VWP / Short Course

[JohnW15 0]

Hi All,

I've got my flights booked (return) for 88 days to go to the States to meet up with friends, attend some meetups, go to some of the awesome restaurants. Lots of friends over there. The other reason I'm going is to attend a 'bootcamp' to learn a skill. The only problem being it's 10 hours a day, 5 days a week. It's a brand new course, but a startup company. It is of course not registered, will not contribute towards a degree at all. It's a cool concept and I thought I'd apply. I got accepted (bearing in mind this is just run by two people, it's brand new, not by some big name).

I'm Australian, 17, I'm deferring university (a tie to Australia), I've got ample funds, and live at home with my family.

I've been to the U.S. 4 times before as a teenager.

Thoughts?

[Darnell 8,478]

under 18 ? still a teenager in usa.

[scotinmass 588]

under 18 ? still a teenager in usa.

You mean still a child? 18 is a teenager everywhere!

[JohnW15 0]

Yep, still a teenager. Curious on the relevance though?

[Darnell 8,478]

5th visit as a teenager. No real path (at this time) to become a permanent resident of the USA. I think you'll be fine at the POE.

Edited January 22, 2012 by Darnell

[Lainie B 465]

Hi All,

I've got my flights booked (return) for 88 days to go to the States to meet up with friends, attend some meetups, go to some of the awesome restaurants. Lots of friends over there. The other reason I'm going is to attend a 'bootcamp' to learn a skill. The only problem being it's 10 hours a day, 5 days a week. It's a brand new course, but a startup company. It is of course not registered, will not contribute towards a degree at all. It's a cool concept and I thought I'd apply. I got accepted (bearing in mind this is just run by two people, it's brand new, not by some big name).

I'm Australian, 17, I'm deferring university (a tie to Australia), I've got ample funds, and live at home with my family.

I've been to the U.S. 4 times before as a teenager.

Thoughts?

Bring proof of funds with you on the plane because they will ask you about this, for such a long stay and for you being so young.

You would know better than I do on this, but are you sure this course is legitimate? It sounds "dodgy" to me.

Edited January 22, 2012 by Lainie B

[JohnW15 0]

Bring proof of funds with you on the plane because they will ask you about this, for such a long stay and for you being so young.

You would know better than I do on this, but are you sure this course is legitimate? It sounds "dodgy" to me.

Yeah, I am. It's run by a guy who spoke at a TED conference, very well respected. My only worry is with the course being more than 18 hours a week, and as it's a short course (2mo) it's not eligible to be a student visa sponsor, thus I can't get a student visa and VWP is my only option. The course is business related, should it come under 'Training'? http://travel.state.gov/pdf/BusinessVisa.pdf

Edit: Also, how do I 'bring' the pool of funds? Do I show them my bank and paypal statements? My parents will also be giving me a CC in case of emergency.

Edited January 22, 2012 by JohnW15