M1 student vias help?!

[Elbiot]

Hello all,
Enrolled with Riverside flight center to start my zero-ATPL course. I know i need an M1 student visa but was just wondering how i obtain this? I have been sent the I-20 form form them all filled in to say that yes i am enrolled with them and yes i can speak English. where do i go from here? any links or info.

Cheers

Elliot

ps oh by the way its July time im flying out there if this helps.

[RexBanner]

Basically you need to phone the US Embassy to arrange an oppointment for interview at Grosvenor Square (its a premium rate line so try to keep it brief as much as possible). After that you need to print out a few forms that you need to fill in and take to the Embassy when you go for your interview. You'll aslo have to pay a fee for the privelege of this interview! Turn up to the embassy on time but dont expect to have a proper interview or even for it to be on time, you'll have to queue outside just to get in. (Remember to take a couple of passport style photos, dont do what I did and turn up with a photo of me grinning like a cheese merchant and holding a pint!)

There are hundreds of people all there waiting in an airport departure lounge style environment and you are given a number and called up by that number to a booth firstly to give in your documents, then another wait and you are called up to another booth for the "interview". There's only a couple of real questions asked, they've basically made up their mind on whether your Visa is accepted prior to that meeting anyway as far as I can gather. The whole process isn't as intimidating as you'd think post 9/11. In fact the guy interviewing me even made a couple of jokes about it, which I found rather bizarre but hilarious.

They then take your passport off you and make arrangements to send it back to you via courier, fresh with Visa. Again at your expense. Its all very simple but time consuming and expensive. Expect to be in the embassy for upwards of three hours. 95% of the time you will be sitting around waiting

You'll be able to find all the links and contacts you need by googling US Embassy London. Hope this is of help.

RB

[selfin]

1. Telephone US Embassy for an appointment for a nonimmigrant student visa (M-1) on 0904 245 0100 -- calls are charged at £1.20 per minute.

2. Complete form DS-156 (Non-immigrant Visa Application) @ https://evisaforms.state.gov/ -- print completed version & retain for interview

Photograph requirements: http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/info/info_1287.html

3. Complete form DS-157 (Supplemental Non-immigrant Visa Application) @ http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/79964.pdf -- print & retain

4. Complete form DS-158 (Contact Information and Work History for Non-immigrant Visa Applicant) @ http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/79965.pdf -- print & retain

5. Make the I-901 fee payment to the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) @ http://www.fmjfee.com/ -- print receipt & retain

6. Checklist of documents for interview:

Passport or UN Travel Document
Non-immigrant visa interview appointment confirmation letter
Machine Readable Visa (MRV) fee receipt
I-20 M-N Certificate
DS-156 (including regulation photograph)
DS-157
DS-158
SEVIS I-901 fee receipt
Bank statements to prove financial support during stay
Travel itinerary (either intended or booked)
Sufficient funds for Embassy courier service
& Dependents to be admitted under M–2 status (if any)

Now ask yourself why you're throwing money at a company which leaves you asking this basic question on PPRuNe.

[MartinCh]

Hello.

You're sayin, 0-Atpl in the US, but want only M1 visa?
Man, if I had enough dosh for J1 straight away (all vital funding to get me throught to CFI/CFII in rotary - helis, I'd jump).

M1 won't get you legal instructing work. You're aware of that fact that it's the most welcome thing for folks returning back home wherever that is, from USA. Especially JAA land...

How come that when you've gone through TSA website (no sh1t, nobody mentions that here, but should be done before getting I-20 from school) and getting I-20 soon, you're asking about all the standard paperwork??

Either bit too lazy to look it up here - zillions of posts re visa and paperwork to US, or your school doesn't care (????) to let you know all the stuff, or I ain't got idea.


BTW, RE US VISA INTERVIEW:
It took me under hour from showing up at the gate and leaving the place.
Could have been 10-15min faster should I have turned up early or on time.
PS: US Consulate in Belfast.:mad: London. That must be pain :-/

[abs_kols]

hold on i was told that I had to file the TSA website stuff after I got my visa approved????? Im lost!:ugh: