Originally Posted by
ethicalconundrum
Well, then the rules have changed since 2004. My bro-in-law came over on a student visa for a course of study in one field at one institution(I will not name either). He quit that course of study, went in a completely different direction, and began attending a completely different advanced and accredited university. I went with him to the Immigration office in downtown LA(twice, two long, full days) and he was re-issued a student visa right there on the spot. We had to take a lot of paperwork, and get a letter from the chair of the dept at the new school, and the Immigration people were just fine stamping him to continue. If it's different now, I guess I will defer to others with more recent experience. Can you share your more recent experience?
the rules are the same. He must have been issued a fresh F1 visa letter however the stamp in his passport remained his old university. He could stay in the USA but if he left for a holiday he would have to go to US consulate to get the visa stamp updated to allow him to re enter. Visa entry stamps cannot be issued while you are in the USA