F-1 reinstatement and misinformation from DSO

[ateganda29]

hi all!

i have a question for my friend. she has a valid F-1 visa and an I-20 issued by a university A where she attended for 1 semester. after that semester, she had to move to a different state for some reason and asked university A if they could release her and forward her credits to the new university she's thinking of attending. university A told her that it won't be a regular transfer because she has not earned enough credits for that. but they can definitely release her and transfer her credits to the new university as soon as she's accepted to university B. when she inquired at university B, she was told that she will need new affidavit of support and the ones she used for university A is no longer valid because they need a more recent one. my friend told the DSO that she will not have the affidavit of support in time for the semester. and if she did not attend the next semester, she will be out of status. the DSO told her that is fine. all she need to do is file for reinstatement and they will even help her with that. so my friend fell out of status due to failure to enroll last semester. now, after receiving her affidavit of support, she went back to university B to inquire for reinstatement. now, a different DSO, is telling her that if she files for reinstatement, there's a good chance that she will be sent back home while waiting for the reinstatement decision, which can take up to 9 months. she doesn't want to do that. my friend asked how come this was not mentioned to her. the DSO asked why she fell out of status and my friend told her what happened and what the other DSO told her regarding not being able to enroll immediately. the DSO then told her that was incorrect. if she spoke with her the first time, she would've told her that she can be admitted and her credits be retrieved from university A while waiting for the affidavit of support and enroll for classes so she won't be out of status. my friend then asked what she can do since it was a mistake on their part. she was not given any other recourse. anyone out there who has a similar situation or atleast have any thoughts on the issue?

 

[LucyMO]

it was a mistake of your friend's, not her DSO. She needed to maintain her status while applying for a transfer. She can apply for reinstatement if it has been less than 5 months out of status, and if she can prove that she didn't enroll though circumstances beyond her control. As far as I can see she didn't have circumstances like that.

Second, transferring credits from one uni to the other has nothing to do with transferring/releasing SEVIS record.

 

[ateganda29]

we didn't think so either. but that's the information she was told and that's why we felt it was the fault of the first DSO. even the second DSO said that the information that was told to my friend was incorrect. she was maintaining her status while trying to transfer. but when she inquired to university B and spoke with the first DSO regarding applying to the school and getting a new I-20, she told her that she needed all new affidavit of support and she couldn't use the one she used for university A eventhough they were fairly recent (again, my friend only attended 1 semester at university A). and she brought that fact to the first DSO on how she didn't want to fall out of status. if there was any way that she can take classes while waiting for her new affidavit of support because she knew that the affidavit of support won't make it in time before the semester starts. but the first DSO told her that there's nothing she can do. my friend would just have to fall out of status and when she gets her affidavit of support, to come back and they will assist her in applying for a reinstatement. the first DSO made it sound like it was all so easy to get reinstated. my friend wanted to get a second opinion but the other DSOs were either out or on vacation. the second DSO told my friend that if my friend spoke with her, she would've told her that they would've admitted her and do something else, just as long as she will be acknowledged that she's not out of status. she hasn't been out of status for more that 5 months. if she applies for reinstatement, how long does it take? and will she have to go back home while waiting for the decision?

 

[LucyMO]

I am sorry but your friend should have continued her enrollment in school A while waiting for her new affidavit. It has nothing to do with her decision to just stop going to school. She didn't "have" to fall out of status, she made that decision on her own.

She can try applying for reinstatement and she'd better have a good explanation of her non-compliance.