 Funding, one of the most important factors used by visa officers in assessing your profile for an F1 visa and in this video, we're going to talk about common myths and mistakes in funding which can lead to a visa rejection. So keep on watching. Hi guys, my name is Shachi and I'm a travel and visa coach. We have an entire playlist for fall 22 intake so make sure to check out all of these videos. Now let's face it, studying in US is not cheap. And this applies to both funding your education as well as financing your living and other expenses in the US. And funding is something which you cannot just get in place at the last minute. It needs to be planned well in advance. So this video is going to help clarify some of the common myths and some of the common mistakes that students make in planning their finances and help you plan your funding better. And also to help you out further, in today's video we have a partner, Zol. Zol is here giving scholarships to support your education in the US and you too can apply for a Zol scholarship. So I'll tell you more about this in just a little bit so stay tuned for that. So let's jump right into the video and talk about the five myths or the five common mistakes that students make in planning their funding. Myth number one, only a parent can sponsor you. Now this is a huge myth that only a parent can sponsor your education in the US and many times I see that students present insufficient funding in the visa interview because they're relying only on their parents. Well, this need not be the case. If you feel that your parents have insufficient liquid savings or if their annual income is not matching to the expenses that you are going to have in the US then feel free to go on and add another sponsor. Now this sponsor can be an immediate relative. So an immediate relative like uncle, aunt, grandparent, sibling can also fund and support your education in the US. So basically in addition to your parent you can add another sponsor. Now what you need to do is to know all the details of the sponsor such as what do they do, what is their annual income, how much savings do they have, how much of other assets and investments they have and also remember to take an affidavit of support from this sponsor and carry this with you to the visa interview. And in addition to all of this do prepare for the question that a viewer might ask you that why is he or she sponsoring you and why not only your parent. Coming to myth number two, it's really tough to get a scholarship. Now many students feel that it's really difficult to get a scholarship and also you have only one shot of getting the scholarship that is when you apply for your admission to the US University. But this is not the case. Even if you do not get the scholarship at the time of your I-20 you still stand a chance to get one. Many departments have internal scholarship, internal awards and you are eligible to apply for all of this once you reach the US. Which means that once you reach US and begin your curriculum you still have a chance to get funding or scholarship for your education. And guys there's one movie in which you can get a scholarship even before you reach the US and this is where we have our partner for today's video Zoll. So Zoll is giving out scholarships and you too can sign for one. All you need to do is to click on the link in the description box and sign up for a Zoll scholarship and you stand a chance to get a scholarship up to 20,000 USD which can massively help your funding and financing the US and along with that you also get a free US bank account and a free US credit card. So let me tell you a little bit more about Zoll. So Zoll provides you a US bank account which you can set up from India that is plan everything even before you catch your flight to the US and this bank account has no minimum balance, no application fee, no annual fee so you can set up and load this bank account up to your requirement and unlike a Forex card you don't need to overload it or you know waste any money. Zoll is also giving you a high limit credit card and this credit card is something which you can start using the moment you land in US even without a social security number so you start building your credit history from day one and the credit card has some amazing features it has a credit limit up to 5000 dollars you also have amazing rewards and cash packs so you can get cash back from five brands of your choice and up to one person cash back from every brand. So to know all details about the Zoll and to sign up for the scholarship do check the link in the description box. Myth number three an education loan is mandatory now this is one of the most frequently asked questions we get that do I need an education loan or will taking a loan improve my chances of visa approval. Well the fact is that an education loan is not mandatory it really depends on your funding situation so here's a check to see if you really need that education loan see if the liquid savings of your sponsor is completely covering the expenses that is completely covering your education expenses in the US for the entire duration the annual income of your sponsor is up to the mark and is not very low and third your sponsor does not have any immediate dependence who might need his or her savings so if all these three cases are a check for you that is your sponsors liquid funds are covering your entire expenses in the US your sponsors annual income is up to the mark and your sponsor does not have any immediate dependence who might need their savings then you're good to go you don't need an education loan. However if you feel that your sponsors liquidity is not sufficient if the annual income is on the lower side or you might have siblings or other dependents who might also need help from your sponsor then in such cases it is better to secure your funding and go for an education loan. You might have seen a lot of interview experiences where the VO has asked that do you have siblings now why do they ask that the reason they ask is to see if your sponsors saving is only for you or it needs to go to somebody else as well so do a check of the three factors that we just discussed and this will help you understand whether you really need an education loan or not. So for a more detailed explanation on how to plan your finances your funding and to see if the amount that you have is sufficient do check out this video so this is a detailed video which will explain your entire funding for your US for your F1 visa interview so make sure to check it out. Myth number four funding needs to be exactly the same as your I-20. Now when you get your I-20 or rather when you apply for your I-20 the university usually requires you to show funding for the first nine months or the first year of your education and that's usually the way it is presented in the I-20 as well but when you go for the visa interview the VO is looking at how you're going to fund the entire duration of your education in the US which means that your actual funding in the visa interview can be different from the funding that you have shown in your I-20. Different how well you could add more sponsors like we just discussed maybe you have added an additional sponsor or you could have got an education loan. Second the amount can be different so whatever is listed in your I-20 that's the minimum amount you need to show you can also show more than what is mentioned in the I-20 amount so don't feel restricted to show exactly the funding as it is mentioned in the I-20. You can definitely show over and above the I-20 amount so that you are able to demonstrate to the VO that you have funding in place for the entire duration of your education. And the last one myth number five and this is again a huge one that funding cannot be from the US so many students feel that they cannot take help from their siblings their uncle aunt sometimes even parents who might be in the US just because it look like you know you're taking funding from the US and you're a potential immigrant. Well again this is not true an immediate relative like a sibling who might be there on each one right a parent an uncle or aunt who is willing to support you can fund your education right so you can take help from them and you can show that they are sponsoring you for your education in the US there's absolutely nothing again in this case make sure to have all the details about your sponsor such as their profession their annual income their savings and the value of their investments and assets ready with you along with the proper proof and take it along with you for the visa interview. So guys this was all about funding and I feel that funding is so crucial and so important in F1 visa interview and many times visas are rejected because the funding was not presented clearly so make sure that you plan out your funding well in advance and I really hope that this video has helped you if you have any more questions feel free to leave it in the comment section below and do DM me on Instagram I have been lagging a little bit on Instagram DMs I know that but I will definitely try my best to get back to you and for a more detailed prep you know what to do do check all the links in the description box you can take a one to one session with me you can also take a mock interview so the one to one session is a great way to clear all your doubts and get ready for the visa interview to structure your answers with me and the mock is there to give you practice right to help you prepare to again check your answers and make sure that you're not making any mistakes just for the fall intake we do have a special program as well so we have a seven day F1 prep course and this is an end-to-end prep which will start with understanding your profile filling your DS160 form and preparing you thoroughly for the visa interview and giving you multiple rounds of mock so many students have taken this program with us already and we have seen some amazing success so if you want to work with me then all the details are in the description box below to check it out thank you so much for watching this video I really hope that this has helped you more content coming your way for the fall 22 series so make sure that you subscribe and hit that bell icon and I'll see you super soon signing off for now bye