Powerful Podcasts for English Fluency | Episode 10

[Music] hello English Learners welcome back to English pod my name is Marco and I'm Erica and today we're going to be talking about a very special topic that's right this topic was actually suggested by one of our listeners exactly so keep those comments coming because we want to create lessons that you need that you want exactly so what are we talking about today today's lesson is about applying for a Visa a very very important topic yes and specific speically it's about a visa interview exactly as you all probably know when you apply for a Visa

especially for the US you have an interview yes where you have to answer some questions yes and that's what we're going to be talking about today so before we jump into the dialogue let's take a look at vocabulary preview vocabulary preview okay so let's talk about Visa right a Visa it's not a credit card no not Visa or Mastercard no so a Visa is an official document that you get in your passport that allows you to travel legally to a country exactly so with this document you can go into a country okay so we have

different types of visas today we're going to be talking about a B2 Visa right a B2 Visa is a tourist visa a tourist visa this is only for the United States other countries may have different classifications for their visas but B2 is for the United States right so Marco we use a tourist visa when we want to be a tourist and just travel in the US what about a resident Visa well you can have a temporary resident Visa mhm like for example an F1 yep an F1 is for foreign exchange students who go and live

in the states maybe for a year or do a MBA for 2 years or 3 years MH so that's an F1 Visa you can also get a J1 Visa yeah which is a temporary exchange visitor okay so it could be to maybe do some temporary work for 2 or 3 months and then go back to your country so basically a resident Visa allows you to live in that country yeah you can live in that country legally for a determined time okay so let's listen to our dialogue where are we going to be exactly in this

dialogue we're going to hear two people a Visa officer and a person who's applying for the Visa now the person who's applying for the Visa has an accent right yes but this is really good practice for helping you to understand people with different accents exactly so let's listen to the dialogue and then we'll come back and explain all the great vocabulary so you're playing for a B2 Visa where's your final destination and what's the purpose of your trip to United States I'm going to visit my brother he's just had a baby he lives in Minneapolis

and how long do you plan to remain in the United States I'll be here for approximately 3 weeks so uh here's my return ticket for the 26th of March and who's sponsoring your trip my brother here this is an invitation letter from him I will stay with him and his family in their home all right tell me about the ties you have to your home country well I own a house actually I'm leaving my dog there with my neighbors I have a car at home I know my job I'm employed by Turnell as an engineer

actually I only have three weeks vacation so I have to go back to work at the end of March and what evidence do you have that you are financially independent well I do have Assets in my country like I said I own a house and see here's a bank statement showing my investments and my bank balance I'm sorry sir we cannot Grant you a B2 Visa at this time instead you are granted a resident Visa congratulations you are the millionth person to apply for Visa you win congratulations y all right what a lucky guy he

applied for a tourist visa and now he's getting a resident Visa yeah that's that's great but uh does this really happen Michael no no that would never happen in at a consulate okay well we can we can dream that this might happened for us yeah exactly all right let's take a look at the words in language takeaway today language takeaway all right on language takeaway we have sponsoring sponsoring sponsoring sponsoring so Erica what does it mean to sponsor somebody when you sponsor somebody for a Visa you take care of them and make sure they have

enough money okay so you you are the one who's responsible for all of their expenses and making sure they just have enough money okay so for example when I was 16 I made a to another country yep and my parents were my sponsors so they took responsibility for your money exactly okay let's look at our next word invitation letter invitation letter invitation letter invitation letter now this is a really important part for a visa application yes very important what is an invitation letter well an invitation letter is a formal letter that a friend or a

relative or maybe a business writes to ask you to come to their country exactly so you are being invited for a specific purpose to the United States yeah and you have to give this letter to the Visa officer okay invitation letter our next word ties ties ties ties looks exactly like tie like the one you wear in your suit not not quite the same though all right so what are ties the ties you have to your country are the things that keep keep you attached to your country okay that that make sure that you will

return to your country okay so what are some examples of ties like maybe a house or a wife or a child or maybe some money in your bank account okay or a job even okay okay perfect yeah a good way to think of this is Imagine like a rope that's attached to you and tying you to your country to your house to your job to your kids okay so you can't run away exactly okay okay that was clear but let's listen to some more examples of how we would use ties example one I sold my

house and closed my bank account I don't have any more ties to my home country example two Alvin enjoyed being single he wasn't ready for the ties of family life example three diplomatic relations have improved and the ties between the two countries are stronger all right it's clear now mhm let's look at our next word financially independent financially independent financially independent financially independent so that means that you don't need anyone that you have enough money you have enough money for yourself right so you don't have to ask your parents to pay for your ticket or

pay for your food or whatever okay and our last word for today assets assets assets assets okay so your assets are kind of like your ties right there are things of value that you own things that are expensive that you own in your home country so it would be a house a car yep maybe stocks stocks or Investments okay so all of those things are your assets Okay so we've seen a lot of great words and I think it's time for us to listen to our dialogue again we're going to slow it down for you

yeah this will help you understand it a little bit [Music] better so you're applying for a B2 Visa where is your final destination and what is the purpose of your trip to the United States I'm going to visit my brother he's just had a baby he lives in Minneapolis and how long do you plan to remain in the United States I'll be here for approximately 3 weeks see here's my return ticket for the 26th of March and who is sponsoring your trip my brother here this is an invitation letter from him I'll stay with him

and his family in their home all right tell me about the ties you have to your home country well I own a house actually I'm leaving my dog there with my neighbors I have a car at home and know my job I'm employed by Turnell as an engineer actually I only have 3 weeks vacation so I have to go back to work at the end of March and what evidence do you have that you are financially independent well I do have Assets in my country like I said I own a house and see here's a

bank statement showing my investments and my bank balance I'm sorry sir we cannot Grant you a B2 Visa at this time instead you are granted a resident Visa congratulations you are the millionth person to apply for a Visa you win congratulations yay okay today we're not going to do uh our regular toolkit like fluency Builder putting it together no we're going to do something a little bit different today we're going to talk about the questions you will probably be asked at an interview for a US Visa yes and the useful language that you can use

to answer these questions in a good way MH okay so let's take a look at our first question where is your final destination and what is the purpose of your trip to the United States where is your final destination and what is the purpose of your trip to the United States so this is probably going to be the first question the interviewer is going to ask you yeah so Marco I know you have a lot of experience with us visas how should we answer this question well it depends on what you're doing right so if

you're a tourist you would say I'm going on vacation to New York or anywhere also if you're visiting a family member like in our dialog you would say oh I'm going to visit my sister or my brother or my cousin if you're applying for a business Visa then you would say oh I'm going to visit a company or Etc right so you just have to say why you are going to the States now is it important to be really specific Yeah the more specific you are it's probably better so if you can name the state

and the city where you're going it's much better okay all right well let's listen to our next question how long do you plan to remain in the United States how long do you plan to remain in the United States okay so this is a really important question also because in your application you have to put how long you plan to stay in the US right it's a pretty straightforward answer you know 2 months 1 month 3 weeks right but you just have to make sure that your answer matches what's written in your application form exactly

okay now let's take a look at our last question tell me about the ties you have to your home country tell me about the ties you have to your home country well I think this is maybe the most important question that they'll ask you right yeah this is the most important question this is what the interviewer is most interested in okay so why is he interested in this because he he has to be sure that you will not become an illegal immigrant to the United States so that you will return to your home country exactly

he or she has to be convinced that you're going to return to your home country so how can you convince him basically by demonstrating your ties so showing the things that will pull you back to your home country EXA so if you take documents to support this bank statements um maybe a copy of your mortgage yep like maybe your wedding certificate wedding certificate I don't know even a letter from your office from your job so that shows that you have to return to your work the more things you bring the better even though the interviewer

might not ask for for the documents okay just it's better to be safe right exactly so come with a huge file full of things exactly I've had friends who've uh arrived to the Embassy with a huge file of documents and weren't asked to to show any of the documents right but other interviewers will maybe ask for it okay so now let's listen to the dialogue again and you'll hear how our traveler answers these [Music] questions so you're you're applying for a B2 Visa where's your final destination and what's the purpose of your trip to United

States I'm going to visit my brother he's just had a baby he lives in Minneapolis and how long do you plan to remain in the United States I'll be here for approximately 3 weeks so uh here's my return ticket for the 26th of March and who's sponsoring your trip my brother here this is an invitation letter from him I will stay with him him and his family in their home all right tell me about the ties you have to your home country well I own a house actually I'm leaving my dog there with my neighbors

I have a car at home I know my job I'm employed by Tel as an engineer actually I only have three weeks vacation so I have to go back to work at the end of March and what evidence do you have that you are financially independent well I do have Assets in my country like I said I own a house and see here's a bank statement showing my investments and my bank balance I'm sorry sir we cannot Grant you a B2 Visa at this time instead you are granted a resident Visa congratulations you are the

millionth person to apply for Visa you win congratulations [Music] y well I hope this was a useful lesson for all of our listeners because I'm sure that in one point or another uh in the future you're going to apply for a Visa so now you know all the language that you need to more or less answer all these questions that you're going to be asked yes and Marco I'm sure that people have already applied for visas for the US right probably yeah and I want to hear from our users any stories that they have about

applying for a Visa yeah that would be great I know that I have some stories to share on the comments board and uh we want to hear your questions and comments and any suggestions so visit our website englishpod dcom and Marco and I will be there to respond to you and answer your questions well everyone thanks for listening and until next time [Music] goodbye the English pod audio review listen to the meaning then say the vocabulary word stay remain an amount that is almost but not exact approximately someone who takes the responsibility for a person

applying for a Visa sponsor a formal letter asking a person to come to a place invitation letter responsibility that links a person to a place or a thing Tai something that shows the thing is true evidence have enough money to live alone do not need help with money financially independent things that are worth money that you own assets let you have something Grant a person whose job is to interview people for visas Visa officer an official document that allows you to live in a country resident permit Embassy a piece of paper you have to put

information on to make a formal request application form let's try that faster let you have something Grant have enough money to live alone do not need help with money financially independent a person whose job is to interview people for visas Visa officer someone who takes the responsibility for a person applying for a Visa sponsor Embassy an official document that allows you to live in a country resident permit something that shows the thing is true evidence a formal letter asking a person to come to a place invitation letter responsibility that links a person to a place

or a thing tie stay remain things that are worth money that you own assets an amount that is almost but not exact approximately a piece of paper you have to put information on to make a formal request application form now say the word and hear it in a sentence sponsor Nike is sponsoring our sports team sponsor if you apply for a Visa to another country you must have someone who can sponsor you and guarantee that you have enough money sponsor my father sponsored my Visa application Ty I sold my house and closed my bank account

I don't have any more ties to my home country tie Alvin enjoyed being single he wasn't ready for the ties of family life Tai diplomatic relations have improved and the ties between the two countries are stronger evidence the evidence shows that this man is guilty evidence the bank needs evidence that you own a car or house evidence the police are searching the house for evidence that can help them find the criminal so you have no house no car no Investments and no money at all in fact you have no assets the total value of the

company's assets is more than a billion dollars we have about $100,000 in assets Grant my college granted me a scholarship for being a good student Grant the genie of the magic lamp told me that he will grant me three wishes Grant he was granted a medal for fighting in the war [Music]