Upon receipt of your Certificate of Eligibility (I-20), you will need to make an appointment with the American Consulate or Embassy having jurisdiction over your place of permanent residence. Although you may apply at any U.S. Consular Office abroad, it may be more difficult to qualify for the visa outside the country of permanent residence.
Before you apply for the visa, you should understand the process and the rules governing visas. Many visa applications fail. In some countries, most applications fail. Often it is because the student did not know the rules or was not prepared. Tiffin University does not want this to happen to you. Please read what follows very carefully.
The consular officer will take a very legalistic view. In the U.S., it is considered important to be impersonal when administering laws. This is considered rude or improper in many countries, but not in the U.S. where the ideal is to apply laws equally to all regardless of status or sex. Do not try to negotiate of discuss personal matters.
Be sure that your passport is valid at least 6 months beyond the date you expect to depart the United States.
The most important rule may seem strange to you. The consular officer who makes the decision on your visa application is required to think of you as someone who plans to come to the U.S. permanently and you must prove that you intend to return to your country after completing studies. U.S. law very clearly states that F visas may be given only to persons who intend to remain in the U.S. temporarily.
The other important rules are:
(1) You must have a definite academic or professional objective. You must know what you are going to study and where it will lead. Be ready to say what you want to study and what kind of career it will prepare you for in your home country. Be prepared to explain why it is better for you to study in the U.S. than at home.
(2) You must be qualified for the program of study.
(3) You must be definite about your choice of school. If you do not seem certain that you want to attend Tiffin University, you not be given a visa.
(4) You must be adequately financed and have documents to prove it. Except in the unusual case when employment is particularly authorized on the Form I-20 (the notation of graduate assistantship), you may not plan to use employment as a means of support while you are in the U.S.
U.S. government officials are convinced more easily be documents than by spoken statements. When possible, have papers to show your connections to your home country. If your family owns property, take the deeds. If you have a brother or sister who studied in the U.S. and then returned home, take a copy of the brother or sister’s diploma and a statement from an employer showing that they have returned home. If possible, show that an individual or company in your home country will give you a job when you return. If you cannot get a promise of a job, try to get a letter saying that you will be considered for a job, or that the company needs people with the kind of education you are coming to receive in the United States.
If your family owns a business, take letters from a bank, describing the business, to the visa interview with you. Do not emphasize any ties you may have to the United States or to family members in the U.S. Your visa application is stronger and better if at least part of your financial support comes from your home country, even if most of it comes from within the United States.
Do not speak of working in the U.S. unless employment is authorized on your Form I-20. Though limited work permission is possible for students in F-1 status (but not for dependents in F-2 status), employment is not guaranteed and cannot be used as part of your financial support for visa purposes.
Read your Form I-20. Make sure you sign and print your name on number 11. Some of the rules you must follow are printed on page 2. Be aware of these rules-especially the requirement that you study full-time. Look at the date entered in item #5 for reporting to the school. You must apply for the visa in time to reach the school no later than that date. You may obtain the visa and enter the U.S. up to 90 days before that date.
There is no time limit on how soon you can apply for the student visa. The sooner you apply the better. Consular offices get extremely busy during the late summer months (July, August, and September). However, you will not be allowed to enter the U.S. more than 90 days prior to the start date on your Form I-20.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the International Student Affairs Office: