F-1 Visa- advice appreciated

[luis_bici_ 4]

I have read through all pertinent threads on the 21 pages here, yet every case is different and I would like some expert opinions on this situation:

I am planning to sponsor (room, board, tuition) my girlfriend on a student visa to learn English here. She is not my fiance at this point. We intend to apply for the visas appropriately and if she becomes my fiance, we would most likely wed in her country. She is a free-lance professional with a college degree and owns a car (or two) in her country. The family house is not in her name, but she has a lot of family in her neighborhood as well as in other parts of the country.

She has every intention of returning to her country after studying and if we marry, we would spend time in both countries. My biggest concern is that they will deny the visa saying that she has no intention of returning. What suggestions/details do you have for showing ties to the country other than those mentioned above? Also, what do you feel are our chances for a successful visa application? Thank you for your help.

[Little_My 464]

I originally came to the US on a F1-student visa, and at the time of applying for it, I had been dating my American boyfriend (now my husband) for over a year. He was also my sponsor, since we were going to live together which basically cut my living expenses in half, and we were honest and direct about this in our application. I provided a letter from my former employer stating that they would gladly consider re-hiring me upon my return to Finland, a letter from a professor from my former school in Finland stating that I had been discussing the possibility of studying abroad with her over a year before I ever met my American boyfriend, documents showing that my parents own a house and a company in Finland, and a personal statement in which I explained my desire to study abroad and how Finland does not offer similar study programs in the field I was interested in. At the interview, I was asked briefly about my boyfriend and our long term plans, to which I answered honestly stating that at that point we had not discussed marriage and my primary reason for moving to the US for 2 years was for graduate school, and that was it. Visa was issues without any trouble.

However, you leave a fairly crucial piece of information out from your post and profile - your girlfriend's home country. I am 100% sure that being from Finland worked on my favor throughout the process, and if I had been applying from some other country (some African countries, Middle Eastern countries, or a European high fraud country) my visa could have easily been declined. As unfair as it might be, I'd say that your chances or success depend a lot on her country of origin. For some countries, no matter what amount of documentation you'd provide to show ties to her home country, her visa would most likely be declined regardless, especially since she has an American boyfriend. It might be unfair - but it's the way the world works, unfortunately.

[luis_bici_ 4]

She is from Venezuela.

[Penguin_ie 5,995]

Venezuela will make things more difficult.

How good is her English? Could she study something relevant to her degree in the USA, rather than English? I think that would give a better chance of approval.

[luis_bici_ 4]

Venezuela will make things more difficult.

How good is her English? Could she study something relevant to her degree in the USA, rather than English? I think that would give a better chance of approval.

Her English is very basic- not sufficient for any kind of academic study in English.

[luis_bici_ 4]

So we are going to apply for a student visa for her to study English. Any suggestions/ideas along the way would be helpful. I'm afraid I/we'll forget to do something and then the application will need to be redone. Thanks to Penguin_ie and Little_My for your time and suggestions.

[luis_bici_ 4]

Sorry for all the questions...the Embassy in Caracas has an online DS-160. Does this mean that she does not need to complete the DS-156, 157 and 158? Thanks again to all.

[canadian_wife 1,826]

Has she already been accepted into an accredited, SEVIS school and issued an I20? If not, that is the first step before applying for a student visa

Good luck