<p>Oh I know that you contacted Sen Shelby’s office a few days after school started, but that was really late. </p>
<p>I don’t think grad students attend BB sessions. </p>
<p>So, the question now is…are you now in process for a status change for January’s semester? </p>
<p>@paul2752: I hope that before you left the campus, you went directly to the office that administers scholarships to find out the status of your scholarship when/if you return to UA. Is your visa going to be ready for January or next fall and how does that affect your scholarship status? Do you have this info in writing?</p>
<p>I think what M2CK is saying is that you needed to contact the senator’s office much earlier in the timeframe of your dilemma. You will still need to be proactive and should keep in touch with your contacts in the senator’s office. Are they still making inquiries on your behalf?</p>
<p>You took a calculated gamble on coming to UA before you had a visa in hand, it did not work out. Next time, make sure you have everything prepared beforehand or you could wind up in the same situation. The university is not at fault, I think that they were very accommodating about your housing situation. I think that many posters here tried to advise you and help. I am sure that the senator’s office also tried to help but the timing was just off. Sure you are disappointed, but if you feel negatively about UA now, how will you feel in six months or if you have to wait a year?</p>
<p>@robotbldmom
Yes, you are right. While a senator can help move things along, he probably can’t get it all done within a couple of days…and he wasn’t contacted until after school started. </p>
<p>I don’t feel negative about the school now…just got a bit distraught about how the things turned.
The idea of contacting the congressmen didnt even come to me early simply because I didn’t think that a senator would help a foreigner. </p>
<p>The scholarship office told me that the scholarship will be guaranteed when I come back, so it should be fine. </p>
<p>So is your visa being processed now for January?</p>
<p>Ok, they “told” you, did you get this in writing? Come back, when? How long will they honor this? What is the status of your visa? If you want things to work out correctly, you need to get written confirmation of everything.</p>
<p>1) yes, written letter from Ms. Crawford in email. Both admission and scholarship will be deferred to next semester.
2) The visa is still being processed. The new one should be out on October, according to Mr. Morris. </p>
<p>I am so sorry that you have been through all of this and incurred the expense to travel and then having to return home on short notice. I do not know anything about international students - especially international students that have been in the US for 5 years - I don’t even understand it. But surely there is a procedure to applying for your visa in order to be allowed to attend school in August. </p>
<p>Just in case anyone else in your situation is following this thread, what is the time frame that was given to you? How long did they say it would take for the visa to be approved? If they told you, say, 6 months and you applied for your visa 6 months ahead of school and now it won’t be here until October, then what can you attribute the delay to? If they told you 6 months and you only allowed 3 months, then that would make sense. I’m just curious on the timeline.</p>
<p>Thank you Beadymom.
in fact, it really depends. If you apply for it in USA, it usually takes 5 months~10months(!), but I saw some people
who get their visa within 3 months, and that is NOT uncommon. Also, I don’t think people actually wait over 5 months. For me, it has been 4 months. I was told that my visa should be out around on October, so I am praying to get it by October.
If there is anything I missed in my application, I would have already been notified; it’s part of the procedure to be
notified when anything is missing from application. So far, that hasn’t happened to me. </p>
<p>So you applied for the visa in June and expected to get it in 2 1/2 months (mid-August) so you could start classes? Or am I misreading that?</p>
<p>^^^ yes, it seems like he totally miscalculated the timeframe for the visa, even he said it normally takes five to ten months and at best expedited… 3 months. To expect that the best case scenario wiould happen was probably foolish to say the least. Government agencies are notoriously slow in processing applications, even for persons who need government assistance in an emergency. Just think about the natural disasters that have occurred over the last several years. To think that a government agency would work quicker than its norm was not a wise decision. I do hope that those international students who may be following this thread and are in @paul2752’s situation can learn from this and avoid costly mistakes.</p>
<p>^^^ yes, it seems like he totally miscalculated the timeframe for the visa, even he said it normally takes five to ten months and at best expedited… 3 months. To expect that the best case scenario wiould happen was probably foolish to say the least. Government agencies are notoriously slow in processing applications, even for persons who need government assistance in an emergency. Just think about the natural disasters that have occurred over the last several years. To think that a government agency would work quicker than its norm was not a wise decision. I do hope that those international students who may be following this thread and are in @paul2752’s situation can learn from this and avoid costly mistakes.</p>
<p>Sorry about the double post, can’t delete it</p>
<p>I applied in May 5th</p>
<p>Paul, I hope you realize that my comments on the timing of these types of applications are simply meant to advise future students who may find themselves in your position. Like I said, you took a chance that your visa application would be processed more quickly than the typical time period of 5-10 months that you stated. This did not work for you. I am glad that you will have a chance to start over again in the spring. However, I would still caution others about taking that chance. It is probably better to have all documentation completed before heading to the university. If you had lived locally, that would be a different story.</p>
<p>What is the earliest a person can apply? Can they apply as soon as they have an acceptance? </p>
<p>as soon as possible. </p>
<p>But I was waiting for W&L unviersity result(it came out much later than others…)so I ended up applying on may 5th…</p>
<p>Can you only apply for Change of Status with an acceptance in hand? (That does makes sense if true, I suppose.)</p>
<p>When you apply for F-1 visa, you need an I-20 of a school you are committed to.
So yes, you need to be accepted to a school before applying for student visa.</p>
<p>Paul, when were you accepted to the university? Could you have not applied for your visa status change immediately after your acceptance?</p>