<p>yeah, at williams, one can get paid internships too during the summer, or do research with a prof and get a stipend...</p>
<p>the best way to determine is to go to ur unis website and search with the phrase F 1+optional practial training</p>
<p>so hi Nora_88, all done and dusted? it'll be nice to hear that.
had to dhl my stuff yesterday. nothing to do about that now but wait...</p>
<p>Yes, I just got an e-mail from Wellesley telling me that they are preparing my I-20, and I checked out the US Embassy Bern website and it says that that I can basically get an appointment within a matter of days... But I just can't wait to sit in that plane, with a nice little paper stapled to my passport confirming me that I can stay for four years... So, I guess we are quite in the same boat.</p>
<p>good news for you! hope I get mine as well by the end of this month. haha, i can't wait to disembark from the plane!...also heard there's one sealed envelope you'll be given when you get your visa, which you're not to open till you appear in the US. it will be retrieved by immigrations! hope i never get tempted...bonne chance a toi pour tes preparations de depart</p>
<p>i've been hit by pre-departure blues, as well as pre-dep. fever. anyone been hit yet, or know a cure?</p>
<p>g'luck to all other intels. safe journeys to the other side. speedy I-20s and F-1s.</p>
<p>Bonne chance pour toi, aussi.... Est-ce que fran</p>
<p>non, ce n'est pas la mienne aussi. je peux dire que francais est ma troisieme langue. [je suis nigerian et ma langue maternelle est "yoruba" mais au present, j'habite a zimbabwe...]</p>
<p>dann sprichst du deutsch auch?:) ich spreche am bisschen...</p>
<p>ok, so PDB, lol. williams says intls should come on Aug 29. that's SOO late compared with arrival dates for other colleges:( 't'sall good, though, a little optimism won't hurt.</p>
<p>Okay...maybe I'm a little stupid...but you guys get a Cert of Finances with your I-20? <em>rummages through my papers</em> Did your schools pay the SEVIS fee? (Page 3 of the I-20 AB form is an employment sheet/record thing, right?) Okay, I didn't get a Cert of Finances with my bundle... Did I screw this up?</p>
<p>Do any of you have to pay an application fee in your residence country in order to even HAVE the interview? I do...$100...and then $11 for a Bank PIN so I get through the embassy's automated system to reach a live person to make an appointment. Seems a little cumbersome and money-leeching. </p>
<p>And if anybody else nervous about this "Ties to Home Country" part of the interview? I don't have ties to my home country besides it being my home country/land of birth. <em>a little freaked out</em> What if my visa is denied because of that??? I don't want to live in the US; I'd go back home or go elsewhere to get my master's.</p>
<p>Edit: Nice to know I can read French though I can't speak it. My int'l Orientation begins August 17th. :( I'll miss my friends here and the opportunity to see the high school year begin again!</p>
<p>Once you've got your I-20 in hand, you need no Cert of finances any longer:) so congratulations!!</p>
<p>Are you going to a LAC? most them usually pay the SEVIS for intls. Well, maybe that's erroneous, but in my case, Williams is paying mine [and they pay for all intls, so they said].</p>
<p>about the visa application, the system differs from country to country. but yep, the basic fee is $100. that extra $11 is probably the bank's private charge, but i can't be sure of this. here, i would have to go the bank, pay my 100 US and and an appointment date will be given me right on the spot. then i'll appear at the embassy in person with my stuff, have the interview - visa waiting time is 24hrs...</p>
<p>i'm also not in my home country at the moment, but if possible, you could get some pertinent documents sent to you if any are available. but that's not much of a big deal. and i certainly don't think your visa can be DENIED just because of that...of course, your academic record, your forthrightness and eloquence about your present circumstances, etc all play a HUGE role...</p>
<p>remain optimistic:) and all the best</p>
<p>I have a few doubts:
[ul]
[<em>] Can my parents obtain F-2 visas when I have recieved my F-1 or should they come to US on a tourist visa?
[</em>] For how long can u stay after your course is completed as per F-1 norms?
[/ul]</p>
<p>my humble opinion:</p>
<p>no.1: an F-2 visa is only issued to the dependents of the F-1 visa holder, such as your spouse, children, etc. Your parents would probably have to get a B-2 tourist.</p>
<p>no.2: whatever you're going to stay for, the organisation [or yourself] would probably have to sort it out with the DHS, cos it is a "crime" to remain in the US with an F-1 when you're not normally enrolled in your degree program...but you'd prolly get new visas and things....don't worry, that's 4yrs away:)</p>
<p>Izzy,
If you can't show ties to your birth country try to show ties to Romania (like family, propriety, bank statements if you have and give concrete future plans in Romania after your undergraduate) .
I will have to apply also for Canadian student permit. Not sure if to currier the docs or go in person.... Kind of freaked out since I had some bad experiences with visa so far..</p>
<p>No. 2: According to the I-20 sheet, you can stay for 12 months after your course of study ends in order to apply to a master's school or something. No job, I think?</p>
<p>No. 1: My mom has a tourist visa, eligible for 10 years, when she sent off my sis to Michigan.</p>
<p>Elisa, that would be cool except we don't have a bank account open here and my dad will be posted to a new place sometime between September and December. :) :(</p>
<p>Jrock, yeah, I'm going to LAC in the Midwest. (Beloit in Wisconsin) They pay for all int'ls. :D It's awesome. And I get it now. Beloit asked for Cert of Finances and Application for Financial Aid at the same time. Gotcha.</p>
<p>@Jrock</p>
<p>29th august for Williams?</p>
<p>Midd is even later... 30 August</p>
<p>Sevis fee is also paid by MIDD</p>
<p>and Midd will send my I-20 in mid-june....</p>
<p>For Wellesley, it's August 25th for internationals, with the opportunity to arrive on the 23rd and participate in an alumnae hostess program... For all the people with schools that start later, do they have orientation programs for internationals, or does everybody arrive at the same date?</p>
<p>actual orientation of midd starts 6 sept... 30 august is intel orientation</p>
<p>acceptance, that must be horrible:D mid-june for I-20!! PDB [=predeparture blues] would have killed me before then;)</p>
<p>yeah, IzzyJ, right, conncoll also asked me to send the "cert" with the fin aid app, so i wouldn't need to start sending anything else except the I-20 request form [by fax] before they issued my I-20...but not so for williams, sadly, lol. and that's the thing: all this dhling of stuff will prove to be some dough: little dough here too and dad needs to send docs from over, but i guess that has the added advantage of proving real ties to your actual home country, or land of your birth...</p>
<p>Nora, you're so so lucky!! i can't wait get OUTTA here...most schools usually have intl student orientation a week earlier than that for all the matriculants, as acceptance has pointed out in his case, but i guess for williams, intls do their orientation separately alongside the normal one [but i guess the intl student orientation there is just about 3 or so days....]anyway, they sent the orientation pack to my perm. address, have to wait for a new one to reach me here!</p>
<p>Nora, if you don't mind what exactly is the alumni host program [please forgive the masculinity of that sentence:D]? do you go live with an alumna for 2 days?</p>
<p>Actually, I can't do the alumnae hostess program, I have to take oral Matura tests (i.e. graduation exams) on the 22nd and 23rd, and will receive my Matura report on the 24th. But yes, it would mean living with an alumna for two days, and I'm just ever so sad that I'll miss it. Yes, I guess the Wellesley orientation program is quite extensive... three days just for internationals, three days for everybody, and another three days until classes start...
But I really can't wait to leave, either. It's like being nowhere; I have mentally already left Switzerland, but physically not yet arrived in America...</p>
<p>Touch</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I saw this in my email but I don't know why it isn't on the thread yet.
Well the F-1 visa is valid for only 2yrs. However, you're allowed to stay in the US for the 4yrs you need to complete your education. In the event you leave the US, you can't reenter the US with an expired visa, so you will have to renew your visa...</p>