<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am an domestic international student (what a paradox), i.e. a non-citizen without a Green Card residing in the U.S. I will attend an university in Fall 2009, but I am really confused about the F1 Visa application process. </p>
<p>Do I have to go back to my home country after I obtain my I-20 & the other forms to get the F1 Visa? </p>
<p>When should I apply for this Visa?</p>
<p>How long does the application process take? </p>
<p>Thank you so much =)</p>
<p>Unfortunately you have to go to an interview at an embassy abroad to get a F-1 visa. The tricky part is that you will have to convince your interviewer that you intend to leave the US after college.</p>
<p>If you are granted a visa, you should get it within one to two weeks after the interview. Unless you plan to stay overseas for an extended period of time, I would recommend you schedule your interview about 1 month before the beginning of classes. The reason is that your current visa might be cancelled at the same time that your F-1 visa is issued, and the F-1 visa allows you to enter the country no earlier than 30 days before the beginning of the school year (the exact date is stated on the document you will get from your college). In order to get an interview date that works for you, try to call for an appointment one or two months in advance - that's how long the waiting lists for a visa appointment can be. If you want or need to get the F-1 visa earlier than that and return to the US more than 30 days before the date stated on your I-20, you would probably have to apply for a visitor visa in addition to the F-1 visa. It's extra paperwork, extra fees and an extra interview, so I would try to avoid that if possible.</p>
<p>In most cases an F-1 visa is the best option you have for college. I just wanted to mention that you are also allowed to attend college on a H-2 visa. However, an H-2 visa does not allow you to work in the US like an F-1 visa.</p>
<p>Thank you so much B@r!um! </p>
<p>I actually have to go to a camp from early July to July 25th.... do I still have enough time to get my Visa if I go back shortly after the 25th? = / (i don't know which school i am going yet, so I don't know the exact date that classes start) </p>
<p>When am I allowed to call for an appointment for my interview? I don't have an I-20 yet... only a couple of admit letters = /</p>
<p>Thank you so much!</p>
<p>Classes typically start in late August or early September, so late July should be fine for an interview. You can make your interview appointment whenever. If I recall correctly, all you need when you call for an appointment is a passport. (They will ask for the passport number and a few personal information like date of birth, etc.) You have until the interview to gather and complete all other documents.</p>
<p>ah, I see. Thank you so much again =D!</p>
<p>If your immigration papers are in order and you did not accumulate any unlawful presence, then going home for the interview is safe. Remember, any unlawful presence in the US is ground for the three to ten year bar. If you have any unlawful presence even for a day, i'll advice you to consult a lawyer.</p>
<p>Read this story.....</p>
<p>An experienced and innovative immigration attorney should aspire like the ancient alchemists to turn lead into gold. What are we talking about, you are probably wondering? Let me explain:
Near the end of April 2005, a couple from South America had a consultation with me, and told me about their dilemma. They had entered the U.S. as visitors, changed to working status and overstayed for seven months. </p>
<p>Then, one lucky day, they were selected as winners of the DV- 2006 Green Card Lottery. </p>
<p>Since they were illegally present in the U.S., was there any way that they could adjust their status without leaving the country? After verifying that they could not adjust their status under section 245(i), I answered their question in the negative. </p>
<p>Could they simply return to their country when their lottery number was reached? We calculated that this would not occur until the spring of 2006. Since they had overstayed since September 2004, this would mean that they would have accumulated over 18 months of "unlawful presence" in the U.S. Anyone with more than 12 months of unlawful presence is subject to a 10-year bar to returning to the U.S. </p>
<p>What, they asked, would happen if they returned to their country immediately, had their interview in the spring of 2006, and returned with immigrant visas? Not so fast, I replied. They had already accumulated over 180 days of unlawful presence in the U.S., and if they simply hopped on a plane back to their country, they would still be barred from returning to the U.S. for three years. The problem is that lottery winners must reenter the U.S. as immigrants before the end of the government's fiscal year (September 30) or lose their fleeting chance to obtain a DV green card. This is the rather sad immigration version of the Cinderella story: the coach turns into a pumpkin at the first stroke of midnight, but there is no glass slipper or handsome prince to insure a happy ending. </p>
<p>The couple looked at each other and sighed. Apparently, they had heard the same sad story from one attorney after another. Therefore, they looked a bit shocked when I informed them that there was a way for them to become green card holders through their winning lottery ticket. </p>
<p>There is a little-known exception to the three-year bar, I began. If you simply leave the U.S. after accumulating 180 days of unlawful presence, you cannot return for three years. However, if you are ordered by an Immigration Judge to leave "voluntarily", the bar does not apply. </p>
<p>Therefore, we decided to get the Immigration Service to issue a Notice to Appear before an Immigration Judge as soon as possible. At the master calendar hearing, we readily agreed that the couple was removable from the U.S. and requested that the Judge grant them 60 days of voluntary departure. They appeared before the Judge with their bags packed, and voluntary departure order in hand, boarded a jetliner back to their own country. There they waited until this spring for their appointment at the U.S. Embassy. </p>
<p>Despite our attorneys arming them with every possible Immigration Service and State Department memorandum bearing on their situation, the Consular Officer who interviewed them denied their applications for immigrant visas on the grounds that they were subject to the three-year bar to returning to the U.S. Unhappy ending? Not so fast! </p>
<p>After a few weeks of follow-up telephone calls, e-mails and faxes by our attorneys, the Consular Officer consulted the Bible of the State Department, the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), and scheduled another appointment for our clients. This time, the interview ended with smiles all around as immigrant visas were awarded to our clients. We received an e-mail from them yesterday, and expect a phone call from them once they reach the U.S. later this week. </p>
<p>What enabled us to turn lead into gold for our clients? A combination of knowing the law and the FAM, a willingness to take a calculated risk, and following through with the Embassy.</p>
<p>You actually can apply to change from another nonimmigrant status to F1 status without leaving the United States, with various qualifications and caveats. There is a fairly comprehensive page on this subject at <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/isso/visa/F-1/change_of_status_to_F-1.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.columbia.edu/cu/isso/visa/F-1/change_of_status_to_F-1.html</a> . As others noted, remember that you can't enter in F status any earlier than 30 days prior to the program start date on your I-20. You can only enter in another status and then change status, or enter and then depart and reenter in F status within the 30 day period. </p>
<p>Sorry to make it so complicated, but there is no one-size-fits-all answer, except that you should at least know it's possible to change status without leaving the U.S., and that you should consult an immigration attorney if you think any special circumstances such as those above might apply in your case.</p>