<p>I got accepted to a university in NY this year, and in my excitement to get everything done in time, i may have screwed up.</p>
<p>I have been to the us before, and a visa took perhaps a week to set in place, so i thought i didnt have to rush it. Big mistake. School starts in 2-3 weeks, and my local american embassy here in scandinavia is closed, as it is saturday. Following the online guide to apply for a student visa, it asks me to start with the application for a student visa 3-5 months in advance, which is much more time than i have left until school starts.</p>
<p>What do I do in order to be able to study in ny this fall? How can i get my visa in time? Do i apply for a visitors visa as a placeholder while the student visa gets approved and processed? Surely someone somewhere must have screwed up as colossally as i have and not lost their place in the school? I am terrified to get booted out due to this error. Does anyone know what to do?</p>
<p>You’ll probably have your visa within a week of your visa interview. The big question is when there’ll be an interview slot available. Unfortunately, there’s probably a backlog of visa applications (and interviews!) to be processed right now because the State Department’s visa-related servers were down for two weeks in late July, during which time no visa applications could be processed anywhere in the world. </p>
<p>For now, just complete all of the paperwork for the visa application ASAP and then schedule an interview appointment. (Filling out the form shouldn’t take more than an hour if you have all of the necessary forms and documents. You’ve hopefully arranged with your university to get your I-20?) I don’t know if you can schedule the appointment online or if you need to wait until Monday and call. If you don’t see a “regular” appointment before school starts, call and ask about an urgent appointment. Most consulates do keep appointment times open for urgent visa applications, but they may or may not be willing to give that to you. (Normally urgent appointments are for trips that come up on short notice, e.g. to attend the funeral of a family member.) </p>
<p>If, after talking to the consulate, it turns out that you would not be able to get a student visa on time, contact your university and talk to them about deferring your enrollment for 1-2 semesters. </p>
<p>
Your case is very much not unique. At my undergraduate college, every year a handful (out of only 40ish) new international students couldn’t start college as planned because either they visa application had been denied, or they simply didn’t get their visa in time. They either withdrew or postponed enrollment for 1-2 semesters. </p>
<p>Depending on your intended major and the availability of classes, it may or may not make sense to start college in the spring. For example, if you were an engineering major and all science + engineering classes were taught as two-semester sequences starting in the fall, there’s no point in starting in the spring unless you wanted to take general education classes only for a full semester.</p>
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You CANNOT enter the US on a visitor visa / visa waiver program and enroll in school. That’s a violation of the terms of your visa. You’d be out-of-status, could be subject to deportation if you don’t depart the US voluntarily, and it would be reason enough to have future US visa applications denied. Depending on circumstances of your eventual departure, you could even make yourself completely inadmissible to the US for 5 to 10 years.</p>
<p>I sent my application for the I-20 last week, and have already filled out the application (DS-160 i think) for a student visa. I will call my local consulate/embassy tomorrow and talk to them, as well as call my school and see what my options are. </p>