ALFRED BOLL: Hello. And welcome to our Facebook Live on Student Visas. My name is Alfred Boll and I represent EducationUSA
and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. department of State in Washington DC.
Today’s program is part of a series of conversations to help provide international students with the most
relevant information and topics on American higher education. If you are interested in studying in the United States,
our Facebook Live discussion will help you better navigate the application process for getting a student visa.
Joining me today is Laura Stein. Laura is a visa policy expert in the State Department’s Bureau
of Consular Affairs. Also joining us, virtually, is Lee Seedorff, the Senior Director of International Student
and Scholar Services at the University of Iowa. If you have questions you would like Laura or Lee to answer
during the program, just post your question in the Comments section next to the video player.
Laura and Lee, thank you so much for joining us today. I would like to begin by asking each of you
to describe the work you do. Lee, could we start with you? LEE SEEDORFF: Yes, thank you. I’m very happy to be here today.
University of Iowa International Office
So at the University of Iowa, we have about 4,000 international students from over 115 different countries.
We’re a typical international office. The things that you should look for when considering
going to a university– we do things from the point students are even considering coming to a university.
We’ve got some great webinars available to students. Once people are admitted and decide
that they’re great attend here, we have a lot of pre-arrival information for them.
We have orientation services. Once students are here, we, of course,
help students with immigration and visa issues throughout the course of their studies.
But one of the things we’re most proud of and really enjoy is a lot of intercultural programs and workshops
that we create for students to help with the cultural adjustment process–
a lot of ways that we try to connect domestic and international students. So those are the kinds of things students should
watch for when they’re considering attending a school in the U.S. ALFRED BOLL: Thank you, Lee, fantastic introduction.
Laura, could you tell us a little bit about the work you do with Consular Affairs and give us some best practices and tips for navigating
consular affairs
the visa process? LAURA STEIN: Sure. Absolutely, Fred. So I work in the visa office.
And our job, really, is to provide policy and procedures.
We tell our consular sections at our U.S. Embassies and consulates abroad, basically,
how it is that they should adjudicate visas. We dictate things like which applications
are required, which documents are required, that sort of thing.
We also received questions from consular officers adjudicating applications when they
have case-specific questions. And we ensure that our guidance and policy
procedural information that we give them is accurate and up-to-date. The Visa Office also does a lot of outreach events
like this one to students as well as the U.S. School officials to tell them about the visa application process.
So before applying for a student visa, the applicant should have received their Form I-20
from the U.S. school they were accepted to and plan to attend. And they also should have paid the SEVIS fee.
SEVIS is Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.
And that fee is paid at the fmjfee.com website.
ALFRED BOLL: OK. And what about scheduling a visa interview? LAURA STEIN: So you’ll schedule your visa interview
at a U.S. Embassy or consulate. That is the next step. And we encourage applicants to apply as early as possible.
You can go to our website travel.state.gov. And from there, you can access the online visa application
Form DS-160, and you’ll need to complete that. You can also find information about wait times
for an appointment at each embassy or consulate. Wait times do vary by location as well as the season and visa
category. So I urge you to apply as early as possible for your student visa.
ALFRED BOLL: OK. Interesting. And so would the next step be to actually go to the consulate?
LAURA STEIN: Yes. So you’ll go– Actually, the next step would be to consult the website of the embassy or consulate
where you plan to apply. ALFRED BOLL: Oh. Got it. LAURA STEIN: And that will have more specific information
on how to apply including how to schedule your visa interview appointment and how to pay the nonrefundable visa application
fee, which is currently $160. As a recommendation, I would stress
that you do not book airline tickets until you’ve actually been issued a student visa.
ALFRED BOLL: That makes a lot of sense. So once a student has the I-20 Form from the U.S. School that they were admitted to and plans to attend
the school, pays the student and exchange visitor system fee
at fmjfee.com, completes the DS–160 Form
at travel.state.gov, and schedules a visa interview on a U.S. Embassy or consulate’s website, what comes next?
Can you tell us more, maybe, about the interview process itself, the interview? LAURA STEIN: So sure.
On the day of the student visa interview, you would– the student would need to bring several things
with to the interview. First, you are going to need to bring your original Form I-20 that was issued and provided to yo
u by the school
that you will attend. You’ll also need to bring the form DS-160 visa application
form confirmation page. You’ll need to bring your passport as well as one photo, the visa application fee receipt,
as well as any additional documents that the embassy or consulate where you will apply may have,
as requested, on their website. ALFRED BOLL: So the embassy and consulate could ask for, like, specific documents.
LAURA STEIN: Yes, they could. And the applicant can find out what those documents are by checking the website.
ALFRED BOLL: OK. And what happens, then, at the interview? LAURA STEIN: So at the interview, the applicant’s fingerprints will
be collected electronically. Fingerprints may be taken by the Consular Officer who will interview you or by another member of staff.
And this will depend on the location where you apply. ALFRED BOLL: OK. Thank you.
So Laura, what’s it like for a visa applicant once he or she is at the window with a Consular