US Visa Experience

Today I learned that the process of US Visa registration is easy. The application process in the website took me around 30 minutes. It was a hella bunch of questions that I must go through. Like where will I stay, the visit purpose, who will pay the visit, your photo, and many more. They also asked more than 50 questions about whether I’m a terrorist, a criminal, or a drug user.

Then, after you fill that lengthy form, there will be a confirmation page that states all of your data you filled. You will be directed to the payment page using VFS and some kind of payment gateway. Thankfully, I could pay it with QRIS for USD 185 (~Rp3.140.000) when I paid it. The payment receipt was sent to my email roughly an hour after I pay. Then, I’m able to select the day to schedule interview.

The interview was in U.S Embassy in Central Jakarta. Here’s the steps I went:

1. In front of the embassy, there are people lining in the queue. They step forward one by one. The staffs make sure that we bring the DS-160 and passport.
2. I’m directed by the security officer to put all my stuff into the X-Ray check. Just like in the airport, no belts, wallet, and phones.
3. We were given some kind of tag to be attached to our shirt
4. Walk into the interview area
5. There are three steps. In the first counter, I had to give my passport to the staff, they ran a quick check of my passport and that’s it.
6. Next counter is fingerprinting. I gave my passport and scan my fingerprint. All fingers except thumbs were scanned, and only thumbs next.
7. Next counter is the real deal. The interview that everyone is scary of.

It was a really long queue, because there were only two counters open and each counter interviews a person for roughly 5 to 10 minutes. The first counter was a woman, understands Indonesian. And the second was also a woman, looks like American, and only understands English.

I got the Indonesian one, but I spoke English the entire time. I saw people faces in the queue, some looks intimidated, some looks calm. There was one guy in the back talking about how the first counter always give red or yellow paper (means rejected/something missing). Those guys said “kalo ibu enak, sudah pensiun, kalau kami anak muda, cowo lagi, lebih gampang ditolak karena usia produktif.” It made me feel anxious because I’m also a young productive guy who could be suspected as an illegal immigrant.

– timeskip –

But everything was fine. I got a white paper (accepted).

In the next day, I got an email that I can pick up my passport (with US visa in it) in VFS Kuningan.

The pickup was also seamless. I was required to only present my ID Card (KTP) and I got my visa. Only a straightforward 5 minutes procedure.