Immigration Law Attorney

F1 Visa – Student Visa

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Nonimmigrant students intend to study in the U.S. usually apply for a F1 visa. Under INA 101(a)(15)(F) and 8CFR 214.2, foreign students must first obtain a SEVIS Form I-20 issued from a school approved by the USCIS. F1 visa allows foreign students to complete the course of study in the U.S. and often an additional 12-month post-graduation period to seek related employment. The F visa holder must be able to show his financial proofs that he has enough financials to cover each academic years’ room and board and tuition.    

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What is F1 Visa?

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Foreign students, children and/or adults, often apply for F1 visa to study in the U.S.  The study may be at a university, college, public/private high school, private elementary school, seminary, conservatory, a language training program (ESL programs), or a vocational or other recognized nonacademic intuitions (culinary schools, etc.)

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Duration of F1 Visa

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Your F1 visa is often valid until the end of your study program. For example, if you have a F visa to attend a university to study a Bachelor degree, the authorized stay is how long it takes for you to complete a bachelor degree – 4 years. Your status is valid so long your I-20 is valid normally. You may see your period of authorized stay on your I-94 or I-20 shows “D/S” as abbreviation for Duration of Status. There is an expiration date on your F-1 visa page in the passport. That expiration date is usually 1year since F1 visa was issued to you. That expiration date does not necessarily mean that your authorized stay in the U.S. is expired or unlawful after 1 year. The dates listed in your I-20 and I-94 is normally your authorized stay period. The purpose of F visa page in the passport often is related to you entering into the United States. For example, if you received your F visa on January 1, 2020 and the expiration date of your F visa is January 1 2021, you should enter the U.S. before Jan. 1, 2021. However, you are already in the U.S. and the date has passed January 1, 2021, you are still in valid F status so long your I-20 and I-94 are still valid. 

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F1 Visa is often valid 1 year on the passport

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The F1 visa page on your passport normally has a 1-year expiration. If you obtained F visa on January 1st, 2020. The expiration date is January 1st, 2021. You then entered into the U.S. on January 10, 2020 before your college’s spring semester’s start day. You completed your freshman year and decided to return to your home country for your summer break during your sophomore year (2nd year). It was now July 2021 and you were in your home country. You wanted to return to the U.S. in August 2021 and your F visa in your passport has expired. You will need to contact the local U.S. embassy or consulate in your home country and renew your F visa for another year. Typically, a F visa renewal could be done without an interview and online or through a bank or intermediary. Once your F visa had been renewed, you could board your flight and back to the U.S. to complete your studies.

 

F1 Visa Requirements

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Different schools may have different requirements for your I-20. In order to first apply and obtain a F visa, you will need to contact your school’s USCIS designated school official and obtain an I-20 and acceptance letter. Once you have been accepted by the school, students then have to attend an interview and present relevant documents to prove their eligibilities.

In order to maintain you F status once you are in the U.S. and studying at a school, you must comply with the school’s requirements on being a full-time student and making normal progress in your course of studies. Different schools will have different attendance requirements, GPA requirements, credit requirements, or mandatory classes requirements. It is best to work your school’s designated officials to understand what those requirements are. There have been cases where students not obtaining above threshold GPA put on probation and later on terminated I-20 & F-1 status.

 

F1 Visa Job/Employment

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The general impression of F visa is that F visa holders are not authorized to work in the U.S. This is incorrect. F-1 visa holders can work but with certain limitations. Generally, F-1 students can work on-campus jobs. Such as school’s cafeteria, teaching assistant, lab assistant, and other jobs employed through their school and they are on campus. However, the total hours of the employment each week cannot exceed 20 hours on top of being a full-time student. After the first academic year, F-1 students may work off-campus through Curricular Practical Training (CPT)- like an internship for a class, Optional Practical Training (pre-completion or post-completion). Under special circumstances, where the F-1 student can prove there has been severe economic hardship or special circumstances warrants an off-campus job to the USCIS, the F-1 student may file a petition with the USCIS. However, such petitions are rare. Additional restrictions to off-campus employment for F-1 students are (1) the job must be related to the F-1 student’s field of study, and (2) the schools’ designated school official must authorize the employment.

 

F1 Visa Social Security Number

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Many F1 students are not familiar with the social security system in the U.S. F-1 students typically do not need a social security number unless they have obtained an employment offer. F-1 students generally can use their passport as their identification document.

 

F1 Visa Driver’s License in Nebraska

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F1 students can obtain Driver’s License in Nebraska. They will need to provide their I-20, Passport, and proof of address, insurance, and I-94. For more information, F-1 students should contact the local Department of Motor Vehicle’s office.

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Spouse & Children of F-1 Student Visa

 

Spouses of F-1 students can apply for F-2 visa as a dependent. F-2 visa will allow you to stay in the U.S. so long the F-1 visa is valid. However, unlike F-1 students, F-2 visa holders may not engage in employment on or off the campus. The purpose of F-2 visa is to allow the spouse or unmarried under 21 years old children to come to the U.S. and stay with the F-1 student while he completes his studies. The F-2 visa holder may enroll in schools.

 

Unmarried children under 21 of F-1 student can also apply for F-2 visa and attend school so long the F-1 visa holder is in status.

 

In the event the F-2 visa holder decides to enroll in a degree seeking program, it is advisable F-2 visa holder changes his/her status to F-1.

 

F1 Visa Holder Committed A Crime

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Unfortunately, some F-1 students or F-2 visa holders due to cultural differences violate U.S. laws or commit a crime or have a criminal conviction. The student should obtain a lawyer and seek advise on the possible options and impacts of his/her F-1 or F2 status. Different criminal offense can have none to major immigration impact to international students. A domestic assault or a theft charge could render the international inadmissible. Therefore, it is important the F-1 student facing criminal charges should seek counsel immediately.  In many cases the F-1 student who have a criminal record may not experience immediate impact after his conviction. But he/she may be denied entry next time he returns to the U.S. after a summer break.

 

F1 Visa Holder Arrested

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If you are a F-1 student and you have been arrested, you should immediately contact an attorney. The U.S. constitution gives anyone in the U.S. soil the right of presumed innocence until proven guilty. However, depends on the severity of the criminal charge, injuries caused to the accuser or victim, and involving governmental agencies, the F-1 student maybe held in jail on ICE retainer until his/her criminal charge is finally resolved in his/her favor.

 

F1 Visa Engaged Unauthorized Employment

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F-1 student should not engage in authorized employment. In the past, there have been cases where F-1 students act as a shopping broker or local restaurants. Such actions USCIS deemed as unauthorized employment and could be grounds for termination of the existing F visa. Engaging in unauthorized employment can have long lasting impacts on F-1 student’s immigration status and reentry to the U.S.

 

F1 Visa Transfer School

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F-1 students can transfer to different schools. The new school once received applications and financial documents should issue new I-20 to the F-1 students. Some schools do not want the F-1 student to transfer out may threaten to terminate the I-20. If that’s case, F-1 student should contact an attorney. Schools have incentives to keep international students because F-1 student typically pay an out-of state tuition rate, which depending on the state, could be 3-10 times than normal in-state tuition. Thus, it is important to know F-1 students have the right to choose the school they want to be in.

 

Grace Period

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Once the I-20 has been expired, the F-1 student have a grace period of 60-day to leave the U.S. During the grace period, if the F-1 student leaves the U.S., the student will not accumulate “unlawful presence” for the purpose of barring the reentry. However, if the F-1 student, after his/her I-20 has expired for 60-day, continued to stay in the U.S. without a proper immigration status, he will start accumulate unlawful presence. Unlawful presence is a period of time in which you are without immigration status in the U.S. The longer unlawful presence you accumulate, the more serious consequence you may face later on. If you have accrued more than 180 days but less than 365 days of unlawful presence, you may be barred from being admitted to the U.S. for 3 years. If you accrued more than 365 days of unlawful presence, you may be barred from being admitted to the U.S. for 10 years. If you re-entered the U.S without being inspected after having accrued more than 365 days of unlawful presence, you may be barred for life.

 

F1 Visa Bridging the Gap

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For people who are not a F-1 student but want to be come a F-1 student, you must file a petition to change your status. Due to the delay in the USCIS’s processing time, many change of status petition takes a long time. Thus, it was practical to file an application to extend the existing status while waiting for the change of status application’s approval. That was the old practice. For example, a B1 visitor decided to enroll in a graduate school in the U.S. He must file a petition to change from B1 to F1. In the past, the B1 visa holder also needed to file an extension of his B-1 status while his other petition is pending. However, since July 22, 2021, the DHS no longer requires the extension application while his change of status petition is pending so long when the petition was filed the B-1 visitor did not violate his nonimmigration status. If you are considering to change your status for a F-1 or F-2 visa, you should consult with an attorney.

 

F1 Visa Got Married

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Sometimes, F-1 student study in the U.S. and get married and start a family. If the F-1 student decides to continue to study and live in the U.S. he/she should consult with a lawyer. A change of status from nonimmigrant visa to a green card may be important. Because F visas are nonimmigrant visas, meaning that the visa holders do no intent to immigrate to the U.S. However, generally speaking, upon marriage, that the nonimmigrant intent is arguably changed. If the F-1 student decides to adjust his status to a permanent residency based on his/her marriage to a U.S. citizen or a green card holder, you should consult with a lawyer.

 

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If you have a question about bond in an immigration court, please contact Li Law Group at 402-391-2486 and fill out an intake. Contact us at here.

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The information above is for education and marketing purposes only. In no way it is intended to provide legal advice or create a client-attorney relationship. Should you have a question regarding the content or your situation, please contact a lawyer.

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