Having a United States visa is like having a key to enter the country. The expiration date on your visa is the last day you may enter the United States from abroad. You need a valid visa every time you enter the country. Depending upon the type of visa you use to enter the U.S., you are subject to different guidelines in order to "maintain status" or remain in this country legally. The International Students and Scholars (ISS) office can help guide students through the application for F-1 student visas.
For the general steps in acquiring the F-1 Visa, we recommend the following resources:
Requirements
I-20
To apply for an F-1 visa, you will need a SEVIS-issued form I-20 (Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Students) from the dental school.
There are multiple types of I-20 requests:
- Initial: This is the first time you've applied for an F-1 visa. Initial requests are generally made outside of the U.S.
- Transfer: You are already in the U.S. on an F-1 visa. The transfer process will allow you to keep the same SEVIS ID.
- Change of Status: You are currently in the U.S. on another visa type and want to change to F-1.
To request an I-20, you will need to submit the following items:
- Passport copy
- Certification of Finances
** F-1 VISA TRANSFERS SHOULD SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING:
The items listed above can be sent via the I-20 Request Form on the .
The Certification of Finances form is used to show proof of support for your first year of study. You must demonstrate sufficient funding to cover all expenses including tuition, fees, books, instruments and living expenses. Funding may come from your own personal account, a private sponsor's account and/or scholarships/loans that have been approved.
In addition to filling out the form, you will need to provide adequate verification of the funds. Only scanned copies will be accepted 鈥 photos and faxes will be rejected! Verification documents include:
- Original letter from your bank or your sponsor's bank stating the available funds. The letter must be on official letterhead, dated within the last six months and include the bank's seal; and/or
- Official award letter stating the amount and duration of the scholarship/grant awarded, if applicable; and/or
- Non-government source loan approval letter from the granting institution, stating the loan amount, if applicable.
You should obtain two original copies of the financial verification documents. One set of originals should be sent to the dental school; the other set of originals should be retained by you, so that you may have them available when applying for a visa and for use at the port of entry.
Students who are citizens of Canada may obtain their F-1 visas at the port of entry. Canadian students will be required to present their Form I-20, passport and additional supporting financial documents to the U.S. Immigration Inspector at the U.S. port of entry. Landed immigrants in Canada must contact the U.S. embassy/consulate and apply for a visa before entering the U.S.