I want to warn you right away that you should take the issue of obtaining a visa at the US consulate more seriously than ever. Even those who think they know English at a high level should not rely solely on their own knowledge. I advise reading forums with frequently asked questions (it won't hurt), definitely knowing the pamphlet, and asking friends (if you have any) who have already gone through the interview to tell you in great detail about this stage. But with all that said, no matter how confident you are, you must know and be prepared for the fact that EVERYTHING, or almost EVERYTHING, depends on the consul, and at any moment you can get a REFUSAL (although I'm not sure anyone can ever be ready for that).

So, let's go in order.

Evening of April 10th. Spring-like warm and clear weather, a bus stop, a transfer shuttle, the four of us are heading to Moscow, and in a few hours our future will be determined – either YES or NO. A comfortable large Mercedes, you can sleep, but all thoughts are already there, in Moscow, at the US consulate. We all understood perfectly well that the chances of all FOUR of us getting visas were not high, and so we gave our word – not to fall apart!

And here is the early Moscow morning, my first time in Moscow. The huge megalopolis made a big impression on me, but the main thing was getting the visa. After waiting three hours until 9 AM at the Belorussky railway station, already tired from waiting and anxiety, we finally ended up near the consulate. Two more hours of waiting, submitting documents for verification, and there it was – the coveted queue number for the consul, confusion in my thoughts, repeating the pamphlet, and a male consul.

Everything ended very quickly. I didn't even immediately realize how and what happened. My initially unsmiling Hello most likely played a cruel joke on me. A couple more questions from the consul, a green slip, and my thoughts – what is this?! And it was a refusal (((((

If someone asks me to describe my feelings at that moment, even now, after everything I've gone through and experienced, I wouldn't want to talk about it. I can say one thing – it was a huge shock and disappointment. But at the same time, I was happy for my friends who got their visas. The result of the interview – two refusals and two visas. And even Moscow no longer impresses.

First trip for a visa