F-1 interview

[MPPgal]

Say I will be living with a friend, that way you are ot lieing, but at least in my interview they never asked that

[TakeruK]

My worry is that at the interview if he go to ask me the reason of why I've been different times in the U.S. and I say' cause I have a girlfriend who lives there 'and she is American, I will have' problems?

 

My understanding of this requirement is that they want to make sure you aren't using your F-1 status to otherwise gain entry to the US. For example, they would not want people to enter the US on F-1 statuses just to meet an American, marry them, and then, for example, quit school and get a green card through marriage. So, they are interested in seeing that, to the best of your current knowledge, you intend to be in the US only to complete your studies and that you intend to return home after you finish your school. They want you to say that you don't have any concrete plans to stay in the US or that you are studying in the US with the express purpose of getting a job in the US. 

 

I had found a document/memo issued by US Immigration about verifying a student's intent, but I can't seem to find it nor my former post on gradcafe about the document. In that document, it explicitly reminds US Immigration officials that students are a special case since we are mostly young so it's hard to show that we have ties in our former country. Unlike a tourist visa, we can't really have a return ticket before the expiry of our status and we might not own property in our home countries. The document also notes that students might not really know what will happen later on. Being on F-1 status does NOT preclude from marrying an American and staying in the US nor does it prevent you from being hired by a US company and end up switching to an immigrant class visa. 

 

They just want you to declare that the sole reason you are seeking a F-1 visa is for the sole purpose of a F-1 visa -- i.e. a chance to study in the US. If you end up staying, that's fine, but they don't want people using F-1 visas (a non-immigrant class visa) as a way to get an immigrant class visa. So, to be safe, I would probably avoid lying about where you're staying, why you've visited in the past, or whether or not you have a SO in the US. Be honest. But there's no need to speculate about the future in a way that might hurt you either. That is, don't say "oh we might get married" or "I hope a US degree will help me get a US job" etc. If asked directly, I would just admit that you are uncertain about the future and for now, your focus is just finishing your degree in the US.

[MPPgal]

So I got mi visa today and it has an expiry in 2017 which is weird as my program only lasts for 24 months, also the visa does not mention the 1 month rule, my issue is I want to attend preterm which starts exactly 1 month before and my i20 does not mention preterm.....can I move in a week before preterm? Why did they give me a visa for 4 yrs?

[TakeruK]

So I got mi visa today and it has an expiry in 2017 which is weird as my program only lasts for 24 months, also the visa does not mention the 1 month rule, my issue is I want to attend preterm which starts exactly 1 month before and my i20 does not mention preterm.....can I move in a week before preterm? Why did they give me a visa for 4 yrs?

 

At our international student orientation session on immigration rules, they told us that the school always puts the maximum possible date on the I-20 to make it easier for both the student and the school if the program takes longer than expected. For example, I think the maximum on-paper length of a PhD at my school is 6 years (you would have to apply for permission to extend your degree beyond this) so my DS-2019 (the J-1 equivalent of an I-20) says my program is 6 years long. My actual program expected finish time is 4-5 years.

So, I suspect that your Masters(?) program has a maximum length of 4 years so they just put down 4 years as the maximum end date on your I-20. If you are worried though, the best thing to do is to check with your school's International Office (or whomever issued your I-20).

 

As for moving in early, I think the general rule is that you are allowed to enter the country 1 month before the start date on your I-20 or DS-2019 (and your I-20/DS-2019 won't reflect this 1 month earlier date). Again though, check with the school's international office or US Immigration if you want to be absolutely sure. 

[nehs]

Interesting discussion here. ...Has anyone travelled after the end-date of the program? Specifically, while completing Practical Training? My vis has expired and if I have to travel, I will need to visit the US Consul and complete my visa interview.

Edited April 23, 2013 by nehs

[MPPgal]

So that is the weird thing my I20 definetely says 24 months,  guess in the embassy they just didn´t care ha! I am trying for them to issue an I20 a few days before so I can move in for my preterm.

[TakeruK]

The way I understand it, there is a small but important difference between a "visa" and "status".

 

The "visa" has your photo on it and looks like a passport page. It is also attached to one of the pages in your passport. The "visa" simply allows you to enter the US for some specified reason (e.g. tourism, business, work, school). There are two restrictions on visas usually: time and # of entries. The length of your visa and how many times you may enter the country is dependent on treaties between the US and your home country and does not necessarily reflect the time on your I-20. It doesn't matter if your visa expires during your time in the US -- you don't have to leave if your visa expires. The visa is only used for entering, not staying, in the US.

 

For example, I know some PhD students who only get issued 1-year visas because of their home country even though they are in 5-6 year PhD programs. This is a hassle because this means if they visit home (or even go to an international conference) after their visa expires, they will need to apply for a new visa before they can re-enter. In your case, it seems like you have the opposite case -- your home country gets a 4-year visa with the US even though your program is only 2 years. 

 

"Status" is something like F-1 or J-1 and the proof of your status is not the "visa", but the I-20 or DS-2019 form. The I-20 proves your F-1 status, which is what allows you to actually stay in the US, and apply for a driver's license, social security, etc. Unlike your "visa", you do have to leave the US when your "status" (I-20) expires! 

[oopalfrootz]

In the past for my J-1 visa, I (as far as they were concerned) paid for myself. It was totally fine. I just showed them a letter from my bank saying how much was in my account - a bank statement is fine too, but I had that handy. 

Will post up here how my interview (tomorrow) goes, if anyone's interested.

[St Andrews Lynx]

Will post up here how my interview (tomorrow) goes, if anyone's interested.

Good luck! I booked my F1 interview today for early June. 

Embarrassingly, while filling out my DS-120 I had to email my parents to ask what year they were born in...for I had no idea! 

The online visa application form is going to be the death of me - it was timing out every ~2 min when I first started filling it out, then after logging out it hadn't saved a whole chunk of my form!

Filling out the paperwork correctly is definitely more harrowing than the interview itself will be (I've obtained a J1 before)...

[Ambigiousbuthopeful]

I know this may be paranoia speaking, but do they do internet searches as part of their background checks?  I'm being stupid right? 

[ssk2]

I think that's highly unlikely!

[Andean Pat]

Had my interview today. I come from a country that has several restrictions from the US. However, the interview was quite quick. I was required to show my SEVIS receipt, DS-160 and I-20 (you all know this) and no other documentation (I had taken my lease, air tickets, admission offer and bank statement just in case). 

 

The questions were:

* Where are you going to study?

* Can you tell me which program?

* Have you ever had a student visa before?

* Have you ever been to the US?

* Where did you learn English?

* Where are you staying?

* Is this a full scholarship?

 

"You are all set, enjoy your studies!!"

 

[oopalfrootz]

I had my interview a few weeks ago in London: I was in the building for about 5 hours but the actual interview was about 2 minutes. He didn't ask to see any documents (advise you bring everything you can, though), and asked where I was going and what I was studying. I think that was it! 

 

They say take £4 for retaking your photograph, but it actually cost £7! I had to redo mine because the white background somehow appeared blue.

[Sorawit]

My interview was pretty quick too. The person who interviewed me seemed like a pretty cool dude.  He was like: "You're going to Minnesota? You're gonna freeze yo @$$ off man." LOL Nothing really serious just standard questions like other people above

[Ambigiousbuthopeful]

My visa interview is one day away. I only today realised I had to pay the SEVIS fee and immediately paid it. I have a print out of the  receipt for the interview. However the website clearly states that this has to be done three days prior to the interview. I don't know if I should just land up for my interview (in a different city) or reschedule so that I am certain that the payment will show up in the system. (aaahhhh last minute stress!!) 

Edited May 29, 2013 by Ambigiousbuthopeful

[Pinaman]

So I had my visa interview today but it was denied. I have full tuition scholarship for both years but I had to show funds for living expenses. My personal funds that I provided was a few thousand bucks more that what was required for the first year.

 

Then bam, the officer asks me how i'm going to fund my 2nd year. I have never read any such requirement anywhere so obviously I was dumbfounded. The only thing I could think off was that I hope to get a research assistantship position to help me through the 2nd year. He said he was not satisfied and he cannot approve my application.

 

Anyone had similar experience? Not sure what to do now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited May 31, 2013 by Pinaman

[1Q84]

So I had my visa interview today but it was denied. I have full tuition scholarship for both years but I had to show funds for living expenses. My personal funds that I provided was a few thousand bucks more that what was required for the first year.

 

Then bam, the officer asks me how i'm going to fund my 2nd year. I have never read any such requirement anywhere so obviously I was dumbfounded. The only thing I could think off was that I hope to get a research assistantship position to help me through the 2nd year. He said he was not satisfied and he cannot approve my application.

 

Anyone had similar experience? Not sure what to do now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Sorry to hear about that... that sounds awful. I would contact your school and ask the international students office their advice. It doesn't seem right that they would require proof of funding for the second year. I mean everything is really conditional. If they want to keep going down that path, why are they not concerned about you losing the RAship in the first year?

 

-----

Unrelated question: I'm a Canadian citizen and we are allowed to just go straight to port of entry and apply for an F-1 there. I don't want to wait until I get to the border but I'd rather go to the consulate and get it over with there.

 

Is this even possible? On all the US Visa Services - Canada website, I'm not even allowed to book an appointment! Anyone have experience with this? Does this mean that I don't have to pay the MRV fee?

[TakeruK]

Unrelated question: I'm a Canadian citizen and we are allowed to just go straight to port of entry and apply for an F-1 there. I don't want to wait until I get to the border but I'd rather go to the consulate and get it over with there.

 

Is this even possible? On all the US Visa Services - Canada website, I'm not even allowed to book an appointment! Anyone have experience with this? Does this mean that I don't have to pay the MRV fee?

 

I'm not 100% sure what you mean. As a Canadian, we do not need a visa to enter the US (which is why we cannot book an appointment!). Sorry if I have said this before, but there is a difference between "visa" and "status":

"Visa" = right to enter the US. This might be a one-time only deal, or a "5 entries in 3 years" type deal. This is a page that is attached physically to your passport and looks like your passport photo page. Since this is only necessary for entry, it doesn't matter if this expires after you have already entered. You cannot extend or renew your visa -- if this runs out, and you are out of the US (e.g a conference) you have to apply for a new visa before you can reenter.

 

"Status" = "F-1" or "J-1" usually. This is your right to stay in the US for some purpose, e.g. school. The proof of this status is your I-20 or DS-2019. You need to show to this to authorities to get e.g. your driver's license and of course, every time you enter the US (so always take it with you when traveling!!). When this expires (either by time limit or by graduation), you have to leave the US (after some # of days). You can extend this with your school as necessary.

 

So, for us Canadians, we do not need a visa. Thus, you do NOT have to pay the MRV (however, we pay a different fee, see below). Your school's International Office should have contacted you about issuing you an I-20. For me, they asked me whether I wanted to be on F-1 or J-1 status around May last year. They gave me a form with some info to fill out, e.g. full legal name, birthdate, names of dependents etc. and then the DS-2019 (I-20 for you) arrived in the mail. Once you have this, you can then use the numbers on the document to pay your SEVIS (also known as I-901) Fee https://www.fmjfee.com/i901fee/index.jsp

 

You are supposed to have paid this BEFORE crossing the border. You pay the fee online. The fee is $200 for F-1 and $180 for J-1. No extra fee for dependents (F-2, J-2). Note: if we weren't Canadian, we would pay the MRV as well as the SEVIS fee! In the ideal case, you pay the fee online, then wait until they mail you back a very official receipt (it's more like a certificate). When it's time to cross the border, you need your passport, I-20, and your I-901 "receipt". They can technically turn you away if you do not have the receipt in hand. You do get a temporary receipt as soon as you pay it online, but they say that it's up to the agent's discretion whether or not they will accept the temporary receipt if they can look up the official transaction on their computer (but count on Murphy's Law working against you on the fateful crossing border day). It takes 2-3 weeks for them to mail the official receipt, so pay this well in advance (otherwise, you might have to pay $35 for courier shipping).

Edited June 5, 2013 by TakeruK

[pikaStardust]

I had my interview today and wanted to add my experience as I felt it was a bit unusual.

I was a bit nervous while heading to the embassy because currently I have another visa application pending under 221g. Way back in February, I have applied for a B1/B2 visa as I was planning to visit our collaborators in New York. However, the interviewer's attitude was a bit strange. She didn't let me explain my case and looked to me angrily to shut me up when I tried to talk. She then put the application on hold until I send some extra documents. Things went bad, I could not get documents in time for my travels so I ended up giving up my hopes. So while applying for my F1, I had another pending application. I was afraid that this would leave a bad impression on them, like I was trying really hard to get i the US.
So today, I went to the embassy and waited, waited and waited until finally my turn for the interview has come. Unfortunately, I ended up at the woman who rejected me previously and she was really aggressive again. Before the interview while checking my documents, they said that my interview would be in English. When the interviewer first spoke, I could not hear what she said and supposing she spoke in English I asked "Sorry, could you repeat" and she frowned and with a mean voice she said (in Turkish) "Speak in Turkish to the microphone or this conversation will end". I never knew speaking English was a crime! The rest of the interview was in Turkish and it was like this:

 

- Have you applied for a visa before?

+ Yes, in february.

- I see, you have spoken with me at that time. (I was thinking "Oh no, now we got a problem" but luckily she did not ask any further questions about this.)

- What is your purpose this time?

+ PhD education at Duke University.

- Which field?

+ Bioinformatics

- Have you applied to other schools?

+ Yes (I list the other schools that I have been accepted. I may be wrong but she seemed to be pleased when I said the names.)

- Why have you choosen Duke in the end?

+ It was the best fit for my academical interests. 

- Ok, your application has been approved. Good luck. (Pheew and yaayy)

 

I wasn't expecting these kind of questions, I was a bit surprised. I have a full scholarship from the university so I suppose that was the reason why she didn't ask anything financial. Although it was a bad start, thankfully I managed to get my visa in the end. Hope my path will not cross with that woman again. Now I am eagerly waiting my passport back.

Edited June 5, 2013 by pikaStardust

[1Q84]

I'm not 100% sure what you mean. As a Canadian, we do not need a visa to enter the US (which is why we cannot book an appointment!). Sorry if I have said this before, but there is a difference between "visa" and "status":

"Visa" = right to enter the US. This might be a one-time only deal, or a "5 entries in 3 years" type deal. This is a page that is attached physically to your passport and looks like your passport photo page. Since this is only necessary for entry, it doesn't matter if this expires after you have already entered. You cannot extend or renew your visa -- if this runs out, and you are out of the US (e.g a conference) you have to apply for a new visa before you can reenter.

 

"Status" = "F-1" or "J-1" usually. This is your right to stay in the US for some purpose, e.g. school. The proof of this status is your I-20 or DS-2019. You need to show to this to authorities to get e.g. your driver's license and of course, every time you enter the US (so always take it with you when traveling!!). When this expires (either by time limit or by graduation), you have to leave the US (after some # of days). You can extend this with your school as necessary.

 

So, for us Canadians, we do not need a visa. Thus, you do NOT have to pay the MRV (however, we pay a different fee, see below). Your school's International Office should have contacted you about issuing you an I-20. For me, they asked me whether I wanted to be on F-1 or J-1 status around May last year. They gave me a form with some info to fill out, e.g. full legal name, birthdate, names of dependents etc. and then the DS-2019 (I-20 for you) arrived in the mail. Once you have this, you can then use the numbers on the document to pay your SEVIS (also known as I-901) Fee https://www.fmjfee.com/i901fee/index.jsp

 

You are supposed to have paid this BEFORE crossing the border. You pay the fee online. The fee is $200 for F-1 and $180 for J-1. No extra fee for dependents (F-2, J-2). Note: if we weren't Canadian, we would pay the MRV as well as the SEVIS fee! In the ideal case, you pay the fee online, then wait until they mail you back a very official receipt (it's more like a certificate). When it's time to cross the border, you need your passport, I-20, and your I-901 "receipt". They can technically turn you away if you do not have the receipt in hand. You do get a temporary receipt as soon as you pay it online, but they say that it's up to the agent's discretion whether or not they will accept the temporary receipt if they can look up the official transaction on their computer (but count on Murphy's Law working against you on the fateful crossing border day). It takes 2-3 weeks for them to mail the official receipt, so pay this well in advance (otherwise, you might have to pay $35 for courier shipping).

 

My goodness! I could have sworn all these websites I've been reading have said "F-1 visa" but that must have been my mind playing tricks on me. Looking back, they never actually appended visa to the word.

 

Yes, I already paid my SEVIS. I had a mini-heart attack when I read about the MRV. I did not budget for another burdensome bureaucratic fee!

 

On that note, SEVIS received my fee and they said they mailed it out May 3. I still have not received it... I've been trying to reach them by phone but no response. I'm kind of worried now because I thought my printed out receipt would be enough.

 

ETA: I just called SEVP and they said that they're doing away with sending out printed receipts and that the internet receipt and the one they send are "mirror images" of each other. So I really hope my internet receipt is fine.

 

Thanks for all the info (as per usual!)

Edited June 5, 2013 by 1Q84

[TakeruK]

ETA: I just called SEVP and they said that they're doing away with sending out printed receipts and that the internet receipt and the one they send are "mirror images" of each other. So I really hope my internet receipt is fine.

 

Thanks for all the info (as per usual!)

 

Yay! That's awesome about no more stupid printed receipts too, I'm glad it's finally gone digital. Another annoying paper thing that just ended last month is the paper I-94, which you get upon crossing the border. It was the most important piece of paper because it's the only thing that says a border agent personally approved your entry and you need it for everything. However, it was a piece of paper where you handwrite your name and a number and stapled to your passport. Luckily, starting a few weeks ago, all new entries to the US will have electronic I-94s! I'm glad that DHS is catching up with the digital age

[St Andrews Lynx]

My F1 interview was today at the London Embassy. Things were really slick - from first queueing at the gate to leaving the embassy building with my delivery receipt all took less than 1 hour! 

I saw two officials who processed my application - the first was a Londoner who typed my details into the system and collated my paperwork. She asked me about my dreadlocks but that was it. Then I went to a second window to speak with an American official who asked a couple of more specific questions relating to my visa (where was I studying just now, how much of my soul I'd sold to the university in question to get the tuition waiver & full stipend...).

Whoosh! That was it. I'm now off for a Strawberries & Cream frappuccino to celebrate.

[lelia]

My visa interview was today as well. I was in and out of the embassy in Munich after 35 minutes, even though I had to retake my photo (both ears visible...).

I was asked the usual questions: Are you a student right now? Where do you study? What's your major? When will you be done? What are you gonna do in the US? Which university? Why did you choose that university? Were you an exchange student before? Where was that? How will you pay for your trip? Did you consider programs with more costs? (He added that they were just interested in how people finance their education in the US, and that this was not part of the visa interview.) The interviewer was very nice, as was everybody else there.

I'm glad this is taken care of now!

[nehs]

Anyone that is travelling during Practical Training? I do not have a valid visa right now and will be travelling to my home country in 2-3 months from now.. i'm currently doing my practical training. I understand the the sole reason to request a F-1 visa is for study and I am "technically" done with my study.

 

I'm not sure what to expect. I asked my school and they said "it's not a problem with all documents such as EAD card".

[Ambigiousbuthopeful]

It was strange. The official took my passport and said your visa has been approved. No questions asked - not one. 

 

I just got my passport today and they have authorised a five year visa. My I20 clearly says '2020' and not '2018'. I know it isn't a big deal 

and it wan be renewed but is this a standard practice? 

 

I also have a valid tourist visa which I assumed would be struck off with a big  'cancelled without prejudice ' sign across it. But it wasn't! according to my passport I have two valid visas - not sure what's going on.