Student visa -denied

[Aga_123 0]

Hi

I am going to briefly described my case. 

I came to the United States in 2015 on my J1 visa. After one year I extended my J1 visa without any problems. In 2017 I decided to change my status to F1 visa. I submitted all the papers in June 2017 - so before the expiration of my initial period of authorized stay (my J1 visa expired at the end of October 2017). I stared my school in August 2017 while my F1 visa request was still pending. I competed two semesters. The school had to reissue my I-20 because my F1 visa was pending - so they were pushing my start day every semester. They told me they have to do it. So two days ago I got my decision that my F1 visa was denied because  

1. An F1 student may be admitted for a period up to 30 days before the indicated report date or program start date listed in Form I-20

2. A change of status may not be approved for an alien who failed to maintain previously accorded status or whose status expired before the application or petition was filed

So these were two reasons to denied my visa. I visited the International Student Office and they told me there is nothing they can do.

my question is if there is anything I can do at this point. Is this worth fighting ? I am waiting for some advices 

 

thank you 

 

[Boiler 45,525]

Fight what?, both are true and relevant.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

As boiler said. The first you had little contol over but uscis unpredictable and delayed processing time is known as a major problem that makes adjusting to F1 status problematic to meet this requirement.

the second unfortunately is entirely on your own head. You should have known or done enough research to know that you may not engage in activities your existing status did not allow you to do.  You should not have started school before you had F1 status.

 

 

 

[Starkilla09 366]

Unfortunately USCIS made the right call with the denial. Changing status to F-1 has a grey area espercially when it comes to timing, that’s why it’s best advised to seek a new visa back home rather than go through change of status. Besides taking classes before the change of status got accepted was also another immigration violation as well that carries a denial. At this point there’s nothing you can do but leave the U.S. as soon as possible. You’re now deportable at any time and will start accumulating unlawful presence leading to a 3 to 10 year bar once you cross the 6 month or 1 year threshold. This denial as well carries a negative record on your immigration history making a new non-immigrant visa extremely difficult to obtain. The only way you can successfully gain lawful status in the U.S. at this point without leaving is if you’re the spouse, unmarried child under 21 or parent of a U.S. citizen.

[Coco8 1,042]

As above, those are very common reasons for denial and there are many many denials.

 

If you submitted papers in June and classes started August, you had plenty of time to go to your country to get the F1 stamp. That is why it is much better to do that.

 

You have to leave the US immediately and cross your fingers that you'll get an F1 at your consulate. Don't try going to another consulate.

 

Did the international office tell you to do the change within the US? Or was that your idea? How long do you have left of your degree?

[Aga_123 0]

Yes the International Student Office at my school told me that that would be a good way to obtain F1 status ( changing status in USA and starting school). Before I started my classes in August 2017 I asked my International Student Advisor if I should go to my home country and she told me that it’s beter to stay here until I get my status (she said that I may have problems coming back here). Th USCIS gave my time in the United States till my I94 expires, which is September this year. 

My question is: if I leave the country before my I94 expiration date will have trouble applying for any kind of visa in the future future (travel or tourist)? 

I have one year left to finish my degree plan. 

Thank you for all your answers. It looks like people at Internationam Student Office at my school don’t know anything about their job ! 

[Aga_123 0]

The letter says: you may remain in your current nonimigrant status until the expiration date indicated on your form I-94 which is September 30, 2018

[Boiler 45,525]

48 minutes ago, Aga_123 said:

The letter says: you may remain in your current nonimigrant status until the expiration date indicated on your form I-94 which is September 30, 2018

This is for your J1? You said my J1 visa expired at the end of October 2017

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, Aga_123 said:

Yes the International Student Office at my school told me that that would be a good way to obtain F1 status ( changing status in USA and starting school). Before I started my classes in August 2017 I asked my International Student Advisor if I should go to my home country and she told me that it’s beter to stay here until I get my status (she said that I may have problems coming back here). Th USCIS gave my time in the United States till my I94 expires, which is September this year. 

My question is: if I leave the country before my I94 expiration date will have trouble applying for any kind of visa in the future future (travel or tourist)? 

I have one year left to finish my degree plan. 

Thank you for all your answers. It looks like people at Internationam Student Office at my school don’t know anything about their job ! 

Yup this sounds very strange. Are there lots of internationals at the school? 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

1 hour ago, Aga_123 said:

 

My question is: if I leave the country before my I94 expiration date will have trouble applying for any kind of visa in the future future (travel or tourist)? 

 

This is a strange question. You have to leave before expiry date, regardless. 

Having a denial of CoS on record and having done activities in violation of an existing status could well lead to problems getting a future visa.  I would think a tourist visa when you’ve already tried to do previous CoS in the US could be particularly problematic as they would be suspicious of your motives.

[Bzlibem 111]

IMHO, you should come back to your home country to avoid an eventual accrual of an overstay ban and apply for a F1 visa after some time. Then you can just transfer your credits or continue your study 

[kemm360 144]

Sadly you have to leave and try from back home, they have spoken 

[Springrain22 427]

Time to go home. The sooner the better.

[Coco8 1,042]

6 hours ago, Aga_123 said:

The letter says: you may remain in your current nonimigrant status until the expiration date indicated on your form I-94 which is September 30, 2018

 

Can you be more specific about this? Your i-94 says that date because it was related to the J1? Or did you get new i-94? This is important because maybe you are not out of status. However, since you have 1 year left, your goal should be to stay an extra year. September 30 is not enough.

 

Also, why did she say this? Which problems would you have getting an F1 visa at your consulate?

 

6 hours ago, Aga_123 said:

 it’s beter to stay here until I get my status (she said that I may have problems coming back here).

 

Also, why did you need to go from a J1 to an F1 in the first place? 

 

 

[Aga_123 0]

Yes my I94 is related to the J1 visa that I got in 2015. My J1 visa expired in October 2017 and my I94 expires at the end of September 2018. I was changing visa from J1 to F1 so I could study in the USA. I was not able to extend my J1 visa because they allowed you to stay here on J1 visa only for 2 years. I contacted with the school before I registered for classes and they guided me through the changing visa process. They prepared all the papers. I asked my advisor if I can go to visit my family in my home country and she told me that I may have trouble coming back to the United States so it is better for me to stay here until I get my student status. I sent all the papers and my case was pending and I got the decision three days ago. I was thinking to ask lawyer for help but after reading your post I think it would be better to go back to My home country and try apply for a visa at some point! Thank you for all your messages !!!!