Going for Masters degree: Non-immigrant intent with a pending immigrant visa, priority date 5 years?

[SalishSea 17,980]

11 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

Lots of schools offer funding/scholarships to foreign students in graduate programs.  Even top-tier schools.  Even public institutions.  

For the major top public schools here on the West Coast (the UCs and U of WA), foreign students are a cash cow.  And state taxpayers do not want to pay for tuition for students from other countries or from out of state.   Case in point:  it is impossible to qualify for in-state tuition at UC Berkeley if you did not attend high school in California.  The additional $25k/year tuition paid by out of state students enables more residents of California to attend.   

[SomeoneNamedIan 8]

2 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

Why would US schools offer funding/scholarships to foreign students?   There is absolutely no reason to do this.  They can attract enough well-qualified students who can afford the tuition.  Maybe academically low-tier private schools, but not top-tier or public institutions.  

Amusing to claim so in the "Student & Exchange visitor" forum, where quite a large number of users will have received funding from US institutions for their graduate studies. 😀

 

You clearly are not involved in graduate admissions. Low-tier schools offer very little funding to anyone, but top-tier or most public universities and colleges attract graduate students exclusively by ability, not citizenship, and offer funding accordingly. Quite a significant chunk of the faculty is foreign-born. It should not come as a surprise that citizenship plays no role in these decisions.

[Rocio0010 5,580]

3 hours ago, SomeoneNamedIan said:

and offer funding accordingly.

Yet “funding” is most likely not a scholarship as we know it. Most universities would offer you a position as a graduate teaching/ research assistant, whereby you get paid a monthly stipend, and some Departments within the university would offer a discount in tuition. However, strictly for visa purposes you still have to prove that you can afford your stay in the US. Please point me to a program where this is not required. 

[aspirant12 0]

Lots of universities offer TAships and RAships as well as other forms of funding, which is enough to cover the total costs of attending a graduate program in the U.S. and even send some money back home. I know lots of people in my university from low-income backgrounds (low-income even by standards of third world countries) who have successfully completed their graduate studies from the U.S. 

I just wanted to know if I still will be seen as a serious student if I secure such funding, since you cannot get them without being a very serious and competent student since it requires you to have sufficient experience of teaching undergrad courses and research (which 90% of graduate applicants lack) not to mention high GPA, GRE scores, TOEFL etc.

[CMJuilland 485]

I can’t speak to the funding / scholarship / stipend discussion point as I have no experience with that.  However, I have gotten to know and worked with a lot of diplomats since I moved here, and aside from the non-immigrant intent, a consular officer will want to see proof of funds.  Whether they’re your own, your family’s, from a legit foundation, scholarships, etc. isn’t as important, but you will need to provide proof that you have them, otherwise, your chance at a visa is zero.  

As for the immigrant intent, that is a hard one to answer.  If you have an immigration petition pending, you have established intent to immigrate.  Now, that alone doesn’t have to mean your visa will automatically be denied, but, especially depending on where you’re from, it will be a lot harder to convince the CO that your reason for coming to the U.S. is obtaining a degree, not to take up residence.  It’s always a good idea to put yourself into the shoes of the entity that has to make a decision on your case and look at it from their perspective.  What does your specific case look like to them?  What are your true reasons for coming to the U.S.?  Aside from finances, those are questions COs will ask themselves when looking at your case. 

Ultimately, though, I don’t think anybody can predict what would happen.  IMHO you have received some really good answers, but the only way for you to find out whether you can get a student visa is to start the process and try.  A denied student visa will not hurt your immigrant petition.  

[arken 4,197]

7 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

For the major top public schools here on the West Coast (the UCs and U of WA), foreign students are a cash cow.  And state taxpayers do not want to pay for tuition for students from other countries or from out of state.   Case in point:  it is impossible to qualify for in-state tuition at UC Berkeley if you did not attend high school in California.  The additional $25k/year tuition paid by out of state students enables more residents of California to attend.   

Funding a qualified international student for graduate studies is not a financial aid by the schools directly. Research assistantships (RA) and teaching assistantships (TA) are very common especially in top tier schools. Top tier schools provide generous assistantships than low tier schools. The individual professors provide RAs to help him for his research. TA is like a job. Tax payers aren't footing the bill.

 

An example:  Some top tier schools provide full RA of $30K or more annually to a student to help a professor for his research work for 20 hours a week. So the RA student will get $30K annually plus his all tuition fees and others will be waived. 
 

People getting full RA with all tution and other fees waived will have $0 fees required on their I20. People getting partial assistsntships will have partial fees on their I20.

Edited February 24, 2022 by arken

[Redro 4,611]

Which school are you planning to study at? 

Have you already been accepted? 

And is this course really going to take 5 years or is it an MA to PhD program? 

You can always try for the student visa but make sure you get accepted into a prestigious school and not a community college if you want a greater chance of success. 

 

[SalishSea 17,980]

1 hour ago, arken said:

Funding a qualified international student for graduate studies is not a financial aid by the schools directly. Research assistantships (RA) and teaching assistantships (TA) are very common especially in top tier schools. Top tier schools provide generous assistantships than low tier schools. The individual professors provide RAs to help him for his research. TA is like a job. Tax payers aren't footing the bill.

 

An example:  Some top tier schools provide full RA of $30K or more annually to a student to help a professor for his research work for 20 hours a week. So the RA student will get $30K annually plus his all tuition fees and others will be waived. 
 

People getting full RA with all tution and other fees waived will have $0 fees required on their I20. People getting partial assistsntships will have partial fees on their I20.

Yes, that is very different than ‘scholarships/financial aid’ as quoted by OP.

 

And RA positions are available in limited disciplines.

[SalishSea 17,980]

7 hours ago, SomeoneNamedIan said:

Amusing to claim so in the "Student & Exchange visitor" forum, where quite a large number of users will have received funding from US institutions for their graduate studies. 😀

 

You clearly are not involved in graduate admissions. Low-tier schools offer very little funding to anyone, but top-tier or most public universities and colleges attract graduate students exclusively by ability, not citizenship, and offer funding accordingly. Quite a significant chunk of the faculty is foreign-born. It should not come as a surprise that citizenship plays no role in these decisions.

I never said too-tier schools exclude admissions to students based on citizenship.   
 

This thread is about the OP’s attempt to forge a path to the US via many avenues, including a student visa, and whether he could do so by obtaining ‘scholarships/financial aid.’   This leads one to assume he doesn’t have the money up front as required by that visa.   
 

He never alluded to whether he would be a candidate for “funding.”   As I’m sure you’re aware, options such as RAships are not available for all disciplines of study.

[Redro 4,611]

8 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Yes, that is very different than ‘scholarships/financial aid’ as quoted by OP.

 

And RA positions are available in limited disciplines.

The school I visited many moons ago told me I could potentially create my own program and I would be paid/not have to pay full tuition BUT they also stated I would have to show I had 100K in the bank to get my F1. 

I believe every school has a different policy about how they deal with foreign students. @Snirgeu has a spouse who is planning to start studying this August and was told most students studying at the institution are able to obtain student visas even with immigrant visas pending... So, I believe if you plan on going to a good school it doesn't matter if you have something on file.  

Edited February 24, 2022 by Kor2USA

[Rocio0010 5,580]

 

2 hours ago, aspirant12 said:

Lots of universities offer TAships and RAships as well as other forms of funding, which is enough to cover the total costs of attending a graduate program in the U.S. and even send some money back home. I know lots of people in my university from low-income backgrounds (low-income even by standards of third world countries) who have successfully completed their graduate studies from the U.S. 

I just wanted to know if I still will be seen as a serious student if I secure such funding, since you cannot get them without being a very serious and competent student since it requires you to have sufficient experience of teaching undergrad courses and research (which 90% of graduate applicants lack) not to mention high GPA, GRE scores, TOEFL etc.

OP, I was once a GTA and a GRA later on. 

I believe there is a misconception/ language issue here. You secure such funding by applying to the program. Different programs have different requirements to offer you a position. The basic, bare minimum for non-native English speakers is the iBT Toefl. If it is a teaching position, most likely you will be asked to do a (virtual) model lesson. You also need 2-3 recommendation letters, and your own statement. Once you go through all that process, if you are a successful candidate, then they offer you the position and thus, you secure your funding. So yes, in most instances, if you succeed in your application you're seen as a "serious" student. Based on the program. they will let you know how much they pay, and if they offer any tuition assistance. Then, after reading the contract and signing it, the host university will issue the papers to start your visa process. But if I recall correctly, even though I was a "serious" student and I was offered tuition assistance, I still had to show around 75k in my bank account.

[ArthurD25 0]

I think your chances are very small, but it's worth a try