<p>Is there any use for the I-20 after my visa is approved? i.e. do immigration officials in the US need to see the I-20 along with visa and passport everytime I return to the US?</p>
<p>You will definitely need to keep the I-20 after visa approval, I know for a fact you need to present it to the customs officers once you land in the US.</p>
<p>Do NOT throw that away. Extremely important. Thats what the immigration officer needs to stamp when you enter the country. Without it, you’ll be sent back even if you have a visa. Guard it with your life.</p>
<p>The I-20 is MORE IMPORTANT than the visa foil in your passport. For example, when students transfer, only their I-20 gets updated but not the visa foil in their passport (which will still show the old college). The I-20 is also the document where work authorizations are noted if you are ever interested in an off-campus internship.</p>
<p>Good news is that an I-20 is easy to replace if you happen to lose it. Your college can just print another one. But you do want to hold onto it because you will have to present it at the airport.</p>
<p>thanks so much guys! must have sounded like a stupid question, haha. does that mean that everytime i return to the US for a new academic year, i have to present my I-20?</p>
<p>
Yep. But your I-20 will most likely be stapled into your passport next to your visa foil, so don’t worry about forgetting it :)</p>
<p>ha ha!!
10char</p>
<p>^lol</p>
<p>oh, does anyone know whether my college wld be interested in my immigration documents? do i need to let them look at it, or have a copy of my visa, passport etc? i assume i will keep my original passport and visa in my doem.</p>
<p>Personally I always store both my passport and I-20 in one place and make copies of them in case that I lost them.
As an international student, you will need to present both documents in almost every formal occasions regarding your immigration status in the United States.
I believe you have to bring the original documents with you for the registration day at your school (or the orientation/ first day you meet the school officials).
One thing to keep in mind is that you should always carry your valid I-20 with you when traveling outside the US. Before you leave the US, make sure your I-20 have a signature within six months from a school official. Many international students have trouble coming back to the US because they either forget to carry their I-20 with them or forget to have it signed.
After you have settled, you might want to apply for a state ID card or a driver’s license, which is what you will be using for general identity verification (buying alcohol/traveling within the US/etc…).</p>
<p>My college keeps a copy of all your immigration documents (passport, visa), but you keep the actual documents. Not sure if they are required to, or if they do in just in case a student loses something.</p>
<p>I made copies of mine just to be on the safe side. The I 20 is signed by your admissions director each time you go home (or once a year at least) and it is checked by customs. Also, make a note of the serial numbers on the form because you will need to put them on your I 94 each time you enter the country.</p>
<p>Does the visa officer, during visa interview, stamps or signs in the I 20 or it is signed or stamped first time at the customs at the port of entry in US?</p>
<p>the visa interviewer, after asking you all the qestions and approving your visa, stamps the I-20. It’s kinda weird that my interviewer stamped the photocopy of my I-20. I asked him if he needed the originial one but he said no.</p>
<p>I don’t remember if my I-20 get stamped or signed at the visa interview, but I do remember getting a stamp on it when I entered the country. redsexton was referring to a different signature though: a designated school official from your college needs to sign your I-20 once every so often so that you may return to the US after you leave the country.</p>