r/f1visa

Given the current circumstances - I’m stressed. My flatmate who’s white, American, mid 40’s falsely called the cops on me for domestic violence. He was 7 beatboxes in when he did that. I never touched him.

The police said they need to make a report for this. They did acknowledge him being drunk and disoriented when they came over to speak to us.

Given current circumstances, I do not want to be involved with any issues with ICE or so. Am I in trouble? Am I not? Just need insight to how things work here.

Hello guys, I =got an offer over the summer as an intern at a state's DOT. I told them when I got the offer that I am an international student and explained the whole CPT process. and they said they don't have a problem in hiring me.

However, I got my assignment a few weeks ago and asked the HR worker if she can give me a full letter (as per my college's DSO website) with the following:

• Job Title
• Beginning and ending dates of employment
• Wage/salary/remuneration
• Number of hours per week to be worked
• Full address of employer
• Brief description of work

She said that they provide "one standard Welcome Letter, and it cannot be modified" and said that that is the only letter that can be provided. The letter only has the Job Title, Beginning date of employment, wage, and address of employer. She only mentioned the rest of the info in the email she sent me, and said "please feel free to submit this email along with the attached letter".

Am I screwed? Will my DSO accept it? If not, should I ask them to give me a more comprehensive letter? This is a little frustrating because I prepared so hard for the interview, and this was the only internship I got for the summer. Thank you.

Hi everyone!

I’m in a situation where I may need to leave the U.S. for a couple of years, and I have very limited time before I have to go. Is it still possible to complete my degree and defend my PhD during my final semester outside the US?
Also, would this cause any issues for future U.S. visa applications?

Thanks!

If I have a full-ride merit scholarship to a US university, should I still list a financial sponsor on my I-20 for the Visa?

If the answer is Yes, how much additional funding do you recommend showing? (keeping in mind that all my tuition & living expenses are already covered)

Doing so would mean that the column on the right side of the i-20 (Student's funding for 9 months) would become greater than the left side (Estimated Average Cost for 9 months). I'm afraid that a "full-ride" will not be immediately obvious to the VO in that case.

note: I've applied for an undergraduate degree.

I received a rejection email for a STEM job yesterday but today i received a letter from HR saying congratulations we are hiring you.

Is it normal?

Hey all,

I’m graduating this May from UIUC (CS) and still don’t have an offer yet. I only have a couple of interviews with smaller companies so far.

I also know that once the OPT start date is set, it can’t be changed, which makes this decision really stressful.

I’m debating whether I should push it close to the end of the 60-day grace period to give myself more time to job hunt. But at the same time, I’m worried that if I do get an offer, some companies might want me to start ASAP.

For people who’ve been in this situation:

• What start date did you choose?
• Did delaying it actually help?
• Any regrets or things you’d do differently?

Also honestly, being this close to graduation without a job is really stressful… would really appreciate any advice 🙏

Guys I signed my I-20 electronically for the pre opt application….its been a month,do you think I should sign it physically and upload it in the unsolicited evidence?

So, I am working remotely and have my remote address on the I-983. My employee is applying for my STEM OPT and will soon file my application. I might change apartments in a month and will need to update my I-983 with the new address. I understand I will have to submit the updated I-983 to my DSO.

Do I have to submit the updated I-983 to USCIS as well if the STEM OPT is not approved till then?

Did my biometrics today and EAD renews in June and have to travel in May. Have my travel endorsed I-20, will I be OK to travel? I’ll be travelling via road to Canada for a week. TIA.

I applied for initial OPT on December 12 (the same day as her graduation). During a status check on February 28, we noticed an RFE for a biometrics/photo appointment. But by the time we actually checked the physical mail, the appointment date (February 25) had already passed. We had no idea about it beforehand.

Here's the timeline of what's happened since:

- **Feb 28** – Discovered the missed appointment via online status check

- **March 3** – Called USCIS to explain the situation and request a rescheduled appointment

- **March 16** – USCIS attempted a callback but had the wrong phone number on file

- **March 16 (same day)** – We called back, provided the correct number, and were told USCIS would call us back

- **April 6 (today)** – Still no callback. Multiple follow-up calls to USCIS have gone nowhere

- **May 8** – RFE response deadline

We are now less than 5 weeks from the deadline with zero progress. Every time we call USCIS, they just log the issue, but no one actually follows up.

Our questions:

1. What happens if the May 8 deadline passes with no resolution? Will the OPT application be denied? Will her F-1 status be affected?

2. Has anyone successfully gotten USCIS to reschedule a missed biometrics appointment in a situation like this?

3. Is it worth submitting a formal written response to the RFE explaining the circumstances even without a completed biometrics appointment?

Any advice from people who've dealt with something similar would be really appreciated. We're very stressed about this.

I applied for OPT EAD with premium processing. In my USCIS account, I can see the receipt notice and a biometrics appointment notice, and the address listed on the notices is correct.

However, I still have not received either notice physically in the mail, while someone else I know did receive theirs by mail.

My case status says the biometrics appointment was scheduled on March 20, 2026, and that I should wait until April 19, 2026, before submitting an e-request for a copy if I do not receive it.

Has anyone had this happen, where the notices only showed up in the USCIS portal but never arrived physically in the mail? Did you still eventually get the paper copies, and was the PDF from the portal enough for biometrics?

My F-1 expired in July 2024 and I’m currently on STEM OPT which expires July 2027. I want to visit home at the end of the year which means I would have to renew my F-1 there.

I’ve been on a J-1 visa as an exchange student, then F-1 to finish my senior year of high school here, and my current F-1 for my bachelors. I didn’t get selected in the H1-b lottery this year.

Is it too big of a risk? Would appreciate anyone sharing your experience with the process!

Hi y'all this is a rare situation. Any help or clarification is appreciated!

I am finishing my MA from School A in May and will start my PhD at School B mid August. My F-1 is expiring in May so I want to go home to renew my F-1, with I-20 from School B. Given that I'm a SEVIS transfer student, the 30-day entry rule shouldn't apply to me and I can return to the US whenever I want.

The issue is that I need to do summer studies at School C. I don't want to use School C's I-20 to renew my F-1 because I'm worried that they might only give me a 3 month visa instead of 5 years, which I need for my PhD.

Now I need School B to approve incidental/concurrent studies for my summer program and hold my SEVIS record. What are my chances here? Has anyone been in this situation before? My status as School B will be "initial" since I haven't technically started there. Any chance they would grant the incidental studies confirmation for me to go to School C?

Also, if I come back to the States mid June for my summer program, ca. 60 days before my phd starts, do I need to explain to the officer at the customs about my summer program? Will they be asking questions? I wanna make sure I'm not in any gray area and I am guaranteed to get into the country.

i've just been working freelance during my OPT so since things are a little slow, i've been planning to go home and get more work experience.

i'm really anxious over leaving my partner (dating for 2 years). every month i start to freak out more and more while my OPT runs out. even looking back a few months ago gives me nostalgia because the end seems so close now.

i can't really talk about this with anyone like my family doesn't understand i feel like they're disappointed in me for being distracted from my career by my relationship and all my friends think my relationship is cooked once i move so i might as well just end things before going back home anyway.

i have a rough plan to come back in august 2027 for a master's or another visa but of course we don't know what will happen in the future (if immigration gets stricter and maybe there's no reason for me to come back to the states at all) so i can't promise i'll come back.

does anyone have advice on how to deal with the feeling of grief specifically before going long distance? we don't live together but we see each other 3-4 days out of the week.

confused on best method of payment credit card vs debit card. which one to use?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently on an F-1 OPT visa with a few months remaining. I’m employed and will also be applying for the STEM OPT extension.

I wanted to understand whether I should renew my B1/B2 visa, as it’s expiring soon. I’m considering it mainly because having a 10-year tourist visa could be helpful if I need to return in the future.

Additionally, my H-1B was picked this year, so I wanted to check if renewing my B1/B2 visa could cause any issues with that process.

Would appreciate your advice, thank you!

Hi guys, I had a situation where my previous passport had all my name in the given name field and my surname was empty.

This caused my visa to have FNU as my first name and full name under last name.

Given name: AA BBCC

LAST NAME : -

To correct this, I renewed my passport for name change and got it with name change with name split to first name and last name.

After correction

Given name: AA BB

LAST NAME : CC

Now when I visit the SSA office, they say they need a course order to update my details in SSN.

My question is even if I have passport and I-20 updated with new name, is it required to have a course order for name change? Or it is office specific and I can try visiting other office and see if they can change name without court order?

Please help as I need to resolve this situation within a month.

TIA!

I have an F1 visa that expires in September, but the passport it’s on expires earlier in July. I was looking to renew my passport first it in the US before wanting to renew my visa, but due to poor planning on my part and time constraints, I left it for last minute and my home country’s consulate said the renewal process for passports is taking up to 8 months.

I’m a rising senior doing undergrad and wish to enter law school within a year. What would my best course of action be here? I am a dual national (no bans) so could I apply for F1 using a different country’s passport? I assume it wouldn’t be safe for me to leave the US with a soon to be expiring visa and passport, so going back to my home country to renew them both would be dangerous over the summer if I want to be back by the time break ends for my fall semester (middle of August).

I appreciate all the advice and help I can get. Thanks!

Hey everyone,

Quick question about Form I-983 (STEM OPT Training Plan) does it need to be signed in ink (handwritten), or are digital signatures acceptable?

I’ve seen mixed information online, so just wanted to check what others have done recently. If you’ve submitted it recently, did you use a digital signature (like typed or e-sign), or did you print, sign, and scan?

Many thanks!