Frequently Asked Questions about
Maintaining F-1 Student Status
Once you have used your visa to enter the United
States, your visa does not need to be valid. (Your passport and I-20 do
need to remain valid while you are in the United States). However, if
you travel to a foreign country, you will generally need a valid,
unexpired visa to re-enter the United States. If your visa has expired,
you have used up allowed entries, or the visa stamp does not identify
your current status, you will need to request a new visa at a U.S.
embassy or consulate before you return.
The F-1 visa regulations require you to ‘maintain
status.’ The following is a list of ways that you may fall out of
status:
- Failure to maintain full-time enrollment (with a few exceptions);
- Working illegally, either off-campus without authorization or
on-campus more than 20 hours per week during school or more than 40
hours per week when school is not in session;
- Failure to request a program extension and continuing to study
past the degree completion date listed in your Form I-20A-B;
- Transferring schools without following the appropriate procedure;
and,
- Not attending the school that the USCIS authorized you to attend.
If you have fallen out of status, you may request
reinstatement of your F-1 status. To apply for reinstatement, you must
write a letter to the USCIS explaining the reasons why you violated
status and why you should be reinstated. This letter should describe
the hardships that will result if the USCIS fails to reinstate you. You
may also want to describe how the violation was due to circumstances
beyond your control. If you are denied reinstatement, you have 30 days
in which to leave the United States, or change status to another
nonimmigrant category.
For transferring to another school, you must:
- Be a full-time student;
- Show that you intend to be a full-time student at the new school;
- Prove that you have the financial resources required for your
education; and,
- Not change your educational objective.
You do not need to be concerned about the
expiration of your F-1 visa (the page in your passport) unless you
decide to leave the United States prior to completing your studies. If
you are planning to leave the United States, see the question below
about renewing your F-1 visa.
You may have to renew your visa if you leave the
United States and your current F-1 visa will expire before you re-enter
the United States. Students traveling to Mexico, Canada and islands
adjacent in the Caribbean (except Cuba) for less than 30 days are not
required to have a current visa in their passport. Under the automatic
visa revalidation program, your visa will be considered “extended” (and
"converted" to the proper visa category if you had changed status while
in the U.S.) to the date of reentry. This eliminates the need to obtain
a new visa at a U.S. consulate before that particular re-entry.
However, if you apply for a new visa while in Canada, Mexico and islands
in the Caribbean, you will not be able to return to the U.S. unless the
visa is granted. Also, citizens of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, and North
Korea are not eligible for automatic visa revalidation.
If you are visiting a country besides Canada,
Mexico or the Caribbean, or you will be out of the country for longer
than 30 days, you will need to apply for another F-1 visa at a U.S.
Embassy or Consulate.
Yes, SEVIS is applicable to F-1 visa holders. The
SEVIS system monitors the status of persons who enter the United States
with an F, M or J visa. To qualify for an F, M or J visa, the school or
exchange program in the United States must register each person on the
SEVIS website. The SEVIS system then generates the Certificate of
Student Status (I-20) or Certificate of Exchange Visitor Status
(DS-2019) form. Each applicant for an F, M, or J visa must submit a
SEVIS-generated I-20 or DS-2019 with a unique barcode number at the U.S.
consulate or embassy. The embassy checks the SEVIS system and confirms
the information before issuing a visa.
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