Webbie

Here's one I want to throw out and see if anyone will have a nibble at...

I want to bring my nephew over here to visit. (He will be 18 end of August) Not sure if he has a passport yet....and I don't know what the minimum age is for someone to apply for a passport, but that's more for him to look at (but if anyone knows...)

The age thing is worrying me - I would like him to fly over before his birthday, but I don't know if the passport thing (if he's on his mothers or has to get his own as mentioned above) plus if he is allowed to fly by himself at age 17.
Or would it be better to wait until he is 18... ?

AND - there is another thing I am wondering about with him:
He's a bit of a runner (not a criminal type but a long distance type. Without the peeing) and he's a very good runner.
Has won nearly all the races he's entered and has represented his county at national school running compo's.

What I'm thinking is that maybe I could help him get a athletics scholarship over here in Americaland. So I want him to visit to see us but I also want to see if we can look into a scholarship thing whilst he's here.
So a tourist visa for him - or should we hold and look into the scholarships from my end and from his and bring him over on a visa associated with the scholarship (if there is one) ?

Sponsorship as well...
With me being an immigrant I'm not sure I can sponsor him.
(Maybe we should contact Flora since he is a good runner.)

Hmmmm... *scratches chin*

I'm just thinking out aloud here and have just thought of it.
Would like to read if anyone else has done anything vaguely like this.
ta.

Bob

He can get a passport at any age...would need one on his own to get to the US anyway...and can fly on his own at 16....I flew out to Japan on my own at 12, but then times have probably changed since then.

As for you sponsoring him, waste of effort unless you have citizenship....and the running thing....you mean like a summer camp? probably better to get the Flora people to have a look into it...

Webbie

Alright there Bob Bobby Bobert.
(Still waiting for you to take some more pics of yerself for errr..*ahem*.. other purposes. Enough with the landscape and pets )

The Flora thing was a bitofa tongue in cheek ref to the London marathon.
But they may have a youth sponsorship programme...I'll have to look into that.

Not a summer school but a full on Uni-type scholarship.
Football players get them. Skinny girls in movies who bend it like Beckham get them, so I was thinking maybe there is one for potential future athletes.
I'm sure if the U.S Amateur Athletics Association saw him run they'd get him sworn in as a citizen and get him running in four years time. He's that good.
But for now I'm thinking about the visa and whether tourist - stroll over to a few Uni's whilst here. Or scholarship and associated visa (if there is such).

Eskimo

you can actually fly at 14 now on your own

scrubbedexpat099

And you can not go on your Parents passport anylonger, there was usual media fuss when they changed it a few? years back.

Can he not use the VWP?

AdobePinon

Uni or scholarships means a student visa - F1. The uni has to be involved in the visa app., so he won't get a student visa without some kind of commitment from a uni. So, I would hazard a guess and say bring him out on the tourist visa and show him off. Most schools have fairly traditional ways of looking for athletes and this may not be one of them. They also have to comply with various NCAA rules and such in recruitment, which may complicate things. I'd try and talk to some people at some schools and see what they suggest - drumming up interest among them is going to be essential for this little enterprise.

Now the other thing that an F1 requires is proof of financial support. It may be essential that he have some of this up front, because there may be a phase where a school is interested, but not willing to commit to a scholarship until he has been on campus for a while. Note that he will not be able to do enough paid work on an F1 to cover all of his expenses.

Bob

Thought it was, but different places and airlines and all that...

Bob

Good way would be to ask for a B2 visa for scouting purposes to look at uni's, would give a bit more time to have a look at them, and would then be allowed to change it to a F1 I think in country, though not 100% sure on that...but like you said, would have to show he had finances to cover cost of uni fee's and living expenses and all that for at least the first semester, might even be the first year before being allowed to work on campus...wouldn't know what kind of scholarships would be able to get without being a resident...but a safe bet would be to have around $10K in the bank to get the F1 visa.

scrubbedexpat099

Ingo said that was a way in reply to another post.

Not sure anout the numbers though, my stepson has in state tuition and still exoects to be $50k in debt after 4 years. The out of state numbers were $25k + pa and that did not include living expenses.

DaveC

Shame on you, Webbster. If he's that good, let him stay in Britain so he can add to our gold medals tally in future athletics meetings.

Boooooooooo! Off to the Tower with you!

*throws rotten tomato in your general direction*

ladyofthelake

Nooooooo!! He'd get all trained up over here, then still compete as a Brit (wouldn't he?)

jjmb

Why don't you contact a couple of the universities in your area and find out if they have any international sport scholarships available. Also the British Associtation should be able to give you information as well. I have a friend who son is currently over in Boston on year long exchange trip but that was arranged through his university and he needed to pass certain grades to qualify.

dunroving

Definitely a good idea to contact schools directly to ask about him visiting. If he's as good as you say he is, then his times for various races will get them interested - otherwise they may not talk to you.

I think there are NCAA rules governing recruiting, but there's nothing to stop him taking an unofficial tour of any campus while he's visiting you (i.e., as a potential student, not as a potential scholarship athlete).

I don't think schools differentiate between "international athlete" scholarships (somebody mentioned that earlier) and scholarships for US athletes. But he will need to go through the whole F-1 visa process - so you'll want to find out how familiar a school is with this process (most schools have an International Office, but some smaller schools may be lass in touch).

Try asking the Athletics Dept how many international students have scholarships or play on teams - that will give you an idea of whether they will know how to deal with a non-USC.

Bob

Aye, but to get the visa, you'd need at least $10K in the bank for the first year, had a few mates do exchanges with san fran state for a semester, and they needed to show they had that much for living expenses and materials, and they weren't paying tuition as it was covered by erasumas.

snorkmaiden

My mums best friends daughter got a full scholarship from a uni over here (she plays tennis) and they sent someone from over here (University tennis coach) to the UK to check her out. It may be that you can get your nephew checked out by the Uni's he wants to apply to before he even leaves the country.