Complete F-1 Visa Process in Easiest Steps

Once you are confirmed which university you are going to join, the next step is to apply for a student visa. By now you are pretty excited and want to get a visa as soon as possible. But getting a visa can be a lengthy process. In fact it’s a cumbersome process if not dealt with in a proper way. To summarize, the complete visa process can be defined as below:

A. Issuance of I-20 form

Complete the Financial Affidavit form; send it along with Bank letter to the International services office or address provided by the mail from the department

B. SEVIS Fee (SEVIS I-901): Documents needed

                  1. Form I-20

                  2. Credit card to pay the fee (Master Card, Visa)

C. DS-160 Form and Visa Fee

                 1. Scan and upload your application photo

                 2. Complete your DS-160 application online

                 3. Print barcode at the end of the application on a laser printer

                4. Pay the visa application fee (at the current exchange rate) at one of the designated branches of the specified bank, the bank depends upon the country from you are applying

                5. Make your appointment through VFS. You will use your barcode and fee receipt number to schedule an appointment

                6. Carry the Following Documents with You:

                               • A passport

                               • Your confirmation page (printed on a laser printer).

                               • Visa Appointment letter

                               • Visa fee receipt (Bank fee receipt)

                               • SEVIS receipts

• In addition, if you are applying for a petition-based visa (H, L, F, J, M, R visas) should also bring petition-related documents.

                              • One recent (within the past six months) passport size photograph 50mm X 50mm (2" x 2") with a white or off-white background.

7. Additional required documents:

                              a. I-20 form

                              b. Admission letter from the university

                              c. Proof of funding:

                                             i. Department Assistantship offer letter

                                             ii. Bank Letter showing the financial availability and/or financial affidavit

                             d. Detailed Resume

                             e. Supporting educational documents

                                             i. Mark sheets of bachelors and Masters (any degree after bachelor’s)

                                            ii. Academic transcripts of bachelors and Masters (any degree after bachelor’s)

                                           iii. GRE and TOEFL score cards

                                           iv. Diploma of Bachelors and Masters (any degree after bachelor’s)

You should then be prepared for some likely to be asked questions in a visa interview which constitute the subject matter of the next post. 

Visa Interview Appointment and Required Documents

This post answers mainly two questions: 1. How to get appoint for visa and 2. What are the required documents to be carried for visa interview?

Once you have completed the first three steps: got the I-20 letter, paid the SEVIS fee, completed the DS-160 form and paid the visa fee you can now apply to for a visa interview through VFS. You will use the barcode and fee receipt number to schedule an appointment. You need to determine the visa consulate where you are supposed to apply to for a visa interview.

While going for a visa interview you will need following documents to carry with you:

• Passport

• Your confirmation page of DS-160 form (printed on a laser printer).

• Appointment letter from the department you have been offered assistantship

• Visa fee receipt

• SEVIS fee receipt

• In addition, if you are applying for a petition-based visa (H, L, F, J, M, R visas) should also bring petition-related documents.

• One recent (within the past six months) passport size photograph 50mm X 50mm (2" x 2") with a white or off-white background.

• Proof of financial availability: financial affidavit, bank letter and passbooks, fixed deposit documents etc.

• Admission related documents

In addition of the above listed documents, you must also carry following documents:

i. Mark sheets of bachelors and Masters (any degree after bachelor’s)

ii. Academic transcripts of bachelors and Masters (any degree after bachelor’s)

iii. GRE and TOEFL score cards

iv. Diploma of Bachelors and Masters degree (any degree after bachelor’s)

v. Masters (All post-bachelor degree)

You should also be prepared to answer some important questions that are likely to be asked in an interview. Those will be discussed in the next post.

Universities with Low GRE Score Requirement

Recently lots of applicants have been searching for the key term: low gre universities. Though it’s tough to list universities which have low GRE requirement, I have tried to enlist some universities where a GRE score of around 1100 can be good for admission. Remember that other credentials also count for admission and hence simply having a GRE score of 1100 by no means, guarantees admission. Most of these universities also have extended deadlines so these are good for those who have written GRE very late, say by the end of January or even middle of February.

The list of the universities:

Texas Tech University

Oklahoma State University

University of South Florida

Northern Illinois University

Georgia Institute of Technology

University of Nevada - Las Vegas

Northeastern University

University of Central Florida

Please note that GRE requirement vary from year to year. Hence applicants are advised to contact the present students at the university to enquire about the recent GRE requirements especially of the previous year. Most of the universities have their PhD students email address on their website.

I hope this is useful for those who for some reason could not score well in GRE. Please follow the blog if you find it useful and ask questions that you think should be addressed.

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Instructions on Filling up online DS-160 Form

As already discussed in the post DS-160 application is very lengthy and can be confusing. On You Tube I found this video which gives instructions on how to fill up online DS-160 form. It gives the detailed step by step guidance about the application.

Hope this is useful.