Student Visa ( to the US)

[trader_of_shots]

Evening all.

I am banging my head against a wall here.

There is an awesome Institute that is offering excellent Cisco training CCNA CCNP . - I believe study time may exceed 6 month

However it is not a University or a college … am I able to get a Student Visa for a course that is not a degree / bach / etc ?

The Institute talks of a PELL grant/loan … am I able to apply for this.

My situation is. I can defer payment on the course. I have a place of residence already in the states (No expenses).

Any advice would be awesome.

[sailor]

You can get the information stright from the horse’s mouth at the INS website
http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/services/visas.htm
Scroll down to the F visas (Academic Students) and you have plenty of links. One of the linked pages says

(F)(i)3/ an alien having a residence in a foreign country which he has no intention of abandoning, who is a bona fide student qualified to pursue a full course of study and who seeks to enter the United States temporarily and solely for the purpose of pursuing such a course of study consistent with section 214(l) at an established college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic high school, elementary school, or other academic institution or in a language training program in the United States, particularly designated by him and approved by the Attorney General after consultation with the Secretary of Education, which institution or place of study shall have agreed to report to the Attorney General the termination of attendance of each nonimmigrant student, and if any such institution of learning or place of study fails to make reports promptly the approval shall be withdrawn

So, it seems to me, the school or place of study needs to be acredited with the INS and the best thing is to ask the school directly if they are, in fact, accredited. If they are, they should be able to help you. If they are not, then. . . . tough cookies I guess.

[trader_of_shots]

You rock !

Thank you

[ruadh]

Since you mentioned in another thread that you’re planning to marry an American, I’m not sure why you need this visa anyway. Why not just go in on a fiancé visa?

If you do apply for the F though, I’d strongly recommend you don’t mention the American fiancé(e) to any INS/State Dept officials. They have a habit of not issuing non-immigrant visas to people they think plan to immigrate.

[trader_of_shots]

Hmmm … there is a visa that allows you to travel to the US to marry right ?.. I am just wondering what the time frame is on that.

[ruadh]

Look up the K1 visa on the page sailor linked to.

[Dreaming_of_Maria_Callas]

Pell Grants are US government grants given only to US citizens so that they can gain some measure of higher education. (They are useless for college, though, tuition at a decent school comes to $20,000 - $30,000 per year, and a Pell grant might come to $1600 a year).

UnuMondo

[Ferret_Herder]

*Originally posted by UnuMondo *
Pell Grants are US government grants given only to US citizens so that they can gain some measure of higher education. (They are useless for college, though, tuition at a decent school comes to $20,000 - $30,000 per year, and a Pell grant might come to $1600 a year).

It’s not necessarily the case that you have to spend that much per year to go to a decent college. Private institutions will cost that much, but in-state tuition for state universities may be a quarter of that or less, depending on where you go. I went to the University of Wisconsin (a respected university, not “Ivy League” but highly rated in many subject areas) about 10 years ago, and think in-state students paid under $3000 at the time. Checking their website now, I see tuition is just under $5000 for in-state students.