Non Immigrant Visa (Student) DENIED in Egypt

[AH_Fury 61]

Hello, 

 

This isn't related to me or my family. It is a daughter of my father's friend who applied for a nonimmigrant visa (student visa) after being accepted to a university. She currently lives in Yemen, but had her interview at the consulate in Egypt. She had all her documents with her (finances, etc) and all were in perfect order and she has more than enough money to support her schooling in the US. However, the officer did not even look at any of the documents and just gave her the denial letter (based on 214(b)). 

 

I understand that it means the person doesn't have strong ties to their home country, but a student typically wouldn't, other than family. A young student doesn't work, etc., so how can she prove she doesn't plan to stay in the US permanently? This is all confusing and very much out of my element, so any advice would be helpful!

[Boiler 45,661]

I doubt she can

[Verrou 1,962]

sometimes it depend on what kind of study/school that she choose. bigger name university ( more pricey) usually better chance to get the student visa than community college for example. age also make big difference, for example 25 yo if applying to study for english class, its hard to get in aswell.

 

all my friends that went to university in USA always from rich families and aim very very good uni, for example UCLA, USC Babson, Columbia, because they can afford it, and not any of them got rejected ( obviously at that time, my friend has no income )

 

i know all the thing that i suggested, is just opinion. its hard to know for sure. probably just find other foreign country to study i guess?

 

 

Edited January 11, 2022 by Misscloud

[Coco8 1,042]

1 hour ago, Misscloud said:

all my friends that went to university in USA always from rich families

Or they have scholarships from well known universities to fund their studies/stay.

 

 

[Verrou 1,962]

9 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

Or they have scholarships from well known universities to fund their studies/stay.

 

 

yes that too, most important is the "brand of the school"...apparently my friends arent that super smart, but super rich, so none of them got scholarships

 

[Coco8 1,042]

18 minutes ago, Misscloud said:

yes that too, most important is the "brand of the school"...apparently my friends arent that super smart, but super rich, so none of them got scholarships

 

Yeah, I think that the competitiveness aspect of the admissions is a plus for the getting a visa. 

[millefleur 5,047]

10 hours ago, AH_Fury said:

However, the officer did not even look at any of the documents and just gave her the denial letter (based on 214(b)). 

This can be a typical experience, especially if there was something she answered in the DS-160 that already showed weak ties or strong ties to the US.

 

Does she have any family in the US? A US-based boyfriend? I just wonder if there was some other factor why they thought she might overstay.

[SalishSea 17,928]

8 hours ago, Coco8 said:

Or they have scholarships from well known universities to fund their studies/stay.

 

 

Most top tier schools do not really do merit based scholarships.   They don’t need to, to attract the best of the best.

[Coco8 1,042]

4 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Most top tier schools do not really do merit based scholarships.   They don’t need to, to attract the best of the best.

There are a lot of scholarships and fellowships, both for undergraduate and graduate programs.

 

 

[SalishSea 17,928]

1 minute ago, Coco8 said:

There are a lot of scholarships and fellowships, both for undergraduate and graduate programs.

 

 

Right.  But they usually are given on the basis of need.

 

Large, top tier research institutions (like Berkeley, for example) is not giving state of California taxpayer money out to Chinese students who want to come over to study.  There are plenty of similarly-qualified Chinese students who can pay the full foreign tuition, thereby leaving more money for Berkeley to give out to well qualified California residents.

[Coco8 1,042]

55 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Right.  But they usually are given on the basis of need.

 

Large, top tier research institutions (like Berkeley, for example) is not giving state of California taxpayer money out to Chinese students who want to come over to study.  There are plenty of similarly-qualified Chinese students who can pay the full foreign tuition, thereby leaving more money for Berkeley to give out to well qualified California residents.

They give plenty of merit scholarships. Everyone on a PhD program has a scholarship or fellowship and that includes foreign students. I have friends from other countries that did their PhD+Master at Berkeley with funding from scholarship from Berkeley and a fellowship, plus some funding from the lab of their advisor.

 

Also, universities like Berkeley, even if funded by state and federal government, they also receive a ton of donations from alumni and some huge donations. 

Edited January 12, 2022 by Coco8

[SalishSea 17,928]

11 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

They give plenty of merit scholarships. Everyone on a PhD program has a scholarship or fellowship and that includes foreign students. I have friends from other countries that did their PhD+Master at Berkeley with funding from scholarship from Berkeley and a fellowship, plus some funding from the lab of their advisor.

 

Also, universities like Berkeley, even if funded by state and federal government, they also receive a ton of donations from alumni and some huge donations. 

I'm talking undergrad, which is the primary degree course for F-1 students.  Most foreign students at Berkeley are paying full foreign tuition.

[African Zealot 1,455]

13 hours ago, AH_Fury said:

A young student doesn't work, etc., so how can she prove she doesn't plan to stay in the US permanently? This is all confusing and very much out of my element, so any advice would be helpful!

As someone who came to the USA via a student visa I have always been convinced being issued a student visa is pure lottery. Almost by default a student is young and cannot show strong ties to home country using the normal checklist. Also almost invariably a foreign student upon graduation will earn much more in the USA further weakening motivation to return to the home country.

 

When you are approved for a students visa from a developing country it’s almost purely due to benevolence although typically students with high grades, GPA and SAT scores and full funding have high approval rates even those from poor countries.

 

In my opinion she’s done. No point reapplying, maybe next year or after a getting a bachelors degree or a few years working.

 

Sorry.

Edited January 12, 2022 by African Zealot

[Gomast 65]

I came to the US with a student visa, without scholarship, had to pay full tuition, at Columbia University. I applied for a student visa on the basis of an I-20 form (signed by the school), with the assistance of the international students and scholars office of the school. The school provided an acceptance letter and I had to show that it will be a full course of study. Many of my classmates were from all over the world, including from developing countries. I was not required to submit my previous grades as part of the F-1 application.

 

 

[AH_Fury 61]

8 hours ago, millefleur said:

This can be a typical experience, especially if there was something she answered in the DS-160 that already showed weak ties or strong ties to the US.

 

Does she have any family in the US? A US-based boyfriend? I just wonder if there was some other factor why they thought she might overstay.

 

Thank you all for the replies. To answer some questions:

 

1. She was accepted into a state university in their pre-med program. Same state her dad used to live in when he lived in the US some many years ago.

2. She's maybe 18 years old? Pretty young. Not old at all.

3. She has the funds for her education and more, as her father is practically a millionaire.

4. She DOES have family in the US. I believe an aunt and a couple sisters (they would be in a different state). I think they are sisters from a previous marriage of her father's. I believe he married a US citizen at one point and then got divorced later and remarried someone from a different country, etc. So his daughters all live in different countries. 

 

Immigration is so fun and complicated. I had to go through the entire immigration process with my now husband, so it's not new, but it never gets less frustrating.