Help with DS-160

[dant.gwyrdd]

I was making my way through the DS-160 when I stumbled upon this question in the travel information section of the form--Person/entity paying for your trip and I can choose one of the following: self, other person, or company/organization. And I'm not sure which answer is the correct one.

I'm getting a full ride from my university which includes a predoctoral fellowship and a graduate assistantship; these funds are listed as "funds from this school" on my I-20.

The question is: since, technically, I will be working for my money and thus will be paying for any expenses myself, do I put "self" as the person paying for my trip OR since those funds are listed as funds from my university on the I-20 do I put the university as the entity paying for my trip? And in case of the latter, is their relationship to me "employer" or "other"?

Personally, I'm more inclined to think it's the latter, but I could see it either way.

I won't be able to call the embassy until Monday, so any input from people who've already been through this would be appreciated.

[Beck]

I put "self" on mine (am also on a full ride from my school) and got my visa with no problems.

My interview literally went like this:

"What are you doing your Masters in?"

"Women's studies"

"What was your Bachelors in?"

"Women's studies"

"Have you been on an F-1 visa before?"

"Nope"

"And who is paying for your-- oh, I see you have a scholarship. Right, well, we'll get these documents out to you in two days; you just head down to the cashier's desk and pay the issuance fee."

Painless!

[kaykaykay]

I think your institution gives you the money even if you have to TA/RA. I will put company/organization as an answer to that question. But as Beck said I think if the situation is clear from your papers it does not matter really.

[dant.gwyrdd]

Thanks for the answers guys.

Yeah, I figure it wouldn't be a big deal to make a mistake there (since I have proof of funds), I just don't like being wrong. And my reasoning is akin to kalapocska's, but Beck's way would definitely be simpler (in the terms of not having to fill out additional fields which come up when you choose any option other than "self").

Eh... forms.

Edited May 22, 2010 by dant.gwyrdd

[lion22]

What do you think I should put in response to --Person/entity paying for your trip when I have partial fund (tution waiver)

Is it better to answer self or organization?

[Bumblebee]

What do you think I should put in response to --Person/entity paying for your trip when I have partial fund (tution waiver)

Is it better to answer self or organization?

I would put you're paying your own trip. From what you say, the school is only paying for your tuition, so it's up to you to pay the trip to the US. I will get a stipend from my school, but I will still write that I'm paying for it since I have already bought it and haven't started getting the money from the school.

[dant.gwyrdd]

@lion22: Yeah, I agree with Bumblebee: in your case I'd put "self" as well.

@Bumblebee: I'm pretty sure that "trip" in this sense is not just the physical trip from where you are to where your school is, but your entire stay in the US. I decided to go with the evidence (I-20) and put "my school" there since it's listed on the form as the source of funds for that more expensive part of the trip.

[Bumblebee]

@lion22: Yeah, I agree with Bumblebee: in your case I'd put "self" as well.

@Bumblebee: I'm pretty sure that "trip" in this sense is not just the physical trip from where you are to where your school is, but your entire stay in the US. I decided to go with the evidence (I-20) and put "my school" there since it's listed on the form as the source of funds for that more expensive part of the trip.

Ah, ok! I thought trip referred to the plane ticket. I would have thought the word used in that case would be "stay", but thanks for the clarification. In that case, I'll write down that it's the school who's going to pay for my trip. Now I won't mess up my visa application!

[dant.gwyrdd]

I think the whole app is more geared towards tourist/business visas where it's more natural to refer to the whole thing (i.e., flights, food & logging, etc.) within "the price of the trip" than in our case where the "stay" part is measured in years instead of weeks and where most of us will probably have several physical trips to the US during that period.

Edited June 17, 2010 by dant.gwyrdd

[SkDebs]

Hi, what did you finally do with this? I sort of have a similar situation and I am at a loss of whether to put employer, since technically I will be employed as a TA or other organisation.

[jujubea]

On 11/21/2020 at 4:03 AM, SkDebs said:

Hi, what did you finally do with this? I sort of have a similar situation and I am at a loss of whether to put employer, since technically I will be employed as a TA or other organisation.

Are you fully funded by the school? Make sure that is apparent somewhere, then you can put either self or organization. It really only matters when a student is NOT on a scholarship/fellowship/stipend. 

[IvanC]

What about my dependents? I have full scholarship. Who’s paying for my dependents?

My institution? ?

[jujubea]

Is your scholarship amount enough to pay for your dependents? Or are you using other funding for that?

There's no right answer, just the facts.

[IvanC]

On 11/28/2020 at 11:34 PM, jujubea said:

Is your scholarship amount enough to pay for your dependents? Or are you using other funding for that?

There's no right answer, just the facts.

Yes. It’s enough to pay for my dependents as well. 

Edited December 1, 2020 by IvanC
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