US visa applications

I just did mine this morning so I thought I'd write about it while it's fresh in my mind. Ying Zhen wrote a post a while back, but things have changed since then. Here's the most updated version.

Step 1: Get your I-20. This has nothing to do with the US embassy. Your university should contact you about the steps needed to get your I-20. Generally it involves giving them your personal particulars (make sure you submit your passport name) and showing them proof of your financial resources. You will get your I-20 in the mail. Check through it and make sure all the information is printed correctly, and then sign at the bottom.

Step 2: Read all the stuff on the US embassy website (Google it yourself; I'm too lazy to copy & paste hahaha). Once you've hurt your eyes trying to absorb the maze that is the US visa application, come back here for a simplified version.

Step 3: Fill in form DS-160 online. This form supersedes all the other previous Non-Immigrant Visa forms (DS-156, DS-157 and DS-158). The online form allows you to upload your photo; however, the requirements are really quite strict. It's easier for you to just upload a rubbish picture, have the system reject it, and then click "continue without a valid photo". Then go to a photo studio, take a new shot and specify that it's for the US. Peculiarities of that Land Of Insisting On Doing Everything Differently include a different photo size (2" by 2" rather than 4 by 3 cm), and that you have to "assume a neutral expression", aka no smiling.

Form DS-160 asks for many details so it's in your interest to keep saving your application every time you fill a huge chunk of information in. The system kicks you out after an idle time of 15 minutes, and there is a lot of tedious stuff you really don't want to wade through again and again.

Once you've submitted the form, print out the confirmation page.

Step 4: Make a visa appointment. I'd advise forcing yourself to get up early and picking the earliest time possible. I'll explain more later. Print out the confirmation page.

Step 5: Pay your SEVIS fee. The I-20 is a paper copy of your student details. SEVIS is the US database that stores all of those details online, and you have to pay for storage there. It's something like 200 USD and the easiest way is to pay it online via credit card. Remember to print out the payment page.

Step 6: Get a cashier's order of $196.00 (or the prevailing embassy F-1 visa application rate) made payable to "American Embassy Singapore". This is relatively easy if you have a DBS/POSB account. Just go to the bank with your IC, queue up, tell the person you want a cashier's order, and she'll give you a form to fill in. You need your bank account number. I don't know the procedure for other banks.

Step 7: Gather all your documents and pick up a nice thick book to read during the long waits, then go to the Embassy at the appointed time. Don't bother going any earlier because they won't let you in before your stated time, but don't be too late either. You have a window of about half an hour or so before it gets a little iffy.

Here's the procedure just to enter the embassy. You wait at some bus-stop looking area if you're there before your appointed time. The security guard will then call for all applicants with appointments at (insert time), and you will form a queue in front. Then, one by one, another guy will gesture you into a room where you will have to give him your visa appointment time confirmation, leave all your electronic devices behind, have your bag scanned, and walk through a metal detector, just like airport procedure.

Step 8: Get a queue number from the usual number-printing machines. Arrange your documents in the proper order, sit down and wait. This stage will take about 15 minutes or so. You should have: your passport, your DS-160 submission page, your I-20, your SEVIS fee receipt, and financial documentation. Don't put your cashier's order in this pile; it'll be dealt with later.

Step 9: Once you see your number called, go to the appropriate window and give the person your documents. He/she will issue you a payment sheet. Bring it to the cashier's order window. The person there will sign and stamp your sheet, confirming that the money has been paid.

Step 10: Wait even more. At this point the numbers aren't called in exact order but there's a definite trend (70s, 80s, 90s, etc). When your number is finally called, go to the appropriate window to submit your fingerprints. It's an inkless electronic system. Try to get your fingertips nice and moist before you get there so the fingerprints are easily detected. Keep hold of your payment sheet; you don't need to submit it yet.

Step 11: Settle down with a book for a long wait. This stage is really completely random; I don't know how the numbers are called. It depends where your document file has been stashed.  This is why it's better to go really early in the morning, especially if you are in the first batch. If you pick a really late time, you have to deal with the usual timing lags, plus lots of people who turned up late. My appointment was at 9.30 and I only got out of the place 3 hours later.

When your number is finally (finally!) called, go to the window for your visa interview. Give them your payment slip. The people are looking for your "ties to other countries", i.e. they have too many illegal immigrants and they want to get you out of their country once you're done with your studies. If you are a Singaporean or PR, it shouldn't be a problem. Even better still if you're on a bonded scholarship. As long as you clearly have family outside the States, or your job plan is to work somewhere outside their country, they will approve your application.

Depending on the nastiness level of your interviewer, this may take as little as two minutes or as long as fifteen minutes. I was lucky and got a nice guy. This is how my interview went:

Guy: So, you're going to UC Berkeley. What's your major?
Me: Chemical Biology at the moment. (He was looking at my I-20 which clearly states my major; I assume he was just checking to see if I knew my stuff).
Guy: How are you getting funded?
Me: I have a scholarship from PSC. (Again, he was looking at the PSC financial document.)
Guy: Do you have a bond?
Me: Yeah, six years.
Guy: And PSC, they're funding you for all four years, right?
Me: Yes.
Guy: Okay, your visa is approved.

If you're going on your parents' money it might not be quite so simple, but apparently if you show them an account statement that has enough money for at least the first year, you should be okay.

Students generally don't have much problems getting visa approval. The rare few cases that got turned down were due to silly reasons, usually because of paperwork (I-20 incorrect, forgot to bring financial documents, etc). BUT! as long as you follow this simple guide, you will experience a smooth ride through this lengthy process.

Once your visa is approved, you will get a small slip of card paper that you have to bring back three days later at a specific time. They will keep your passport and I-20 until then.


Et voila! You now have a valid F-1 student visa and you can enter the US no earlier than 30 days before the start of your course. Congratulations on surviving the laborious process. Cheers.