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Upon receipt of your I-20 you will need to make an appointment with the American Consulate or Embassy having jurisdiction over your place of permanent residence. Although you may apply at any U.S. Consular office abroad, it may be more difficult to qualify for the visa outside the country of permanent residence.
Before you apply for the visa, you should understand the process and the rules governing visas. Many visa applications fail. In some countries, most applications fail. Often it is because the student did not know the rules or was not prepared. We do not want this to happen to you. Please read what follows very carefully.
The consular officer will take a very legalistic view. In the U.S., it is considered important to be impersonal when administering laws. This is considered rude or improper in many countries, but not in the U.S., where the ideal is to apply laws equally to all regardless of status or sex. Do not try to negotiate or discuss personal matters.
Be sure that your passport is valid at least 6 months beyond the date you expect to depart the U.S.
The most important rule may seem strange to you. The consular officer who makes the decision on your visa application is required to think of you as someone who plans to come to the U.S. permanently and you must prove that you intend to return to your country after completing studies. U.S. law very clearly states that F visas may be given only to persons who intend to remain in the U.S. temporarily. This rule is the number one reason for denials of student visa applications.
The other important rules are:
- You must have a definite academic or professional objective. You must know what you are going to study and where it will lead. Be ready to say what you want to study and what kind of career it will prepare you for in your home country. Be prepared to explain why it is better for you to study in the U.S. than at home.
- You must be qualified for the program of study.
- You must be definite about your choice of schools. If you do not seem certain that you want to attend Hocking College, you will not get a visa.
- You must be adequately financed and have documents to prove it. You cannot plan to use employment in the United States as a means of support while you are in the U.S.
U.S. Government officials are convinced more easily by documents than by spoken statements. When possible, have papers to show your connections to your home country. If your family owns property, take the deeds. If you have a brother or sister who studied in the U.S. and then returned home, take a copy of the brother or sister’s diploma and a statement from an employer showing that they have returned home. If possible, show than an individual or company in your home country will give you a job when you return. If you cannot get a promise of a job, try to get a letter saying that you will be considered for a job, or that the company needs people with the kind of education you are coming to the U.S. to receive.
If your family owns a business, take letters from a bank describing the business, to the visa interview with you. Do not emphasize any ties you may have to the United States or to family members in the United States. Your visa application is stronger and better if at least part of your financial support comes from your home country, even if most of it comes from the U.S.
Do not speak of working in the United States unless employment is authorized on your Form I-20. Though limited work permission is possible for students in F-1 status (but not for dependents in F-2 status), employment is not guaranteed and cannot be used as part of your financial support for visa purposes.
Read your Form I-20. Some of the rules you must obey are printed on page 2. Be aware of these rules – especially the requirements that you study full-time. Look at the date entered in item #5 for reporting to the school. You must apply for the visa in time to reach the school no later than that date.
There is no time limit on how soon you can apply for the student visa. The sooner you apply the better. Consular offices get extremely busy during the late summer months (July, August, September). However, you will not be allowed to enter the United States more than 30 days prior to the start date on your I-20.
Due to the tragic events of September 11, 2001 in the U.S., visa applicants whose field of study (or country of origin) appear on the Department of State “Technology Alert List” will be checked against databases maintained by the FBI. This new security procedure will delay the issuance of your visa substantially. If you are studying in one of the following fields you will likely be subject to security check:
technologies associated with warhead and large caliber projectiles, fusing and arming systems, electronic counter measures and systems, new or novel explosives and formulations, automated explosive detection methods.
technologies associated with the production and use of nuclear material for peaceful and military applications. This includes materials, equipment or technology associated with nuclear physics or nuclear engineering.
technologies associated Rocket Systems and unmanned Air Vehicles including ballistic missile systems, space launch vehicles and sounding rockets, cruise missiles, target drones and reconnaissance drones.
technologies associated with propulsion including solid rocket motor stages and liquid propellant engines. Other critical subsystems include re-entry vehicles, guidance sets, thrust vector controls and warhead safing, arming and fusing.
These capabilities directly determine the delivery accuracy and lethality of both unguided and guided weapons. Associated technologies include: Internal navigation systems, Tracking and terminal homing devices, Accelerometers and gyroscopes, Rockets and UAV and flight systems, and Global Positioning system (GPS).
associated technologies used to produce chemical and biological weapons.
technologies associated with satellite and aircraft remote sensing including military and intelligence reconnaissance activities, drones and remotely piloted vehicles.
Advanced computers and software that play a useful role in the development and deployment of missiles and missile systems, and in the development and production of nuclear weapons, over-the-horizon targeting, airborne early warning targeting, and Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) processors.
technologies related to the metallic, ceramic and composite materials for structural functions in aircraft, spacecraft missiles, undersea vehicles and propulsion devices.
technologies associated with crypto graphical systems to ensure secrecy of communications video, data and related software.
technologies associated with laser guided bombs, ranging devices, and lasers having critical military applications.
technologies associated with marine acoustics, missile launch calibration, night vision devices, high-speed photographic equipment and magnetometers.
Important Immigration Documents
Form I-20: Immigration and Naturalization Form (Certificate of Eligibility) for F-1 Visa u ses:
To obtain an F-1 visa from American Embassy/Consulate in your home country
1. To enter the U.S. for the first time
2. To reenter after a short visit outside the U.S.
3. To transfer to another school
4. For entry of family (spouse, children)
5. To extend expected graduation date
You MUST always have a valid I-20 to remain in the United States.
I-94: Arrival/Departure Record
The I-94 is the small white card in your passport on which the visa classification and the expiration date of your authorized stay is written when you enter the U.S.
All students should have F-1 (exchange students J-1) written as the visa classification.
D/S stands for duration of status, which means the period during which the student is pursuing a full course of study, plus one year for practical training (18 months to three years for J-1 students), and 60 days in which to depart the country (30 days for J-1 students).
Passport:
A passport is your country's identification of you as a citizen. Your passport must remain valid at all times. It is not allowed to expire. You may renew it by contacting your Embassy/Consulate within the U.S. You MUST always have a valid passport to remain in the United States.
Visa:
A visa normally is a stamp placed in your passport by an official of the United States (or the country you are entering) permitting you entry. You must have a valid visa to enter the U.S., your visa is allowed to expire (Visa Types) while you remain in the United States.
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