I have completed my bachelors in Electrical Engineering from the USA on a student visa (2000-2005). However, due to extenuating circumstances I had to return to Pakistan. Now, I would like to go back to the same university and get my PhD. The university is ready to offer me admission as well as some financial aid.
My question is, will it be a big issue getting another student visa? I have been guaranteed an out of state tution waiver and I may even get a fellowship, so financing my education shouldn’t be an issue. My perspective is that since I have already returned on time in accordance to my first visa, there shouldn’t be any problems? Has anyone had a similar experience? Are there particulars I should be careful about when applying for the visa?
I don't think there are any bullet-proof guarantees when you are dealing with American Embassy in Islamabad, but you seem to have a good case. If you were never "out of status", during your earlier stay, then that will be a plus. It will also depend on which school you plan to go for your PhD. A good school's I-20 will likely carry more weight.
And since they will carry out the background check, so it also depends on your name. If your name matches with some terrorist database, then the processing will be delayed by several weeks till they do a more thorough check. This is done by FBI so can take fairly long.
The school is a regular public state university, the reason why I did my undergrad there was because of financial aid. Now for grad school, I went for the same again since admission and aid will be easier as I know everybody in my department.
As for special registration and security clearance, they should already have all that information on hand, since during my stay in the US, I have traveled frequently internationally so I have been through the whole picture and fingerprint routine. Plus I have never been out of status.
PartyGuyz, thanks for the well wishes, I'll keep my fingers crossed!
In Addition to what Faisal has said ... Make sure you take ALL the paper work with you. Organize it in a way that you can show it to the interviewer quickly. I have seen a lot of solid cases deferred because they didn't have the necessary documents.
Actually they don’t. Everytime you apply for a visa, they perform the entire security check and background check all over. Atleast thats how it used to be fairly recently. May be, they have updated their system to reduce redundant background checks.
well, i think if u have always been here in the US with a legal satus and have a good background, you sholdn't have any problems. Infact, having a BS degree from here might help u get the visa faster cuz i know someone who had the same situation and he went back, applied for visa for masters after undergrad and he got it...he did go through some security checks all over again cuz his 1st name was Mohammad...but these things are just there u know so dont worry, let them do a security check..go ahead with applying for visa and inshAllah u'll get it without any problems.
Thanks everybody for the replies. Right now I am in the middle of trying to push for as much financial aid as possible :D, which should make expressing sufficient finances easier. I'll keep you all updated.
I will be going to Islamabad next week for my interview. I was able to receive full admission into the PhD program and university will be bearing 1/3 of my expenses.
Students visa applicants currently have a walk in interview system where they can appear for an interview 8 am -10 am any day of the week. I plan on getting there well before 8. If anyone has recently gone to Islamabad to apply for a student visa, please share your experience.
^ why don't you checka few more uni's before you go to this one. Most uni's would happily offer you a fellowship for a PHD, or even the govt of Pakistan has some scholarships programmes and since you are gonna do your PHD you can easily get one(depending on ur grades in BS).
Mywish has a point, for masters its not always easy but for PhD you can get a lot more in terms of reserach assistantship, or TA position plus tuition waivers and housing allowances.
if finances are not an issue than its a moot point, but why leave money on the table. when I did my MBA , within a certain limit the finances were no issue but I still got research positions to decrease the costs further.
SSC, u can totally get your phd funded by the govt of pakistan in case you want to come back to pakistan, easily just contact MOST. If you want to stay there, even then you can get full costs paid through the individual department in most univs.
Thank you all for your replies. I have been offered a graduate teaching assistantship by this university, which will provide a full tution waiver as well as a stipend. But the decision was taken just a couple of days ago. The I-20 has already been sent to the embassy much earlier, the process is really slow these days and I couldn't afford to wait much longer. I do have the offer letter though which I will take to the interview.
First the good, my visa was approved on May 4th. :D
Now the the bad. They said the security clearance would take a month. If it took longer than 6 weeks then I should contact the embassy. Well, it's been 8 weeks and I called the Embassy. The lady said my case was still "pending". Whatever that means.
Any ideas? I am not due at the university till August, but still the alarm bells are starting to ring.