Let’s talk about the student visa for the United States today. As some of you may know, I recently moved to Chicago to study and many asked me what the process had been like. The process was slow, I won’t deny it.
As for the student visa, I have the F1 visa which corresponds to the visa for foreigners studying full time at an American university.
Some details about my visa:
- It is a non-immigrant visa, this visa has a temporary character;
- It is possible to enter and leave the country without restrictions;
- You can’t work more than 20h/ week;
- As a US student, you are only allowed to work within the university
- After your 3rd quarter, you can take a full-time internship out of college
How everything is…
1. You receive an acceptance letter from the university
I would say that this is the first and most important phase of the whole process: being accepted into an American college or school. Waiting times vary greatly from school to school, in my case between the submission of my application and the result, it was about 5 weeks. Once you receive the letter, you must confirm that you accept the offer – I had 15 days to respond and once the confirmation was sent, I had to pay $250 to secure my Masters degree.
2. Send you bank statements
No one studies in the the United States without proving they can afford it. They are very strict about these things. You can present scholarships you have obtained, sponsorship from your company, Parent sponsorship, student credits and personal funds… It all depends on each one. Usually they ask to prove that we can afford at least one year of schooling in the country. In my case:
- I had most of money – about 82%
- My father and some friends also contributed
- And the bank put the rest – or rather, I had to borrow it
3. Receive the I – 20
Once the bank statements and proof of identification are sent, the university takes a few days to process these documents. The I-20 is a paper filled out by the international student department that contains our personal details, our financial capacity to pay for the course and, of course, the course information we are going to study. If everything is in accordance with the rules, the I-20 is issued and mailed to our address. As it is an important document, you have to pay (about $ 50) to have it shipped safely – UEMS was the company that my university chose and Fedex delivered me the envelope 3 days after.
4. Pay the I – 901 SEVIS
Get ready to open your wallet all the time when you decide to apply for university in the US. You also have to pay SEVIS. Once you receive the I-20, this document contains your SEVIS ID and you can now pay it. What is SEVIS or why do we pay SEVIS? “I also wondered about this.”
- What is SEVIS: SEVIS is a corporation that controls schools that receive foreign students in the country. It is basically a digital system that has access to all the information of non – American students in the country.
- SEVIS Price: $200 and has a duration of 12 months
- Payment: Everything can be done online – several modes of payment are available. It is important to keep a copy of the payment confirmation – it is requested at the embassy to issue a visa.
- To make the payment: more here.
5. DS – 160 form
Patience is required because this form is long (5 pages). What is the DS – 160? It is a form with personal questions; questions about previous work experiences; questions about previous visits to the United States; And many questions about crime and terrorism.
log in with Google Chrome cause Safari does not work well. You can fill in the form here. Create an ID on the website so you don’t lose any information you might have already filled in.
Documents you need for the form:
- Passport
- CV
- Dates for your 5 last visits to the USA
- I-20
- ID SEVIS
6. Scheduling the meeting with the US Embassy – Pay the F1 VISA
The moment we navigate through the embassy website, we can see the available slots to get a meting with the embassy (everyone HAS to go personally to the embassy in order to get the VISA issued). Once you picked your day and hour, you can pay the VISA here (of course, this does not guarantee you will automatically get the visa approval). In this website (this one) you can also see the waiting time to the next available meeting at the embassy.
Price of the F1 VISA: $160
7. Meeting at the US Embassy
I was very nervous because I didn’t know how it was about. When I arrived I realized that everything was quite fast – I spent more time in line than talking to the embassy employee (this didn’t take more than 10 minutes). I can write here on the blog about it if you like. What do you think?
8. Receiving your passport
This was the most exciting part… After 5 days of waiting (you can get your passport in less days but you need to pay an extra fee for it), I was so thrilled when I finally got my passport with the American visa.
For more information, you can always contact the US embassy in your country. They are usually quite helpful.
How long did it take to issue the Visa?
Less than a week but there is a whole process for applying for a visa. I would say about 2 months between the time the school accepts us and the moment we get the passport with the visa at home.
I hope you found this post useful. If you are considering studying in the United States, either at a college, conservatory or even a language school to improve your English, send me a message. I am always happy to help. By the way, about English courses in the United States, I talked about in here: my trip to Miami. —
Beijinho,
Daniela
Photos by me and Jakob Owens on Unsplash