F1 visa application from a third country: Confusion in DS160 questions

[kobamschitzoEvolved]

Hello all,

I am applying for F1 visa from Mexico city as a third country national. I am studying in Mexico and staying in Mexico on a student visa. I was filling up the DS160 and I encountered confusion in a few questions. I would appreciate if you can share your opinion/ideas/experiences on them.

'Intended length of stay ' : I talked to a professor and he said that the average time for completion of the PHD program is 5 years. It's also the same in an image describing the timeline of phD, on the website of the univ. But the program duration given on my I-20 is 8 years. So what to write as the answer to the question "intended length of stay" : 5 years or 8 years : as mentioned in the I-20 ?

It asks for home address and mailing address. Is 'home address' supposed to be the same as permanent address, as mentioned on my passport, or the temporary one here in Mexico city ?

That's all.

Cheers

[joysii]

I'm not going to say I'm 100% certain, but I'm pretty sure you should write 8 years, and home address means permanent address.

Even though your expected time in grad school is 5 years, you never want to take risks as an international student in having a visa that's potentially too short. If the I-20 your school issued you says 8 years, you should just follow what the I-20 says. They probably have the extra 3 years as a buffer for those ppl who end up staying an extra couple of years. Mailing address is the address they're actually going to send your passport back to, so make sure that's accurate.

[PokePsych]

> the max visa duration is 5 years. I put on 7 (the time on my DS-2019 - which is the same as the I20 but for J1), but they shortened it to 5. Nonetheless, just follow what is on your I20. Worst case you get picked out of line and they tell you the max duration is 5 years. You did not make a mistake.

> I would indeed say put your own country as permanent address (or home address, if it doesn't ask for permanent). I put 'post address' or something as the local one. In general, your home address is in your home country (i.e., the place you hold a passport or green card), where you will be able to return. There is however mixed information on this online (it should not be in the US though!). Some say you can put any local address as long as you have been residing from there longer than 6 months (e.g., I lived in a third country for 4 years, so I put that as my home address, but I also lived with my husband in his country, so we have strong ties to both places). Others say its a place you will return to after coming back. If you're on a temporary visa in your current location, I would probably put your original country. May just want to ring the embassy/hotline

 

 

[MMP]

Hey,

I put on my ds160 that my intended length of stay is 24 months but my i-20 states around from august 2020 till may 2023, more than 30 months, for a Master’s. Is it going to affect my interview and visa issuance? 

[MMP]

21 hours ago, MMP said:

Hey,

I put on my ds160 that my intended length of stay is 24 months but my i-20 states around from august 2020 till may 2023, more than 30 months, for a Master’s. Is it going to affect my interview and visa issuance? 

Anyone?

[PokePsych]

just put what is on your i-20. This is what the school indicats as the length of your program.

[MMP]

I know. I made the mistake to put 24 months instead of 33...  that’s why I was asking 

[PokePsych]

It shouldn't affect too much as they can technically still change it in the embassy (i.e., I put 7 years as my DS2019 said, bu tthey changed it at the embassy to 5 years as that is the maximum duration of the visa). As long as you're not dishonest or stating years BEYOND your I20/DS2020 you should be OK.

[MMP]

Thank you!!