I was admitted to a 2-year MS program. I have several questions about the F-1 Visa interview to study in the US. I am hoping someone can help me with several concerns I have regarding obtaining an F-1 Visa.
Finance related:
As my program lasts 2 years, do I have to show 2x the amount written in the Form i20? Would I get away with showing say 1.8x?
I have read that I should show 6 months worth of bank statements. Is this necessary or will 1 recent one be sufficient?
If my parents are willing to support me, do I have to have them write and sign a letter of support to show to the Consular Officer? Or are recent bank statements from my parents' bank accounts sufficient? If the former, is there a standardized template?
Do I need to show 6 months worth of bank statements from my parents, if they are supporting me, or will 1 recent one be sufficient?
Is it necessary to show tax returns, and for how many years?
Do my financial statements need to show the amount in USD? Or can I show the amount in my home country's currency? If the latter, what do I need to prove to the Consular Officer what the exchange rates are?
Proof of non-immigrant intent:
Is "my family all reside in my home country" a sufficient explanation to prove non-immigrant intent?
What "proof" do I need to convince the Consular Officer that I don't intend to immigrate the United States? I don't own any major assets such as property, or investments. The main asset I have is my savings account. I don't have a guarantee of employment in my home country after I graduate.
If anyone has been through it, any input is appreciated.
You found the catch. Applicants for a student visa very rarely have binding ties that would compel them to return to their home country. A good number of foreign students will end up staying in the US.
In practice, binding ties are not an issue for most student visa applicants. There’s a few exceptions when ties do become important, mostly when there are red flags in your application that might point towards immigration intent. (Maybe you keep returning to the same US location, which may indicate ties to the local community. Maybe you chose a college degree that’s completely useless in your country of origin. Maybe you have close family in the US. Stuff like that.)
To your finance-related questions: Odds are that your interviewer will not ask you for financial documents because your college already had to check them before issuing your form I-20. It’s good to bring them anyway, just in case.
You only need to document liquid funds for the cost of attendance in the first year, as long as you can demonstrate a reasonable plan to pay for the remainder of your degree. (E.g. from your parents' income, if that's high enough.)
2+4. One recent bank statement should be sufficient, unless you were instructed otherwise. (Some US consulates might have stricter requirements if they encounter more cases of fraud…?)
The standard template would be the "certification of finances" form that you already completed for your college and that your parents would have signed.
If you rely on your parent's' income to fund the second year of your degree program, you should supply a proof of income. A recent tax statement would be as good as proof as any.
Bring unedited versions of your financial documents in whatever currencies they were issued. If they are in the local currency of the country where the interview takes place, your interviewer will know how to interpret them. If they are not, it wouldn't hurt to add approximate US equivalents in pencil in the margins or in a separate piece of paper.
I didn’t have my parents sign the “certification of finances” form then because I had more than enough in personal savings alone to obtain my I-20. Is that going to be a problem?
Also, can you please elaborate on what you mean by “reasonable plan”? Do I have to show funding amount from my parents or external sources equivalent to another year of study or more? Or can it be slightly below that threshold?
You can always fill out a new certification of finances form and bring that to the interview if your financing plans changed. It’s a convenient template to gather all of the relevant amounts and signatures in one place.
Can you explain to us how you are going to pay for the second year? Would we believe you? That’s all that means.
For example, if you are $10,000 short on savings but your parents make $150,000 a year, then I am willing to believe that your parents will chip in the difference from their current income. If your parents made only $20,000 a year, then I would not believe you that your parents could pay the difference from their income between now and next year.
Similar question – so if we have enough for like, just over a year in savings (liquid assets), but we own property that can be sold (not mortgage left on them), is it handy to bring details on the properties along, or do they only care about liquid assets?