At kaaledge.com, we are constantly looking for individuals who have worked their way from their home (India or other countries) to come to the US and study and later work. We found Anirudh, who is an engineering Master student at Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Anirudh has written a many articles on his blog about his experience applying to the US. Now, he has agreed to share with our readers and students in India and other countries the details of applying for a US student visa. We will be posting it in parts. Here is part 1 from Anirudh:

This part of the guide is about applying for the VISA and completing the other necessary formalities. The most important thing is the documentation required. The following documents are required for the VISA process:

a) I-20 issued by the University you got admit to and plan to get admit to and admission letter (if any).
b) VISA fee receipt
c) SEVIS fee receipt
d) VISA application forms (DS forms, which is filled when applying for the VISA online)
e) Passport
f) Degree Certificate (or Provisional) and Transcripts
g) GRE, TOEFL mark sheets
h) Bank Statements which prove that you haf enough money for your education
i) CA Certificate which validates your funds for education, an affidavit from sponsors and other documents
j) Any certificates or proof of awards you may want to present

You need at least 2 sets of copies of each of the above mentioned documents. Keep all the documents in a sorted/labelled order in a folder (avoid folders with a zipper as they may not be allowed at the US Consulate) so that you can present any of the documents without wasting much time. Each document is discussed in detail below:

a) I-20
This is the proof of your admission to a US University. This is generated as soon as you are given an admit by the university. An entry is created by SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, which I guess is now called as Student and Exchange Visitor Program - SEVP or something) for each I-20 generated. Hence if you haf multiple admits you will haf that many entries in the SEVIS database (but only one will finally “survive” after you set foot in the US). This system is like a centralized database of people who come into the US for their education or exchange visitor program. You can think of this as a “spy system” since they haf all your details, US as well as from your home country.

A point to remember is that the VISA will be associated with a University. Hence you need to take the I-20 of the university you’ve decided to take admission in. If later you change your mind and opt for another University you need to go through the VISA process again!

Sign on the relevant sections on the I-20 indicating that you’ve accepted the admission. Keep this piece of document safely as you need it as long as you are in the US (don’t laminate it!! haha…)

b) VISA fee receipt
You will need to pay the VISA fee (of corz US Govt. will not give you a VISA for free! :P). VISA fee can be paid at specific branches of HDFC Bank. The list of the branches can be obtained on the VFS Global Website. Click on the HDFC bank link for more information. The fee is $131 at an exchange rate determined by the VFS authorities. Keep a look on the website for the latest rate. You can either pay the fee by cash or DD at the bank. A receipt will be generated and given to you. This will be activated in under 3 days. So you can schedule a VISA interview only after 3 days of paying the fee. Be sure to take you Passport and I-20 to the bank. Keep pink receipt safely.

c) SEVIS fee receipt
You also need to pay SEVIS $200 for “spying” on you. This can be done online at the SEVIS/SEVP Website (of corz you need a credit card for online payment). More information can be obtained here. Make sure that when you pay the fee you haf a printer (or a PDF creation software for printing later) near you so that you can take a printout of the receipt. You cannot retrieve this receipt later! You will need this receipt at the time of applying for VISA. Since the actual receipt will be mailed to you after about 20 days, you will need the printout if you schedule an interview sooner than you get the actual receipt.

d) VISA application forms
After these things are done, you can goto VFS Global website (www.vfs-usa.co.in) and create an Application. Fill in the 3 forms (DS-156, 157 and 158) with all the relevant details. You will need your Passport, I-20, VISA and SEVIS receipt for the info to be filled in. You need not fill in the forms at one go. Your forms will be saved till one week. So start early as it may take time. Fill in everything carefully. You can always come back and edit the information in the forms even after you’ve completed filling it.

After you’ve filled in everything you can either take a print out immediately or haf the forms mailed in to you in PDF for later printing. Make sure you print with high resolution on a bond sheet since these forms are machine readable many times. Also ensure there are no smudges on any sheets. Take at least 3 sets of the forms. In one of the forms (I do not remember which one exactly, guess its DS 157), you will be required to write your name. With a black or a blue ink pen, write your name in the space provided in your NATIVE language (even if you don’t know it, at least learn to write your name Not that you will quizzed about it or something!).

Sign on all forms. Keep one set blank so that in case you need it in the last moment you can use it.