Change of Status (COS): Should I take this route?
Should you take this route? If not, what other option do you have? When you are considering a COS route, you should weigh it against the Apply from Abroad route, which is the preferred way of coming to study in the U.S. You apply for admission with a school of your choosing and then go for a visa interview at the US Embassy in your country. With a successful interview, you will be granted an F-1 visa to enter into the U.S. and subsequently have F-1 status, or a full-time international student. You may go back home to visit your family or to travel outside the U.S. and then re-enter with a valid unexpired F-1 visa and resume your F-1 status with no hassle. Unfortunately, it’s not the luxery for those who went on the COS route. Of course, at the end of the successful COS process, you have your F-1 status, but at the same time, your B1/B2 visa is likely to be canceled and you do not have a valid F-1 visa for re-entry! You are stuck in the U.S., and if you leave, the only way for you to re-enter is to apply for an F-1 visa in your home country with proper documentation from your school. Your chance of getting an F-1 visa is very slim because you have shown the US consul or the visa interviewer that you did not come to travel in the U.S. and return home within a given period as you were supposed to with your granted B1/B2 visa. You have abused it by undergoing the COS process. Yet, COS exists because we all are humans, and humans are modifying their plans all the time with new or emerging factors.
Which route is better for you? It depends! If you have no plans to go back home or travel outside the U.S. for a long time, then COS will allow you to continue staying in the U.S. while waiting for your F-1 status. You get to travel more within the U.S. and don’t have to pay for the air tickets. But then again, you put yourself into a difficult position when you want to get a U.S. visa in the future. Even though the Apply from Abroad route will give you a clean immigration record, it can be costly and may take a longer time before you can return to study.
Contact us if you are here in the U.S. and looking to change your status to study as a full-time student. We have a team of specialists who will assist you in every step of the process!
