 We learn together, we work together, and we prosper together. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. I would like to welcome our viewers from around the globe to our latest EducationUSA interactive program on student visas. I'm Heidi Arola and I oversee EducationUSA, a U.S. Department of State network of over 400 advising centers in 170 countries where millions of international students each year find information about how to apply to accredited U.S. colleges and universities. Visit our new and improved site, educationusa.state.gov, to check out our five steps to U.S. study, or to find a center near you. We're here today to provide you with information about student visas so that you can feel better prepared when it comes time to apply for your visa. To help us answer your questions, we have Laura Stein, a visa specialist from the Bureau of Consular Affairs. Welcome Laura. Now to ask Laura your questions, please log into the live web chat area to the right of the video player, or tweet us questions with the hashtag study in the USA. Within the chat space, we also have EducationUSA staff and visa experts who are here to help answer your questions. Let's start off the discussion by first clarifying for everyone what a visa is. So visas to the United States are issued at U.S. embassies and consulates overseas. An issued visa is placed on a page in your passport. It looks very much like a sticker that's just literally stuck into the passport, and it grants you permission to apply for entry into the United States. Okay. Well, great. Here's another question that I hear all too often. Is it difficult to get a student visa, Laura? Well, a lot of prospective students do think it's going to be difficult to apply, and to qualify. However, our issuance numbers are telling a much different story. In fiscal year 2014, we issued more than 595,000 F category student visas worldwide, and that was more than in any previous fiscal year. Overall, of the total number of students who applied for visas to study in the United States, more than 85% were found to be qualified and were issued visas. Wow. Nearly 600,000 visas in 2014. That's amazing. It is. Well, here's another question that many prospective students have asked me. If someone has a tourist visa, can he or she use that visa to enter the United States to study? You can use a tourist visa to enter the United States. Yes, you can. However, you have to apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service for something that's called a change of status. This can be a lengthy process. You can face delays, and it could hold you up from starting your classes on time. So for that reason, we do advise that students actually apply for their visas overseas and enter the U.S. with a student visa. That makes sense. All right. Well, let's see if we have any questions from our audience. So here's an online viewer's question. What document should I have when applying for a visa so that I will have a chance of getting accepted? So first of all, you need to have either the Form I-20 or the DS-2019, the I-20 if you're applying for an F or M category student visa and the DS-2019 if you're applying for a J visa. You will also need to have your passport. You'll need to have a photo of yourself. Confirmation page that you completed the DS-160 visa application form and then application fees. You'll have to pay the visa application fee, which is currently $160 depending on where you're going to be applying, which embassy or consulate you can check their website for instructions on how you should pay that fee. Great. Finally, you have to have the receipt that you've paid the I-901 CVSV. Oh, okay. Great. Great. So you've just listed all the basic items that everybody around the entire world is going to need to do in order to apply for their student visa. That's great. And you also suggested that our viewers go to the consulate or embassy website of where they're going to apply because the actual application procedures can vary from post to post. Isn't that right? That is true, yes. That's how you're going to schedule your appointment, where you're going to pay the application fee, if there's any additional documents that they may want you to bring to that specific embassy or consulate, all that information is going to be provided to you on the website. Right. I actually started my career as a consular officer overseas. So I often found that people or students would bring very large stacks of materials and sometimes they would be a little bit disappointed when I wasn't looking at all the documents. Right. You've listed the basic ones and, you know, sometimes officers might want to see more, so it doesn't hurt to bring them, right? Right. They may want to see more and you can find out what those additional documents may be by looking at the website. Right. But you shouldn't be offended if they don't look at it, right? No, no. You do need to keep in mind when you're going to these visa interviews that you don't necessarily need all these different documents to establish that you qualify. The consular officer is going to interview you and ask you questions and chances are they won't even need to look at your additional documents. Right. Okay. Well, we have another question here. What are the different classifications of visas and what would I need to study in the United States? So there are numerous visa classifications depending on what your purpose of travel is going to be. For students seeking to study in the U.S., there are three categories. The F visa, J visa and M category visa. So F visas are for students in academic programs ranging from primary school right on through PhD. And F visa is also appropriate for language study program. J visas are for exchange visitors participating in exchange programs. Students on J visas can study at the secondary school level. That's public or private high school or post secondary, which is college or university. Exchange visitors can be working toward a degree, but it's not required. And then the third category of student visa is the M category. This is for vocational or non-academic study. Well, I imagine a lot of our viewers here have already heard from their colleges and universities in the United States if they've been accepted. So normally the International Student Office will let the student know what kind of visa they're going to require and provide the appropriate document. And that actually leads into a question that we have from the audience. Can you explain more about the I-20 and the DS-2019 and what the difference is between them? Sure. So the form I-20 is a required document for applying for the F student visa. And as you said, it's going to be issued to you by the school. The form DS-2019 is a required document to apply for the J category exchange visitor visa. It's going to be issued to you by the designated sponsor of your program. Okay, great. All right, we have another question. An online viewer asks, how important is a scholarship listed within an I-20 for getting a visa? Is it really important and a plus point for the student for getting a visa? Whether or not you have a scholarship isn't going to impact whether or not you qualify for the visa. But obviously it speaks a little bit to financing. And one of the things for applying for a visa is that you need to be able to finance your studies. That's true. So that's true. If you have a scholarship, you won't need the amount listed on your I-20 that you're going to need to show that you can finance. It's going to be a bit less if you have a scholarship. So that's true. Great. Okay, we have another question. How long is the entire visa application process from start to finish? I think that kind of depends, doesn't it, Laura? Yeah, so if we're talking strictly about the visa process that is applying for the visa and receiving it, it's going to depend on things like how long you need to wait to get your interview. At most posts, we do try to keep the wait times low. They are going to go up some in the summer months naturally because a lot of students are applying for visas as well as folks coming to the U.S. for vacation. So there's that factor to keep in mind. After the visa interview, assuming you are qualified, as we said, more than 85% of students are found to be qualified, your visa will probably be issued shortly after your interview. Some cases, because each case is processed individually, some cases may require some additional administrative processing after the visa interview and the timeframe for that can vary. Great. I know that the State Department is committed to expediting student visas and I was just looking at travel.state.gov last night and I was very pleasantly surprised to see that many posts around the world just have a one-day wait for a student visa interview. That's true. Yeah, we do try to treat students with priority because we definitely want them to be able to get here on time to start their classes on time. Obviously, that's very important. That said, we do encourage you to apply early. Don't wait until the last minute. Once you have your I-20, your visa can be issued up to 120 days. So that's roughly four months before the start of your program. Great. And then when can you actually enter the United States before the start of your program? You can enter no earlier than 30 days before the program start date. Great. So you can settle in, maybe do a little bit of tourism, visit a relative before your classes start. Right. That's great. Okay, we have another question here. Shali asks, I was refused an F1 visa today. I would like to schedule another meeting at the U.S. consulate. Is this possible? Yes, it is possible. So if you are refused, if you're found to be not qualified for the visa, you can reapply. And we do, in fact, encourage students to reapply, particularly if your circumstances have somehow changed. So yes, you can absolutely reapply. Great. Okay, and another question. When should I apply for my student visa? And how soon can I enter the U.S.? Well, I think you already touched on that, so 30 days in advance. Yeah. So as far as applying for the student visa, once you have your I-20 in hand, the visa itself can be issued no earlier than 120 days before the program starts date, so you can be applying around that time. With a J visa, once you have your DS-2019 form, you can apply at any time. As soon as you have that DS-2019 form after you've applied, if you're found to be eligible, the visa gets issued right away. Okay. So you should apply early, right? Yes. Don't save everything for the last minute. Exactly. Okay, we have another question here. If I haven't yet received an I-20 or DS-2019, should I apply? Actually, you're going to want to wait to apply until you have received that form. So it's a very basic document demonstrating that you really even qualify to schedule the interview and that you're correctly applying for student or exchange visitor visa status. Right. And if you have any doubts, you can talk to your contact person at the International Student Office at the college or university that you're going to be attending. That's a good tip. Yeah. So, all right. Another online viewer asks, how important is it in having a scholarship to get a visa? Well, I think what this viewer is really getting at is the idea of financing your studies. And every I-20 has a certain amount of financing listed on it that amounts to one year of study. So there are various ways to show that you have the financial ability to pay for your studies. Isn't that right? Right. So at your visa interview, the Consular Officer is going to need to establish, well, you're going to need to establish, that you have funds readily available to cover that first year of studies. And then the Consular Officer also needs to be satisfied that you will have adequate funds to cover all subsequent years that you're studying. Right. So it's probably a good idea to bring with any bank statements that you have or that kind of information that can just show the Consular Officer that you do have the means to pay for your studies. Yes. And usually an interview is quite quick. Isn't that right? Yeah. Most interviews are fast. They have many folks to interview every single day. Right. So the interviews do need to be kept fairly short. Right. But we have found that it is possible for you to establish that you qualify for your student visa in that time. It is enough time for you to tell your story to the Consular Officer and to answer honestly all of their questions. Right. Right, Laura. You just mentioned something that I think is really important, and that is telling your story. So applicants should be prepared to talk about why they want to study in the United States and why they want to do it and why they want to go where they want to go. I think many people don't realize this, but there are over 4,500 accredited colleges and universities in the United States. So it's not really a given why a student would choose to study at any particular university. And I think a Consular Officer might be curious why did you choose that particular school? Mm-hmm. So. All right, well we have another question here. A viewer from Nepal wants to know if having printouts of standardized tests would suffice, or is it necessary to have official paper scorecard reports for the visa interview? So, let me see. So, yeah, each college or university is going to have its own requirements regarding entrance exams. If your program, for example, requires that you speak English, the Consular Officer is going to conduct your visa interview in English. Those documents, however, aren't necessarily required per se to be brought with you to the visa interview. You certainly can bring them, and we'd encourage you to check the website of the embassy or consulate where you plan to apply, just in case it is a document that they'd be interested in. But, like I said, it's not necessarily required. Right. Okay, how much of a role, if any, does the university's name play in getting a student visa? It really doesn't play any role. So, as you said, how many institutions are... More than 4500. Right, are accredited, and that's the most important part, obviously, that you have the I-120 form from an accredited institution. Right. You know, whether you're applying... whether you're planning to attend, you know, a university versus a community college, we're not looking at one more favorably than the other. Right. Wow, these have been great questions. Keep sending them in using the chat area or on Twitter using the hashtag study in the USA. So, we've got a lot more questions coming. Kathy from Burma writes, if I feel my visa rejection is unfair, how can I get my case reviewed? So, what you can do if you were denied your student visa, you're free to reapply again, particularly if you have some new information or something you believe wasn't considered. You can schedule another visa interview and provide that additional information to the consular officer at that second interview. Right, and I think everybody just needs to remember to relax and stay calm and be prepared and be prepared to tell your story. Because, again, Laura, you said that more than 85% of student visas were issued last year, so that's a pretty high number. Right, yeah. We certainly recognize that you're going to be nervous. We just encourage you to come in, not be so nervous, just answer the questions honestly that the consular officer asks you and to tell your story. All right, another question. Well, on the same vein, is it difficult to qualify for a student visa? Yeah, I mean, a lot of students do think that it's going to be difficult, but our numbers are actually painting a different picture. More than 85% were found to be qualified last year and were issued visas. Right, and if you think about the whole college application process, it takes many, many months. So students have been preparing for many months. They've had to write essays. They've had to get letters of recommendation. They've had to submit their transcripts. So if you've done all of your homework, if you've prepared properly, it should not be the most difficult hurdle to overcome. Okay, we have another question here. What types of things are the U.S. consular officers looking for in terms of proof that the applicant will come back to his or her home country? And then an add-on question is how much money in liquid assets are they looking for? So there's no set criteria. There's no set questions that the consular officer is going to be asking you. Regarding finances, you're going to need to establish that you have funds readily available to cover that first year of your studies, and then the consular officer will also need to be satisfied that you're able to cover all subsequent years of your program. Great. Okay, we have a question from Fernando. For the vaccines requested for the student visa, should they be certified by a doctor recommended by the embassy, or can I go to any doctor for certification? If I go to any doctor, what are the requirements for certification? Well, actually, for the actual visa itself, as far as I know, there are no vaccines required. That would be the requirement of each individual college and university, right? Exactly. So for non-immigrant visas, like a student visa or an exchange visa, there's no requirement that you go for a medical exam or that you get vaccination requirements. But as you mentioned, yes, so all of those questions that you just asked, we'd encourage you that you check with your school on that. Great. Well, another viewer has a question about CVS. They're asking what it is. So CVS is the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. It's run by SEVP, which is the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. They are part of the Department of Homeland Security's Association and Customs Enforcement. After you've been accepted to a U.S. school that you plan to attend, you get enrolled in CVS. Great. And I know that the Department of Homeland Security has a new website called Study in the States, which is really great. So I think for further CVS questions, our viewers could have a look there. Yeah, that'd be a very good resource. Okay, we have another question. I received the I-20 from a school which I used to get my student visa. I received another I-20 from a different school which I would prefer to attend. What should I do? So we know that students will often get accepted to, you're going to apply to more than one school and you may in fact get accepted to more than one school. But upon receiving that first I-20, you may immediately go and apply for the student visa using that first I-20 from the first school that you got accepted to. So if you're still outside of the United States and you've been issued a visa that you applied for using the first I-20, but you plan in fact to go to another school, let's say the second school that you applied to and were accepted to, you can enter the U.S. with the visa that was issued on the basis of the I-20 from the first school and then at the port of entry you would need to show the I-20 from that first school. For any subsequent entries into the U.S., so if you go back home for maybe winter break or spring break or if you leave for vacation elsewhere, when you re-enter the U.S., you'll show your student visa and the I-20 that was provided by the second school. If you're already in the U.S. and you've entered on the basis of that first I-20, you are fine to go ahead and attend the second school as long as that school has issued you an I-20. That sounds a little bit complicated and probably not a scenario that most students will encounter. But thankfully, as we've seen most embassies and consulates around the world can issue a visa normally between two days and two weeks. Thankfully it's not difficult these days to get a student visa appointment. Another question, do I have to take the TOEFL or GRE exams to qualify for a student visa? What if some schools do not require that I take the TOEFL or GRE exams to be accepted to those schools? So those of course are going to be requirements that the school may have just for you to determine whether or not they're going to admit you. These tests aren't required for the visa per se although you do need to keep in mind that if you're required to speak English in your program that the consular officer is going to be interviewing you in English. Okay, we have another question here. Can I apply for a student visa if I have a pending application for an immigrant visa? Yes, you can. Great. And if I don't have sufficient funds can a bank loan help? And how do I prove that I can afford to attend school in the United States? So usually your finances need to be liquid assets rather than a bank loan. So liquid assets meaning real estate isn't exactly a liquid asset. Right. So cash that's readily available. Cash that's readily available exactly. Great. Okay, do we have any more questions from our viewers? We have a question from Anne. Anne asks, I have a J1 visa that expired in June 2014. I was just accepted to a U.S. university master's degree and I'm going to apply for an F1 visa. I didn't go to any other countries after my first visit to the United States. Is this going to be a problem when applying for an F1 visa? So I believe she's asking... I believe she's asking if the fact that she hasn't traveled elsewhere since returning home from her stay in the U.S. on the J visa if that's going to somehow be problematic when applying for the F1 visa. Great. All right, here's another question. If I'm going to study in the fall semester, when do I need to apply for a visa? We'd encourage you to apply as soon as possible. As we said earlier, once you have your I-20, a visa can be issued up to 120 days before your program start date. So, yes, do apply as soon as possible. Great. And again, you can enter up to 30 days in advance. So, you know, give yourself time to settle in to get ready for the rhythm of your new academic program in the United States. Okay, how do I convert my F1 visa to an employment-based visa? So, first, an employer would, you know, you'd have to have an employer who wants to hire you. That employer in the United States would need to file a petition for you or on your behalf with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. After that petition is approved, here in the U.S. by USCIS, then you would need to apply for something that's called a change of status. This is also done by USCIS. I just wanted to point out there's many different categories of employment-based visas and you can learn more about them on our website, travel.state.gov. Great. And I think it's important to point out that the .gov addresses, so the travel.state.gov, they have our official information. I know there's a lot of information out there on websites, but if you have the .gov address, at least you know that you're getting your information from a U.S. government resource. We have a question from the audience. What is CPT? So CPT stands for Curricular Practical Training. You can work while you study. If you're interested in CPT, you should work out the details of that with your school. Okay, great. And another question, a follow-up perhaps, is what is OPT? All these acronyms. Yeah. So OPT stands for Optional Practical Training. It's permitted for 12 months after you've completed your studies. For students in the STEM and math, this period can be extended by 17 months for up to 29 months total. Okay. As with CPT, if you're interested in OPT, you would need to work out the details with your school. Okay, great. Well, we have another question from Juliano. Juliano asks, what is the difference between an I-90, I think maybe he means an I-94 and an I-20? So the I-90, yeah, maybe he does mean the I-94. The I-94 is the document that you would be issued at the port of entry when you enter the country. So when they stamp your passport that you've entered, they'll also give you this little form in your passport. And then the I-20 is what's issued to you by your school demonstrating that you've been accepted to their program. Great. And again, there's lots of information available on travel.state.gov. Yes. So if you're not hearing the complete answer that you need, please visit those sites. We do have another question. Is it difficult to get a student visa if you have close family residing in the United States? So whether you do or do not have family members in the United States, this isn't going to impact whether or not you qualify for a visa. Great. We have another question. An online viewer has a sister living in the United States. Can a sibling be a visa sponsor for a student visa? So, by sponsor, I'm assuming she's referring to can that person finance my studies. Yeah. You could potentially provide information from the sister that she's going to finance your studies. Yeah, that would be something that they would bring to the consular officer and the consular officer would determine if the financing was appropriate for the one year study as per the I-20. But what's important to remember here is if we're talking about sponsor in another sense, for the student visa, you do need to have, you need to have been accepted by a school, you need to have your I-120 and if you're participating in an exchange program, you need to have been accepted by that program and have the DS-2019 form to show that. Okay, we have a question from Karine. Karine asks, how do I provide proof of income? I think we've covered that a little bit. There are numerous ways that you can show that you have liquid assets, whether that be bank statements or cash at hand. Yeah, we have covered that. So as we said earlier, you're going to need to provide evidence that you have the ability to finance that first year of studies. Specifically, the amount that's listed on the I-20 form and then the consular officer will also have to be satisfied that she'll be able to apply for all subsequent years as well. Right. Okay, we have a question from Leah. Leah asks, if I'm in the United States already with a tourist visa, can I apply for a student visa or can I get more time in the United States to stay there until the process is complete? She has a follow-on question, but I'm going to just start with this one. Okay. So can she adjust status to become a student if she's in the United States on a tourist visa? Well, it's actually change of status rather than adjustment of status, and this is a process that you have to complete with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It can be a lengthy process, an unpredictable process, you could face delays. It's possible, yes, but we do advise that students rather apply for their student visas outside the U.S. at a U.S. Embassy or consulate and enter the country with that student visa. And it was, will I have to go through DHS for changing status? Yes, DHS, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Do I have to go outside of the country to apply at a consulate or embassy? And I think that the advice that you just gave was that it makes the process a lot less complicated if the student is able to return home and get a student visa from home, because it can take an unpredictable amount of time for that change. That's true. The result, if there are any delays to start your studies, you cannot begin your studies until the change of status has actually been approved by USCIS. That makes sense. Well, we have a question from Karine. Karine asks, if you come to the United States to study English and later apply for a master's, do you need two kinds of visas? So I guess the original I-20 would have been for an English program and then the student decides to do a master's program. So if these are both student visa programs with I-120, so if you were issued an I-120 for a language program and then you receive a new I-120 for the master's program, you can still stay on that same first visa that was issued for the language program as long as you have the valid I-20 for the master's program. I see. Great. Is the student visa generic for all academic programs and at all levels, undergraduate, graduate, or is it different for students wishing to study in the middle or high school level? So I think what the viewer is asking is do you have sort of different kinds of F1 visas? No. The category itself for a student is called an F1 and it's the same category regardless of where you're studying. Whether it's at the sort of the lower levels, high school or college or beyond. Okay, great. Another viewer asks, I'm on an H1 visa and wish to take classes and later on may wish to change to an F1. Is that possible? So this is again a change of status and yes it is possible. So if you're in the U.S. already on an H1 visa and you wish to change over to student status you apply for change of status with USCIS. As we were saying earlier though you wouldn't be able to begin your studies until you've actually been approved and if this particular individual just wanted to take one class in the evenings to perfect his English if it's just one course that would be allowable on the H1B, correct? That's true because it's sort of incidental to what you're originally there for but if your plan is rather to take a full course of study then you do need to apply for change of status. Great. Another question a student has a relative who entered the United States illegally several years ago. Could this be an issue for receiving a visa? No. So there was a question earlier I have relatives in the U.S. Is that going to impact whether or not I qualify? This question is very similar to that first question. So you know if you have family in the U.S. regardless of what their status is it's not going to impact whether or not you qualify now for a student or exchange visitor visa. Another viewer asks I came on an F1 student visa on the status. If I want to get back on the F1 status do I have to leave the United States or can I just get back on to F1 status in the United States itself? So this is a more complex question. I'm actually going to defer this question to some folks that we have who are answering questions online. Great. Okay, send your questions to the chat space because we want to hear from you. All right. And then I guess I would just like to end with one final question for you. Do you have any advice for student visa applicants out there? I guess the best a couple things. As we've said before don't wait to the last minute to apply apply as early as you can once you have your I-20 or your DS-2019 and don't be nervous when you're coming in for your visa interview. You know they just tell your story to the consular officer answer their questions and you know just be yourself. That's great advice Laura. Okay, well actually it looks like we do have time for at least a couple more questions. So Karina asks can you work while studying on a student visa? Yes, it is possible to work while you're studying. You would need to work out the details with your school. Okay, great. And if I'm not mistaken for the first year that work would have to be on campus and then after one year of studies it might be possible to work off campus but again you need to work that out with your school. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so indeed unfortunately we've run out of time and it's been wonderful being able to answer all of these questions. I want to give a big thank you to our online viewers from around the globe for participating and submitting these great questions and I'd also like to thank Laura Stein for joining us here today. Thanks Heidi. And for giving us so much information on student visas. Thank you so much. And although this chat is over you can continue to participate in our discussion on Twitter by using the hashtag study in the USA. And don't forget to visit educationusa.state.gov for more information on studying the United States. And also travel.state.gov for information on how to apply for a student visa. Join us for our next session in May to learn more about how to keep in mind before you depart for the United States. Everything from what to pack to how to find housing to how to adhere to your schools policies for international students. Join us on May 20th to find out. Bye for now.