in terms of how to not get tripped up as an international student on you know all sorts
of visas like an F1 Visa CBT opt stuff the reason why I'm making this video is because so much of
the stuff you learn in hindsight where you're like actively filling out an application with documents
that you don't have and then you're like oh you should have told me as a freshman that I needed
those documents so that's why I'm making this video disclaimer I'm obviously not a lawyer not
an international student advisor to get the most up-to-date information which might change over
time talk to your international student advisor so the first and probably the most important tip is
you need the original and a digital copy of every document the government or your school ever gives
you so that includes letters that includes Like official documents that includes applications you
submit yourself you want full copies of everything I'll link to the scanner that's free app that I
use in order to do this but the reason why this is important is because in the future when you
are applying for other visas like maybe you're applying for a work visa like a CPT or an opt
Visa or you're applying for an immigration thing in the future they will need copies of every
single document that you've had and if you lose them getting them from the government I'm pretty
sure is impossible and then you will have to do the extra work of writing documents that are like
this is why I can't find this document but this is what I think is on it or like hounding various old
systems that the government in your school has to try and get it in other words you will cause
yourself infinitely more pain if you don't have the original and digital copy of every document
you've ever gotten so what's the difference when you're an active F1 students or still student or
when you've graduated but you are still on an F1 Visa so when you are an active student one of the
really important documents that you'll need is the I-20 and one of the things that will commonly trip
people up is that you need a travel signature that's renewed every single year or one year
from the last time that it was signed every time that happens you actually get issued a new I-20
and again you need a original and digital copy of all of those i-20s if you come back to the country
so you're trying to re-enter the country and you don't have a valid travel signature I think what
happens is one not all officers look at it but a lot of them do if they notice that it's out of
date they can kind of do whatever they want they can refuse you entry they can return you back to
the country that you came from but what you can actually ask for is the i515a which is essentially
like a IOU one where in the next like 30 days or something like that you write a letter about
why this is not in violation of your visa and you actually just forgot to hit your travel signature
Etc it's a pain in the butt but it's a good last resort in case you forget your travel
signature you'll need your valid visa and a valid passport which has at least six months left before
you expire if you're a Canadian you actually don't have a Visa because it's not required don't forget
and I forgot this many many times that schools can send you these documents even if you're abroad and
in fact nowadays they can actually email you these documents and you can print them yourself which is
great but it still takes a few days because these people work like nine to five Monday
through Friday in American time zones and if you are outside of that it does they will not be able
to help you things that you should have in your folder of important documents that you take when
you're traveling anyways even though I've never been checked for these but they are recommended is
your see this fee received and uh bank statements to prove that you have the financial means to be
in the country um enrollment verification so that you're a student at the school and obviously you
do need your vaccination status so this all changes a little bit when you graduate um and
you are still in this case an F1 student on your opt or stem opt Visa but you have all of the same
requirements as above but there are some things that have changed and this is what trips me up so
your travel signature which used to be valid for one year at a time is now only valid for six years
that six months at a time again if you don't get it renewed and if you don't get it renewed like
quickly enough you will face all the problems that I previously mentioned which suck so every time
you think about leaving the country you should always think do I have a valid travel signature
as someone who's been stuck outside of the country without a travel signature it is now something
I have like ingrained into my brain some new things that you will need to bring with you are
now an employment verification letter preferably with your salary um which is different than the
enrollment verification letter and you will also need your little EAD card uh what's interesting
is that the EAD card is not enough to let you in the country but if you don't have it you can get
into a lot of trouble and oh my God getting one replaced I learned this recently because I thought
I lost mine getting one replaced uh requires you to fill out the entire application all over again
so instead of saying hey can you give me another card I've already been approved for stem opt for
example it's hey I need to now apply for stem opt all over again so again if you don't follow
the rules exactly as they stated you will cause yourself so much more pain okay in the last few
sections I just have a few bonus things to keep in mind the first is that after you graduate
actually generally speaking but especially after you graduate every time you change
locations as well as every six months at minimum you will have to re-report to the government like
your location and all like your employment and stuff like that that's a requirement
um the second thing is generally you should just have a list of every date down to the day month
year of When you entered and left the US unless it was like a one hour layover something like that
the reason why this is important is because every single tax year they're going to ask you for all
of that information as an international student and even if you're like done doing taxes by the
time you go for applying for other immigration Visas so that you can stay in the US longer or
something like that you will need that information to the day and they will confirm or deny it and
potentially like to know your application because it is off to the day so you I just have a list of
that that I constantly add to on my computer for safekeeping okay the last two things I'm going to
say sound contradictory but they're not the first is that just as a rule of thumb remember that the
government does not care if the rule doesn't make sense or if it's really hard to follow
or if it was impossible for you to like follow the rule because you were out of the country and
you didn't have a printer or something like that all of that is to say I think generally speaking
I think it's like Occam's razor or whatever that rule is which is like if something seems you go to
like the simplest explanation if something seems unreasonable then you're like oh this can't be the
case that's not the case with like the government when it comes to immigration stuff if something
seems unreasonable you still have to follow it and they don't really care about your specific
circumstance so and they can kick you out of the country forevermore if you don't follow it so
Visa stuff is actually very important to get right which is why I make you know videos like this and
at the same time the SEC the last thing I'm going to say which sounds a little bit contradictory but
it's not is that even if you think you're in a horrible situation one definitely go contact
your like international student advisor and people who really know what they're talking
about or an international student lawyer um but there's often like a way to like explain to the
government Why you mess something up or why you didn't have this piece of paper or something
like that it's probably much more complicated much more expensive and much more circuitious
but if you're in a really bad situation just know that there might be a second chance you
just need to get proper advice from a you know international student advisor or someone like that
if you have any more questions about being an international student in the in the US let me
know I was on the F1 Visa I applied for CPT I've done opt I've done stem opt and I've reported
my taxes the whole time in other words I've gone through the pain of each and every one of
those things stay safe out there and read things carefully and read things early it's really rough