Adjusting from Tourist to STudent. Please help :(

[Hopeworld 1]

Hi,

 

my friend is a Swedish citizen who got approved for a Tourist visa for USA. She can come and stay for 3 months.

She also got approved for a STUDENT (F1) visa, her school starts June 25th but with a student visa she can only come 30 days prior school starting.

So she was thinking coming in April VIA HER TOURIST VISA, stay for 2 months and then just start school. She has her student  visa

I see no reason why she has to LEAVE the country I mean surely she can just adjust the status (worse case go to mexico and come back using her student visa).
She's worried USCIS will believe she came on a tourist visa and overstayed, but how can they not know she has a student visa as well?

 

Someone told me that border control might not even let her in on a tourist visa when they see that she also has a valid active Student visa :S

Any advice I would greatly appreciate, thank you so much!

[jkstark 97]

I'm first curious why she has a tourist visa, when ESTA would have been sufficient...

 

In any case, I don't believe that you can adjust status that way - though others will certainly be better suited to answer the question more definitively.  I do believe that she will have to leave the country prior to returning on the F-1, and I don't know how long a stay out of the country would be advisable as a minimum.  She is not eligible to enter on the F1 until a max of 30 days prior to start of school, so any entry before that would be considered either under ESTA or any tourist visa, and that would start the count.  Any stay within the country that is contrary to the purpose of a tourist visa would be a violation, which includes staying on as a student with the tourist visa (which is what she would have entered on).

 

You would, as far as I know, have to be cleared to enter the country on the F1 to study - which they can't do until the 30 day rule kicks in. 

 

Somehow, she will have to be cleared at a border with the F1...

[GEOntificator 281]

Most EU countries do not require a tourist visa as far as I know. I is strange that she has a tourist visa... ESTA allows EU citizen individuals to stay in the country for 90 days. Are you sure it is not ESTA you are talking about? 

[Crazy Cat 41,981]

When she arrives using a tourist visa, the CBP officer will specify the length of time she is authorized to remain in the US via that visa.  It might be 3 months or it might be less.  If her departure from the US is later than that date given by the CBP Officer, it will certainly appear as an overstay, imo.  Whether or not there is an overlapping visa issue....I defer to the experts.

@geowrian

@cyberfx1024

@Going through

@JFH

 

Interesting question.

Edited March 7, 2018 by missileman

[Hopeworld 1]

16 minutes ago, jkstark said:

No she got a 10 year tourist visa approved (NOt ESTA). So she can be in the country 3 months each year for 10 years.
Ok so she has to leave the country. Do you think she going to mexico and just coming back same day using her student visa should be fine? I mean if she goes and comes in when it's 20 days before school start?

Question 2:
When she comes in to the country the first time should she mention she has an active student visa as well and will start school 2 months from that day?
I'm worried that somehow they might not let her via tourist visa because she has a student visa as well

 

[Unlockable 7,315]

2 minutes ago, Hopeworld said:

 

Going to Mexico or Canada does not reset the clock. Immigration closed that loophole many years ago. She would literally have to fly to her country or another country not bordered in the US. 

 

Also, if she makes a quick trip back after only being outside the US for a few days, she will be at risk of being denied entry.

[Hopeworld 1]

1 minute ago, NuestraUnion said:

Going to Mexico or Canada does not reset the clock. Immigration closed that loophole many years ago. She would literally have to fly to her country or another country not bordered in the US. 

 

Also, if she makes a quick trip back after only being outside the US for a few days, she will be at risk of being denied entry.

Oh ok that's ...really bad news :/

[Crazy Cat 41,981]

Just now, Hopeworld said:

Oh ok that's ...really bad news :/

Whatever she does, do not overstay for even 1 minute.  That would cause severe consequences.

[Roel 7,192]

How about do everything right and use her student visa as intended and arrive on time for her school. 

 

This is only asking for problems. 

[geowrian 22,337]

1 hour ago, Hopeworld said:

So she was thinking coming in April VIA HER TOURIST VISA, stay for 2 months and then just start school. She has her student  visa

 

I see no reason why she has to LEAVE the country I mean surely she can just adjust the status (worse case go to mexico and come back using her student visa).

Immigration will see an  issue with it. Upon entry, you are granted a status. For entry on a tourist visa, that's a B-2 status. She can have more than 1 visa in her passport at a time, but she cannot have more than 1 status at a time. In order for her to change her status, she needs to either leave the US and apply for entry on the F-1 (aka "go through POE"), or change status in the country (which I don't suggest doing this since she has a perfectly fine F-1 visa). She is not permitted to study on B-2 status.

Edit: For reference, remember that a visa is not a status. A visa is just a document used to apply for entry on a given status.

 

Quote

Someone told me that border control might not even let her in on a tourist visa when they see that she also has a valid active Student visa :S

I can't predict what they would do, but people have had success visiting with another (non-immigrant) visa type in their passport.

 

18 minutes ago, Hopeworld said:

No she got a 10 year tourist visa approved (NOt ESTA). So she can be in the country 3 months each year for 10 years.

Where does the 3 months come into play...? The exact length of entry is determined upon entry, but many times it is 6 months. There is no 3 month max limit (assuming her passport is valid for that long still, obviously). ESTA travelers have a 90 day (~3 months) hard maximum stay.

 

19 minutes ago, missileman said:

If her departure from the US is later than that date given by the CBP Officer, it will certainly appear as an overstay, imo.  Whether or not there is an overlapping visa issue....I defer to the experts.

If she stays in the US longer than the date on the I-94 as issued by the CBP officer (without changing to another status), then yes that is an overstay. An overstay:

1) Immediately revokes all visas, and

2) Makes getting a new one much harder.

3) At 180 days/1 year of overstay, the 3/10 year bars come into play (upon exit).

 

In short, do NOT stay past the date listed on the I-94. This will turn into a mess.

Edited March 7, 2018 by geowrian

[jkstark 97]

Might be worth considering an onward journey to visit somewhere in south America for a few weeks, though I don't know exactly how that would be looked at either upon return.

 

Then again, flights to Scandinavia are not that bad as long as you are willing to travel light with Norwegian.  If she was able to store some belongings here that she was going to need as a student, it might make for a easy, quick trip back home before starting school.

 

Not knowing where specifically she is visiting, or where she will be going to school, don't know if that is going to be a realistic option - but I'm sure that there are always some places you can get a cheap ticket to in the meantime.  However, it would be advised to have that ticket *in-hand* before entering the US the first time around as a tourist, or she is likely to face difficulties as well.  I have no idea how long she would have to be out of the country prior to returning on the F1 to not cause any extra questions though...

[Going through 5,671]

18 minutes ago, Hopeworld said:

Do you think she going to mexico and just coming back same day using her student visa should be fine? I mean if she goes and comes in when it's 20 days before school start?

Going to Mexico (or Canada) and then re-entering through there would not work in the way you hope.

 

It's better that she either cuts her vacation very short on the tourist visa (ie. a couple of weeks only), flies back home, and then re-enters properly on the F1 visa no more than 30 days prior to the start of her classes.

 

Personally, I would suggest she skip the whole "vacation" part altogether and just enter in on the F1 visa when eligible to.  Leaving the US and then re-entering the US soon after again can raise a couple of eyebrows at the border.

Edited March 7, 2018 by Going through

[Crazy Cat 41,981]

2 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Immigration will see an  issue with it. Upon entry, you are granted a status. For entry on a tourist visa, that's a B-2 status. She can have more than 1 visa in her passport at a time, but she cannot have more than 1 status at a time. In order for her to change her status, she needs to either leave the US and apply for entry on the F-1 (aka "go through POE"), or change status in the country (which I don't suggest doing this since she has a perfectly fine F-1 visa). She is not permitted to study on B-2 status.

 

I can't predict what they would do, but people have had success visiting with another (non-immigrant) visa type in their passport.

 

Where does the 3 months come into play...? The exact length of entry is determined upon entry, but many times it is 6 months. There is no 3 month max limit (assuming her passport is valid for that long still, obviously). ESTA travelers have a 90 day (~3 months) hard maximum stay.

 

If she stays int he US longer than the date on the I-94 as issued by the CBP officer (without changing to another status), then yes that is an overstay. An overstay:

1) Immediately revokes all visas, and

2) Makes getting a new one much harder.

3) At 180 days/1 year of overstay, the 3/10 year bars come into play (upon exit).

 

In short, do NOT stay past the date listed on the I-94. This will turn into a mess.

I agree.  This could easily become a catastrophe.  The risk is just too great imo.

[Hopeworld 1]

5 minutes ago, geowrian said:

I believe that's what they told her. She didn't apply for ESTA she applied for a real tourist visa and it seems  it's only 3 months per year.

 

Upon her first entry, she will use the tourist visa BUT at that time she will have an approved STudent F1 visa.
She was thinking of coming beginning of april, after 2 months it will be LESS than 30 days before school starts.

 

If we goes to mexico and tries to come back in after 30 minutes using her Student visa (showing all proof documents), I'm not sure why would it be an issue?
If she has an approved Student visa and is going to be in the country for at least a year and study I don't see why TSA would have any right to refuse re-entry :/

 

 

[jkstark 97]

The only other thought here would be for her to contact the US Embassy in Stockholm and see what their advice would be as well.  There *are* cases where B visas can go through and AOS to F visas, but there are lots of rules around that, and many potential pitfalls.

 

As mentioned, the best option might be to show up on the first possible day (ie. 30 days prior to start of school) and then use that time to visit friends prior to going to school.  That way her status remains without question - there will be other opportunities later on to visit and travel as well...