F1 Visa done...in 30 secs

I think the word stupidity is quite harsh, no matter how much evidence you may have to support your claim. Maybe you could write sth like: "Given the unpredictability of US Consulates...".

Anyway, do whatever you want, I'm just suggesting.

L.

Hey Lepium, I didn't think twice before writing that , agree there are good and bad consulates.....

May be in my case I was irritated by them, whenever i travelled to US ....

The process is admittedly stressful. I would say there are genuine candidates that do not do a good job presenting their case (happens all the time in interviews) and there are bad candidates who get in. Students interested in obtaining a visa should be absolutely clear about why they want that education and what they intend to do with it. I would argue that candidates for an MBA at a top school would have no problem answering these questions. You wont be even admitted without clear goals.

Hey Lepium:
I like your political correctness So when r u moving to Boston?
- sm

Thanks. I'll be moving in late August. When are you going to Evanston? Or is it Boston after all?

L.

Thanks ppl,

@ Oz, sure will contact you soon. Gonna be my first travel abroad and I could do with some help[:)]

Btw, I suppose the rest of you arent aware that the Chennai consulate in India is the busiest U.S consulate in the world, a fact mentioned by the Chief counsellor himself yesterday even as he was addresing the applicants before the start of the interview session. They process upto 1200 applicants (OMG!!) everyday. Given this huge workload, it so happens that some bad studs do get in and some genuine ppl are made to run around, like being asked to wait for the whole day and having their financial docs checked thoroughly. That explains why some people do really get frustrated with the working of the consulate.

This whole visa thing is a craze in India with lots of forums and orkut communities dedicated solely for discussing visa stuff, especially F1- student visa. The hype is exagerrated by the fact that there is heavy production of engineers( rather B.E degree holders[:)] who want to pursue an M.S degree in the USA at any cost and hence apply in bulk loads to the engineering schools at various universities in the US.

I'm lucky too. They even did not ask me much, just one question why I chose this school? and then asked to come back the following day to pick up visa. However, the long line of applicants made me frustrated!

Seriously, I've seen those looooong queues. Amazing... The Chennai heat makes it worse!

I have seen some very entrepreneurial folks offer place holding services to keep your slot while you go take a leak, a smoke or grab a quick bite to eat.

My visa expiration is next year (12 months). Can we extend visa in the US or have to come back to renew?

what visa are you on? You can stay in the US as long as you have a valid I-94. You will need a visa stamp only if you plan to come back after travelling outside.

F-1 Visa, from May 2007 to May 2008. The envelop has not been open yet.
I guess the custom officer at the port will mention my stay in I-20 or I-94? I don't know. Do you have any idea on this kind of visa? When do I need to renew visa?

Visa Duration will be mentioned on the I-94 and it will be <= time mentioned on the visa stamp

I thought a student visa will be given for 2 years....any way check on https://www.murthy.com for visa related stuff, they have active forums where US based lawyers some times moderate the forums

cheers

As long as you do not leave US, you do not need a new visa. You will have to provide new financial documents and get a new I-20 every year.