<p>I'm an incoming freshman from Canada.
I just received my I-20 in the mail.</p>
<p>I'm really confused about whether i need a visa to enter the USA for university because different websites are giving me different numbers.</p>
<p>Do I need a J-1 or F-1 visa?</p>
<p>Or do i simply need to pay a SEVIS fee?
If this is the case, where do i pay it? Do i still need to make an appointment with the US Embassy in my city? (Vancouver, BC).</p>
<p>If anybody has any info, please reply!!
I am so confused. =(</p>
<p>I’m from Singapore, what I did was go to the US Embassy here and get my visa. I needed to pay the SEVIS fee on the SEVIS website (just google it) after which I had to get the receipt and bring it to my visa appointment at the embassy.</p>
<p>I got an F-1 visa. I think you should be getting an F-1 visa too. You need to pay the fee /and/ go get the visa, you can’t do just one.</p>
<p>I suggest you email the International Office, they can probably assist you better: <a href=“mailto:internationaloffice@berkeley.edu”>internationaloffice@berkeley.edu</a> if I’m not wrong.</p>
<p>If you’re coming for Fall, you better get it done quickly…
You’ll need a F-1 student visa for the 4 years you are studying in Cal (J-1 is for exchange students) and to get that, what you need to do is:
Fill up the Online Nonimmigrant Visa Electronic Application, Form DS-160 on the US website (<a href=“https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/[/url]”>https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/</a>) and pay the SEVIS fee.
Book an appointment with your US Embassy for your visa Interview.
Bring all the necessary materials you need to the interview. (proof of financial support, DS-160 confirmation page, I-20, photograph etc. etc.)
Once you pass the interview, you can just wait for the visa to arrive (by mail, usually).</p>
<p>Helpful links:
[The</a> Consulate General of the United States of America - U.S. Consulate Vancouver - Vancouver U.S. Consulate](<a href=“http://vancouver.usconsulate.gov/content/content.asp?section=visas&document=study]The”>http://vancouver.usconsulate.gov/content/content.asp?section=visas&document=study)
[Student</a> Visas](<a href=“404 - Page Not Found”>404 - Page Not Found)</p>
<p>Hey, I’m an incoming freshman from Canada too…anyway, from what I understand, if you’re a Canadian citizen, then you don’t actually need a visa to study in the states. If you’re gonna be flying in from Vancouver, just bring all your official documents (I-20, passport, SEVIS fee receipt, proof of sufficient funds, acceptance letter, and proof of ties to Canada) to US customs, and they’ll stamp your I-20 as under F-1 status and let you through, even though you don’t actually have a real F1 visa…it’s just the way it works for Canadians:</p>
<p>[Student</a> & Exchange visas](<a href=“http://www.consular.canada.usembassy.gov/student_exchange_visa_usa.asp]Student”>http://www.consular.canada.usembassy.gov/student_exchange_visa_usa.asp)</p>
<p>Okay thanks for all the replies, helped a lot!</p>
<p>One last thing, if i’m driving down, then at the border crossing, i just gotta show my receipt and everything else you listed?</p>