Can I go to school in the US while NVC processes my CR1 immigrant visa?

[LYX888 1]

We've just sent through our DS-260 forms and files to the NVC for our CR1 immigrant visa petition. I have been accepted into a grad school in the US with school start dates in mid-September. Between now (end of June) and September, I don't think that will give me enough time to get my visa in order to enter the US to go to school. 

 

Has anyone been in a similar situation? I've already asked the school and they said they cannot issue me a student visa while my immigrant visa is processing. So I will just need to defer if I don't get my visa in time this year...I really don't want to have to defer my school acceptance next year because I missed it by a few weeks....

 

Does anyone know if there's a way around this or if there's anything I can apply for in the meantime to allow me to make it for the school year in September? 

 

Thanks so much! 

[Roel 7,192]

Nope. No way around it. 

You can start school once you have your green card. Like you said, no one will issue you this last minute student visa. 

 

Might have to wait until next year. 

[shumway1756 304]

You just have to wait for the CR1 visa in this case. It is unfortunate that you might miss it by just a few weeks or so (of course there's no way to know exactly how long NVC will take), but the CR1 is your only option at this point.

[Boiler 45,525]

The Consulate issue Visa's not Schools.

[Coco8 1,042]

Sometimes you can defer to the Spring semester (January), but you might have classes that are part of a sequence and it might not be possible. It depends on the grad program. You could ask about it.

 

But I wouldn't make any changes until the last minute because it might work out in the end. You should start making arranges and packing so that you can schedule the interview as early as possible.