Как мне не дали визу в Америку — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00How I got denied a US visa.
2. 0:03I’m about to tell a sad story, because
3. 0:06my birthday is coming up and I wanted to
4. 0:08travel to America for it, but I didn't
5. 0:11get the visa.
6. 0:13It’s very sad.
7. 0:15I was genuinely upset.
8. 0:18I should have watched a similar video
9. 0:20before going to the interview, but I
10. 0:22didn't, because I hired visa consultants
11. 0:25instead.
12. 0:27They sort of told me everything. I
13. 0:29thought I knew everything, but I should
14. 0:31have watched it. Anyway, the main point
15. 0:34is that my visa was denied.
16. 0:36If you are going to apply for a US visa
17. 0:39—and I hope my subscribers earn enough
18. 0:41money to apply, maybe in Astana or
19. 0:44Poland?
20. 0:47The core mindset of the US officers
21. 0:50interviewing you is the presumption of
22. 0:53guilt.
23. 0:54What does that mean? By default, you are
24. 0:57a scumbag to them who will enter on this
25. 1:00visa and stay there illegally. That is
26. 1:02the main idea. I didn't know that. And
27. 1:05because of that, I said some nonsense
28. 1:06that led to my visa being denied. Even
29. 1:08though I obviously had no intention of
30. 1:10staying there illegally. But in their
31. 1:13heads, you are guilty by default. By
32. 1:15default, you are someone who wants to
33. 1:17enter America and stay there illegally.
34. 1:20Yes. "Presumption of guilt means you're
35. 1:23guilty until you prove otherwise,"
36. 1:24someone from the chat says. Yes, so you
37. 1:26are guilty until you prove otherwise.
38. 1:29You are guilty because they suspect you
39. 1:31of planning to violate migration policy
40. 1:34, so they filter you strictly.
41. 1:37The tourist visa approval rate is 50%.
42. 1:41It’s just a 50/50 gamble.
43. 1:45Yes, you have to prove that you won't
44. 1:47live there illegally.
45. 1:50How did it go for me? I paid 50,000
46. 1:52rubles. to the consultants to help me
47. 1:55secure this US visa.
48. 1:56I prepared for the interview by
49. 1:58answering some basic questions, but they
50. 2:01failed to convey this concept to me,
51. 2:03which was a blunder.
52. 2:05I flew out, all ready to go. The
53. 2:07interview was scheduled for over a month
54. 2:10later. A month goes by, I travel to
55. 2:13another city, I fly from Bali to
56. 2:15Surabaya. It’s the second city. Let me
57. 2:18show you on a map just to make the
58. 2:21content better. [Map location 3]. I’m
59. 2:26staying at this hotel right here.
60. 2:29So, I fly for an hour to Surabaya. Well
61. 2:32, it’s an hour flight, but you spend an
62. 2:34hour just getting to the airport, and
63. 2:37then you do all the processing.
64. 2:40Overall, the trip from my apartment,
65. 2:43from my villa in Bali to this hotel,
66. 2:45this Surabaya hotel, took about 5-6
67. 2:48hours total, starting from when I left
68. 2:51at 6:00 PM.
69. 2:54So, it was about 6 hours including the
70. 2:56flight, taxi, and everything else to get
71. 2:58to the hotel.
72. 3:00I arrived in the evening, and the next
73. 3:02morning at 9:00 AM, I had my consulate
74. 3:04interview appointment.
75. 3:07I wake up at 7:00 AM, even though my
76. 3:09sleep schedule has literally been going
77. 3:11to bed around 2:00 AM and sleeping until
78. 3:14noon.
79. 3:16My interview is at 9:00 AM, I need to
80. 3:18arrive half an hour early, and I also
81. 3:20need to eat at the hotel. So, I have to
82. 3:22wake up at 7:00 AM.
83. 3:24I take some melatonin, a bit of
84. 3:26magnesium, GABA, and L-theanine just to
85. 3:28knock myself out. But because I'm
86. 3:30nervous, I still sleep very poorly. That
87. 3:33night, I fall asleep around 11:00 PM,
88. 3:35wake up in the middle of the night, and
89. 3:37can't sleep for an hour or two. Anyway,
90. 3:40I didn't sleep very well, but I woke up
91. 3:43at 7:00 AM and went to breakfast at my
92. 3:46hotel. But I don't really like eating
93. 3:48there at all. I really couldn't be
94. 3:50bothered, so I just grabbed some rice
95. 3:53and eggs and ate that. I headed to the
96. 3:56interview. Here it is. The embassy in
97. 3:59Surabaya. Yes. So, I got up at 7:00 AM.
98. 4:03I went to breakfast, called a taxi,
99. 4:06because it's a 40-minute drive, meaning
100. 4:09I had to leave by 8:00 AM.
101. 4:12And this is what the area looks like,
102. 4:14where I had to drive for 40 minutes.
103. 4:18I arrived there by taxi in about 40
104. 4:19minutes.
105. 4:20Right here.
106. 4:23I arrived exactly right here. Some guy
107. 4:25is standing there filming a car,
108. 4:27probably a Google one. I arrived exactly
109. 4:30here for my interview. There’s a line of
110. 4:33people standing here. There’s a bunch of
111. 4:35people sitting right here. And there’s a
112. 4:37line of people standing this way and
113. 4:39that way. My appointment was at nine,
114. 4:41but I ended up getting inside and
115. 4:43finishing the interview around 10:30.
116. 4:48So, I waited for quite a while, even
117. 4:50though I had an appointment.
118. 4:53Anyway, here I am standing in the heat
119. 4:56at 9: 00-10: 00 AM in Surabaya. The UV
120. 4:58index is just off the charts.
121. 5:01The sun is beating down on us like this
122. 5:03from above. There’s the sun, actively
123. 5:07baking us. We’re sitting in the shade
124. 5:10here, but there’s no shade over there.
125. 5:11And the sun is hammering down on us.
126. 5:14We’re all standing there, dressed up
127. 5:16nicely, because it’s an interview for
128. 5:19America.
129. 5:20Well, in short, we are finally going
130. 5:22inside. Inside the door, there's finally
131. 5:25air conditioning, and it's like an
132. 5:27airport security checkpoint: you have to
133. 5:30turn off your phone and check it in, and
134. 5:32they give you a claim ticket. They gave
135. 5:35me this ticket, and I went further
136. 5:38inside. I don't know how to show this,
137. 5:40but there, right there is the building,
138. 5:42that building. I walked like this across
139. 5:44the grounds, tap-tap-tap-tap-tap, and
140. 5:46arrived at this building.
141. 5:49They give you a number there, and with
142. 5:51that number, you just wait, sitting in
143. 5:53your turn without a phone or anything
144. 5:55else.
145. 5:56You just have your folder of documents
146. 5:59with you, and you just sit and wait.
147. 6:02You just sit and wait. I sat waiting for
148. 6:05about 20 minutes, then they called me. I
149. 6:07go up, hand over the requested documents
150. 6:09, like my Bali residence permit,
151. 6:12something else, my passport, and the
152. 6:14printed, completed application form.
153. 6:17That includes the appointment
154. 6:19confirmation for the interview.
155. 6:22I come up, hand everything over, and
156. 6:24they tell me: "Wait, we'll call you in
157. 6:27about 20 minutes."
158. 6:29Wait, yes, here is the path, and inside
159. 6:31is the consulate itself. I mean, you can
160. 6:33only set your navigator here. A human
161. 6:35navigator. Yeah, you can't see anything
162. 6:37. They censored the consulate. I'm
163. 6:40sitting here waiting. So, they called me
164. 6:42. I hand over my documents. A guy, a
165. 6:44local Balinese, an Indonesian—not an
166. 6:46American—tells me to wait a few minutes
167. 6:49, that they will call me in for the
168. 6:51interview after two or three more people
169. 6:54.
170. 6:55I'm like: "Okay."
171. 6:57Probably 40–50 minutes pass.
172. 6:59My number is 164.
173. 7:03They call 154,
174. 7:05174,
175. 7:08104, 163.
176. 7:11And that's how it's all going. And I'm
177. 7:14still just waiting and waiting.
178. 7:16Eventually, they call me. I see there's
179. 7:19a cool, normal-looking guy, and a woman
180. 7:22around forty.
181. 7:24And, unfortunately, they called me to
182. 7:25the woman.
183. 7:27Yes, and it’s much harder for me to get
184. 7:29a visa since I’m a remote worker. We’ll
185. 7:30get to that in a moment. They call me to
186. 7:33the woman, and she asks: "So, like, this
187. 7:35is your income level?" Yes.
188. 7:37I’m like: "Well, yes, that’s correct."
189. 7:40She goes: "Are you married?" I'm like,
190. 7:41married, yes? She says: "And why isn't
191. 7:44your wife coming with you?" I’m like: "
192. 7:45I probably should have told the truth so
193. 7:48they would approve my visa, like, and my
194. 7:50wife stayed behind."
195. 7:52But I say, "Well, she has her own things
196. 7:54to do, and it's my birthday, I want to
197. 7:56go to Los Angeles alone for a week."
198. 7:58She's like, "Okay, okay." So,
199. 8:00remembering my point, in the officer's
200. 8:03mind you are guilty by default, you are
201. 8:05wrong by default.
202. 8:08And officers are such good psychologists
203. 8:10, and they will try to catch you out and
204. 8:11mess with you, just like they did with
205. 8:13me.
206. 8:14She says, "Why don't you live in Russia
207. 8:16?"
208. 8:17I say, "Well, I'm just earning money, I
209. 8:19don't want to live in Russia right now,
210. 8:21I want to travel."
211. 8:23She says, "And if, like, somehow, do you
212. 8:26want to return to Russia?" I say, "Yeah
213. 8:29, not really right now.""No, I don't
214. 8:31want to." She gets up, walks away. Just
215. 8:34after that question, she instantly gets
216. 8:35up and walks away.
217. 8:37A minute later she returns and gives me
218. 8:39a refusal.
219. 8:41The very second she asked that and I
220. 8:43said that, no, I wouldn't really want to
221. 8:46return to Russia right now, that very
222. 8:49second I realized that was it, it was
223. 8:51over, because of how I look to them.
224. 8:55Some guy with remote income living in
225. 8:57Bali somewhere, says he doesn't live in
226. 8:59Russia, that he doesn't want to be in
227. 9:01Russia, and here he is applying for a
228. 9:03tourist visa to America.
229. 9:06Of course, that’s an instant refusal.
230. 9:10And I probably should have said, well,
231. 9:11no, it's winter in Russia right now, I
232. 9:13don't want to go into the winter.
233. 9:16But I just answered briefly, like, no, I
234. 9:18probably wouldn't want to go to Russia
235. 9:20in general right now. That’s it, I just
236. 9:23got an immediate refusal.
237. 9:26I realized in that same second that it
238. 9:28would be a refusal. And I felt so sad
239. 9:31that I hadn't slept well all night.
240. 9:34I got up at 7:00 AM, it's already about
241. 9:3711:30. I've been sitting here in this
242. 9:39embassy for two and a half hours, even
243. 9:41though I had an appointment for 9:00 AM
244. 9:42, it's already 11:30.
245. 9:45And
246. 9:48that's it, I got a refusal.
247. 9:50What's the deal? I don't get it. Well,
248. 9:52here's how I look from the outside. A
249. 9:54young guy who comes in, earns money
250. 9:56remotely, and says he doesn't want to
251. 9:58live in Russia, that he doesn't want to
252. 10:01.
253. 10:02That means, well, where else would I go
254. 10:05besides Russia?
255. 10:07If I'm so smart, young, and ambitious,
256. 10:08it means I want to go to America, which
257. 10:09means I'll stay there to live.
258. 10:11That's roughly the logic there.
259. 10:14And that's it, I got a refusal. Upset, I
260. 10:19head home. To be honest, it would have
261. 10:22been the same result. Yes, I have no
262. 10:24ties to my home country. I don’t own
263. 10:26property, I don’t own a car, and I don’t
264. 10:29have an offline job.
265. 10:31So it was an instant rejection; I'm a
266. 10:34huge red flag to them. My sister, for
267. 10:37example, has an offline job, an
268. 10:39apartment in St. Petersburg, a husband
269. 10:41working there, and she got a 3-year visa
270. 10:44.
271. 10:45Yes. Yes. The logic is that since I have
272. 10:49a temporary residence permit in Bali,
273. 10:51which is super easy to get, I could go
274. 10:54to America and do anything. So, an
275. 10:56immediate rejection. Anyway, let me
276. 10:59finish the story. I head to the hotel,
277. 11:01feeling sad.
278. 11:02I'm sadly heading back to the hotel. So
279. 11:04, even if I had said yes, it really
280. 11:06wouldn’t have made a difference.
281. 11:09And if I’d said something about politics
282. 11:12, it would just mean I’m a potential
283. 11:15migrant looking for asylum, so that
284. 11:18wasn't an option either.
285. 11:20Anyway, I’m feeling sad. I have to check
286. 11:22out at 12:00, it’s already 11:30, and my
287. 11:25flight is at 4:30.
288. 11:26So, I have 4 hours until the flight,
289. 11:28meaning about 3 hours until I head to
290. 11:30the airport. And what do I do?
291. 11:35I arrive at the hotel feeling sad. I ask
292. 11:37to extend my check-out time, to get a
293. 11:40late departure. I ask to keep the room
294. 11:43for a couple more hours. I order some
295. 11:47McDonald’s. I eat the McDonald’s. It’s
296. 11:49not tasty at all. For some reason, the
297. 11:51McDonald’s in Thailand was the best one
298. 11:52. I eat my McDonald’s and feel sad. I
299. 11:56head home. That’s it, I fly back home to
300. 11:58Bali,
301. 12:01I go to the best shawarma place, eat
302. 12:03some shawarma, and go to bed on time.
303. 12:05That’s it. That’s how I was denied a
304. 12:07visa to America.
305. 12:09All those points about politics, about
306. 12:12having a positive or negative stance,
307. 12:15all that would have worked under Biden
308. 12:17three or four years ago.
309. 12:20I spoke with US immigration lawyers.
310. 12:24Back then, just so you understand, you
311. 12:28could go to Mexico and legally, through
312. 12:32a phone app, book your own illegal
313. 12:35border crossing into America.
314. 12:39And that was basically it.
315. 12:41Yeah, just two more years to go.
316. 12:43I also think there are only two years
317. 12:44left to wait.
318. 12:46Some president will come along, maybe a
319. 12:50black, Muslim, LGBT person, and they’ll
320. 12:53welcome everyone—besides someone smart
321. 12:57and handsome like me, they'll welcome a
322. 13:00whole lot of not-so-upstanding citizens
323. 13:03, too.
324. 13:05But for me, at least the process will be
325. 13:07easier in two years.
326. 13:09So, that’s the story.
327. 13:12No, I really just wanted to be a tourist
328. 13:14right now.
329. 13:15Then, in three or four years, I’d really
330. 13:17like to move there on an extraordinary
331. 13:19ability visa. Right now, just as a
332. 13:21tourist, of course, I would like to.
333. 13:22Wait, but what’s the point?
334. 13:24I really regret that I didn't just say
335. 13:26that to the consul's face.
336. 13:28Why the hell would I go to America
337. 13:30illegally right now?
338. 13:32I mean, why would I overstay a tourist
339. 13:34visa just to get kicked out by ICE and
340. 13:36banned from entering?
341. 13:37What for?
342. 13:39Yeah, it's definitely better not to say
343. 13:41anything about plans for a legal move
344. 13:42either. I'm only telling you this now.
345. 13:44Future plans? I don't really have any.
346. 13:46Just keep developing, doing business,
347. 13:48maybe reach out to some foreign clients
348. 13:51, just build a strong profile for a
349. 13:53talent visa, and that's it. I would like
350. 13:56to move on a talent visa. No.