Daughter 21?

[jim]

I was wondering if anyone can help me?
My daughter is 21 in Feb 010. She is at the moment at college training to be a nurse. She has 2 simesters left and is on full scollarship. We have been told that once she hits 21 she has to change status. Now, she has her i94 stamped to Nov 2010. Does she still have to leave or change status in Feb2010? Also the F1 international student visa requirements at the college are that she has to have $20800.00 in her bank account to prove she has the financial means to support herself. She lives with us and the college is 25 miles away. Would the $20k still apply to her? Its bad enough having to give up the scollarship. Or could she just ride out the i94 and keep the scollarship?
Sorry so many questions

Jim:confused:

[JulieC]

Usually in age out situations they only stamp your passport till you turn 21. Whoever stamped your daughters for the full two years did not notice her age so it is a mistake. How you deal with that is down to you. Officially you need to change status at 21 as you are no longer a dependant. Her college will know that and may insist on it. Yes the amount in the bank does relate to her as well. My son had to prove way over $20,000 when he had two semesters left and he lives at home which is less than 10 minutes drive from college. We argued that proving he had living expenses in addition to tuition fees was not relevant to him because of that and were told that is just the way it is and there are no exceptions.
Personally I would go with it and not rock the boat with such a small amount of time to go.

[jim]

Usually in age out situations they only stamp your passport till you turn 21. Whoever stamped your daughters for the full two years did not notice her age so it is a mistake. How you deal with that is down to you. Officially you need to change status at 21 as you are no longer a dependant. Her college will know that and may insist on it. Yes the amount in the bank does relate to her as well. My son had to prove way over $20,000 when he had two semesters left and he lives at home which is less than 10 minutes drive from college. We argued that proving he had living expenses in addition to tuition fees was not relevant to him because of that and were told that is just the way it is and there are no exceptions.
Personally I would go with it and not rock the boat with such a small amount of time to go.

If we just let it roll...would it cause a problem if she gets a sponsered after her education? Would they notice that she stayed in education in the i94?Obviously, this is what we are hoping for with there being a shortage of nurses in the US.

[chris]

Question for Julie.
According to Jim's post his daughter has to show x dollars in her bank account. As a dependent on E2 the daughter is not allowed a SS# and therefore Banks will not let folks open an account without one, especially over 18. How do you square that circle?

[eirelav]

We had a similar situation where our sons visa (dependent of E2) was issued until his 22 birthday, our visa attorney advised us to switch him to an Intl student when he reached 21 as even though his visa had been issued "in error" by USCIS it was our responsibility to do the right thing and change him over on is 21 birthday to the Intl student status. On a different thought Jim can you tell me what college your daughter is doing her nursing course at. Our daughter was at valencia as an E2 dependent doing an associates degree, last year we had to switch her to the Intl student status on her 21st, and now valencia say that International students are not accepted on their nursing program so we are looking for another college for her to do the course at.

Its crazy everything you do here is made so difficult.
Eirelav

[JulieC]

Question for Julie.
According to Jim's post his daughter has to show x dollars in her bank account. As a dependent on E2 the daughter is not allowed a SS# and therefore Banks will not let folks open an account without one, especially over 18. How do you square that circle?

Matt is on F1 and has a SS number now and his own account. Prior to him changing status, we had to show that we had the money in our account and needed to sign an affidavit to say we would make it available to him.

[JulieC]

If we just let it roll...would it cause a problem if she gets a sponsered after her education? Would they notice that she stayed in education in the i94?Obviously, this is what we are hoping for with there being a shortage of nurses in the US.

It is more immigration who may notice if and when she goes for another visa, say H1b. Though there is a shortage of nurses, the nursing green card is in retrogression, so unlikely she will go straight to green card as she would once have. Whether it would come out or not, well who knows?? Is it worth the sleepless nights is the question.

[Tina]

It is more immigration who may notice if and when she goes for another visa, say H1b. Though there is a shortage of nurses, the nursing green card is in retrogression, so unlikely she will go straight to green card as she would once have. Whether it would come out or not, well who knows?? Is it worth the sleepless nights is the question.

She wouldn't qualify for H1B Julie, as this visa applies only to nurses in specialised areas, with a few years experience. A new grad would not meet the criteria.

And as you said, with retrogression, at this time there's a wait of 5 years minimum for a green card. Even though the young lady in question has gone to nursing school here in the US won't give her any advantages on that, unfortunately.

[JulieC]

She wouldn't qualify for H1B Julie, as this visa applies only to nurses in specialised areas, with a few years experience. A new grad would not meet the criteria.

And as you said, with retrogression, at this time there's a wait of 5 years minimum for a green card. Even though the young lady in question has gone to nursing school here in the US won't give her any advantages on that, unfortunately.

So effectively, she will be having to leave anyway then, Tina. That wont be good news for Jim. Of course when she started out the situation was a lot better for nurses. Matt looked at nursing years back, purely because it was immigration friendly. Am glad now he is doing physio.
Jim if they are on F1, they get a years OPT when they are finished ( work experience). She may be better going on that visa to get that.

Tina, do you know if a nursing degree here ( it is an associates not a bachelors) will qualify her to work in the UK as a nurse. I am betting not.

[Tina]

Tina, do you know if a nursing degree here ( it is an associates not a bachelors) will qualify her to work in the UK as a nurse. I am betting not.

Julie, an associates degree (ADN) is a 2 year programme and is not recognised for the purposes of working as an RN in the UK.

The UK requires at least a 3 year nursing programme which here in the US is a BSN.

[neilsuzy]

Question for Julie.
According to Jim's post his daughter has to show x dollars in her bank account. As a dependent on E2 the daughter is not allowed a SS# and therefore Banks will not let folks open an account without one, especially over 18. How do you square that circle?

We have 2 bank accounts with US banks - 1 opened 7 years ago and the other one last year - we don't live in the US and neither bank required SS number to open accounts

[jim]

We had a similar situation where our sons visa (dependent of E2) was issued until his 22 birthday, our visa attorney advised us to switch him to an Intl student when he reached 21 as even though his visa had been issued "in error" by USCIS it was our responsibility to do the right thing and change him over on is 21 birthday to the Intl student status. On a different thought Jim can you tell me what college your daughter is doing her nursing course at. Our daughter was at valencia as an E2 dependent doing an associates degree, last year we had to switch her to the Intl student status on her 21st, and now valencia say that International students are not accepted on their nursing program so we are looking for another college for her to do the course at.

Its crazy everything you do here is made so difficult.
Eirelav

Hi,
My daughter is at Edison College in Fort Myers. There are a few intl students training to be nurses.
Anybody got 21 grand I could borrow for a week or two??:D

[jim]

Is there anyone out there that has applied for the F1 visa themselves?
Or do we need to go through an attorney? Can the process be done while in the US rather than having to travel back to the UK? Just trying to keep the cost down to a minimum.

[JulieC]

Is there anyone out there that has applied for the F1 visa themselves?
Or do we need to go through an attorney? Can the process be done while in the US rather than having to travel back to the UK? Just trying to keep the cost down to a minimum.

I did my sons F1, you really dont need a lawyer. The main work is done for you by the international students office at the college and they should be able to helo you through this, they issue the I-20 and supporting documents. You have to make sure her details have been entered onto the Sevis computer http://www.ice.gov/sevis as that is what governs her status. We did proper F1 through London, but I am sure it can be done by change of status, just it will landlock her. He took all the documentation from the college, proof of our financial worth plus all the non immigrant forms that you fill in online and then print off, was it DS-156 and 157, look at forms for non immigrant visa on the embassy website.. You schedule an appointment and turn up on the day. There would be a wait this time of the year when everyone is applying to start at the end of August but not at other times.

[jim]

anyone know how long it takes to process the F1 visa? Time is go by so fast, my daughter will be 21 before we know it. Is there anyone out there who is on an F1 visa and taking less than 12 credits? The course my daugher is on at the moment demands half that amount.

Jim

[JulieC]

You have to do 12 credits Fall and Spring semesters or be in violation of the visa, Summer you can do none or as few as you want. The longest part of F1 is getting the college documentation together. Once they have issued I-20 and it is on the Sevis computer, just make the appointment at the embassy on the phone and turn up with all your paperwork with you. You dont have to send it in advance as with E2. So it all depends on how long you have to wait for your interview. This time of the year with lots of people applying before the start of the college year it could be a few weeks but other times it will be just a few days wait.

[jim]

You have to do 12 credits Fall and Spring semesters or be in violation of the visa, Summer you can do none or as few as you want. The longest part of F1 is getting the college documentation together. Once they have issued I-20 and it is on the Sevis computer, just make the appointment at the embassy on the phone and turn up with all your paperwork with you. You dont have to send it in advance as with E2. So it all depends on how long you have to wait for your interview. This time of the year with lots of people applying before the start of the college year it could be a few weeks but other times it will be just a few days wait.

Oh wow! are you suggesting she has to leave the country and go back to England to the embassy in London? She is already in college here. we just want to change status

[JulieC]

Sorry that is how my son did it ( ie applied for a visa) as he didnt want to be landlocked so that is what I was thinking of, you can do it internally and landlock it you wish. However if you look at the processing time at the USCIS servicing center for F1 visa, there appears to be a long wait currently, I wont tell you in case I have misread it, just google USCIS service center processing times and I think we are Texas. So you might reconsider sending her to the embassy for interview as being a lot quicker!

[eirelav]

(Quote: Jim: Oh wow! are you suggesting she has to leave the country and go back to England to the embassy in London? She is already in college here. we just want to change status)

Jim - Both our son and daughter changed from E2/dependent status to F1 student - they did not leave the country, the process was done by the International Advisor at the college. Doing it this way there are landlocked, we did consider them going back to the Embassy in the UK to get the visas put into their passports but we took advise from our Visa Attorney who told us unless they had to travel it was best to leave it as it was as sometimes the Embassy frown on E2 dependent switching to F1 student status, as it could be looked upon as just a way for them to remain in the US (which of course it is). Even when you are just trying to do things legally and have them remain here in legal status they don't approve !!!!! Once you have filed for the switch to the F1 student status and got a notice of action your daughter will be in status, our daughters approval didn't take that long to come through (not as long as was stated on the USCIS Prosessing times).
Good luck ...........Eirelav

[jim]

(Quote: Jim: Oh wow! are you suggesting she has to leave the country and go back to England to the embassy in London? She is already in college here. we just want to change status)

Jim - Both our son and daughter changed from E2/dependent status to F1 student - they did not leave the country, the process was done by the International Advisor at the college. Doing it this way there are landlocked, we did consider them going back to the Embassy in the UK to get the visas put into their passports but we took advise from our Visa Attorney who told us unless they had to travel it was best to leave it as it was as sometimes the Embassy frown on E2 dependent switching to F1 student status, as it could be looked upon as just a way for them to remain in the US (which of course it is). Even when you are just trying to do things legally and have them remain here in legal status they don't approve !!!!! Once you have filed for the switch to the F1 student status and got a notice of action your daughter will be in status, our daughters approval didn't take that long to come through (not as long as was stated on the USCIS Prosessing times).
Good luck ...........Eirelav

Thanks for the information. I have sent you a PM.

[JulieC]

We were also told by an attorney that the embassy are iffy about E2 to F1. However if the applicant is already at college and has done several semesters there under their E2, they totally understand the need to finish a degree at the embassy. That is what my son was told at the embassy. He had no problems getting his and had several weeks of an overstay on his record to boot.