US visa officer surprises Hyderabad student with tough technical questions

A student, who completed undergraduate degree in April 2025, shared his experience on Reddit to seek feedback and better understand the possible reason for his visa rejection

In an unusual turn of events during a US F-1 student visa interview at the Hyderabad Consulate, a visa applicant was taken aback after facing a barrage of technical questions from the consular officer — a move rarely expected in such interviews.

 

The student, who completed his undergraduate degree in April 2025, shared his experience on Reddit to seek feedback and better understand the possible reason for his visa rejection.

 

“I had my F1 visa interview today (May 30, 2025) at the Hyderabad Consulate, India. He is a white male VO in his 30s. Unfortunately, I was rejected under section 214(b),” the student mentioned.

 

 

The student further explained that the interview started with routine questions before veering into unexpected territory.

 

 

Technical questions in visa interview 

The visa officer began by asking the students questions like if he is still studying and what are the universities he has applied to.

“Indiana University Bloomington, University of Colorado Boulder, Northeastern University, Arizona State University, University of Florida, and University of Washington,” the student replied.

After asking about the project he has worked on, the officer shifted to what the student called “unexpected technical questions”.

 

“Do you know coding well? What’s the difference between Array and Linked List? What is Linear Regression?” the officer asked.

 

Later, the officer asked him why he chose Indiana University Bloomington. “It has one of the oldest and most established Data Science departments. They offer specializations across different tracks like Applied Data Science, Computational DS, and Analytical DS,” the student replied.

 

Moments later, the officer ended the interview with: “Unfortunately, your visa has been rejected. You’re welcome to reapply.”

The student mentioned that he was surprised by the level of technical questions asked. “I tried to stay calm and answer everything honestly, but I’m still not sure what went wrong—whether it was something in my answers, my university choices, or how I explained my project,” the student wrote.

 

 

What is Section 214(b)? 

A visa denial under Section 214(b) of US Immigration and Nationality Act means the applicant did not convince the consular officer that they qualified for the visa category or lacked strong ties to their home country.

While a candidate appearing for the F-1 visa interview can be assessed over their academic preparedness to study in the US, these questions are not very common.