Hello guys. So I have decided to attend UC Davis this fall to study CS, and I am currently through my visa application, annnd I’ve hit a roadblock: In the “work/education/training” section on the form DS-160, they ask for both my present and previous work/education/training. Last year, I graduated from my high school, which I have been attending since 2010 (i.e. for 7 years), and then I took a gap year and then applied to US colleges. I am not attending any institution currently, so what should I write for “present” and “previous” subsections? In which of these two subsections should my high school be?
I don’t want to select “NOT EMPLOYED” (unless it’s necessary to do so), as I have heard that doing that causes visas to get rejected due to a lack of strong ties to one’s home country, which in turn results in the lack of the “nonimmigrant intent”.
I read on one CC thread that people select their high school as their previous, and the college they intend to attend in US as their present, but for they ask a “start date” for “present work/education”, and though I know when my program will start, it’s still a future date (you can’t put a FUTURE start date in PRESENT work).
I couldn’t find the answer to my above question anywhere, and the US embassies and consulates seemingly deny any help with the DS-160.
Also, do I have to justify or explain my decision to take a gap year in the visa interview and/or DS-160?
My last, and the least important, doubt is that do I have to give details about an internship I enrolled in my high school after graduating from it? It was only two weeks long, hardly paid, and it was LESS of a job and MORE of an extracurricular activity.
Breath. Relax. You’re overthinking things.
You are applying for a student visa, not a tourist visa. Present employment is irrelevant. You would have to quit your job anyway to spend the next 4 years in the US. Nobody believes that you would feel compelled to return after college to resume your high school job. That’s just not how the world works.
Your best strategy is to be honest. Your high school is previous education. If you are not currently employed or in school, say that. Visa officers are very cynical people and trained to reject visas when people appear deceptive. If your interviewer cares how you spent the past year, I promise you that they will ask.
Thanks a lot @“b@r!um” !
Hey @metapolymath ! I’m in a similar situation to yours, and I’ve been scrambling through the internet looking for an answer, so thank you for starting this thread. I consider myself a student as I’ve committed to and signed up for classes at my university, however the start date of my program is in the fall. I’ve thought about using the date that I committed to my university as the “start date”, however, it’s not exactly the official beginning to my undergraduate studies. I’m also unemployed at the moment. I was wondering if you went ahead and put in “unemployed”? And if so, was it brought up during your visa interview?
@bannanzo I am truly sorry to respond this late, because I do not visit this forum frequently. I suppose you must have already done something about the issue by now and hopefully received your visa. However, if you still haven’t done so, I wrote on the DS-160 that I am unemployed, and then blank space titled “Explain” appeared, in which I typed that since I am still a student, I am not employed anywhere else. Do not choose “student” because you do not have the start date and putting in the date you committed to your university could probably cause issues. I suggest that you put in “unemployed”, but DO NOT FORGET to mention in the “Explain” blank that you have committed yourself to a university and that you will surely attend it, and that (I am assuming your high school is finished now) between your high school graduation and your university start date, you have not and will not be employed. That’s what I did. As @“b@r!um” said, just be honest.
By the way, which uni are you going to?