USA Student Visa

Required Documents

The most important document on which your application for an F-1 Visa is based is on an official letter from a US university offering you an admission called the “I-20. In addition to mentioning the class (undergraduate or graduate) and the semester (Fall or spring) in which you have been offered admission, this form will also stipulate the estimated cost of your study for one year (inclusive of tuition and other fees and the living costs.) and will also state whether you are being offered any financial assistance. It will then arrive at the net amount of financial means that you must have for meeting the costs of study and stay for a year in the university.

If you have applied for admission in the Fall-semester starting in September, you are likely to receive the I-20 form between April and July in the same year. If you have applied for admission to a number of universities, it is quite likely that you would receive offers of admission from more than one university, depending upon the reputation of each of these universities and your net cost in each of them, you will have to make a final choice and then only, make an application for the visa. You cannot secure a Visa on the basis of the I-20 sent by one university and then join another university, unless you get the necessary endorsement from the US immigration authorities authorizing the change.

Having finally decided, which university to join, you can apply for the Visa within 90 days prior to the reporting date mentioned in the I-20 form received from that university. For example, if the reporting date shown on the I-20 is 27th August, you can apply for your Visa only on or after 28th May.

• Passport valid for travel to the U. S
• Nonimmigrant Visa Application, Form DS-160 confirmation page Application 
• Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student Status-For Academic and Language Students, Form I-20A-B or Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (M-1) Student Status for Vocational Students, Form I-20M-N
• Three Stamp Paper Rs.30/-
• Two Passport size Photograph with white background.
• Original Educational Documents plus four set photocopy.
• Experience Letter, Job Leave Letter & NOC or Short Courses Certificate if student have gap in education.
• Property Documents
• Ticket Confirmation
• Visa documents from College.
• If you are self-employed, evidence of your business activities and financial standing;
• Tax Certificate & Last two or three years tax returns.

Last Three Months Bank statements days bank statement on personal name of student or father name with bank manager‘s letter. Balance must cover one year fee + one year living cost in USA.

How to appply

There are several steps to apply for a visa. The order of these steps and how you complete them may vary at the U.S. embassy or consulate where you apply.

Once an applicant enters the consulate with all his documents, he has to collect an application form called F-156 using which he has to apply for Visa. Students are advised to carefully fill up the form as this would be considered as a ready reckoner during the review of your application for the visa. Special attention should be paid when filling up the name and other details pertaining to the passport as this would be used for printing the details on the Visa if granted. This information should be accurate as in the passport.

The applicant will also have to pick up an envelope on which he has to carefully fill in his address and telephone numbers. If granted a Visa, the consulate would return all the documents including the passport in this envelope. A courier fees of rupees … in the form of DD or cash is accepted at separate counter towards courier charges for delivering this envelope.

The applicants are also advised on the public addressing systems in the consulate to arrange all their documents in a particular order and then present them at the counters.

Step 1:

At the first counter the officer would request to see your passport and the demand drafts. After inspection, the officer accepts the DD amount of rupees which is collected as Visa application fees and issues a receipt for it. Along with this, the officer will also give the applicant a 3-fold detachable pink counter foil with an identity number that you need to carry along with your documents. After this, the applicant has to proceed to the next counters for scrutiny of the documents.

Step 2:

After submitting the Visa fees the applicants proceed to the counters 1 to 5 as per their turn and submit their documents. The consulate officer examines your documents and if required will ask you to appear for an interview.

Interview Schedule:

If asked to appear for an interview, the applicant has to take the second counter fold of the pink slip that the officers at the second counter gives, and then proceed to the consular hall. The applicant has to take all his papers along with the conter foil of to join a queue of applicants who are awaiting their turn for an interview. As his turn arrives, the applicant is granted an interview at one of the 5 counters.

Counter Visa: 

In this instance you are not required to appear for an interview at the time of submission of the application and the Visa will be directly couriered to you. In this procedure all your documents are retained by the consular officer and will be returned to you along with the passport and the Visa.

Visa Details

Processing Time:

These estimates do not include time required for administrative processing, which may affect a small number of applications. If necessary, this additional processing is usually resolved within 60 days of application, though some cases may take longer. When administrative processing is required, the timing will vary based on individual circumstances of each case.

Fees:

US $ 160 approximately