Quick question - F1 school fees
 

Hi all,

Just a quick question - I am in the US and attending school. My fees are paid for through an internship at $6,000 per year. My internship provider (A government organisation) had done a deal with my school to charge me the 'in state' rate which halves my tuition cost and leaves around half of the $6,000 for books, laptop etc however one individual in the school's finance department has suddenly and quietly went back on this agreement.

I am being told that there is some sort of federal law that states exactly how much a foreign student must be charged (double that of a resident). I cannot find anything to substantiate this and I am just curious whether this is something worth trying to push a little harder.

The international advisor and most importantly the dean put their foot down and told the financial people to charge me as a resident, however they claim this 'federal law'.

Can anyone clarify?

Additionally, and out of curiosity only (I am not planning to do this) my internship provider who is unfamiliar with visa laws has out and out offered to sponsor me if I can some how get a work visa as they are desperate for staff. The international advisor says it may be possible and will give me the info for an immigration attorney if I want to pursue it. I was of the impression that sponsorship was not an option? There will be a shortfall of around 300 positions in my field over the next two years and very few qualified candidates exist for miles around.

Re: Quick question - F1 school fees
 

In order to get a work visa, you need a US employer to sponsor you. If your internship provider will also be the sponsoring company, then it might work for him (i.e. the company he works for) to sponsor you. The company can file the petition for an H1B on April 1, 2017 for a start date of Oct. 2017. The position needs to require a degree, and you must have a degree in that field, or a number of years experience in lieu of a degree.

Rene

Re: Quick question - F1 school fees
 

I have never heard of such a law... and, AFAIK, tuition rates are set by the school, not by the government. I would press this person to cite the source... so yes, push harder.


Sponsorship is almost always an option - but you'd need to give up your F-1 status because I don't believe it's consistent with the rules of that status.

Ian

Re: Quick question - F1 school fees
 

That makes a little more sense. I am currently working on the degree so it's always an option for the future.

Are these sponsorship visa's long and hard to get or is it common?

Re: Quick question - F1 school fees
 

If it's an H-1B visa, it's a long shot to be sure! The H-1B lottery is heavily oversubscribed (roughly 200,000 applications for 65,000 visas).

Ian

Re: Quick question - F1 school fees
 

If there is a genuine and demonstrable shortage of skilled people, then perhaps an EB-x greencard would be a possibility? :unsure:

Re: Quick question - F1 school fees
 

I don't think it would be terribly hard to prove there is a genuine need. There are sources at state level who could corroborate that!

In fact they are offering silly amounts of money in incentives and where I am based they have even stopped advertising as its a pointless cost - no one is applying!

Re: Quick question - F1 school fees
 

Pretty sure there is no law. It's vaguely possible that there might be a state law where you study, but highly unlikely. Tell them you'd like to be charged double the rate of the lowest paying resident, i.e., zero.

Also, depending on the nature of your "government sponsor", it may be possible to get a cap-exempt H-1B, which is not tied to the typical H1-B schedule. Your post does not include enough information.