Visa renewal interview waiver

[straightcurls]

Hi All,
I am in graduate school for Chemical engineering. I have a valid F1 visa till May 2021. I’ll be visiting India in May 2020, and I am thinking of renewing my visa as I’ve an i20 valid till August 2023. How long does it generally take for F1 visa renewals? Do Chemical Engineering people always get a 221g? What all documents will I need for the same?

[MrGayleN]

Renewing F1 visa you must follow the same process as the initial F1 visa application. You should apply for F1 visa renewal outside of the U.S, preferably at the U.S Embassy or Consulate in your home country.

After a student gets their F1 visa, the U.S Embassy usually issues it for the duration of the academic program. If your program takes 1 year to graduate, the Embassy will most likely give you the visa for 1 year. However, in some cases when a program is longer, the Embassy will issue a visa that is valid for less.

For example, many educational programs take 2 or more years to complete. So the U.S Embassy could give you a visa for only 1 year. After that 1 year has passed, your F1 visa expires and you must renew it. You can stay in the U.S with an expired F1 visa as long as your Form I-20, Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status is valid. But if you travel out of the U.S, you might have trouble entering again.

That is why, it is best to renew your F1 visa, rather than stay with an expired one. There are two main ways that you can renew your F1 visa:

• Go to your home country or another country and apply to a U.S Embassy for renewal;
• Use the Automatic Visa Revalidation option;