Help~~Why I have to fly to other country,like Canada, to use my F1 VISA??

C

Cello Wu

New Member
I am a student from China and will study in New York for half year as an exchange student. Now, I am in Washington for vacation.

I applied for both B1 and F1 visa in China,however, my F1 visa can only be used after July 26th. Thus, when I came to Washington, I used my B1 visa and the faculty there told me that if I want to fly to New York for study , I need to transfer from other country,like Canada or Mexico, to New York,and I cannot fly directly from Washington to New York. Unfortunately, I have already booked the air ticket. Can anyone give me more information or helps about this??
 
You can only start studying after you enter via your F-1 visa. In order to do that, you first need to depart the US, surrender your B-1 based I-94 and then re-enter using your F-1 visa.

Cello Wu said:
Unfortunately, I have already booked the air ticket. Can anyone give me more information or helps about this??
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Triple Citizen said:
You can only start studying after you enter via your F-1 visa. In order to do that, you first need to depart the US, surrender your B-1 based I-94 and then re-enter using your F-1 visa.
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So what I should do is to book the ticket from here to Canada and also the ticket from Canada to US? If I need to do so, do I need to apply for a visa to Canada?

And also I know that I can go to the CIS (citizenship and immigration service) to change my non-immigration status, right, but it cost 290USD......

Which one do you suggest me to do? This is my first time to encounter with such problems, so I'm totally confused and upset........
 
Assuming you hold a passport from PRC, you will need a Canadian tourist visa.

Cello Wu said:
So what I should do is to book the ticket from here to Canada and also the ticket from Canada to US? If I need to do so, do I need to apply for a visa to Canada?
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You can also go to Mexico, or a country in the Caribbean. Check to see if it's cheaper to get a roundtrip flight from Washington. This way, you can leave and come back to Washington, and then take the flight to New York that you already have. Roundtrip flights are usually much cheaper than one-ways.
 
cafeconleche said:
You can also go to Mexico, or a country in the Caribbean. Check to see if it's cheaper to get a roundtrip flight from Washington. This way, you can leave and come back to Washington, and then take the flight to New York that you already have. Roundtrip flights are usually much cheaper than one-ways.
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Thanks so much. I decided to fly to CANCUN,MEXICO,it requires no additional visa if I have the B1/B2 VISA to US,right?
 
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