Student Visas

If your primary purpose of travel to the US is academic study, you need an "F" visa. Applicants must demonstrate the financial capacity to cover tuition, fees and living expenses for the first twelve months.  Full-time students may seek on-campus employment not to exceed 20 hours per week.

According to the US immigration law, foreign students are not allowed to attend public secondary school in F-1 student status unless they reimburse the school authority for an amount equal to the school's per capita cost of education.

If you intend to engage in nonacademic or vocational studies you need an "M" visa. For example, if you wish to study aviation (piloting) or horse breeding, seek an "M" visa.  As no employment is possible while in "M" visa status, applicants must have immediately available the financial resources for the duration of their stay in the US.

You do not need a student visa to attend recreational schools such as tennis or golf camps, or if you are traveling to the US primarily for tourism but will incidentally attend one or more classes.

Procedure

To obtain a student visa, a school in the US must first accept you.  To confirm that you are enrolled, you must have the correct form (DS 2019 or I-20), which is generated in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) and supplied by the accepting institution.  Applications cannot be processed without the appropriate SEVIS form. In addition, every applicant, including spouses and children planning to accompany, must be properly registered with SEVIS.  

Student visa applicants should immediately identify themselves as such to the call center in order to get a timely appointment.  Please visit our site How to Apply for more information on scheduling an appointment.

To qualify for a student visa, you need to overcome the presumption in Section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that all visa applicants are intending immigrants. You can overcome this presumption by providing evidence that you have strong, binding ties to your home country and that you have no intention of abandoning your residence abroad.  Please see our page Supporting Documents.

Family

Spouses and children under the age of 21 of F and M visa holders are eligible to accompany the principal applicant to the US as long as he/she demonstrates the means to support his/her family while in the US.  Couples must be legally married to qualify for such derivative visas, as the status of "concubinage" is not recognized by US immigration law.  The pacte civil de solidarité, commonly known as a PACS, is not recognized by US immigration law.  In addition to the basic documentation (separate DS-160 confirmation pages and Mandat-Comptes showing MRV payments, etc.), the spouses and children of F and M visa holders must submit marriage and birth certificates demonstrating their relationship to the principal applicant.

What to bring to your visa interview

Please bring the following documents to your visa interview:

• A valid passport 
• DS-160 online application confirmation page
• One photograph taken within the last 6 months
• Proof of payment of Application fee 
• Self-addressed Chronopost envelope
• Original of Form I-20 (issued by the school or university in the US)
• Proof of payment of SEVIS Fee
• Documentation supporting your visa application