Here I am with three admits in my hand:
1)RIT with a 9600$ scholarship and the option of joining in either winter(session starting 3 December) or spring(session starting 3 march). I received both the I-20 through air mail.
2)SMU with no aid.They have asked me to pay a SEVIS fee of 100$ and only then will they send me the I-20.
SEVIS fee is compulsory for international students.
3)NJIT. Till one day before they sent me the admit through e-mail,the site showed my application status as ‘incomplete’ as the financial documents were incomplete/missing. I was absolutely sure that I has sent them the correct documents and so I had mailed them to explain as to what exactly was missing from the application. They did not bother mailing back. They only informed me of their decision to admit me and have asked me to send the financial documents to them again so that they can issue me the I-20. I am not too keen on this university hence, I will not be mailing them the documents. So much for their I-20.
However, now that I have at-least one I-20 in hand, I can go for a visa date. For spring applicants, it is generally desirable that the visa date be around mid-november. The reason being, one still has a chance to go make a second attempt if (god forbid) his visa gets rejected in the first.
Here is a very important list of student visa checklist:
1)VISA APPLICATION FORM: Has to be filled online, after paying the VISA fee to HDFC Bank.
2)PASSPORT: Valid at-least one year from the date you apply for the visa.
3)COLOUR PHOTOGRAPHS: 50mm X 50mm clicked against a light background.Wear a T-shirt (you should look like a student and not like an employee, so refrain from wearing formals). Another instruction for girls (and guys who keep their hair long) is that your hair has to be tied so that your ears are visible (don’t ask me why).
4)HDFC FEE RECEIPT: Carry the receipt issued to you by the bank.
5)INTERVIEW APPT LETTER: Obviously, you carry the confirmation letter with you.
6)SEVIS REGISTRATION: Carry the confirmation letter stating that you have paid the 100$.
7)I-20 FORM:Carry the I-20 of the university you with to take admission to. NOT ANY OTHER I-20.
8)ACCEPTANCE LETTER: Admission letter and brochure from the university. Letter of financial aid, if any.
9)OTHER ADMITS/REJECTS: Carry ONLY the letters(not I-20’s) for other colleges’ results.
10)MARKSHEETS:GRE, TOEFL, 10th, 12th, all B.E mark-sheets in original.
11)INCOME TAX FORMS: 3 years income tax papers of your parents. Your’s too, if at all you pay taxes.
12)SALARY CERTIFICATE: Issued by your parent’s employer. In case tax is deducted at source,then carry the TDS certificate.In case parents have business,they must carry income tax papers of previous two years,partnership deeds and balance sheet of the company and bank passbook of the company.
P.S. I had gone to my counselor to ask her about the visa procedure. Incidentally, I had to attend a puja the same day before my appointment with her. I am not usually seen in the ‘traditional Indian avatar’, but that day I ended up looking like a ’suitable desi bahu’ at her office. She looked at me as if she had just swallowed a raw salmon. Without hesitating, she proceeded to ask me if this is the way I was going to dress for my interview. Before I could utter anything, she told me that this kind of a dress is not ’suitable’ for a visa interview. (don’t think too much, I was only wearing a salwar kameez). She has asked me to wear a ‘western’ outfit, something like a ‘cool’ T-shirt and jeans so that I look ‘fit’ for going to U.S.
Did I get? Did I not? Keep watching after-grad for updates.
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This one comes from someone who has taken the visa interview. You also need to go to the VFS center at least 5 working days before your actual visa date. If i am not mistaken the things that you need to take with you are almost the same. Just that you will not need your marksheets, finance documents. Make sure you have photocopies of all the stuff you submit and also, the photograph should be scanable. Sometimes their system does not accept the photo that you have and you have to shell out 200 bucks to get a photo there. All the best for your visa interview!!!
Pratik Shah
September 27th, 2007
[…] 7: Take a visa date. Read the posts ‘Visa Woes’ and ‘Visa Power-I Got It!‘ for details. Pay the token fee and get the admission secured. […]
After-Grad.com » Blog Archive » M.S. In U.S. In 9 Easy Steps
September 29th, 2007
Hey thanks!!
i was searchin these info and suddenly found in ur blog. Its like i was hoping for Coal & luckily found a Gold mine
Seldon
October 6th, 2007
Its nice to know that the blog is helping students who are looking for some info. Feel free to contact the after-grad team if you need any more information.
Pratik Shah
October 6th, 2007
Hey, Nice article.
I have a problem regarding the required documents. My parents were living abroad until a few days ago, and the thing is there was no income tax there. Basically, I can’t show any IT papers. Do you think this be a problem?
And btw, I was planning to go in fully formal clothes like a job interview!
Varun
March 11th, 2008
@Varun
IT papers are a mean of showing what is their annual income. It is probably the best way to show the income. If you can find something else which is official enough then I hope it will not be a problem. Something like salary slips and stuff for the past 3 yrs. You would be better of going to a good counselor and let him/her evaluate this situation. I do not want to be giving you wrong advice.
Pratik Shah
March 12th, 2008
I have the same problem as mentioned above. My sponsor is my uncle who run a business. but he doesn’t pay tax, and no tax documents are available. what alternative documents i can use instead of tax documents to show their business?
Nadeem
April 25th, 2008
@Nadeem
We are not professionals at this so we do not know what other documents may be useful. It is preferable to go ahead with standard documents only. In case you do not have any other options, contact a counselor, that would be the best thing to do
Pratik
May 2nd, 2008
did u face any problems as compared to your fall counterparts…i mean u were 6 months late …plz respond
priya
June 29th, 2008
@Priya
There should not be any problems if you join graduate school even in spring. Everything remains the same. You might just miss out on one or two courses but it really does not put you to a disadvantage.
Pratik Shah
July 9th, 2008
@Priya
I didn’t face any problems after coming in Spring. In fact, it turned out to be a better option for me because people who came in Fall had to wait for 2 semesters to apply for interships. So they came in August ‘07 and got internships in May ‘08. But as we came in Spring, we took up courses in Summer too (which is a much smaller term) and hence it made us eligible to apply for Fall semster (August ‘08 onwards). Besides, due to a certain course structure of our department, the people who came in Fall will graduate in 2 and a half years while Spring batch will graduate in 2 years. So one and the same thing
Manjiri Keskar
August 7th, 2008
thanx 4 replying to my query…im currently in my 7th sem of engg…in wch month shud i giv gre n toefel so as to aplly 4 spring widout wasting ne year…@manjiri in wch month did u give ur gre and toefel….thanx in advance…
priya
September 16th, 2008
Hii, I wanted to ask is there any difference bet admission in spring Vs Fall..as I am planning to join in Spring 2011 for MS in US..and does the UNI matter for the jobs..and what about the Job placement through Campus…and will an MS get Job in US in todays time…and about H1B visa and salary…and can u suggest mein some good UNI for Spring 2011
Rahul Sharma
July 30th, 2010