What is an ecidence of return?

[Stefi]

Hello,

for any visa you have to bring evidences of returning to your home country to the interview.
I'm German, it sounds very strange to me due to two reasons.
Why the heck an evidence of return if the visa is time-limited anyway?? One cannot really stay in US if the visa expired?
What is an "evidence" in this way? I do neither posses a house or other real estate nor am I married. Only my parents have something I will inherite some day. And I have a lot of things from bike to clothes I cannot take along all together ;-)

I tried the search but couldn't find extensive info as regards this.

Thank you!

 

[hadron]

- Get a confirmation by your towns registration office that you have a permanent residence in this town.

- You mention that you live with your parents. If you attend school, get a letter from your school principal confirming that you are a full-time student and expected to return to finish your degree.

- Take a copy of your bank statement.


The US consular officer is afraid of you doing one of two three things after you enter the US on a visa he approved:
#1 turn out to be a terrorist
#2 marry someone
#3 work without permission

So, whatever dealings with the consulate you have, don't give them any reason to suspec you of #1-#3.

For #1 you are probably safe as long as you are not middle-eastern or arab in heritage.
Regarding #2 you have to be careful with mentioning 'visiting a friend' or 'visiting a pen-pal' at the consular interview. This kind of stuff can really motivate them to ask further, which can turn into an uncomfortable situation.
For #3. Do not even mention, even if asked, that you could potentially sometime ever consider to study or work in the US.

By the way. You mention that you are from germany. If you are a german citizen, you don't need a visa for the US for vacation type travel. Still, when travelling under the 'visa waiver program' it is advisable to carry the same type of documents with you that you would bring to a visa interview at the consulate.

 

[Stefi]

@ hadron:

> For #3. Do not even mention, even if asked, that you could potentially
> sometime ever consider to study or work in the US.

But that is why I asked here. I want to go to a certain school there, although I have an university degree. I'm not allowed to visit that school without a visa for Europeans.
I even thought of working a little, but I now know that this is absolutely impossible.
The other problem is the visa types. At first I thought I need M or J, but the school told me, they can organize a F1. This sounds quite weird, because the school is very (too) small and cannot issue it itself. They told me they have an agreement with a nearby bigger school that can issue this visa. I'm concerned if it is ok to do it this way... I won't go to that bigger school.

 

[hadron]

> I want to go to a certain school there, although I have an university
> degree. I'm not allowed to visit that school without a visa for Europeans.

Ok, so you want to study. This can indeed only be done with a student visa. My comments regarding visa free travel are limited to visits for pleasure and business. However, if you come to study, be sure NOT to indicate that you intend to spend your life in the US. That would be 'immigration intent' which is frowned upon by the consulates.

> I even thought of working a little, but I now know that this is
> absolutely impossible.

With the J1 visa for example you are allowed to work within the framework of your studies. If you came for a graduate degree such as a PhD, you would be expected and allowed to work as a research or teaching assistant for the university granting the degree (you wouldn't be allowed to work at the local gas-station though).

> At first I thought I need M or J, but the school told me, they can
> organize a F1. This sounds quite weird,

Be careful with things getting 'organized'. Unless the smaller school is a direct subsidiary of the larger one (e.g. Barnacle college of bigship university), you could run into trouble later on.