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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!CS-Mordred!bala
From: bala@CS-Mordred (Bala Krishnamurthy)
Newsgroups: net.nlang.india
Subject: Getting a visa in Madras
Message-ID: <265@CS-Mordred>
Date: Tue, 2-Jul-85 22:39:01 EDT
Article-I.D.: CS-Mordr.265
Posted: Tue Jul  2 22:39:01 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 4-Jul-85 00:39:07 EDT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, Purdue University
Lines: 41


A voice of experience (maybe)....

I had originally come on a 2 year visa in '80 to do a MS in Math.
Before it expired in '82 I went to Madras and came back. I then
switched to Purdue to do my PhD in CS. 
Last year ('84) I went to Madras to attend my brother's wedding.

Thus, I had done all the bad things I could do: switched to
another school, another program and had gone back to Madras
during the middle of my program. To add to the fun, I have
two brothers in this country who came a year or two before me
and became LPR's (legal permanent residents as Helen at the
Madras Consulate put it - I thought she was talking about
line printers, but i digress...).

When I went to my "interview" I knew that it was not going
to be the easiest thing. After the usual questions (how
can you convince me you will come back) and the usual
quotes (86% of F-1 don't come back) the lady from Maine said
-- "We have a problem" (uh oh).

What saved the day was this: "The only way anyone can convince
you of coming back, is BY COMING BACK. And I am here".

I got a 3 year extension (till '87) and I went home in May '85 again
and came back without any hassles. Of course, I didn't have to 
see the "tough lady" (she is more popular [notorious?] than 
any other lady in Madras -- Sujatha even wrote a short story
about her in Kalaimagal).

Moral of the story: If you do have to go home, be calm.
Rumours about Madras being realy bad are not all true.
Presence of mind and a certain degree of fatalism help.
Think that your chances are 50-50. They are.
Usual stories about being the only child of your parents and owning
property in India are best forgotten.

Cheers,
bala