<p>thanks guys</p>
<p>Switch: Tr</p>
<p>Thanks Nora. And, good luck during your visa interview (although I assume that you won't need it)</p>
<p>Jrock, I know how slow "express mail" can be (especially what it involves EMS. I remember that when I was returning my enrollment form, it took about 4 weeks to get there. In fact, I even had to fax the form so that I could be sure that I had beaten the deadline. What was EMS' explanation? The mail got held up by US customs for four weeks. Why don't I believe that? Really, what was the point of using express mail then and paying the extra charges). Well, I hope that the process is expedited this time. I just can't afford to receive my I-20 four weeks from now. Let's not forget that this waiting is anything but happy.</p>
<p>LOL, yeah it isn't:D</p>
<p>Spending extra time looking for the best air deal! some airlines even have special discounts for students at this period. actually Nora, in most cases, one-ways are MORE expensive than round-trips....</p>
<p>Nora, have you scheduled your interview yet? How long would you have to wait? Gosh, I know someone who's going on the 18th!!! quite early....I'm mid-june...</p>
<p>June 19th here. Seems if I was back in Malaysia <em>scowl</em> as a college student visa applicant, I could just go any day I wanted to.</p>
<p>Has anybody filled in the DS-156 yet? I'm a little nervous about the requirement of "residence in the US" part. Do they mean the college address or the actual dorm? Cuz I won't know that until July...</p>
<p>I think I'll just put in the college address... maybe write to your college about it, though, and ask them. Actually, I found out I have to renew my passport first (combine American bureaucracy with Swiss bureaucracy), before I can go to my interview, but that will only be two weeks. I'll make my appointment tomorrow, I think. </p>
<p>It's really unfair that one-way is more expensive than round-trip!</p>
<p>Hey, I'm back - and it has been a riveting one month since I last posted on the forum, and I bring good news.</p>
<p>I got a 98% scholarship from UCB, which was surprising, considering they don't give aid to intels (but I got it under one of the scholarship schemes that they have - the Regents' and Chancellor's Scholarship)! Now, it's time to get some visa application process butt kicked. :) Just a small question... what address should I be filling in the 'permanent address' field? I'm a Filipino citizen living in the Sultanate of Oman, and I had earlier put my Philippines address as my 'permanent' address - since that's the country of my citizenship, even though I don't live there, and don't have housing over there (except for unbuilt-on properties), but all my mailings began to reach over there :eek:. So I changed my 'permanent' address to my Oman address - but will that cause any problems when I apply for a visa? I ask this because the permanent addresses on the I-20 UCB sends me, and on the visa application, must match, yeah? I don't know, it's all so confusing.</p>
<p>Any help, thanks.</p>
<p>Izzy, I think you should just put the "international students' office" or "dean's office" address...all they need is just the college's contact address. but yeah, you could ask the college about it to be very sure. but it CERTAINLY cannot be the actual dorm since you wouldn't be expected to know your housing allocation at the time of your application...</p>
<p>Yeah, Nora, quite unfair it is. One of my options here: SAA has a special student fare - a return ticket valid for 1 yr, so I could go now and come back for summer/Christmas on the same ticket, and quite cheap, too...but, now, visa hurdles to scale...We're going as a group here on fixed dates - mine is 14th. Thankfully, Williams will send it [I-20] by UPS, so I'm waiting and hoping.</p>
<p>jeanatkin, i think your permanent address should be your Oman address, since you don't have any "physical" address in your home country. However, if you have a family home [granparents, etc] you could put that as your permanent address, and the Oman one as temporary, but ensuring that all your mail gets to your temporary address. [Regardless of the address info we fill out, these schools still send important stuff to our "non-mailing" addresses, lol.]
Anyway, whatever's convenient, do. But for I-20's and visa's sakes, everything should be the same thing. So you could contact your college/uni straightaway to make all necessary changes on their database, as well as on the I-20, and same for your visa application. Another very important issue is: the financial award letter is usually addressed to your permanent home. If this is so in your case, then you have to tell them to issue a new letter with your new perm. address, so as to avoid any uncomfortable questions during your "3-minute" interview for a "4-yr job".:D</p>
<p>switch, will you be doing your interview in June as well? please post when you get your I-20! I cannot wait to see mine in my hands.</p>
<p>Jrock, yeah, I'll probably have my interview in June. Considering that I haven't received my I-20 yet, I can't count eggs just yet.</p>
<p>What do you guys mean by "round trips are cheaper than one-way tickets". Do you mean that round trips are cheaper when you divide the cost by two?</p>
<p>no, i mean the one-way is ridiculously expensive - typically. although, some airlines have special one-ways e.g. for students, etc. but generally, a return ticket is cheaper than a one-way.</p>