<p>I'm going to graduate in 2010 and plan on attending college in the US. I don't know when to apply for my student visa to the US. It's an F1. When is the best time to do this?</p>
<p>if/when you’re admitted to a US college.</p>
<p>^ The US university will send you your I-20 form which you use to apply for an F1 visa at your nearest embassy/consulate.</p>
<p>so I can’t do anything for my visa before around March, when all the responses come in? </p>
<p>can someone give me a rundown of the process of getting a visa? that’d be much appreciated.</p>
<p>1 ur accepted and sent an i-20
2 u pay the sevis fee online print the receipt, fill in an application comprising a coupla pages and print them and take this and a valid passport. to schedule an interview at the nearest us embassy
interview scheduling process varies from country to country
3 ur interview takes place and ur application is approved or rejected right there n then. u get ur passport back with the visa after some administrative processing which can take from a coupla hours to a few months again varies from country to country
4 if u apply ED u get accepted early get an i20 earlier and can apply fr visa earlier. some unis send the i20 early like in mid may or early june otherssend them in mid july or later</p>
<p>about the sevis fee, sometimes ur uni pays it for you- like if ur getting a lot of aid.</p>
<p>Usually, the school doesn’t pay, and I think the SEVIS fee is around $100</p>
<p>hey, does anyone know when to apply for universities?? I’ll also graduate from high school in 2010</p>
<p>i have always heard that the process of applying for US visa is very complicated and there’s a very high chance that applicants can get rejected.
anyone knows why? is it because of the immigration issue in the US?
what if one got rejected (provided that he’d alr got admitted to a US college)?</p>
<p>
According to the Director of International Programs of my college, typically 2-3 out of 40 incoming international students do not get a visa every year. There are a few standard reasons for why visas get rejected:
- Lack of funding. You need proof that you have enough money for one year’s worth of college expenses and you must provide a reasonable plan to pay for the remainder of your college education.
- You imply that you might want to stay in the US after college. Big no no. Talk about family ties in your home country and avoid mentioning US relatives if applicable.
- You are perceived as a threat to national security. That might happen if you have a criminal record or are related to someone the US is trying to keep out of the country. If you happen to share a name with the wrong person, you might have to go through an extra strict screening process to verify your identity.
- You are generally ineligible for a visa. For example, certain J-1 visas come with the restriction that the visa holder is not eligible for another US visa for two years after the expiration of the visa.</p>
<p>If your visa is rejected, you are told the reason why and you can reapply for a visa. Whether or not the extra opportunity helps depends in the reason your visa was rejected in the first place. Incomplete paperwork (e.g. proof over financial resources) is a lot easier to correct than the suspicion that you might be a terrorist.</p>
<p>how long does it usually take for a student visa application to pass through?</p>
<p>Admittedly, applying for a sudent visa can be a bit complicated, but if you get things done early it isn’t too bad. Thankfully I got my I-20 form really early (the beginning of May) and was able to apply early and received my visa in June. The interview was only about 3 minutes long. I went in on a Friday and my passport (with the visa) was mailed to me the following Tuesday. However, the waiting time will vary from country to country. The maximum time it’s supposed to take in my country is 5 working days.</p>
<p>To answer hbrad8002’s question, universities always say that acceptance to that univeristy/college is no guarantee that you will be issued a visa. They won’t decline you a student visa unless they have a valid reason for doing so. Double and triple check that you have all of your documents before you go for your interview; watch the interviewer directly in his/her eyes; NEVER give them a reason to think that you have an inclination to remain in the US past you years at university (that’s one of the surest ways to get denied a visa).</p>
<p>internationalstu, you can begin your applications from as early as now if you desire. Most schools have several essays that you would want to prepare from as early as possible so that you can edit them many times to bring it as close to perfection as possible. However, I don’t think you should SEND your applications this early. I would advise maybe early December for regular decision if you’re completely sure about your application and feel as though there’s nothing more that you can do to improve it. (Hopefully you won’t end up like me. I started writing my essays in early November, finished them around the same time, but always felt as though I could improve them somehow, and ended up sending all of my applications the day before the January 1st deadline.) You’ll want to do your SATs first so you can include your scores in the self-report section on the Common App form and so your school can mail your transcripts to the colleges/universities that you’re applying to. If, however, you’re applying early action or early decision, of course you may want to send them much earlier (the deadline is generally November 1st so if you’re sure and want to get it out of the way maybe October 1st?).</p>