Last modified 10/09/2023

Permissions for students, student visas for Usa, requirements :

Studying in the United States for an immigrant is possible by accessing the F – 1 and M – 1 Visas, for full time studies and academic, technical or vocational programs respectively, been one of the most important requirements the academic grades and the economic reliability.

Visa, F – 1 Visa, M – 1 Visa, SEVIS, Immigration Service.

When a person wishes to study in the United States, he or she must understand that the conditions have changed to access to any academic program imparted by an American educational institution after 9 / 11 of 2001, because the immigration laws established by the American Federal Government require a series of requirements before giving a visa; without it, the student will not be able to start his or her lectures.

The student must research on the courses or programs he or she wants to follow, and additionally confirm if the institutions that impart them (language schools, universities and other educational institutions), are recognized by the North American Government, to accept alien students who develop full time studies.

It is necessary to remember that only are taken into consideration the full time programs and courses, because it is not admitted for students to work (at least during the first year) off the campus.

Identifying the course or program that is going to be studied, the immigrant will present all the solicited requirements, until he or she obtained the acceptance as a student. The fundamental requirements are to present academic grades that proof that the person is a student with the necessary grades to be accepted and, besides, he or she must proof having economic reliability to study without the need of having to work, neither inside nor outside the campus. The acceptance of the school in the program or course, will concrete when it, through the councilor for alien students provides the I – 20 immigration forms.

With the I – 20 form, the foreign students, according to the North American immigration program, to start his or her studies, must process the non – immigrant student visa, for which he or she must choose between the F – 1 full time student visa, intended for those students who have enrolled themselves in college courses or programs, or in full time schools; and the M – 1 Visa for students in vocational non – academic programs, intended for those students who have enrolled themselves in vocational programs or technical courses from non – academic institutions.

It is necessary that every student who wants to migrate to the United States has clear the following points:

• Full time is a minimum of 18 college hours per week.
• Proving that he or she has a house to come back to.
• The time of residency as a student does not count to qualify for a permanent residency or green card.
• The students who have the F – 1 Visa, are able to freely move through the United States, as well as travelling to the exterior whenever they want to, without a time limit.
• The time of procedure of a visa for a student is around 120 days; time that should be taken into consideration, thinking on the date the program or course will begin.
• Any immigrant, with a student visa, can enter the United States until 30 days before the course or program begins. If you wish to enter before of that period, you also need to process a visitor’ visa.
• The student who has a visa can work inside the campus for up to 20 hours a week, after having been authorized by the immigration service.
• The students will only be authorized to work under determined special circumstances that must have occurred their country of origin, which does not allow them to be able of economically sustaining themselves.
• The student’s visa can be lost if he or she does not assist to the course at full time, if he or she does not pay the enrollment or if is expelled for having low grades; for these matters, he or she might even be deported.
• The immigration service has certain level of control over the alien students through the Student and Exchange Visitor Information (SEVIS), which is permanently receiving notifications of the educational institutions about variations in the conditions of the students with a visa.
• A student with a visa provided by the North American Government can study courses of less than 18 hours a week, if the number of hours exceeds the 18 hours, he or she is forced to change his or her visa into a student’s one.

Summing up, every immigrant who is applying for an American visa must be aware of the type of visa he or she is requesting, and the rights and commitments he or she has to fulfill, under the risk of losing it. There are certain restrictions on attending public school in the US Persons who violate these restrictions may not receive another visa for a period of five years.