<p>Just wondering about the COF for int'ls. I come from Romania, and my family's annual income is somewhere below the 15 grand mark. My parents built the house we live in, so no mortgage, but we could sell it for 30grand (we have a couple of other houses that my dad bought before the crisis, that total to about 18k), so i guess that brings home equity to 48000. </p>
<p>Anyway, my question is, if I write on the COF that just my parents can support me all 4 years, and with just 1000 dollars per year, and supposedly i get admitted to a college with full fin aid, does the COF ruin my chances to get a visa? </p>
<p>COF has no connection with your visa. Once you get accepted and get some aid from the college, you will get another document, namely I-20 which consists all the information about how much you will be paying and how much is your aid. So, I-20 is the thing that matters. :)</p>
<p>That’s not true. If you cannot prove that you can afford at least the first year of college, the I-20 form will not be issued, then no visa will be issued. But specific schools might have different rules. I suggest you phone your university/college in question and find out. Have you ben awarded financial aid?</p>
<p>I’m currently a junior, so no, I haven’t been awarded any FA. But I will be applying to full need colleges, so let’s say hypothetically, I get a full ride. Does my stating that I personally cannot pay for college affect my getting a visa?</p>
<p>A college never issues an I-20 until and unless you can prove that you have sufficient funds for at least a year. Which means, if a college asks him to pay 5000 and he writes 1000 in COF, an I-20 will never be issued. The college will specifically ask him to show the proof of 5000 and won’t even look at a COF with 1000.</p>
<p>Ooooh, so you complete the COF after FA awards have been mailed? Well. Could’ve sworn that you had to send that before, along with the application for FA. At least, that’s what Occidental wants</p>
<p>yey! That’s what I needed to hear. I thought that the consulate wouldn’t issue me a visa because personally I can’t finance my education, and that they don’t care about financial aid. Whew</p>
<p>My consulate officer actually seemed pretty impressed by my close-to-full ride. As in, “If the school is willing to throw that much money at her, she must be good.” As long as your funding is secure (and legal), it doesn’t matter where it comes from!</p>
<p>The COF is part of your college application process. It gives information to the colleges that they will use in the financial aid process. </p>
<p>After you are admitted, and the college sends you the I-20, there are different financial documents that you need to complete in order to get your visa. At that time, if you have been awarded a scholarship, you will bring evidence of that scholarship to the visa interview.</p>
<p>Oh, I see! Thanks happymomof1 , I get it now. I thought I had to present the COF at the embassy, which would have seriously harmed my chances at a visa</p>
<p>You won’t take the COF to the embassy but your I-20 will show a break-down of your proposed funding sources. That will include information from your COF as well as any institutional funding that you are offered.</p>
<p>I know it’s easier said than done, but try not to worry too much. </p>
<p>What the embassy is worried about are students who arrive in the US without enough money to get by - they might be tempted to engage in illegal activities to fund their education. Institutional funding is secure, which is in many ways better than another student’s parents scrambling to come up with $50K from current income. (What if the exchange rate changes? Or tuition goes up? Or they get a pay cut? Or even lose their job?)</p>
<p>Thanks a lot, everyone! I understand now why they want the COF at the same time I send the financial aid application, and that it has nothing to do with getting a visa as long as I get financial aid</p>