Mithras Law Group Immigration Blog

If you are looking to obtain a non-immigrant F or M student visa in the United States or change your status to a student visa because you need to sharpen your skills or because you have been laid off from your job or because you are thinking of pursuing a new career, below are the overview of the steps required by US Customs and Enforcement:

If applying from outside the United States:

Non-immigrants must:

• Apply to and be accepted by, an SEVP-certified school.

See link for updated approved SEVP schools:  http://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/ApprovedSchools.pdf

• Be able to pay for the cost of schooling and living expenses while in the United States and furnish proof of sufficient funding to the school. Non-immigrant students have limited work opportunities, so unless the school has promised an on-campus job, non-immigrant students should not expect to work to pay expenses.

• Attend school full-time (except for Mexican or Canadian residents who live at home and commute to a United States school within 75 miles of the U.S. border.)

• When a school accepts a non-immigrant applicant, it issues a Form I-20 for initial attendance. Prospective non-immigrant students may apply to more than one SEVP-certified school but must choose one and use the Form I-20 from that school when applying for a visa.

• After receiving the Form I-20, the prospective non-immigrant student must pay the SEVIS I-901 fee.

• The prospective non-immigrant student must then obtain a student visa from an embassy or consulate abroad or, if from a visa exempt country such as Canada or Bermuda, apply for admittance at a U.S. POE.

• After obtaining an F-1 or M-1 visa, the prospective student may apply for entry into the United States through a U.S. POE no more than 30 days prior to the program start date on the student’s Form I-20.

If applying from within the United States :

The prospective non-immigrants must:

• Be in the United States in a valid non-immigrant status and eligible to change to F-1 or M-1 status

• Be accepted by an SEVP-certified school, receive a Form I-20, and pay the SEVIS I-901 fee, as in steps  above.Use a Form I-539 to apply to USCIS for a change of status. See SEVP approved schools list: http://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/ApprovedSchools.pdf

• Receive approval from USCIS for the change of status.

• Be prepared to depart the United States immediately if the change of status application is denied.