International Students: U.S. Immigration and Customs

Crossing the Border:

1. Accept Your Offer of Admission: All new students are sent an admissions letter with a reply form to accept the offer. Your first step in the visa process is to accept the offer of admission and deposit!
2. Obtaining your Immigration Document: After accepting your offer of admission and depositing, you will receive an email from ISSS and a request for information and documents. After receiving your information and all required supporting documentation, ISSS will issue your immigration document (I-20). This can take a few weeks to generate.
3. Paying the SEVIS Fee & Applying for the Student Visa: After you receive your I-20, you will need topay the $200 SEVIS fee before applying for your F-1 visa. With the I-20 and SEVIS receipt you will be ready to apply for your U.S. visa.
4. Before You Leave Home: Before leaving home to come to Geneseo, review the "Preparing for Departure" page on our website to make sure you have made all the necessary preparations before coming to the U.S.
5. Arrive in the U.S.: Upon arrival, you will go through immigration inspection, where your electronic I-94 entry record will be created. Be sure to have your passport and immigration document (I-20) with you. Do not pack them in your checked luggage! Before you leave the immigration checkpoint, make sure you have the small ink entry stamp with your visa classification and expiration date ("D/S") handwritten.
6. International Student Orientation & ISSS Check-In: All incoming first-year international students must participate in the International Student Orientation.

10 Points to Remember When Applying for a Visa

1) Ties to Home Country

Under United States law, all applicants for non-immigrant visas are viewed as intending immigrants until they can convince the consular officer that they are not. You must therefore be able to show that you have reasons for returning to your home country. Ties to your home country are the things that bind you to your home town, homeland, or current place of residence: job, family, financial prospects that you own or will inherit, investments, etc. If you are a prospective undergraduate, the interviewing officer may ask you about your specific intentions or promise of future employment, family or other relationships, educational objectives, grades, long-range plans, and career prospects in your home country. Each person's situation is different, of course, and there is no magic explanation or single document, certificate, or letter which can guarantee visa issuance.

2) English

Anticipate that the interview will be conducted in English and not in your native language. One suggestion is to practice English conversation with a native speaker before the interview. If you are coming to the United States solely to study intensive English, be prepared to explain how English will be useful for you in your home country.

3) Speak for Yourself

Do not bring parents or family members with you to the interview. The consular officer wants to interview you, not your family. A negative impression is created if you are not prepared to speak on your own behalf. If you are a minor applying for a high school program and need your parents there in case there are questions, for example, about funding, they should wait in the waiting room.

4) Know SUNY Geneseo and How it Fits Your Career Plans

If you are not able to articulate the reasons you will study in a particular program in the United States, you may not succeed in convincing the consular officer that you are indeed planning to study, rather than to immigrate. You should also be able to explain how studying in the United States relates to your future professional career when you return home.

5) Be Concise

Because of the volume of applications received, all consular officers are under considerable time pressure to conduct a quick and efficient interview. They must make a decision, for the most part, on the impressions they form during the first minute or two of the interview. Consequently, what you say first and the initial impression you create are critical to your success. Keep your answers to the officer's questions short and to the point.

6) Supplemental Documentation

It should be clear at a glance to the consular officer what written documents you are presenting and what they signify. Lengthy written explanations cannot be quickly read or evaluated. Remember that you will have two to three minutes of interview time, if you're lucky.

7) Not all Countries Are Equal

Applicants from countries suffering economic problems or from countries where many students have remained in the United States as immigrants will have more difficulty getting visas. Statistically, applicants from those countries are more likely to be intending immigrants. They are also more likely to be asked about job opportunities at home after their study in the United States.

8) Employment

Your main purpose of coming to the United States should be to study, not for the chance to work before or after graduation. While many students do work off-campus during their studies, such employment is incidental to their main purpose of completing their US education. You must be able to clearly articulate your plan to return home at the end of your program. If your spouse is also applying for an accompanying F-2 visa, be aware that F-2 dependents cannot, under any circumstances, be employed in the United States. If asked, be prepared to address what your spouse intends to do with his or her time while in the United States. Volunteer work and attending school part-time are permitted activities.

9) Dependents Who Remain at Home

If your spouse and children are remaining behind in your country, be prepared to address how they will support themselves in your absence. This can be an especially tricky area if you are the primary source of income for your family. If the consular officer gains the impression that your family members will need you to remit money from the United States in order to support themselves, your student visa application will almost certainly be denied. If your family does decide to join you at a later time, it is helpful to have them apply at the same post where you applied for your visa.

10) Maintain a Positive Attitude

Do not engage the consular officer in an argument. If you are denied a student visa, ask the officer for a list of documents he or she would suggest you bring in order to overcome the refusal, and try to get the reason you were denied in writing.

If You Have Trouble Getting a Visa

Obtaining an F-1 Visa to study in the U.S. is not as easy as it has been in the past. Increased government regulations and tightened security at U.S. consular offices have led to further delays in some cases and in certain regions of the world. You may find the process very easy, or you may be denied your F-1 Visa on your first attempt.

Keep the following information in mind as you begin your visa application process and if you encounter problems:

Do Not Panic

Occasionally students can be initially denied their visas. Many of these students can eventually obtained their visas and came to study in the U.S. If the consular officer denies your first application, there are measures SUNY Geneseo can take to assist you. The college cannot guarantee you a visa, but it has access to resources that may help you out.

Contact Your High School

If your high school is in the same country where you are applying for a student visa, you should contact your headmaster to see if they can call the embassy or consulate to discuss your situation or fax documents to them in support of your application. Some of the students who are currently enrolled at U.S. universities were able to obtain their visa with the help of their high school when their visa applications had been refused more than once.

Be Patient

The visa application process can be very long. While you are in your home country waiting for the visa, staff members at SUNY Geneseo are busy writing letters on your behalf and contacting officials in the United States and in your home country. Please be patient and do not give up hope. Although it can take a long time to obtain the visa, SUNY Geneseo's success rate has been high in getting students to campus.

Be Polite

It is critical that you present yourself well in front of consular staff, even if you are very upset or frustrated. It is very important that you remain polite-even if your visa has been denied. Bear in mind that people at the embassy can be very pleasant and helpful. You will have far better luck if you establish a good relationship with officers, and this will certainly improve your chances of receiving a visa at a later date.

Stay In Touch

It is important that you remain in contact with SUNY Geneseo ISSS staff via telephone or email. The more we know about your situation, the more we can do to assist you. In the event that you need a new I-20 or a letter of support, it is most important that we have your current contact information, including your address and email. You will get much further with assistance from SUNY Geneseo than you will going through the process on your own.

Be Flexible

If you do not have your visa in hand by the end of August, the college must defer your admission until Spring Term. We feel that it is important that you begin the term with your classmates, and that it is crucial to your academic success that you not arrive late in the term. This does not mean that you cannot graduate on time, or that your admission to SUNY Geneseo has been revoked. It simply gives you more time to get all of your documents in order.