Understanding the Visa Process for International Students

Professional.

I mean, you're fine. I have like a Murphy bed here on the corner. So.

That's what.

Are you sure? Because I was expecting. We are painting by our office and so I'm in my bedroom. I didn't realize I couldn't have like a different background. But OK, let me just like, I don't know, shut the door or something. At least my bed is made.

Yeah, it looks like they do.

We do have participants joining us. They they automatically get dropped in at 12:00.

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Awesome. So we'll let everyone join. Might take a couple of minutes. We had almost 200 registrants, so we're expecting a pretty big number.

Wow. Yeah, I see 60 participants already. That's great.

And we will record it. So we'll send this out to all the restaurants later as well.

OK, the cats will cry if I have the door all the way shut. So we're good. I'm ready.

My dog is the same way.

Awesome. Well, welcome everyone. This is our webinar with the ISSO, the International Students and Scholars Office, and Heller Admissions, so we're happy to welcome everyone.

I'm going to go ahead and start the presentation.

And manage the slides. OK. So the next slide that you will see here, our host for today. So we have Adria Papadopoulos with the ISO and Rachel Benjamin also with the ISO. And I am Hannah Lock and I'm with Heller Admissions. So you probably have heard from me from various emails over the past several months and we're here to walk you through the Visa process. So our agenda today, we're gonna go over just some enrollment steps from the admission side.

Access to the Vidal forum, what it entails?

The difference between the J1 and the F1.

2.

Any immigration documents and materials you'll need to gather to submit your Vidal form, what the status fee is and the visa application and kind of what to expect during your interview with the embassy or the consulate and then entering the US.

So we'll go through that briefly and then we will answer questions at the end. You're welcome to put in questions in the question chat box.

We will only answer questions today that are more general, so if you have any personal stories or personal situations, e-mail us afterwards and we're happy to answer those privately.

So now moving on to the enrollment deposit. So before you have access to the Vidal form, you do need to submit your enrollment deposit and that is $500.00 for all of our programs except for the NBA or NBA dual degree programs. That is $1000. So once you submit that, you'll then have access to create a brandized e-mail account. You'll need to create that e-mail account also before you have access to the build out form. So those are the two big things you need to do.

Prior to the process, I know most of you have your deadline. Your deposit deadline is April first. You're welcome to submit your deposit before then or on April 1st if you need extra time. That is OK as well, but it does.

Take time to go through the visa process, so it's important to know that if you delay these steps, it could potentially have negative effects on your visa application.

And for cost of attendance, so we are still.

We're still waiting on the final tuition amount for fall 2024. So what you see here are the fall 2023 numbers. So you can expect maybe about a 3% increase. But there are some links here and you'll have access to the slides after this where you can look at our cost of attendance calculator to put in, you know, your tuition scholarship, any other scholarships you've received from Heller, all of the estimated living expenses. And that will add everything up for you, so you know what kind of money you need to show for the Vidal form.

And for your visa interview, if you have any questions about the cost of attendance or how to calculate this, you can reach out to my office in Heller Admissions and we're happy to give you more resources on how to calculate your tuition amount after your scholarship.

And now I'm going to hand it over to.

My I colleagues.

Thanks, Hannah. So I'm going to start by talking a bit about the visa application process and all the steps that you'll need to go through from getting accepted to Brandeis to coming to campus.

So first you'll need to gather your financial documentation and submit your vid off. Then we'll review the documents you've submitted and provide you your Form I-20 or Form DS2019 depending on what kind of visa you plan to apply for.

That document is what you'll need to start your visa application process. Once you have that document, you can pay your see this fee, which we'll talk more about later. You can then schedule your visa appointment, go to your visa interview, Hopefully you'll be approved, and then you can pick up your passport with your new F1 or J1 visa printed on it. And then once you have that, you're allowed to enter the US anytime within 30 days before your program start date.

Once you're here, we'll be happy to welcome you to campus.

So the vid off stands for Visa Information and Declaration of Finances. This is the form that you need to submit to the ISO so that we have all the information we need to create your immigration documents.

So you actually have to wait for an e-mail from us that we will send to you with information about how to access the bid off and then you can go ahead and go through the process. So for the bid off, you need to submit proof of financial support for your tuition fee.

And living expenses for your particular degree program. For F1 visas, you need to provide proof of funding for your first year of study, and for J1 visas you need to provide proof of funding for the entire duration of your program. Your financial documents must be in liquid assets, so that means they have to be finances that are available right away. It can't be something like.

A salary statement or your home value or.

Any kind of investments that are locked down that you can't access, those would not be acceptable sources of funding. Something like a bank account for example, would be a great option to show that you have the funds available. You can also include your scholarship that you got from the Heller school if you got a scholarship.

That can count toward your proof of funding, as well as any educational loans you may have or grants or funding from other sources.

And the total amount of financial support that you have available that you show in the bid off must equal the total cost of attendance, and that cost of attendance is also listed on the bid off for you to see. If you also have dependents coming with you, such as a spouse or children, then you need to provide additional proof of financial support to cover their living expenses as well.

So as I mentioned to access the vid off, you'll get an e-mail from the Isso after you've submitted your enrollment deposit.

And will provide you a link and instructions to access the ISSO portal, which is where you'll submit your bid off. You do need to have a brand ICE e-mail account in order to access the ISO portal because that's how you'll log in using your brand ICE username and password. Once you've logged in, you'll see the screen that we've provided a screenshot of on this slide.

So the first page shows instructions for how to navigate the bit off, and then there's several tabs that you'll click through, provide all the information that the tabs ask for, upload documents if needed, including your passport ID page, your financial documentation, and then information about your dependents if you have any. And then when you're done, you'll go to the last tab, click complete, and it will be submitted to the ISO and once you submit your bid off, you will get.

An automated confirmation e-mail so you'll know that it's been submitted properly.

So one thing to think about before you complete the vid off is which student visa type you will apply for. So there's two main options, the F1 visa or the J1 visa. Most students at Brandeis that are international students are here on an F1 visa. So generally we'll assume that you're coming on an F1 visa unless you tell us otherwise. So if you do plan to apply for AJ1 visa instead, make sure you e-mail the ISO at ISSO at brandeis.edu.

As soon as possible so we have that information and can provide you the right version of the bid off.

Generally, both are visa options for international students to come to the US and study full time, but there are some differences in the type of funding that have to be provided. For example, you need more funding from an outside source such as a scholarship, grant or institution for AJ1 visa, whereas an F1 visa can be funded by yourself or your family.

Both do allow dependents to come with you. Both have different work authorization options to get practical training while you're in the US.

And there are certain scholarship types that require students to be on AJ1 visa, such as the World Bank scholarship or the Open Society Foundation scholarship. So if you have one of those, you will be on AJ1 visa, but most other students will apply for an F1. If you have any concerns about which one you should be applying for, there is a page on the ISSO website with information about this.

Or you can always ask your ISO advisor.

So the process for obtaining your immigration document. So that'll be the Form I-20 for F1 students and the Form DS2019 for J1 students. So once you've submitted your bid off, we've reviewed it and all of your information looks correct. You will get your 4920 or your Form DS2019 electronically in the ISO portal within about two weeks after you submit your bid off. If there are any issues. If you're missing any financial documentation, for example, we might e-mail you and tell you that you need to resubmit.

Off with new information.

But otherwise, the process is typically about two weeks, and then we'll e-mail you at your Brandeis e-mail address to let you know that your document is ready and give you instructions to download it from the ISO portal. Remember that this e-mail will go to your Brandeis e-mail address, so it's very important to make sure that you're regularly checking that e-mail.

And this is just an example of what the Form I-20 looks like. So you'll see that big F1 at the top, but this is called Form I-20. You'll see your see this ID number in the top left hand corner of the document. You'll see all of your personal and program information and what's circled there on the left is your program dates. So you just want to make sure that you check those. That will also help you to know when you're allowed to enter the US, which is within 30 days of your program start date.

And you'll want to make sure that you sign and date this document at the bottom where it says Student Attestation. On page two, we have highlighted the travel Endorsement section. Once you're already in the US and enrolled as a student, you will need a signature in that section to travel to the US. But the first time you travel on this document, that Travel Endorsement section will be blank. And that's OK You don't need a travel signature for your first entry to the US just afterward. So for now, you should just see this document.

Make sure all the information looks correct and you'll have a signature from us in the school attestation section and you'll just want to download it and sign in. Date it so you have it ready for when you enter the US and go to your visa appointment.

And similarly, this is an example of the form DS2019 for J1 students. So again, we just want to highlight where you'll see your program start and end dates. You'll want to check and make sure all of the information looks correct. And again, there's a travel endorsement section that for right now will be blank and you'll want to make sure you sign and date at the very bottom of page one.

So some students may have dependents that you want to bring with you to stay with you in the US during your academic program. So dependents can be a spouse or child.

And if you do want dependence with you, you'll just have to indicate that information in the bid off. There's a section about dependence. You can click the plus button in that section to enter your dependent information and provide a copy of their passport ID page. You will also need to provide additional funding if you have dependents, so the estimate that we use is $9600 per dependent.

So if you have just a spouse with you, for example, you'll have to show an additional $9600 on top of your cost of attendance. If you have a spouse and children, you'll need 9600 per person.

Upon receiving your Form I-20 or Form DS2019, you'll also receive an additional form for each dependent which will say F2 or J2, and your dependents will need to schedule a visa interview to apply for their F2 or J2 visa.

You'll need to provide some documents to the US Embassy or Consulate when you are applying for those visas. So your dependents will need to have with them a valid passport, your marriage license for spouses or birth certificate for children, their forms I-20 or DS2019, and that proof of financial support to show that you can cover their expenses while they're in the US.

And fees. So there are fees that you need to pay in order to keep your Cibis record active and to go and apply for your F1 or J1 visa. So after you receive your Form I-20 or your Form DS2019, you'll need to pay the Civis fee. So this can be paid online, and the fee is $350.00 for F1 students or $220.00 for J1 students.

Your see, this fee has to be paid prior to your visa appointment and once you've paid it, you should print out your see this fee receipt and bring that with you to your visa appointment and bring it with you when when you enter the US just in case that's something that the officers need to see. So you can pay with a credit card or you can use Western Union.

Dependents do not need to pay the savings fee, so if you are coming as an F1 student and you're bringing F2 dependence only, you need to pay that $350.00 fee.

There's also a separate fee for the visa application, so this is typically $160, and that's something that you'll pay when you are going to schedule your visa appointment, and that will also be done online.

So there's just certain rules about which countries have visa issuance fees based on reciprocity agreements with the US. So you can find all that information on your local US embassies website.

And just a quick note, if you are a Canadian citizen, you do not need to apply for an F1 or J1 visa to enter the US, but you will still get a Form I-20 or form DS2019 and you will still have to pay the see this fee before entering the US.

And with that, I will hand it off to you Adria, to talk more about the visa interview.

Great. Thank you so much. Hi, I'm Adrian Papadopoulos from the Brandeis ISO. And before I start the visa interview, there is a question about if a wife or child is an American citizen.

And so I just wanted to address that they don't need to apply for an F2 then necessarily. So you only have to provide the dependent information and the extra funding. If you are planning on asking for an F2 document for a spouse or a child that is coming with you. If you're not planning on adding them to your immigration documents, then we don't necessarily need that information.

So I hope that answers your question.

OK, so about the visa interview.

You should check the website of the US embassy in your own country or the country that you might be going to in order to apply for the US visa, because each is just a little bit different in terms of scheduling that visa interview.

Also, the visa processing times vary from country to country, so you do want to check their website to find out about how long it's going to take to get your visa interview.

And how long it typically takes to adjudicate an application.

In some countries, the visa interviews can be difficult to schedule in a timely manner, so that's also why we recommend to check the embassy website directly on the timeline.

There are Oh.

I think.

I think we covered everything and then so it's just plan to plan in advance to avoid any delays in scheduling those visa interviews when you can.

OK, the documents you're going to need to take with you to the visa interview will be the Form I-20 or DS2019 from Brandeis. You'll need the evidence of financial support, so that means the original bank statement or support letters that you provided in order to receive the Form I-20 or DS2019. You should also bring your acceptance letter or admission letter from Heller, and that typically will include if you have a scholarship as well as confirmation that you are admitted to.

Brandeis the Civis fee receipt, which Once you pay the Civis fee as Rachel mentioned, you should be able to download a receipt from that website to prove that you've paid it. And then your passport. And the passport needs to be valid at least six months into the future from the date that you plan to enter the United States and then any other proof of non immigrant intent. So.

That could be something like property that you might own or family ties. Whatever it is that you want to show that you do have proof of non intent to immigrate.

And then if there's anything additional that you need to bring with you, the embassy website will be able to save that information so that you can be prepared.

During the visa interview, you will be asked by the consular officer to show that you have first sufficient funds or proof of assured funds to cover all of your expenses for the duration of this day in the US. So that's why it's important to bring your admission letter with a scholarship from Brian Dice if you have that, any sponsorship, letters from your family that might be sponsoring you, bank statements and then proof of any salary or assets that you have to show that you do have sufficient funds.

The second thing that they will look at is if you have strong ties to your home country and that your plans are to return home upon completion of your program. So for example, if you have a job waiting for you back home after the completion of your studies, you could have investments in your home country or maybe your family resides in your home country. So any of those things that show that you have strong ties to your home country are important to show.

And then the third is to articulate your future plan. So what would you like to study when you're in Brandeis? What did you, why did you choose Brandeis University, for example? What kind of activities will you pursue in your home country after you complete your degree? These are just some sample questions that you might need to be able to prepare and be able to explain during the interview process. But keep in mind that the interview is typically very brief, only a couple of minutes.

For, for example. So it's very important to just be very calm and clear and concise with some of your answers.

This is a sample of a visa. So after the visa interview, if it's approved, they will stamp this in your passport. It will have information about the class, so that means the F1 and then the expiration date. And so you want to make sure that you look at the expiration date because that's the the last date that you can travel on this particular visa. You'll also see under entries it says M on this particular visa. That means multiple, which means you can travel multiple times in and out of the US with this visa until that expiration date.

After the expiration date if you plan to travel internationally again.

You need to plan to return, well, renew your visa while you're outside EU in order to return to EU. In some cases it could say only one entry from particular countries, and that's why it's important to look under entries to see if you have multiple entries or just one entry to get to the US.

This is a sample of AJ1 visa. It looks very similar. The only difference is under the visa type it will say J1. It will also have an expiration date. It will list under entries multiple times or just one, but it might also have on there. If you're subject to the two year homestay requirement and if you have questions about that you can let us know. But that just means in some cases AJ1 may be subject to spending two years in their home country.

Depending on their skill or major or type of funding.

So what happens next? So you got your I-20 or D2019, you went to your visa interview, you were approved for the visa, and now what happens? At the end of that visa interview, you'll be told if your visa is granted, denied or if it will go through administrative processing. If your visa is issued, let Heller emissions and the ISSO know so that we can update our records and prepare to see you in August when you arrive.

If your visa is denied, or if it's subject to administrative processing, you can still contact the ISSO immediately with as much information as possible.

About your visa interview so that the ISO can guide you on kind of the next steps. Typically if you're denied or if you're an administrative processing, they will give you some clear instructions and so it will be helpful to get the paperwork that you might have received from the consulate so that way we can help advise you on the next steps.

Some of the common reasons that we have seen students have a denial would be they have an incomplete application or they're supporting documents are not complete. So that's why it's very important to make sure that you have everything that you need.

Sometimes it's difficult to demonstrate non intent to immigrate, so that's why you want to show those strong ties to your home country.

Proof of funding.

Is something that is sometimes very difficult in the interview to show proof that you are a legitimate student. So that's why it's important to have your admission letter from Brandeis.

And any kind of misrepresentation that you or that an applicant might show during the visa interviews. That's why it's important to be clear, concise, and honest in all of your answers.

And then there's our information on the travel.state.gov website about the visa interview process, as well as isso website. And so those would be really good resources for you to check out in order to prepare for your visa interview. So no matter what, it's really important that you keep us up to date. So once you've received your Form I-20, you'll be asked to fill out a visa confirmation form from Hannah's team on the Heller emissions status page. So please make sure that you fill that out and continue to update the Heller Admissions Team throughout the process.

Also, stay in touch with the ISO. You can communicate with us through your Brandeis e-mail address. Check your Brandeis e-mail often because that's where we will communicate with you regularly from the Isso in terms of steps as you plan your arrival to the US And we will be working as quickly as possible to get your immigration document to you, but it could take our processing time five to seven business days once your bid off is complete.

Because this is a very busy time for documents and so it just takes us a little bit of time to review them and to process them. But we will get to them as quickly as we can because we understand those visa appointments are super important. It's taking more time now than it ever has to get those visa appointments. And so we really understand that this is times time sensitive and we are trying to work as quickly as we can to get to all of the documents that are coming in.

And then here are some resources. So on the ISO website if you haven't had a chance to take a look at it, we do encourage you to take a look at the pre arrival section. This will have a lot of information about steps to complete the vid off as well as information about preparing for your visa interview and travel to the United States.

It's also where you can find information about obtaining the F1 or J1 visa as well. So these are kind of the three big steps, but then we have a lot of detailed information.

In each of those on the ISO website under that pre arrival section.

That's the last of our prepared slides, but I think we have quite a few questions. So Hannah, I'm not sure how you want to handle those, but.

2.

Thank you so much for listening to our presentation and we'd be happy to go over some of those questions with you now.

Thank you so much, Adria. I'm going to start from the top with some of these questions.

OK.

So it looks like one came over. Will we be sharing the presentation? And yes, you will get a link to the presentation in a couple of days where you can re watch it. You can have access to all the slides. It will be in a different format, so you'll see the slides better in the recording as well, so it'll be easier to read and copy those links into your web browser.

Another question came in about the enrollment deposit. So on your status page, you have access to pay your enrollment deposit, and you can use either a debit card, credit card, or a Flywire. Is the wire transfer. If you have an international bank account, you need to wire money. They're all different options. You can reach out to us if you have questions about how to pay.

And there was a question that came in from Abigail. How long does it take for a student to receive the Vida form after they pay the enrollment deposit?

2.

I can take that. So after you submit your enrollment deposit, it does take a few days for all of the information to flow between the different systems.

So I would expect that you'll receive your e-mail from the ISO to access the vid off within a week or less.

OK. And there is a question as well. Does Brandeis facilitate student visas with the embassy?

Also a great question. So we do frequently get those questions from students. Unfortunately, that is not something that Brandeis can do.

2.

We often have students ask for a letter of support from the university to help them get a visa appointment. We have been told by the Department of State that they do not accept these letters from universities. They do not affect the Embassy's decision on when to schedule your visa appointment or whether or not your visa is approved.

So unfortunately we don't have any kind of connections with the embassy to help you with that and we're not able to provide those letters.

And a question from Solomon on the Vidov portal, I saw that an applicant is required to also submit the bank statement of a family member.

I can take that one.

2.

So it's not required. It really depends on what you choose in terms of your proof of funding. So if you are going to be supported by yourself, which means you're going to provide a bank statement in your name, you don't need an extra support letter or family funds as long as your bank account that you are providing has sufficient funds to support you. If you do want a family member to help support you, and then you are going to use a family member's bank statement.

To provide the proof of funds, you need an additional support letter from the account holder of that bank statement. So it really depends on what type of funding you're planning on showing as proof of assured funds, and that will determine if you need a bank statement and support letter from a family member or if you're going to provide personal funding.

Awesome. Thank you.

There is a question about the cost of living calculator, so I'm gonna actually just put that link in the chat as well.

So you can assess how much you would owe after your scholarship and if you're bringing any dependence and all of that nature.

There is another question, Will my I-20 still be valid this year if I deferred from last year?

So you still need to provide updated information and supporting documents even if you deferred and had an I-20 from last year, because the I-20 from last year have dates from the previous year, which means you need a new I-20 that reflect the academic year 2024 to 2025. So you still need to go through the bit off process if you were in. If you have questions, you might want to reach out to the isso directly if you were a deferral because you may already have access to your ISSO portal.

Have what is called a Financial Information update request that has been started. So if you were a deferral and you have access to your ISO portal, I would recommend to log in and see if you can find a request for your financial information update and then you should be able to provide updated finances so we can get you a new I20.

Awesome. And from Steven. Can the CEO of my company sponsor me at Brandeis by providing both a bank statement and a sponsor letter? He is the sole owner of the company. Will we need to move cash to me immediately when I move to Brandeis upon arrival?

OK, so yeah, we do see students get sponsored by the company that they work for in their home country sometimes. If that is the case, then yes, you would just need to provide a bank statement and a sponsorship letter written by the person at your company who is sponsoring you.

As far as transferring the money, that's not something that the Isso has information about. We just need to see that you have the funds available for your bid off. You're not actually paying any money during this process, you just have to show us that you have the money available.

So figuring out how to get that money to you so you can actually pay your tuition bill is something that you can talk to Student Financial Services about if you have questions.

And this is a question about I think this is about maybe the interview. What if I'm not in my home country, but I'm willing to return to my home country after a study?

I think that might be in conjunction to the questions in the visa interview.

2.

Sure so.

2.

I think yeah, it sounds like this is related to the issue of proving non immigrant intent and strong ties to your home country. Really what the US embassy is trying to determine with these questions is that.

Rather than choosing to immigrate to the US by starting your academic program here, that you're planning to just be here for the duration of your academic program.

And then you'll leave the US. So if you are planning to return to your home country, or you're planning to go to a different country and work there, for example, those are all examples of proof of non immigrant intent. It doesn't necessarily have to be your home country as long as you're planning to depart the US at the end of your academic program.

This is a question from John Dennis. Are there any specific regulations or obligations?

That F1 or J1 visa holders must hear to while they're in the United States.

So there are quite a few things that students need to do in order to maintain status. We are not going to go into those details during this presentation, but we will have a presentation on how to maintain your status in the summer. So all graduate students will be invited to an ISSO presentation and it's typically scheduled in July, at the end of July or beginning of August. So you will get an invitation to come and attend a presentation.

Play.

For about 45 minutes, that goes over specific information on how to maintain your F1 or J1 status once you enter in the United States. So I would encourage you to attend that. We also record that presentation and have it on our website for students to review once they arrive. So that's a great question. And yes, there are a lot of things that you will need to adhere to once you enter in the United States to maintain your status.

And here's another good question from George. I have a visa that entitles me to enter the US. Do I still need to apply for a new visa for the studies?

2.

So it depends on what kind of visa you have. So for example, if you have AB1B2 tourist visa already and you enter the US in tourist status, that does not allow you to study full time in the US. So each visa type that you can get to enter the US is for a specific purpose. While you're in the US, an F1 or J1 student visa is for the purpose of studying full time. So you cannot enter in a tourist visa to do your program at Brandeis.

There are some specific cases where students might have other visa types already that would allow them to study. You can always e-mail the ISO if you have questions about your specific situation, but a tourist visa is not sufficient. You would need to apply for a student visa.

And we have a few questions about dependence. So can you apply for your dependence after you arrive at Brandeis?

2.

Yep, that is definitely possible. If you want to 1st arrive at Brandeis and then later on decide to invite a family member, you are welcome to do that. The process will be to request.

Play.

AF2 or AJ2I-20 or DS2019 at that point and provide proof of finances, we would issue the document and then your dependent would take that to their recent interview in their home country and then travel to the US later. So it's definitely possible to add a dependent later in the program.

And then is it allowed to come to the US with my 7 year old son alone without my wife?

Yes, so it's up to you who you're planning to bring with you as your dependents. If just your children are planning to come with you and not your spouse, that's absolutely fine. Just when you're completing the bit off form, you would only need to enter the information for the people who are going to come with you as dependents.

Yeah.

And then could you also confirm the amount to be proven for dependence? If the program is 9 months, is it $800.00 * 9? So that would be $7200.

I think that's correct, right. So I can go ahead and also answer this one. If any of you are admitted into the NBA program or the NBA dual program, that's considered a 12 month program. So then you would have to multiply that by 12 months, which is I think $909,600. But most of you are probably admitted into the global health, the conflict resolution or the development programs and those are all nine month programs. So you would just multiply your program by 9.

And 800 per month per dependent.

Did I get that right, Rachel and Adria?

I think for the initial I-20 we do typically ask for a 9600.

Oh, you do. OK.

Either way, does that sound right, Adria?

2.

Go.

Well, that's a good question because I think historically we might have only done this 7200 because it is only nine months that we need them to show for the first academic year, at least with the ones that we process from Heller.

I'm gonna go back to the dependence.

But you're right.

I think that.

Interesting. OK. So maybe it is initially the 960?

I might have to look at our website as well and see what we put in the past.

Yeah, I think it is just a standard estimate that we use for one year for dependence is the $9600.

If you are AJ one student you're and you're applying for J2 dependence. The calculation might be different because we're looking for documentation of finances for your entire course of study, not just one year.

2.

So it might be a little bit different depending on your individual situation, but in most cases it would be $9600 per dependent.

We have a question I can go ahead and answer. How do we get the Brandeis e-mail address? So again, you only have access to create a Brandeis e-mail address once you submit your reply form and submit your enrollment deposit. Only after that do you have access to create the Brandeis e-mail and then have access to the ISO portal in order to start the visa process.

So those are kind of the prerequisites before having access.

If I am being sponsored by an institution, do I need a bank statement or only a sponsor letter?

I think it depends on the institution.

So if you have a home university or something like that that's sponsoring you, you may just need a sponsor letter.

I would recommend this providing the information that you have on your vid off and then if we have any concerns about it we'll let you know. So if you are missing any information. If we do need a a bank statement from a particular sponsor type then we'll let you know if you're missing the information and you can resubmit the bit off.

And we have a question about, could you tell us more about the proof of financial funding? What date should be on these bank statements?

That is a great question that we actually did not address. So your financial documentation must all be dated from within one year of when you start your program at Brandeis.

So the oldest statements we would accept would be from around September 2023, because that's one year before your new program starts at the end of August 2024. So make sure all of your bank statements are recent.

And we have a question about entering the US. So if one needs to travel within 30 days.

Of visa issue. What is the realistic time to get to the?

To get the visa in order to avoid any inconveniences? And what are the implications of getting a visa too early?

That you get in your passport is your travel document in order to travel to the US and so you don't have to travel within 30 days of that visa being issued. The rule with the 30 days is that you cannot enter the United States until within 30 days of your program start date. So for example, if your program start date this year is August 28th because that is the first day of classes, you can only enter the US within 30 days.

Of August 28th, regardless of when the visa was issued, if that makes sense. So you get your visa. You could get it as early as now, for example, and then you use that visa in August when you arrive, and you just need to make sure that you don't arrive more than 30 days before the start of your academic program.

I.

Awesome. Thank you. I'll take these next few questions. So for those counting on the World Bank, how can they have access to the bid off form? So even if you are waiting on the World Bank to sponsor or you're waiting for that outcome, you only have access to the Vida form once you pay the deposit. So if you want to start that process early because you're not sure if you'll actually receive the World Bank scholarship, you're more than welcome to.

If you want to wait for the World Bank outcome and then you can have access, you can wait as well, but that is the prerequisite. The deposit needs to be paid prior to getting access to the bid off form. Regardless of who is your sponsor, go ahead.

Can I can I clarify something as well? For World Bank sponsored students, the World Bank scholarship does require you to be on AJ1 visa. So if you get approved for the World Bank scholarship, make sure you e-mail the isso right away so that we can update your vid off form. The vid off looks slightly different whether you're applying for an F1 or AJ1 visa, so we would want to go ahead and update the bid off to J1 before you submit it if you're a World Bank scholar.

Thank you. And we also have a question about. So the admission letter stated we pay the $500. Now you said 350, can you explain that? So I think there was some confusion. The $500 is the enrollment deposit, was it 350 or 360?

Is the CSV.

OK. So 350 is a Siva fee. You're not paying that to Brandeis, you're paying that directly to the US consulate. So those are two separate fees. They're not joined in any way.

And is it OK to book a visa appointment before paying the Civis fee?

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Is so you do need to have your form I-20 or DS2019 before you can book your visa appointment. But you just need to make sure you pay the Civis fee at least several business days before you go to your visa appointment, because you will need to show at the interview that you have already paid the Civis fee. And sometimes it takes a couple of days for the information to go through so that the US Embassy can see it. So we'd recommend paying your service fee at least three to five business days before your visa appointment.

Also, I'm looking for a few more questions.

Let's see.

So I paid for the SEVIS fee last year but deferred. How do I go about in getting a new one or updating with the visa appointment?

Do you want to take this, Adria? I'm happy to take it.

So you said that you already paid the fee, correct? You can go. If it's tied to the same Civis number that you have, the I-24, then you should be able to go to the Cavis V website and get a receipt showing that you have already paid the fee. For example, if you applied last year and you were a deferral student, you might have been issued an I-20 from last year and have deferred. Then you might still have that same Civus number. However, if for some reason that CVS number has changed.

Then you'll need to pay the fee again so it's tied to this specific Civis number.

Which determines if you need to pay that fee again. But either way, you should be able to go on the CVS V website and get a receipt if you've already paid.

I believe also that the STEVIS fee is valid for 12 months from the date that you've paid it. So if you paid last year and your visa interview date is more than 12 months from the date that you originally paid the see this fee, then you may need to pay because it might not be valid anymore.

Up.

We have a question about can I work while studying at Brandeis in the US on AF1 visa.

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So that question we're not going to be able to fully address in this presentation. So we would recommend that you come to our maintaining status presentation and set up an appointment once you arrive with your ISSO advisor if you have questions. But the short answer is there are because the primary purpose of the F1 visa is to study. That's the primary purpose for when you enter the United States. However, there are some limited options on the F1 visa in order to get practical experience.

In your field of study, and that typically can happen once you are enrolled.

One full academic year. So if you start in August, you may not be eligible for any kind of off campus work until, for example, next summer, which is why we typically talk about that in orientation.

And then there are some opportunities to work on campus As an F1 student. You can work up to 20 hours a week while school is in session and full time during the break periods. Again, that's something that we would cover in more detail during the orientation, but it is possible for an F1 or J1 student to work on campus.

For a part time status while you might be going to school. So there are some some limited options to working as an F1, but the primary purpose is to study.

And do you have a template for the sponsorship or support letter for a relative?

That template is actually linked within the vid off and it's also on our website in the pre arrival information. So you can click on the link to get to the template and just update it to enter in your own personal information. And do make sure that your sponsor signs the letter and dates it before you upload it to your get off.

Do I need to go to my home country to apply for a visa?

So we do recommend that students apply in the home country, just because the home country might be more familiar with things like your bank accounts and being able to determine the strong ties to your home country and those types of things. However, we understand that there might not be AUS embassy in all countries abroad, and so for those students, going to another country is the only option in order to apply for AUS visa.

If for some reason you are going to choose to go to a different country that is not your own, it's typically called a third country national applying for a visa. And so you want to check the embassy's website that you're going to be going to to first make sure that they accept those kind of applicants that are not from that country. And in a lot of cases they might give priority to people that are from that country in order to do the visa interview. So it sometimes takes a little bit longer to to schedule that kind of an appointment.

Again, that varies depending on the embassy. So if you're planning on doing the visa interview in a country that is not your home country, just be aware of some of those things and to be checking their the specific embassy website that you're planning on going to to make sure that you're able to successfully schedule that interview.

And concerning the proof of funds, is a Treasury bill acceptable?

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Play.

Typically it needs to be liquid funds, so like investments, I'm not sure a Treasury bill will be accepted. We need to see that our liquid funds that would be easily accessible for you to support your education. So retirement funds, stocks, those types of things are not acceptable.

And is the Stevens fee the same as the visa application fee?

Good question. It is not.

So they are two separate fees. So the $350.00 Civis fee is paid to the Student and Exchange Visitor program and then the $160 visa application fee is paid to your local U.S. embassy or consulate. So they are two separate fees.

I'm trying to find some more questions.

I have paid the enrollment deposit a week ago and am awaiting the bid off form.

So I would say just keep checking your Brandeis e-mail account for the invitation to the bid off forum.

If it's been a week, please e-mail the ISO because typically it does not take a full week. So maybe we sent some different instructions, especially if you deferred from last year. So I would recommend if it's been that long to please e-mail isso and then we'll get back to you as quickly as we can.

Oh, let's see.

OK, I'll we can address this one one more time. I think we did this at the beginning. From what I'm hearing in my home country, the dates for a visa interview are booked till the end of the year. Brandeis helped me by issuing a letter to the US embassy for expedited visa interview.

So yeah, we did briefly talk about this during the appointment or during the question and answer section.

So we are not able to issue letters for you to the US Embassy. We've been told by the Department of State that those letters are not helpful. They will not accept them. They will not help you get a faster visa appointment. So what you can do instead, if the visa appointments are all booked up, is book an appointment for the earliest available date, even if it's too late.

For you to start your fall semester and then when, What you can do is contact your local embassy about their options for applying for an expedited visa appointment. So many embassies will allow students to get an earlier appointment based on their program start date on their I-20, but the first step is to book a regular appointment for whatever's available and then request the expedited appointment through the embassy. But you do not need a letter from Randez to do this.

Hi.

Thank you. So we only have six more minutes left, so we'll still take a few more questions. But if we do end and your question is not answered, again, please e-mail us at our offices here and we can chat some more. And as a reminder, we are sending out the recording in a few days, so you can re watch this and go through the slides again.

There is a question about tuition scholarships. So should the tuition scholarship be subtracted from the tuition fees or the full cost of attendance?

In calculating.

So your tuition scholarship from Heller is just based on the tuition amount, the fees and all of the extra, you know, expected cost of living expenses. That's all additional and you do not want to subtract your scholarship from that. We only give scholarships based on the tuition amount, So make sure you put that in when you're calculating and you're not giving the full, you're not giving a percentage based off the full amount, it's just the tuition amount.

Let's see if there are any more questions at the end here.

So we have a question, can I change the phone number I used in creating my Brandeis student e-mail account? So this would be a question. You'd actually want to contact Brandeis it and they would have access to updating your phone number.

I don't think that's something that either of our offices can do. Once you create a brand nice e-mail account, it's kind of a separate IT issue at that point.

Let's see.

So who is the contact officer for continued correspondence? Lots of information here to assimilate.

2.

So for the Isso, depending on your question, if it's about the bit off process or then you can contact ISSO at brandeis.edu or if it has to do with an immigration question, you can contact ISSO at brandeis.edu, the and then we'll get it to the right advisor to let you know a little bit about how it's structured. At the Isso, each advisor has a caseload of students depending on your last name.

So when we issue you the I-20 where you will be assigned an ISSO advisor based on your last name and we have that on the contact page of our website so that you can see who your specific advisor is within the ISSO. But if you want to get to know that information, you're welcome to just use the general Isso e-mail address. And that way we can connect you with your ISSO advisor so they can answer any immigration questions you might have. But if it's specific about the vid off process.

You'll probably be getting an e-mail from myself.

About any bit off questions that you might have?

If it.

Right.

And I did add a link in the chat to the Contact Us page on the ISO website so you can see who your advisor is.

Thank you so much.

So do we need to have, do we need to provide proof of sufficient funds for the cost of living expenses for the entire program or just for one year?

It depends on your visa type. So if you are applying for an F1 visa, we just need to see proof of funding for the cost of your first year of attendance. If you are applying for AJ1 visa, it does need to be proof of funding for the duration of your whole academic program. But for most people, most of you will be applying for F1 visa, so you'll just need to provide proof of funding for one year.

How?

And when you go in the vid off, you should be able to see some information about cost of attendance. So once you get access to the vid off form and you review it, there is a section about finances and we have listed there the tuition and living expenses. So you know the total amount And then if you have your scholarship as Hannah said, you can subtract that from the tuition amount and then it'll show the remaining amount that you would need to show. So if you haven't had, once you get access to that bit off form it might give you some clear.

Numbers on exactly how much you need to show, and that is for the first year of funding. So as Rachel said, if you're applying for AJ, you might need to multiply that amount by the duration of your program, but it will show the first academic year in terms of the funding that you'll need to show.

And the vid off is personalized based on your own academic program that you've been accepted into. So you will see the cost of attendance for your specific program when you log into your get off.

Awesome. Well, I think we will close it at that. Again, thank you everyone for attending. Thank you Rachel and Adria for helping facilitate this and I hope that everyone got some really good resources and questions answered. It is a long process. We realize it will take several months. So we just hope that you go slow, you know, read everything, get all your materials gathered and we are here to support you as you need.

Again, thank you so much. e-mail our offices if you have any other questions and we will be in touch.

Bye everyone.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

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