Getting a Visa in the U.S.

[pawat]

So I have 3 weeks between the end of my summer work at my current undergrad school and the beginning of orientation for PhD program. Technically I should leave the country with my I-20 (DS-2019 in my case), apply for a new visa back home, and come back. My biggest concern is that there is not enough time. Is it possible to get a visa in the U.S.?

[fuzzylogician]

Three weeks should be enough time in most cases, unless you're studying something the Americans deem "sensitive" (e.g. some kinds of engineering, biology, etc) or you've had immigration problems in the past. If you schedule your interview for the beginning of that 3-week period, you should have more than enough time to get your passport and visa back from the embassy before you have to return to the US. The main problem could be scheduling the interview -- summer is a busy time of year for the American embassy in many countries. If you know when you expect to be home, try and schedule the interview as soon as possible (once you have your I20 and SEVIS number).

Also, if you're in the US right now on a student visa, you could consult with the international student office at your new school and ask whether or not they recommend a change of status. You only need a visa to reenter the US if you leave the country. If you stay in the US the whole summer, you should be able to just change status (maybe even not that if you're already on a student visa, but those kinds of details are beyond my knowledge). You'll then need to get the visa the next time you leave the US. It's not always advisable to do a change status within the US, especially from a tourist visa to a student visa, but your case may be different. So, that may be something to look into too.

[kraus]

Three weeks should be enough time in most cases, unless you're studying something the Americans deem "sensitive" (e.g. some kinds of engineering, biology, etc) or you've had immigration problems in the past. If you schedule your interview for the beginning of that 3-week period, you should have more than enough time to get your passport and visa back from the embassy before you have to return to the US. The main problem could be scheduling the interview -- summer is a busy time of year for the American embassy in many countries. If you know when you expect to be home, try and schedule the interview as soon as possible (once you have your I20 and SEVIS number).

Also, if you're in the US right now on a student visa, you could consult with the international student office at your new school and ask whether or not they recommend a change of status. You only need a visa to reenter the US if you leave the country. If you stay in the US the whole summer, you should be able to just change status (maybe even not that if you're already on a student visa, but those kinds of details are beyond my knowledge). You'll then need to get the visa the next time you leave the US. It's not always advisable to do a change status within the US, especially from a tourist visa to a student visa, but your case may be different. So, that may be something to look into too.

Yeah, you can't get a visa in US, it has to be done in another country. And like fuzzylogician said, summer is a busy time and might be hard to get an appointment. I did it September of last year in London. Booked an appointment a month ahead while in US, got there for the interview (was visiting my sister there too) and got the passport back a week later. So three weeks is enough if you can get an appointment early on, but it also depends on where you have your interview in terms of when you get the documents back.

Or you could just opt to change status and not leave the country. I think it's not a change of status since you will still be a student but you should definitely consult the international student office to make sure. You can always leave later if you want to travel and get your visa then.

[nhyn]

You don't have to leave the country and apply for another F1. If you don't have to/don't want to go home, you can still stay in the US in the summer (there's a grace period after your F1 ends, so technically you can still stay here), and your new school can issue your new I20 right when your old I20 expires. You transfer your SEVIS record from the old to the new school. You DO NOT have to apply for another F1 - if you leave the US and re-enter, you have to apply for an entry visa to enter the country (your F1 visa is worht 4 years, but the visa that they give you every time you go in and out of the country lasts for 1 year, and you should have an M visa - multiple entry, so I assume that one-year visa has already expired) the same thing you had to do during undergrad years. You should not leave and enter with different I20s because they might detain you just to clarify (they won't stop you from entering), so if you're wary of that just make sure you leave and enter with your new school's I20.

Source: undergrad + grad school International Office's people

[pawat]

Thanks everyone for answering!

I am on a J-1 visa (as part of my contract with the embassy), and I do not plan to change it to F-1 or anything else. I just need a new J-1 visa with new expiration date because my current one expires next month.

Right now it looks like I have two options:

1) get my new DS-2019, fly home, get a new J-1, and fly back here. I might not go with this option because I will have to deal with some tight scheduling.

2) I can just receive my new DS-2019 at the end of the summer, hang out here, go to the new school with expired J-1 (but with valid DS-1029), and apply for a new J-1 whenever I go home next, correct?

Thanks for your help!

[fuzzylogician]

Thanks everyone for answering!

I am on a J-1 visa (as part of my contract with the embassy), and I do not plan to change it to F-1 or anything else. I just need a new J-1 visa with new expiration date because my current one expires next month.

Right now it looks like I have two options:

1) get my new DS-2019, fly home, get a new J-1, and fly back here. I might not go with this option because I will have to deal with some tight scheduling.

2) I can just receive my new DS-2019 at the end of the summer, hang out here, go to the new school with expired J-1 (but with valid DS-1029), and apply for a new J-1 whenever I go home next, correct?

Thanks for your help!

Seems about right. You need to have a valid visa to enter the US. Once you're in the States, all you need is a valid DS-2019 to remain in status, the visa can expire. The next time you leave the US, you'll have to get a new visa. That means that you had better plan to go home next time you leave the US (as opposed to going to some conference or going on a visit to some other country) because normally only the embassy in your home country will agree to issue you a new visa. But personally I still think that this is a better option than flying home just to get a new visa when you don't even need it right now.

Again, you should run all this by your ISO to make sure you're not doing anything that can cause you immigration trouble in the future. I believe this is all perfectly legal and legitimate, but you should get a second opinion about these matters from someone who understands the law better than we here do.

Edited May 4, 2011 by fuzzylogician