About F-1 Visas
Eligibility Criteria
To obtain a visa as an international student, you must
- Be accepted by a university or college into a degree or vocational program
- The university must be approved by the SEVIS program
- You must understand English
- Have sufficient funds to pay the tuition and support yourself while studying
- And have a home outside of the US that you intend to return to after graduating
Common Problems Students Face
Applying from your home country.
If you are overseas, to get a student visa, you will need to go to the US Consulate closest to you for a visa interview. At that time the officer will talk to you to decide whether you should get the student visa. Student visas are discretionary, which means that the consular officer can reject your application without giving you any reason. If you are denied once, the chances of getting approved a second time are greatly reduced.
Though there can be a lot of reasons, Visa Officers usually deny student visas if you cannot show that you have sufficient funds, or when the officer is not convinced that you will return to your home after graduating.
Changing from another visa in the US.
If you are in the US, you apply for a change of status from your current visa to a student visa. The process can take anything from 3 months up to 2 years. After filing, you must stay in status on your current visa at all times till the student visa is approved. Many times, clients enter on a visitor visa and decide to study. Their visitor visa is only valid for 6 months, which can create a problem when trying to change to a student visa.
While in Student Status.
Even after you start studying, you must make sure that you continue to stay eligible for the student visa. Enroll full time, don’t take semester long breaks, keep up your grades and pay your tuition on time are the four rules we tell our clients. Despite knowing all these rules, students who are leaving their families for the first time get lonely, or forget to meet a timeline because they are so busy, or may just fall sick or be unable to pay their tuition on time. For these and several other reasons, students sometimes fall out of status, sometimes, even without being aware that they have violated their stay.
Graduating Students.
Sometimes, when close to graduating and you are busy studying hard for your finals, you do file for your Post Graduation work permit (OPT), but may not aware that the I-20 issuance and the work permit application have a strict timeline. You wait months without a job while all your fellow students race to work because you still don’t have a work permit. And then you get a notice from the USCIS rejecting your request for work permit or asking for documents that you cannot provide.
It could be that you did get the work permit, but lost the job, or after working for a year, your employer filed for the H1B visa but it did not get picked up in the lottery.
It could be something else entirely that makes you reach out to an attorney.
As immigration attorneys, we are very well acquainted with all the various issues that foreign students face. And as some of us are first generation immigrants, we have team members, and family who have personally gone through this process. In the past 2 decades, we have worked with many students to help them solve their visa problems.
How We Can Help
We help students to
- Prepare for the first F-1 student visa interview at the US consulate, including helping to prepare all the financial and personal documents needed
- Help file for reinstatement of the visa if a student falls out of status
- Help file for student work permits, both initial OPTs and STEMs OPTs
- In case of need, help file the student for CPT, Curriculum practical training
- File for a “change of status” request to another visa if the student gets married or there is another life event that qualifies them for another visa as well
- Discuss and plan status extensions and changes to other visas if an already graduated student does not get through the H1B lottery and needs to stay in the US
- Respond to the US CIS’s Request for Evidence when the student files for work permits, STEMs OPTs, CPTs, or change of status to another visa.
To talk with one of our attorneys, please contact us today.
Awards & Memberships
Testimonials
Beyond My Expectations
Anu and Ian are really professional and helpful!! Not only are they brilliant immigration attorneys, they are also caring for the clients and will go beyond their requirements and responsibilities in order to help (in my case I got my STEM request for evidence resolved). ...My case got complicated with limited support from my employer, it is here when Anu took the initiative and contacted the required departments to get all the necessary documents. Anu and Ian are very easily accessible, and responds to emails and phone calls almost immediately. I would recommend Immigration Desk to anyone who is looking for an immigration attorney; her fees are very reasonable specially to the students on visa. Anu eased my mind, and assured me that everything was in order. In my opinion, Immigration Desk went beyond my expectations, and is a rare and prime example of excellence.
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Always Going That Extra Mile
I came across Anu's profile through this website and hired her for my H1B visa processing. Anu was really helpful and thorough throughout the entire process. My company was not much familiar with the visa processing steps but she walked me and my company through all the steps required. ...I decided to go for the H1B visa at the end of January and even though I was behind time for the application process, Anu and her office worked hard for a quick turnaround and I got my paperwork all ready in time to send to USCIS. She was always available through emails for any questions I had, any day of the week.
After the approval of the visa, when I traveled back home to get my visa stamped, there was an issue with the embassy system. I emailed Anu asking her for advice and she immediately forwarded my paperwork to me, which I then forwarded to the embassy and this really helped in moving my visa stamping process along.
I really appreciate Anu for always going that extra mile to help out my case and patiently explaining the process and the requirements to me multiple times. I would definitely recommend Anu and her office to anyone looking for immigration visa services. Anu is definitely one of those lawyers who cares for your case as much as you do, and is willing to diligently go that extra step to make sure everything is in order.
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One Of The Best Choices I Made
Anu successfully addressed my immigration issue during a time when things felt hopeless to me. Her confidence in handling my situation not just made me feel relaxed, but she also provided great insight and helped me to gain valuable knowledge about the immigration system during the process. ...Anu is very approachable, reliable, and she will do everything in her ability to win a case for her clients. Choosing her was one of the best choices I have made. I highly recommend her.
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