F1 Visa

The definition of a student is one who has a residence in a foreign country which he or she has no intention of abandoning, and who is a bona fide student qualified to pursue a full course of study and who seeks to enter the United States temporarily and solely for the purpose of pursuing such a course of study at an established college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic high school, elementary school, or other academic institution or in a language training program in the United States, which program must have been approved by the US immigration service.

In order to be admitted to a school as an F-1 student, the alien must first obtain from the school's foreign student advisor an US immigration form known as an I-20. In addition to meeting the academic qualifications, the prospective student must also submit evidence of sufficient financial support for the period of the academic program. When the school issues this form to the student, it is an indication that the student has met the necessary qualifications for admission to the school. However, the student must then apply for an F-1 visa at a US consul if they are outside of the United States, or they can apply for change of status with the US immigration service if they are in lawful US immigration status in the United States.

This application is made on US immigration form I-539. It must be accompanied by the approved I-20 form, as well as evidence that the prospective student has sufficient funds to support himself or herself in the United States for the duration of studies. In other words, the US immigration service wants to be sure that the student will not have to resort to unauthorized employment in order to pay for their schooling or living expenses while attending school. When the application for change of status is approved by the US immigration service, or when the student enters the United States with an F-1 visa, the student is admitted for the duration of their status as a student, which is noted as "D/S" on their entry document.

Effective April 12, 2002, the US immigration service published an Interim Rule eliminating the ability of a B non-immigrant, (both B-1 visitors for business and B-2 visitors for pleasure), to begin a course of study at a United States school without first obtaining approval from the US immigration and Naturalization Service to change non-immigrant status to that of either an F-1 or M-1 student.

In order to maintain student status, the student must attend school on a full-time basis, which generally means 12 academic credit hours per semester.
There may be exceptions, such as when a student is ill and unable to attend on a full-time basis, when a graduate student is working on a thesis, or during the school's annual vacation.

As a general rule, a student is not permitted to be employed while studying in the United States. However, there are some exceptions. The first is on-campus employment. If a student is otherwise maintaining status, he or she may work on the school's premises up to 20 hours per week while school is in session, and full-time during breaks and the student's annual vacation.

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