Student Visa to a Visitor Visa to a Student Visa again

[Zhen's Tiger]

I was driving home from work yesterday & Zhen calls me & asks me to come to her Salon. I get there & she's on the phone with a guy from the CBP (Customs & Border Control) in Newark and soon she asks me to talk to him. OK...

So, in speaking with him I find out that the daughter of a good friend of ours in China had just arrived in Newark earlier in the day on her way to Mississippi, but they held her in Newark due to problems with her Visa and wanted to know if we could come get her.

Apparently she was to attend her Senior year of High School in Mississippi in some sort of program (which I still haven't gotten all the details on), but that program was canceled last minute & her mother didn't find out until she was already on the plane. So she gets here & the CBP tells her that her Visa is no good now & she'd have to go back to China. Of course she was devastated & crying & calling her Mom to find out what happened.

Well, to make a long story short (too late ) she got extremely lucky & a very nice man, Supervisor Shiu of the CBP, sat down with her & found out all that happened & rather than ship her back off to China, he actually changed her Visa from a Student Visa to a 3 month Visitor Visa! It took me an hour & a half to get to Newark and they were just wrapping up the Visa switching when I got there & he explained everything that needs to occur.

They were a little leary letting her go home with just me (Zhen won't close her Office early for anything, haha), but after speaking with her Mom, she said it was fine & they copied my license & got our address, etc. then released her. So she has a 3 month Visitor Visa which will expire on October 30th, in that time we must try to find a school for her to attend & if we do then we must apply to change her Visitor Visa back to a Student Visa. So here are the questions:

1) For anyone out there who has brought their stepchildren over, how did you go about having them enrolled in school? What is the process?

1a) Since she does not have an Immigration Visa, I'm sure the process is a little different than most peoples experience here, but can anyone shine a light on how we would enroll her with only a Visitor Visa? Is it even possible?

2) If she is actually accepted at a school & we are able to enroll her, does anyone know how long it takes to apply for a Student Visa & could that be done in time before her Visitor Visa expires? They were explicit in telling me that even if she is enrolled, if the Student Visa is not applied for and Approved before October 30th, she would have to return home...

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks much in advance!

Steve & Zhen

[Randy W]

Amazing cooperation there from the USCIS - that's much better than just sending her back.

 

You need a school that will issue her an I-20. Check with the school she was supposed to attend they may be able to provide the best help.

Edited August 6, 2009 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Here's a good thread to start. You will most likely need a private school

 

http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...l=student++visa

 

"If they will issue her an I-20 certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status, then it's a good bet that it's possible."

 

Basically, she must enroll in a USCIS-approved school

Edited August 6, 2009 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Zhen's Tiger]

 

Amazing cooperation there from the USCIS - that's much better than just sending her back.

 

You need a school that will issue her an I-30. Check with the schol she was supposed to attend they may be able to provide the best help.

 

I thought so too, very cool of them to do that - I will be writing a nice letter about that for sure!

OK, an I-20 is new to me, I will do some searching on what that is. That's also a great idea on contacting the original school since they should know something about it.

Thanks, Randy!

Edited August 6, 2009 by Zhen's Tiger (see edit history)

[Randy W]

 

Amazing cooperation there from the USCIS - that's much better than just sending her back.

 

You need a school that will issue her an I-30. Check with the schol she was supposed to attend they may be able to provide the best help.

 

I thought so too, very cool of them to do that - I will be writing a nice letter about that for sure!

OK, an I-20 is new to me, I will do some searching on what that is. That's also a great idea on contacting the original school since they should know something about it.

Thanks, Randy!

 

 

Sorry - I-20

 

A link in case it's not in the other thread

 

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1268.html

[Zhen's Tiger]

 

Amazing cooperation there from the USCIS - that's much better than just sending her back.

 

You need a school that will issue her an I-30. Check with the schol she was supposed to attend they may be able to provide the best help.

 

I thought so too, very cool of them to do that - I will be writing a nice letter about that for sure!

OK, an I-20 is new to me, I will do some searching on what that is. That's also a great idea on contacting the original school since they should know something about it.

Thanks, Randy!

 

 

Sorry - I-20

 

A link in case it's not in the other thread

 

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1268.html

 

Not a problem, I saw you edit your post & I did the same.

I read the other link from CFL you included & one of the things in there said Family Member (which she is not), but then I saw Guardian... all other considerations forgotten, would we be OK trying to do this as her Guardians?

I'm gonna check the other link also which you supplied about searching for schools: http://www.tabs.org/about/us_visa.html

Thanks again, Randy!

[Randy W]

 

Amazing cooperation there from the USCIS - that's much better than just sending her back.

 

You need a school that will issue her an I-30. Check with the schol she was supposed to attend they may be able to provide the best help.

 

I thought so too, very cool of them to do that - I will be writing a nice letter about that for sure!

OK, an I-20 is new to me, I will do some searching on what that is. That's also a great idea on contacting the original school since they should know something about it.

Thanks, Randy!

 

 

Sorry - I-20

 

A link in case it's not in the other thread

 

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1268.html

 

Not a problem, I saw you edit your post & I did the same.

I read the other link from CFL you included & one of the things in there said Family Member (which she is not), but then I saw Guardian... all other considerations forgotten, would we be OK trying to do this as her Guardians?

I'm gonna check the other link also which you supplied about searching for schools: http://www.tabs.org/about/us_visa.html

Thanks again, Randy!

 

I don't think there's a problem there at all - most Chinese people coming here on F-1 visas are college students who may or may not even know someone in the US

[Zhen's Tiger]

 

Amazing cooperation there from the USCIS - that's much better than just sending her back.

 

You need a school that will issue her an I-30. Check with the schol she was supposed to attend they may be able to provide the best help.

 

I thought so too, very cool of them to do that - I will be writing a nice letter about that for sure!

OK, an I-20 is new to me, I will do some searching on what that is. That's also a great idea on contacting the original school since they should know something about it.

Thanks, Randy!

 

 

Sorry - I-20

 

A link in case it's not in the other thread

 

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1268.html

 

Not a problem, I saw you edit your post & I did the same.

I read the other link from CFL you included & one of the things in there said Family Member (which she is not), but then I saw Guardian... all other considerations forgotten, would we be OK trying to do this as her Guardians?

I'm gonna check the other link also which you supplied about searching for schools: http://www.tabs.org/about/us_visa.html

Thanks again, Randy!

 

I don't think there's a problem there at all - most Chinese people coming here on F-1 visas are college students who may or may not even know someone in the US

 

Right, makes sense.

[Jeff n Jianli]

I hosted a student from China in 2007/2008. I used http://www.pieusa.org/ . They may be able to help.