B1/B2 to F1

[ze22 0]

My sister has B1/B2 visa and has come to US three times. She is now interested in pursuing her studies in USA. She is at the moment in USA and wants to know if anybody converted the visa status to F1? How soon can she apply for change of status?

[sachinky 465]

You first have to be accepted into an university.

[gina_raluca 14]

My sister has B1/B2 visa and has come to US three times. She is now interested in pursuing her studies in USA. She is at the moment in USA and wants to know if anybody converted the visa status to F1? How soon can she apply for change of status?

I'm not sure if she can change her visa status or not, but she may try enroll in a community college. Good luck.

Edited July 6, 2010 by gina_raluca

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Someone with a tourist visa is NOT AUTHORIZED to enroll in a Community College.

That aside, I don't know the regulations of every college in the US of A, but in order to enroll she would have to be a resident of the State for at least 6 or 12 months in order to afford it, otherwise it's a cool non-resident $200+ per unit, or the equivalent of a Cadillac per year in tuition alone.

Then there's the issue with the transcripts of her previous schools, which would have to be evaluated and submitted.

In short, if all it would take for a tourist to enroll in a Community College "just like that" in order to stay legally in the United States, we would have Jumbo Jets full of tourists/prospective students arriving in the USA every single day.

[gina_raluca 14]

Someone with a tourist visa is NOT AUTHORIZED to enroll in a Community College.

That aside, I don't know the regulations of every college in the US of A, but in order to enroll she would have to be a resident of the State for at least 6 or 12 months in order to afford it, otherwise it's a cool non-resident $200+ per unit, or the equivalent of a Cadillac per year in tuition alone.

Then there's the issue with the transcripts of her previous schools, which would have to be evaluated and submitted.

In short, if all it would take for a tourist to enroll in a Community College "just like that" in order to stay legally in the United States, we would have Jumbo Jets full of tourists/prospective students arriving in the USA every single day.

Thanks for the correction. I meant to write that if she is able to change status, then it would be easier and cheaper to enroll in a community college and then transfer to a university. I couldn't advise on the viability of changing a tourist visa into an F-1 status in the US as I don't know about that.