I support a foreign student for his flight training and recently we changed to an other flight school.
The new school can not issue an I20, the old school will cancel the I20 that they supplied us with during our visa request about half year ago. We got an M1 visa. TSA approval is OK. Visa status is at doubt.
New school says; I20 not required, continue training with us.
Old school says; I20 cancelled, so leave the country within 15 days
What does the "support" portion mean?
If the new school cannot issue an I-20 you cannot train there since you cannot get a visa without an I-20.
If your "student" has been in the country for more then 6 months, with or without an I-20 there can be no change as this is only allowed within 6 months of entry.
Hans, understand two things:
The school is held responsible for the person holding the visa.
At any time the school can get a call from DHS or TSA asking about the whereabouts of a certain student. The school has to be able to say " student A is flying with Instructor B and they are expected back in two hours" or " student A is at home studying for the PPL written test and he is scheduled again tomorrow at 8"
A school can lose their I-20 issuing authority if they do not keep a tight reign on this.
So if a student fails to show and or intends to do training at a school which is not authorized to do so they HAVE to cancel the I-20.
A M-1 visa is nothing but a vocational study visa, it can apply to lots of different courses of study and is NOT exclusively an Aviation training visa.
Form I-20 is a United States Department of Homeland Security, specifically ICE and SEVP, document issued by colleges, universities, and vocational schools that provides supporting information the issuance of a student visa or change of status (F, J and M non-immigrant statuses). Since the introduction of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, the form also includes the student tracking number (SEVIS number) for the student and program.
So the Visa MUST be accompagnied by an I-20 in order to be valid.
Example:
M-1 visa in the passport is valid for a year. If the training course is three months it will state this on the I-20.
When the I-20 expires the visa is no longer valid regardless of the expiration date of the visa.
The same visa could be used again with a different I-20, even from another school if you are still within your first 6 months.
You guys are trying to get into another school that has NO I-20 authority with a cancelled I-20 from a previous school.
Not going to work.
Let us know if we can help.