Dec 1, 2023: Collected my I-20

Dec 1, 2023: Filled up my DS-160 and submitted

Dec 3, 2023: Paid visa fee at EBL

Dec 4, 2023: Paid SEVIS fee and applied for Emergency request

Dec 5, 2023 (Evening): ER approved and took new date on 24 Dec, 2023

Dec 5, 2023 (Midnight): Took another date on Dec 6, 2023 at 10am following a telegram group. Everything happened so fast. I took a quick preparation for the next 2-3hours.

Dec 6, 2023: I reached embassy on time but my name was not on the list (lol) since I rescheduled just 9h ago. so I had to wait around 1h+ on the gate. Then I got the entry. I followed all the procedure(verification + fingerprint). The visa officer took the interview and asked a few questions. Previously verification officer mentioned that I did not follow the photo submission guideline as my photo was 1year old (silly mistake from my side). The officer told that my visa will be approved but I have to submit new photo + passport in VFS asap. I did so accordingly within an hour. The long waiting period started. I was so devastated the whole time since I tried my best to do everything neat and clean but missed the simple photo guideline. My previously submitted photo was approved during the test. So I thought it was okay.

Dec 12, 2023: Status changed from “Refused” to “Administrative Processing”

Dec 17, 2023: Status changed from “Administrative processing” to “Approved”

Dec 18, 2023: Status changed from “Approved” to “Issued”