<p>If you're an international (non-immigrant, non-US citizen) applying, do you need a F-1 Visa first?</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>You can apply for your F-1 visa after you have been accepted and paid your enrollment deposit at one college. That college will give you some paperwork that you need to apply for a visa.</p>
<p>Yup, you don't need F-1 visa when you are applying to the universities.</p>
<p>But the point is, when you get admitted by a US college, they'll send you an application form for a visa?</p>
<p>Your college will send you one of the forms (I-20 or DS-2019) you need to apply for a visa, usually after you paid the enrollment deposit. Either one of these forms confirms to the embassy that you are in fact enrolled in a college and that the college is keeping a SEVIS record for you. (Your college has to report several things to the American government via SEVIS: if you show up to your classes every semester, what your major is once you declare etc.)</p>
<p>You can find the other forms online on the website of the American embassy in your country.</p>