When is the best time to apply for a study visa in the United States?

There are actually many steps to apply for a U.S. study visa, so many students are not familiar with the process. So let’s talk about how to apply for a study visa in the United States.

1. Processing time

According to the regulations of the US Embassy, ??students can apply for a visa within 4 months before the school starts. It is recommended that students should prepare their visas in advance if their conditions permit. For students who have applied for admission notices from American universities, the earlier they apply for a visa, the higher their chance of obtaining it.

The visa rate in July-August every year is lower than that in April-June. The reason is that the decrease in visa rates is not only due to the visa quota limit of the embassy, ??but also restricted by various factors.

“Judging from the composition of students applying for visas, high school juniors and seniors account for the majority. Due to the impact of college entrance examinations or thesis defenses, visa applications are basically concentrated in mid-June. As the number of students increases, visa officers’ requirements for applicants will increase accordingly. ”

On the contrary, due to the smaller number of people applying for visas from April to June, the time spent on studying in the United States is mostly concentrated on the application process. Tourist, family visit, and business visas, so April to June is a good time to apply.

2. Preparation of visa materials

Before making an appointment for a visa interview, students must prepare the following materials: an admission notice from an American school, and a letter of personal information issued by the school. Form I-20 with SEVIS number; receipt proving that you have enrolled in SEVIS and paid fees; relevant information and supporting materials for payment methods of tuition, living expenses, and other expenses listed on the I-20 form; transcripts from the most recent school attended Original documents, as well as certified translations; examination or test scores required to obtain admission to the school, etc.

3. Visa application process

Before making a visa appointment, admitted students need to obtain a very important document to be granted a visa—I-20.

I-20 is a certificate issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to students through the school after they have been admitted and agreed to the admission conditions and decided to attend the school. It is an important document for making a visa appointment and proving identity in the United States. .

After the school prepares it, it will be mailed to the address reserved by the student. After getting the I-20, the first thing to do is to sign it and keep it the same as the signature on the passport. Then you can fill in the visa application form DS-160 with the above information.

After completing the filling, you need to print out the confirmation page and hand it to the staff on the day of the interview. Once you have these two documents, you can go to the official website of the US Visa Processing Center to make an appointment for a visa, pay the fee, and then also print out the appointment confirmation page.

Students applying for an F-1 student visa also need to go to the U.S. International Student Information System to pay a registration and information storage fee of US$200 and print out a payment receipt.

Finally, bring the above printed materials, I-20 and academic and financial certificates to the interview day, and you have completed the preparation of all materials that need to be reviewed.

4. Relevant rules and administrative review

According to relevant regulations, student visas must not be issued earlier than 120 days before the start date on the I-20 form. Students can apply 120 days in advance, but the student's passport will not be issued until the appropriate time. Students should also note that under normal circumstances, U.S. immigration agencies only allow students to enter the country within 30 days before the start of school. Therefore, students should arrange their time according to relevant regulations.

Note: When applying for a visa, some students may be subject to additional security review due to the courses they study and their background. These students are required to bring their resume to the interview, including a list of all published scientific research papers, a detailed research plan and a copy of the tutor's website. These are all in English. This step takes 4 weeks or more.

5. Precautions

After the visa is successfully passed and the visa is produced, the embassy will send an email to inform you of the method of obtaining the visa (you can pick it up at the nearby CITIC Bank or choose the home delivery service) .

After getting the passport, first open it to check whether the visa has been successfully affixed and check the visa period. Secondly, check whether the personal information on the visa is accurate one by one.

Many students think that they have completed all the preparations for school application after this, but this is not the case. All that needs to be done next is to complete physical examinations and vaccinations according to the different requirements of each school.

All physical examinations and vaccines must be completed at the local entry-exit quarantine bureau and must be completed in strict accordance with the school’s vaccine requirement list.