kb.
  • Your parents’ ID cards. Seriously, you do not want them (your parents) hovering and asking you this and that when you’re doing this. This application is known to break nerves of steel. Prepare!
• SAVE PERIODICALLY. It’s better to save it to your computer, so you can upload anytime if you can’t stand the the wait. But be warned, you can’t jump pages AT ALL, unless you’re a few pages a head, and want to jump to a previous page. That’s okay. But no jumping ahead.
• Keep mineral water nearby. It will drain you of energy, and staring into the computer screen for so long is not healthy.
• DO NOT LEAVE IT UNATTENDED FOR MORE THAN 5-7 SECONDS. Do not believe the bullcrap they say about the 15min idleness. I had to restart my application after just checking a status on FB. That took less than 10 seconds. So no Facebooking!! Or MSN! Turn them off.

9. Fill in the form! I can’t help beyond this when it comes to the form, but feel free to email me or tag me in a status message on Facebook. Haha.

• Your location – Kuala Lumpur. East Malaysians – you have no choice. Deal with it.
• Ignore the test photo, unless you have no confidence in your photographer before this.
• Option A /B – most of you will click the first option. Option B is for those who saved their app earlier, and wish to upload it.
• Control number for your passport is nonexistent if you just renewed it this year or last. Mine was renewed in 2008, so I still had to fill it in.
• For information not applicable to you, PLEASE DO TICK the DOES NOT APPLY checkbox. SERIOUSLY.
• At the confirmation page, they will give a few options.
  • If you wish to keep a soft copy, click on the Email this page button.
  • You may print from the .pdf file they send to you.
  • Print a few copies, when you finally print, make sure your printing is perfect and barcode is not smudged/distorted.
  • Your barcode number will be displayed as part of the subject title of your email. Write it down.

10. Apply for the interview. Now, instead of using Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome, use Internet Explorer. Go to this page to apply. Fill it out accordingly:

• Visa category – choose studying in the USA
• Visa class – please refer to this page if in doubt.
• Have you been refused VISA twice blahblahblah? Be honest. That’s all I can say.

Take note of the date you wish to go for. Why? Because:

• If you’re East Malaysian, you would need to book your flight.
• Please allow 1 business day for your Visa to be ready. Means you can’t collect it straightaway. Return the next day.
• This means, East Malaysians need to hang around there for 2 days. 1 for interview, 1 to collect your visa.

You will need:

• SEVIS fee receipt
• I-20
• Passport (Alliance bank receipt number is your passport number)
• CEAC barcode.

11. When you are at the last page, print out a few copies. You may come back to this page to download the interview confirmation letter. Type your mother’s maiden name in CAPS to retrieve it. That’s all.

12. AND YOU’RE DONE. for now. Please prepare these documents before your interview:

• Passport
• I-20
• SEVIS fee receipt
• Alliance Bank receipt
• CEAC confirmation page
• Appointment (interview) confirmation page
• Financial Affidavit Statement from your Sponsor, or relevant financial documents if you’re self-sponsored (Father-Mother scholarship). (This was taken from Ms. Sri, INTI INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY’S UPO officer)
  • FAS letter from JPA
  • Affidavit of support form – OPTIONAL FOR JPA STUDENTS
    • Must be signed by sponsor(s)
    • Must be commissioned by Commissioner for Oath or Public Notary
  • Evidence of Financial Documents – OPTIONAL FOR JPA STUDENTS
    • Proof of Income (Choose 1)
      • Income tax documents for past 2 years
      • Salary slips for past 6 months
      • Employment letter from company
  • Evidence of Savings (Choose 1 or combination of any documents) – OPTIONAL FOR JPA STUDENTS
    • Fixed Deposits Slips (updated to current date)
    • Bank passbooks (updated to current date)
    • Current account monthly statements for past 3 months
  • Other financial documents, not necessarily:
    • Public Shares certificates with current market value
    • Letters fromt he bank with details of account’s balance
    • Insurance certificates
    • EPF statements
• INTI/your local college’s grade reports. If you do not have the final transcript, bring the previous grade reports.
• High school diploma/school leaving certificate & testimonial
• TOEFL score
• Visa photograph
• SPM results

13. Now, print that. You’re going to need a checklist. Alright. For the interview, keep these in mind:

• The amount of documents that you bring is not important, but you still have to bring them anyway.
• Dress appropriately, but you don’t have to dress as though you’re going for work. Just a nice blouse and long pants will do. No skimpy clothing please, although they will still admit you. (Information from Charmaine)
• Relax, and be polite. In fact, pray hard you’ll get a nice interviewer. I hear that they are gruesome and rather brusque. Not all of them are that bad. I got lucky, and the interviewer was really nice, plus my parents went with me to get their visa too, so we were interviewed as a family. Single men traveling alone usually face more difficulty in obtaining their visa, regardless of race/religion. =)
• You will know their decision by the end of the interview. Official documents i.e visa, will be issued the next day, or week or month, depending on how your interview went.

14. Come back the next day to collect your passport and your visa. Yes, you would have to leave your passport with them. I’m scared too, but deal with it. No choice. Remember to get the receipt by the end of the interview.

Related reading:

• The Worrier’s Guide to Packing Hand Luggage [link]
• The Lazybum’s Guide to Packing for the US of A [link]
• The Savvy Shopper’s Guide to Online Shopping [link]
• A Social Bug’s Guide to Purchasing a Cellphone in the US [link]

Disclaimer: I hold no responsibilities to any losses, discrimination and such resulting from executing this. I’m only human, and there are errors to certain information. This guide was put together based on my experience and to the best of my knowledge. I’m sorry if you got rejected, but you can’t blame it on me. I based my information from their site. Sue them. The CEAC.