Go Back  British Expats > Living & Moving Abroad > USA > US Immigration, Citizenship and Visas
Reload this Page >

Will i have difficulties obtaining an F1 visa?

Will i have difficulties obtaining an F1 visa?

Old Jun 27th 2019, 12:48 pm
  #1  
Just Joined
Thread Starter
 
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 1
adot97 is an unknown quantity at this point
Default Will i have difficulties obtaining an F1 visa?

Im a recent graduate from a university in the UK, who is looking to start a graduate program in California this Fall. I have been accepted and now need to obtain an F1 visa from the US embassy in London.



However, i have been travelling on an ESTA in the US for the past two and a half months (April-June 2019) and before that, my travel history involves a 1 and a half month esta stay from Aug-Sept 2018, and a J1 visa exchange study from Aug 2017 - June 2018 (grace period incl.)



My question is, will i run into a lot of issues and risk a f1 denial at the embassy in London if i was to apply for my F1 in July? Would they ask questions about my travels and my frequent visits? Is it likely that i will get denied?



During my travels i have been visiting friends, and attending festivals/travelling across the west coast to different cities and states. I have not worked illegally or broken any ESTA rules, and have never overstayed my visa limits.



I have only applied to one school for graduate studies, which is also in California, where a large majority of my time has been spent as well as where i went to study on my j1 exchange. Will this raise questions about the nature of my time spent in California, and why i have chosen to go back there for school? Since a lot of my friends live in California, and a lot of festivals i have attended were in that state, i spent a majority of my time there.



Do the lengths of my stays suggest a lack of ties to London? Since i had finished uni in April, i had a few months to do some travelling with inherited savings.

adot97 is offline  
Old Jun 27th 2019, 2:29 pm
  #2  
BE Enthusiast
 
Joined: Dec 2015
Location: TX
Posts: 346
notaclue has a reputation beyond reputenotaclue has a reputation beyond reputenotaclue has a reputation beyond reputenotaclue has a reputation beyond reputenotaclue has a reputation beyond reputenotaclue has a reputation beyond reputenotaclue has a reputation beyond reputenotaclue has a reputation beyond reputenotaclue has a reputation beyond reputenotaclue has a reputation beyond reputenotaclue has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: Will i have difficulties obtaining an F1 visa?

You should be fine. Try to remember to spend as much or more time out of the country as you do in the US. Make sure you can still produce some ties to the UK (Family, bank, car etc) that you can show at interview.

Be prepared to explain why only one school in CA and you have not applied to others (It wouldn't hurt to do so) and why your visits have been so long. Have documentation of funds to support yourself etc.
notaclue is offline  
Old Jun 27th 2019, 3:18 pm
  #3  
Often not so civil...
 
civilservant's Avatar
 
Joined: Apr 2010
Location: The Boonies, GA
Posts: 9,561
civilservant has a reputation beyond reputecivilservant has a reputation beyond reputecivilservant has a reputation beyond reputecivilservant has a reputation beyond reputecivilservant has a reputation beyond reputecivilservant has a reputation beyond reputecivilservant has a reputation beyond reputecivilservant has a reputation beyond reputecivilservant has a reputation beyond reputecivilservant has a reputation beyond reputecivilservant has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: Will i have difficulties obtaining an F1 visa?

While I agree that you should be fine, I also think that your pattern of frequent long trips to US along with previous visas suggests that you have significantly less ties to the UK then someone who had never been to the US before and wanted to study on an F1.

I would think you will likely get the visa though you may face some questioning about why you are spending so much time in the US and what you did during that time.
civilservant is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.