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13-Nov-2000 07:55 PM

Getting student visa.

keishap

I have changed my b2 status to a F1 status. If I shold leave the country would I have to apply for a Student visa before returning to the US? Do I have to apply in my home country or can I go to Canada and apply there? Would there be any problems applying for the visa there when they see I'm not a Canadian resident? Tahnk you for all your help.

13-Nov-2000 09:20 PM

Re: Getting student visa.

reply

There's never a guarantee that you'll get a visa when you apply for one, so if you don't have to leave the U.S. for any particular reason, don't.

If you already had an expired F-1 visa in your passport, you could go to Canada (Mexico, or the Caribbean Islands) for 30 days or less with just your passport, recently endorsed I-20, and I-94 card, but since you only have a B-2 visa, you won't be able to rely on that return option if the F-1 application doesn't work out.

15-Nov-2000 06:18 PM

Re: Getting student visa.

keishap

So you're saying that if I should leave the US and I have already gotten the F1 status approved in the US and should apply for the visa like in Canada, I will be turned down? How can I be turned down and the US already says I'm approved? Isn't that the most important getting the Ok from immigration? Please let me know your opinion or anyone else opinion on this matter. Do you know anyone you could refer me to at F1student.com who has done a change of status in the US and went somewhere else to get the Visa?

15-Nov-2000 11:51 PM

Re: Getting student visa.

Serge

I know many people who have traveled abroad with an expired visa. I know 1 person who tried to reenter without applying for a new visa. He was detained and interrogated by the INS for many hours. They called his school and his roommates (to double-check his story). He was very lucky and they let him in - but it is a rare exception. You need a valid visa to reenter the USA unless you travel to Canada or Mexico <30 days. You can apply from your home country or from a border post in Mx. or Can.

This is the law. INS only gives you a permission to stay - the "status". A status is not a visa. You can only get a visa from abroad - and not from the INS. Visas are issued by the Consulates and Embassies that are part of the State Department. INS is a completely different government agency.

It's not convenient and not very logical - but that's how the system works. You are lucky you can apply from border posts.

Doesn't your school have a intl. student advisor?

18-Nov-2000 12:06 AM

Re: Getting student visa.

Brian

Serge is right. You have permission to stay in the US from the INS
but you need a visa stamp to re-enter. With your INS change of
status approval, your I-20 and your passport, you are permitted to
seek a visa stamp in Canada or Mexico. Beware, they don't have to
give it to you. If you don't have the stamp you won't be allowed to
re-enter the US and the boarder consulates are famous for being hard.

The real questions is, why do you need the stamp? You're I-20 is the
only document you need while you're here. If you need to go home,
simply apply for your visa at the local US consulate in your home
country. Make sure to bring your transcripts saying that you're a
good student.

Finally, if you're a citizen of Japan , Germany or England, you can
get a new visa stamp by mail. Check out the your local consulate
from the US Dept. of States web site for information on how to get
the visa stamp.

18-Nov-2000 08:15 PM

Re: Getting student visa.

Serge

So you think that if his visa application at the border post is refused he won't be able to reenter the USA? I can't get a definite answer from anyone. Some student advisors say that it's still possible to reenter and some say it's not. Our school's advisor is sure it's OK to reenter.

Does anyone know for sure?

22-Nov-2000 05:40 PM

Re: Getting student visa.

lin tian

You CANNOT reenter the US from a neighboring territory without an expired visa hence the name automatic revalidation. The idea is that you have already once been through the process of getting a visa so you have already been screened. As has been pointed out, visas allow you to enter the country, they do not allow you to remain. The disctinction is that the visa is issued by the Dept. of State while status is granted by INS- these two governemnt bodies have different directives and purposes when considering immigration to the States. Also, this conveinience of automatice revalidation does not apply to all nationalities, you should check with your FSA to see if you are eligible.

22-Nov-2000 11:45 PM

Re: Getting student visa.

Serge

The question is wether he will be allowed to reenter from Canada or Mexico in case his application at the border post is rejected. He would have an expired visa in his passport and a valid I-20, but I think he would also have some kind of stamp saying his recent application was rejected.

Most advisors seem to think it's possible to reenter.

01-Dec-2000 08:54 PM

Re: Getting student visa.

Lin Tian

He does have a B-1/B-2 visa but not an F-1 visa. You cannot automaticaly revalidate a visa does that not exist.And if you are from Iran you can forget about using automatic revalidation for reentry. Foreign student advisors should not be advising students to rely on the kindness of INS to allow the student to reenter the country without an expired F-1 visa in there passport. Yes, the consulate does stamp in the passport a code that informs the inspecting officer that the visa has been denied.

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