 All about the technology alert list and how to avoid visa rejection due to it, keep on watching. Hi guys, my name is Shachi and I'm a travel and visa coach. On this channel, you'll find tons of useful videos on the US visa process. So make sure to check it out. A lot of you would be aware that I have been conducting live F1 interview prep workshops. We have covered about 10 of these workshops and in these workshops, we really go into in-depth interview preparation. And one of the things that I noticed during these workshops was that a lot of students had their field of masters or field of the PhD program, which was linked to the technology alert list. So this video is going to be all about the technology alert list. I'm going to tell you everything that I know and what are the pointers that you need to keep in mind. Before we start, if you want to be part of the next F1 prep workshop, then the link for registering is in the description box below. Do check the link. This is a 90 minute intense crash course, which is really going to help you in your visa interview. So with this said, let's get started. So let's start with what exactly is the TAL. So the technology alert list or TAL is a list of certain areas which has been developed by the US federal government. And the aim of this list is that the government wants to restrict the movement of goods, services, information and technology in these areas. And the reason is they have identified these areas as sensitive areas. And these are the things which could impact their national security. Now, the complete TAL list consists of 15 fields. And these fields vary from nuclear technology, marine technology to robotics. So I have included the complete list under TAL in the description box below. You can just take a quick look at it and see if your masters of your or if your area of research in the US falls under the TAL. Next, let's talk about why do you need to care about the TAL? The reason the TAL list is important is because this list is used as a guidance by visa officers and consular officers when they are reviewing your visa application. So if your area of research in the US or if the area of your masters is anywhere linked to the TAL, then it is possible that your application would go under further scrutiny. It can go under further background checks and it can also go into something which is known as administrative processing or 221G. So it's really important for you to be fully aware of your area of interest and see if it is anywhere linked to the TAL and be prepared for it. The next part of the video, we're going to be talking about the exact steps that you need to take to prepare for the TAL factor. And there's also a very useful free PDF download for you. So keep on watching. So the first step that you need to take is to check whether your masters or your field of research falls under the TAL list. Many times I see that students are totally unaware of it till they reach the visa interview. They have given the interview and then they get the 221G form or their application goes into administrative processing. So it's really important that you check this list beforehand and prepare yourself accordingly. The second step. So once you have checked the list and you see that your area of interest is not directly under the TAL list, but in a way could be linked to one of the topics mentioned under the TAL. In such a scenario, what you need to do is to pay really close attention to the way you're structuring your answers and to the terms and you know, especially the technical terms that you're going to use when answering the visa interview questions. So when it comes to masters and when it comes to the area of research, there is a certain flexibility that you have in choosing the electives in deciding your field of interest. So you need to use this flexibility wisely and avoid using any specific terms or any specific areas which could be linked to the TAL. In addition to that, you could also take a letter from your university which specifies your field of research or your area of interest and states that it is not directly under the TAL. The third step. Now if you check the list and you feel that your area of masters or your field of research is directly under the technology alert list and there is no way you can avoid, you know, using those terms, then it's best to be prepared for additional scrutiny and for additional background checks. Now, here are the things that you can do. The first thing that you need to do is to get a letter, an invite letter from university, which talks about your field of research, talks about the scope of your work. It clearly mentions the duration of your work in the US and also can assert that, you know, this research or this work is not going to harm national security in any way. The second thing that you need to prepare for is your academic and work documents. So I have seen that a lot of times when the area of research or the area of the masters is linked to TAL directly, then a lot more scrutiny goes into the academic profile and the work profile of the student. So do prepare thoroughly for this and also carry relevant documents. The third thing that you need to prepare for is ties to home country. So you do know that when you are going for your F1 visa interview, it's really important to show strong ties to home country, both professional as well as personal, but these ties become all the more important in the case where your area is directly under the TAL. So do work on showing much stronger ties to the home country. Now, all these are the guidelines that you can follow to prepare for the TAL scenario. For a more personalized and in-depth preparation, you can also book a consultation session with me. We can dig deep into your profile and also figure out how to structure your answers. So the link to book the one-to-one consultation session is in the description box below. Now coming to the fourth and the final step and this is to be prepared just in case your visa application does go into administrative processing. Even if you were to follow all the guidelines that we discussed, there is a good chance that the visa officer, you know, wants to do additional background checks and gives you the two to one G slip known as administrative processing. So here you are generally asked to submit certain documents and so that they can review them and you don't do further background checks. So it's a good idea to keep these documents ready well in advance. This way you can reduce the processing time and ensure that your application gets through in a faster way. So in the description box below, we have a free PDF and this PDF will give you the set of these documents that you can keep ready in case you do have to encounter the two to one G scenario. So do check the link in the description box and download your free PDF. So guys, this is all the information that I have about the TAL list. I hope this has helped you. If you have any more questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. You can also DM me on Instagram, my Instagram handle is at chachiay.mull. I hope all of you are preparing hard for your upcoming visa interview and in case you want to take a mock interview with me, you can do that. This will be a one to one interview done on a video call and the interview will be followed by a detailed analysis and a feedback session. And this mock interview has really helped a lot of students in getting the visa approved and I'm sure it'll help you as well. So the link for all the resources that I have been talking throughout this video is in the description box. Do check it out. And yes, we have a lot more useful content coming up in the FM visa series. So stay tuned, stay subscribed, signing off for now. I'll see you in the next one. Bye.