Congratulations on getting an admit! If you’re reading this, you have probably also finalized your university from all your admits! If not, DO IT! You still have a long way to go.
Now that you have finalized your university, you have a few steps to be followed before you can fly to the US!
The most important one is getting a VISA!
So a few steps that you need to follow to get a F-1 student visa are:
- Get your admit
- Get your i20 from the university
- Fill and print out the DS-160 form
- Pay the SEVIS fees
- Book your VISA interview slot
- Collect documents
- Give the interview and get your visa approved
Then fly my friend, FLY!
Suggested: What to do after receiving your I20?
Now that the process is clear, let’s start with the details.
Once you have received an admit, in order to apply for the i20, you will need to submit some financial documents. In these documents, you will be asked to prove that you have the capability of paying one year’s tuition fees as well as living expenses. You can show this amount in personal savings, family savings, fixed deposits or even in the form of an education loan.
Now, if you have the savings and have collected enough finances in order to fund your entire degree, it’s great! However, a lot of applicants prefer to keep those savings and opt for an education loan.
An education loan will require you to collect a lot of documents to prove that you are accountable and will be able to repay the loan. Also, since it is an education loan, some providers may ask you to provide the acceptance certificate or even the i20.
The problem here is that the sanction letter may take a week or so to arrive after all your documents have been approved. This will delay the process of you receiving your i20, which will further delay your VISA process.
On the other hand, if you do not have enough funding to show for the i20, and your loan provider wants your i20 to sanction your loan, then you’re stuck in a deadlock, right?
This is one place where Yocket can help you. With our free loan assistance and partner loan providers, you can apply for the most suitable loan for your profile even before receiving an admit!
You can find more articles on financing your education here. You can also click here for Yocket Loan Services.
Once your finances are sorted and you have your i20, you can fill the DS-160 form, pay the SEVIS fees and book your visa slot. You should ideally have you interview in the months or May, June or July. The earlier the better.
Read some visa interview tips here and read about the visa experiences or different Yocketeers here.
You can also find a list of the documents needed for your visa interview here.
However, you cannot enter the US immediately. You are permitted to enter the US upto 30 days before the start date of the course. Therefore, if your course start date is August 26th, then you can fly after the 27th of July. Ideally, you should fly to the US about 2 weeks before the start date in order to settle in to the lifestyle there as well as get used to the time (it is at least nine and a half hours behind!).
Then, that’s it! Begin your classes!
