Visas & Financial Requirements

VISAS

Please read the following very important information on obtaining your Form I-20 or DS-2019 and getting to the United States, or on transferring to our school from another school in the United States while maintaining your F-1 or J-1 status. The information is provided by the CISP, which exists to help you now and throughout your program. Some rules governing U.S. visas and immigration status are quite complicated. Responsibility for obtaining visa classification rests entirely with the student.

Visas. We would rather not begin with warnings, but two serious mistakes are often made by students who are outside the United States, and one serious mistake can be made by students who are inside the United States. We want you to begin without problems, so we must tell you how to avoid them. In order to enter the United States to study, an international student will need a visa, usually either an F-1 Student Visa or a J-1 Exchange student Visa. To obtain the necessary visa, an applicant must submit a valid Form I-20 for an F-1 visa, or a Form DS-2019 for a J-1 visa, to the United States Embassy or Consulate in his or her country. In addition to these forms, the applicant will have to present a valid passport and original documentation of financial support. First, we must tell you how to avoid a few serious mistakes:

1. Do Not Enter the U.S. with a B-1, B-2, or B-1/B-2 Visa If You Have Been Accepted to a University-level Program. If you have an unexpired B visa and USE IT to enter the U.S., you could be guilty of "fraudulent entry" and refused permission to stay longer than six months or to extend or change your status. You should follow the enclosed instructions to obtain a Form I-20, and apply for an F-1 student visa before entering the U.S. Do not apply for a new B visa unless you explain in writing on your application that you plan to go to school. It is a serious violation of U.S. law to apply for a tourist or business visa after being accepted by a college or university. The visa officer can issue you a B-2 visa with the words "prospective student" written beneath it. But the officer will not do this unless there is a reason to believe that you are qualified for a Form I-20 and that we cannot get the form to you in time. As long as there is time for you to meet our requirements for a Form I-20, do not expect to be given a visa. If the time gets very late, contact us before going to the consulate or embassy. Applicants entering the United States on a visitor's (B-2) visa may not be able to change to student classification. Students unable to change their status from "visitor" to "student" may not be permitted to start in school, and will risk forfeiture of their tuition.

2. Do Not Enter the U.S. Without any Visa. Citizens of 25 countries are allowed to enter the U.S. with no visas. Do not do this. If you enter without a visa, you will be permitted to stay for only 90 days. You will not be given more time or permitted to change to student status. Visas are never required for students who are Canadians, British citizens resident in Canada, American Indians resident in Canada, or residents of Pacific island nations that were once U.S. trust territories. Students from all other countries must have visas, including visa waiver countries: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and U.K.

3. If You Are Already in the U.S. as an F-1 or a J-1 Student, Don't Use an I-20 or DS-2019 from Another School to Reenter the U.S. You must attend the school issuing the Form I-20 or DS-2019 you use to enter the U.S. If you are transferring from another U.S. school, you will lose your legal status if you travel on your old school's I-20 or DS-2019 and do not return to that school. Talk to us before you travel and be sure to reenter with a YSU certificate.

4. What are Forms I-20 or DS-2019? The Forms are U.S. government forms, but they can be issued only by specially-appointed school officials. They are not issued by the government; it is issued to the government by the school. They state that the student whose name is on the form has been accepted for a full course of study after applying to school and submitting all required academic documentation. It also states that the school holds documented proof that you will have enough money to live and study in the U.S. without working without permission or suffering from poverty.

5. Some Foreign Students Do NOT NEED I-20's or DS-2019's: a Dependent Spouse or Child in A, E, G, H-4, I, L-2. M-2. N, O-3, P-4, R-2, or TD status. Neither the law nor YSU requires you to have an I-20 or be in F-1 status to attend school full-time or part-time, as long as the principal continues in status. (You may be a dependent child in E, H, I, J, N, L, K, L. M, N, O, P, R, or S status, until you marry or turn age 21.) Principals in A, E, G, H, I, L, O, P, Q, R, or S status may attend school without changing status as long as your "principal activity" is not school. Persons in "TPS (Temporary Protected Status)" may go to school.

6. Why Do YOU Need One? Without an I-20 or DS-2019, it is not possible to obtain a Student Visa or Exchange Visitor's Visa or keep lawful F-1 or J-1 status when transferring from one school to another in the U.S. YSU will send either Form I-20 or Form DS-2019 to the applicant after he or she has been academically accepted, fulfilled the English proficiency requirements or has been recommended to enter CISP's English Language Institute and has submitted evidence of financial support. If the applicant has submitted all the necessary documentation for the I-20 or the DS-2019, the applicant should receive one of these forms in the same envelope that contains the letter of admission to YSU. The applicant must register for the academic term for which admission is offered. Students who are outside the U.S. should not worry about their VISAS at this time. Your priority must be to provide us with the financial documentation we require to issue the I-20 or DS-2019, since you cannot get a visa without it.

7. Transferring F-1 Students Do Not Have to Receive Our I-20 BEFORE Coming to this School and Attending Classes. Though it is best to qualify for the I-20 as soon as possible, you will not need the form until the second week of classes, unless you wish to travel outside the U.S. before classes begin.

NOTE: Transferring J-1 students must receive the DS-2019 and obtain a release in order to transfer signature from the last school's J-1 officer when they arrive at YSU to study.

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS

The actual cost that a student incurs during the nine-month school year can vary significantly, particularly in housing, meals, and personal expenses. To plan for a spouse or child while you study, add $3,000 per person, $2,500 for each child under 12 years old. YSU does not award financial aid to foreign students. Transportation to and from the U.S. is not included in the estimate. For general information about financial assistance, students may request the booklet from the U.S. Information Agency or binational advising center in their home country. Campus employment is available for a maximum of twenty hours during academic terms. This fact and non-immigrant regulations make it necessary for non-immigrant international students to be financially able to supply their own financial needs during their entire educational stay in the U.S.

YSU DOCUMENTS to CERTIFY FORM I-20 or DS-2019

Application for Form I-20 or DS-2019. Remember that even if an applicant is academically acceptable to YSU, a form cannot be issued until we receive all official financial documentation.

Affidavit of Financial Support. All applicants must complete this form to receive visa certification. This form requires bank statements, letters from employers, and other documentation be included. (This form can be reproduced if you have several sponsors). Incomplete or outdated forms or financial information will lead to delays while we return materials to you for your adjustment. This form requires a legal notarization of the sponsor's signed statement.

Affidavit of Free Room and Board. To promise free room and food in a local sponsor's home while the student attends YSU.

ACCEPTABLE DOCUMENTS for AFFIDAVITS

Applicants must demonstrate to YSU the ability to meet all educational and living expenses for the entire period of their intended study before this University can issue Visa Certification (form I-20 or DS-2019). All applicants are required to submit documentation that confirms funding is available for the annual costs of study. All documented sources of support must be:

• indicated in U.S. dollars
• current (within twelve months of the starting date at YSU)
• written in English
• for YSU, not another college or university
• submitted by mail or delivered
• original (except tax documents) - not faxed or photocopied
• sent all together: one person should collect and submit all papers

Our decision will be made after looking at the documents with care and thought. Our responses will be in writing, by mail. We will not discuss financial documents with sponsors or students. Partial documentation will be returned. We insist that students and their families look closely at the cost of living and studying in the U.S. and make careful plans to ensure the student does not experience financial distress, and the resulting poor grades or health that follow, and so that U.S. consuls will not deny a visa for financial reasons. Follow the criteria above carefully to avoid a delay in issuance of visa certification.

Keep copies of all the documents sent to YSU, since this information will be needed when applying to the U.S. Consulate for a student visa or to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security upon entry to the U. S., or for transfer from another university. Originals will be attached to I-20's issued for visa applications and returned to students who are outside the U.S.

1. Scholarships may be used to qualify for Form I-20 or DS-2019. We must have an award letter from the private or government scholarship board stating how much money is to be given and for how many years, with the address and contact name of the responsible board representative. The award letter must contain the name of the applicant, the amount of money available for each year of study, the duration of the award ( including beginning and ending dates), and the degree and major field of study for which the scholarship is awarded. Employers must provide similar information.

2. Each sponsor must submit an affidavit stating exactly what is to be provided. All questions, and the affidavit forms must be answered. Affidavits must be signed by the sponsor in the presence of a notary public; the notary public must sign and the official seal of the notary public must be on the affidavit. Affidavits that have been changed in any way will be rejected unless each change has been signed by both the sponsor and the notary. [U.S. embassies and consulates have notaries public. In the U.S., most neighborhood pharmacists, lawyers, accountants, or bankers are notaries. All countries have notaries, though they may have a different title: they are officials licensed by the national or regional government to take sworn statements for courts of law or to witness contracts and property deeds.] Sponsors should not promise too much money. The sponsor should promise only what they intend to give and should give only as much as they can afford. Some sponsors believe that the more money they promise, the more likely we are to say "yes". A common cause for rejection of documents is that we do not believe the sponsor can afford to give as much as promised.

3. Free room and board is worth almost half the dollar amount to support a student for a year. When a family member near the school gives a student a free place to live and/or free meals, the student needs far less cash from other sponsors. Affidavits of free room and board must be sent with a copy of the property deed or rental lease. Such affidavits will not be accepted if the place to live is too small or too far from the school.

4. Students CAN sponsor themselves, either partly or in full. No affidavits are needed for the student's own money. Recent bank statements in the student's name must be provided, and statements from at least a year earlier to show us that the money was not borrowed and recently deposited. Remember that the law requires financial support for your entire program in addition to readily available cash for the first year. Unless you have enough cash to support yourself and your studies in the U.S. for your entire program, your cash will soon be used up. You probably need a sponsor with an income to show that you can finance the entire educational program.

5. Every dollar of needed support must be proven through student bank statements, proof of the sponsor's income, or a lease or deed. Each dollar not provided by the student personally must be promised in an affidavit by a sponsor. We do not care how many sponsors there are, whether or not they are U.S. citizens, or where they live. It is usually easier to get an F-1 visa when at least part of a student's support comes from outside the U.S. This office must determine if a sponsor has enough money to support a student: when a sponsor wishes to keep his bank balance or income private, we will accept official documents saying that the savings or income is "more than" an amount that is clearly sufficient.

6. Your sponsor's income is more important than your sponsor's bank statement. Do not expect bank statements to convince us of a sponsor's ability to give the amount of money promised. Bank statements are very poor evidence of the ability to give a student money, unless with very large balances. A sponsor's proof of income should be on the employer's letterhead, or on income tax returns or receipts, or estimated by a bank or private accountant when the sponsor is self-employed business person. The income of a company is not the income of the owner of the business and will not be accepted as proof of income; provide an official statement of the salary paid to the owner/sponsor.