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Hello,
I came into the country on a tourist visa. I have recently applied for a student visa through a school that is 'sponsoring' me.
My tourist visa expires in one week and I have still not heard anything back regarding the student visa.
What do I do?
Do I have to leave the country while I wait?
I believe that I will be granted the student visa or perhaps I will be able to acquire another tourist visa in the near future. As much as I want to stay, I want to be very careful not to jeopardize any opportunity to be in this country legally in the future.
Please advise. I've been given a lot of conflicting advice. I appreciate your help.
One of the rules for Student visa is that you should enter the country on F-1 visa on port of entry. If somehow you manage to get admission by converting tourist to student, chances are that next time whenever you enter the country, you will be denied entry or visa stamping will be denied. F-1 visa is given when the visa officer is convinced that you have resources to complete your education and you are not potential immigrant. You are taking a big risk by changing tourist to student visa. your spouse/family may be denied dependent visa. once you become overstayer, your future chances will be crushed.
Hello,
I came into the country on a tourist visa. I have recently applied for a student visa through a school that is 'sponsoring' me.
My tourist visa expires in one week and I have still not heard anything back regarding the student visa.
What do I do?
Do I have to leave the country while I wait?
I believe that I will be granted the student visa or perhaps I will be able to acquire another tourist visa in the near future. As much as I want to stay, I want to be very careful not to jeopardize any opportunity to be in this country legally in the future.
Please advise. I've been given a lot of conflicting advice. I appreciate your help.
You don't have to leave the country. You can stay in the US and wait while your F-1 is pending. Because you applied for F-1 before your current tourist visa expired, you'll be in the US legally even after your tourist visa expires while your F-1 is still pending.
Everything else is just blah blah blah.
Last edited by movingwiththewind; 04-05-2011 at 05:05 PM..
If you leave properly then you should have no problem returning as stated by AP. You may regret staying illegally and it will cost you financially and you still may be ordered deported but don't let it get that far. Just leave and then come back and you should be fine.
If you leave properly then you should have no problem returning as stated by AP. You may regret staying illegally and it will cost you financially and you still may be ordered deported but don't let it get that far. Just leave and then come back and you should be fine.
If you apply for adjustment of status (in this case, from B-2 to F-1) while your B-2 is till valid, you don't have to leave the country and can stay while your adjustment to F-1 is pending. The OP will be in the country LEGALLY even after his B-2 expires and F-1 status is not granted yet.
However, in case F-1 is denied, the OP will have to leave the country if he / she is not eligible to adjust his / her status otherwise.
USCIS officers must determine eligibility for a change of status, which is a standard separate from whether or not a person qualifies for issuance of an I-20 and F-1 status itself. A prospective student could be generally eligible for issuance of an I-20, but if he/she is not eligible for a change of status, a change of status application will NOT BE APPROVED
B2 visitor visa holders have a designated amount of time that they are authorized to be in the country which is marked on their I-94 card. Generally B visa holders are given a stay of either 3 or 6 months.
Their I-94 card will be stamped B-2
They have to file prior to the date stamped & cannot be past that date upon arrival to the service center.
They also cannot have longer than a 30 day gap between statuses.
IF YOU DO NOT MEET THESE ELIGIBIITY CRITERIA THEN YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO RETURN TO YOUR HOME COUNTRY TO APPLY FOR YOUR F-1 THROUGH THE U.S. EMBASSY/CONSULATE."
I just wanted to add that although the OP can change his / her status from B-2 to F-1 without leaving the US, the new status (F-1, if granted) is valid only while the OP is in the US. In this case, the OP is granted F-1 status (no F-1 visa will be stamped in their passport). If the OP leaves the US, he / she will need to apply for F-1 visa outside of the US at a US embassy / consulate in order to re-enter the US.
The only exceptions are when travelling to Canada or Mexico for trips of no longer than 30 days.
Each case is separate though movingwiththewind. Our knowledge of the OP background is too limited to make one specific suggestion. We don't know if the OP has not had any trouble with the law, even traffic offenses or prior immigration problems, court orders, current immigration issues, etc.
I've heard some people say "everything is fine I don't have any issues" but that's not the case. People forget that they had a simple battery charge or petty type of thing occur or immigration issue which they think is no biggie but to an immigration officer, it is.
Why gamble on staying in the USA? I'd say contact an attorney (free consultation) or USCIS customer service line. You can even go in to the nearest office on InfoPass and ask an officer directly and write down everything they tell you.
Some neighbors and I have been trying to assist a family in our community with their immigration issue, so I know inside realities not all, just some of this stuff, I think.
A dear friend & his family got sent back (not officially deported) to Argentina because he "forgot" about a problem that was minor to them but not the case to immigration. What would have been a simple adjustment of status now has them in Mexico???? shelling out hundreds to a US attorney who is always "in court" whenever we call.
So although you may be right in stating facts they might be the wrong facts for the OP.
. Why gamble on staying in the USA? I'd say contact an attorney (free consultation) or USCIS customer service line. You can even go in to the nearest office on InfoPass and ask an officer directly and write down everything they tell you.
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Sometimes is too expensive to travel to your home country to get the visa stamped and pay for the plane tickets, when you only needed an adjustment of status... I agree that he should contact the USCIS customer service line so that he gets official advice instead of forum opinions... But in general, moving from B2 to F1 does not require him to leave the country.
Sometimes is too expensive to travel to your home country to get the visa stamped and pay for the plane tickets, when you only needed an adjustment of status... But in general, moving from B2 to F1 does not require him to leave the country.
I agree. Some people are much better off adjusting status in the US than doing it through a US embassy / consulate in their own country.
For many reasons.
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shelling out hundreds to a US attorney who is always "in court" whenever we call.
