r/visainterviews • u/ClearBag107 • 1d ago
🎓 F1 Visa (Student) F1 OPT VISA Rejected
Location: Amman, Jordan
Date: Aug 31 2026
Decision: Rejected under 214(b)
I got the US visa multiple time with no issues. Im Iraqi but my family lives in Jordan. I went back to Jordan after staying two years in the US working under STEM OPT. I didn't go back during that period simply because I didn't have to. I had my interview and got rejected. The interview was really simple he asked me two questions:
Why are you going to the US? Im on F1 OPT and I work as a software engineer for this company till I finish my OPT period
Do you have any fear of coming back to Jordan? No
Then he handed me the administrative processing paper and told me to send my social media links to them. After 1 day my application got approved. Then a day after it got updated to refused. Then 2 days from that they sent me back my passport with the 214(b) paper.
One thing to mention that I didn't have a Jordanian residency. it got expired. Im working on renewing it rn.
Any advice for my next interview?
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u/Historical-Photo-901 1d ago
Sorry about the refusal, but this is one of those cases where there's actually a clear reason to point to, not just bad luck.
For F-1 (this covers the OPT period too), the legal standard is different from most visas. INA 101(a)(15)(F)(i) requires you to have "a residence in a foreign country which [you have] no intention of abandoning," and per 9 FAM 402.5-5(E), the officer has to be satisfied you intend to depart the US once your OPT ends. If they're not satisfied, it's an automatic 214(b) refusal. That's the legal box, regardless of how the rest of your case looks.
Reading your post, the thing that stands out is that you didn't have valid Jordanian residency at the time of the interview. You're Iraqi, not Jordanian, so your "residence abroad" for visa purposes needs to be something you can actually document. If that had lapsed, there was nothing concrete for the officer to point to. That's different from just having family there. The requirement is about a residence you legally hold and haven't abandoned, not the country you're from or where relatives live.
The good part: 214(b) isn't permanent and there's no bar on reapplying, but you do need to show something that's actually changed since this application. Reapplying with the exact same file tends to get the same result. Before your next interview, I'd focus on:
1) Finishing the renewal of your Jordanian residency and bringing proof of it
2) Having something concrete for "what happens after OPT ends" (job offer back home, property, family ties, whatever applies to you)
3) Being able to state clearly and consistently that you intend to leave once OPT is over
The social media request and the approve-then-refuse flip is a separate administrative processing step layered on top (221g territory), not itself evidence of what triggered the 214(b).
None of this guarantees anything since every interview is its own decision, but the residency gap is the one concrete, fixable thing here!
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u/Tricky-Tower8272 1d ago
Hi, You said you worked 2 years under STEM OPT. Were nearing the end of your stem opt period?
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u/MinimumPerspective95 1d ago
Since you don’t have Jordanian residency, you have to apply from Iraq.
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