Spring semester abroad

[Anonymous]

My daughters plan for semester abroad starting in January hit a major issue (student visa unlikely to be done) and with the new variant out I am wondering if there will be cancellations for study abroad like in 2020. She is super disappointed and wants to go on a visitor visa and I don’t know if that is a great idea. Any one with similar situation or a crystal ball on if countries will be allowing students in country? With visitor visa she would have to leave before final exams and it is not clear if they would accept remotely completed exams.

[Anonymous]

Using the wrong visa for a country runs the risk pf getting caught and having the visa revoked and being barred from returning to that country for ten years. It’s not something to be done lightly.

Just think about how our country treats people who come on a tourist visa and then end up, for example, working, without the proper visa to do so. We lock them up in squalid detention centers for a while and then deport them.

[Anonymous]

She would not use the wrong visa. She would have a 90 days visitor visa and then leave the country to come home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She would not use the wrong visa. She would have a 90 days visitor visa and then leave the country to come home.

But she is there to attend school. So she’s violating the terms of the tourist visa.

What country is this? What’s the hold up? It’s late November. Why can’t she get the visa in time? Did she apply for it too late?

It’s. Odd to me that the embassy would need more than a month or two.

[Anonymous]

Per federal regulations, B-1 and B-2 nonimmigrants (i.e., visitors who are in the United States for business and pleasure purposes) are prohibited from enrolling in a course of study at a U.S. Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)-certified school.

If you are a B-1 or B-2 nonimmigrant and wish to study at a U.S. school, you must file a Form I-539, “Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status,” with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to change to either an F-1 or M-1 status and pay the required fee and include the required documents listed in the instructions.

While your Form I-539 is pending, you must maintain your B-1 or B-2 status and cannot enroll in your SEVP-certified program until USCIS approves your change of status request. Enrolling in a course of study as a B-1 or B-2 nonimmigrant, prior to receiving authorization, will result in a status violation and ineligibility to extend your B status or change to F-1 or M-1 status in the future.

…

In other words, the United States explicitly prohibits foreign nationals from doing exactly what it is you propose to do in that other country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She would not use the wrong visa. She would have a 90 days visitor visa and then leave the country to come home.

But she is there to attend school. So she’s violating the terms of the tourist visa.

What country is this? What’s the hold up? It’s late November. Why can’t she get the visa in time? Did she apply for it too late?

It’s. Odd to me that the embassy would need more than a month or two.

That’s Covid for you. My sister-in-law made the mistake of letting her US visa run out (I feel partly responsible for not warning her about this) and so cannot renew online, now she needs to go to the US consulate to get it renewed, and non-emergency appointments are more than 12 months out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She would not use the wrong visa. She would have a 90 days visitor visa and then leave the country to come home.

But she is there to attend school. So she’s violating the terms of the tourist visa.

What country is this? What’s the hold up? It’s late November. Why can’t she get the visa in time? Did she apply for it too late?

It’s. Odd to me that the embassy would need more than a month or two.

That’s Covid for you. My sister-in-law made the mistake of letting her US visa run out (I feel partly responsible for not warning her about this) and so cannot renew online, now she needs to go to the US consulate to get it renewed, and non-emergency appointments are more than 12 months out.

Yeah actually I just googled it and for example for Italy they recommend you apply at least three months before your program date starts. The study abroad office should’ve been on top of this and warned her. I wonder if they did warn her and she just ignored them or what. But going there on a tourist visa is a very dicey idea. If she gets caught, she could be barred from the country for like 10 years, or at least that is what will happen in the US if they caught someone doing this.

I did have a friend do this about 20 years ago when we were studying in England. We were there for a year and she just kept going to countries outside of whatever visa zone the UK is in, staying a day or two, and then going back to reset her visa. I don’t think you could do that today for an entire year.

[Anonymous]

I think the problem is she would have to lie to the immigration officer at the airport and maybe even on the forms and that’s a very very bad idea.

[Anonymous]

Op, you need to tell us which country. That matters

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She would not use the wrong visa. She would have a 90 days visitor visa and then leave the country to come home.

But she is there to attend school. So she’s violating the terms of the tourist visa.

What country is this? What’s the hold up? It’s late November. Why can’t she get the visa in time? Did she apply for it too late?

It’s. Odd to me that the embassy would need more than a month or two.

That’s Covid for you. My sister-in-law made the mistake of letting her US visa run out (I feel partly responsible for not warning her about this) and so cannot renew online, now she needs to go to the US consulate to get it renewed, and non-emergency appointments are more than 12 months out.

Yeah actually I just googled it and for example for Italy they recommend you apply at least three months before your program date starts. The study abroad office should’ve been on top of this and warned her. I wonder if they did warn her and she just ignored them or what. But going there on a tourist visa is a very dicey idea. If she gets caught, she could be barred from the country for like 10 years, or at least that is what will happen in the US if they caught someone doing this.

I did have a friend do this about 20 years ago when we were studying in England. We were there for a year and she just kept going to countries outside of whatever visa zone the UK is in, staying a day or two, and then going back to reset her visa. I don’t think you could do that today for an entire year.

Yeah, I did that back in 2001-02 in South America. Those days are long gone. Land border crossings are now computerized just like airports.

[Anonymous]

Op here. It is Spain. The agency who was suppose to complete the visa gave the option of going on a tourist visa. It was not her idea. She completed all the necessary paperwork in time. The consulate office is saying they cannot complete her visa (and others) in time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She would not use the wrong visa. She would have a 90 days visitor visa and then leave the country to come home.

But she is there to attend school. So she’s violating the terms of the tourist visa.

What country is this? What’s the hold up? It’s late November. Why can’t she get the visa in time? Did she apply for it too late?

It’s. Odd to me that the embassy would need more than a month or two.

Your tone is so "judgey," rather than helpful. Do you walk around the world like that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here. It is Spain. The agency who was suppose to complete the visa gave the option of going on a tourist visa. It was not her idea. She completed all the necessary paperwork in time. The consulate office is saying they cannot complete her visa (and others) in time.

All she needs to do is leave the country once before the 90 days is up and come back into Spain. Which she is guaranteed to do. She will travel while she is there. She will jump on a train to France Italy etc. That will reset her tourist visa timetable so she can wrap up the semester. She’d be fine doing this. It’s not like she is going for the purpose of trying to abuse or take advantage of the social services of the country or gain employment there which is what immigration and visa process is really about. Yes she is taking classes but for all intents and purposes she is a tourist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She would not use the wrong visa. She would have a 90 days visitor visa and then leave the country to come home.

But she is there to attend school. So she’s violating the terms of the tourist visa.

What country is this? What’s the hold up? It’s late November. Why can’t she get the visa in time? Did she apply for it too late?

It’s. Odd to me that the embassy would need more than a month or two.

Your tone is so "judgey," rather than helpful. Do you walk around the world like that?

Your tone is so “hypersensitive.” Do you walk around the world like THAT?

[Anonymous]

Do you really want to teach your kids to lie at immigration, instill an attitude of rules not applying to her, and essentially dismissing the laws of another country?
That would be her first lesson in her semester abroad, and it’s a bad one.
I would make sure that she gets all her paperwork in place in advance, and she is a legitimate student who is legally welcome to the country.