I was planning to apply for cos of my spouse from h4 to f1. I have loan sanctioned from India by reputed bank for education. Can that document be used as proof of finance for change of status? I have some personal savings and approved loan amount ( amount will be disbursed on semester basis). Do I have to show savings for entire course or just first year? Also, can I somewhere mention that she will be staying with me and because of that we need to only consider tuition fees for finance.
The thing is I don’t have balance of one year of fees as of now.I might borrow from friends to show balance. But if I can use loan arrangement letter I won’t have to borrow much and there won’t be anything suspicious.
University is not ready to help in this regard. They told they will just issue i20. They are not even ready to consider loan amount for issuing i20.
Well, frankly I do not know what they would look for when they do COS. In all reality, for F1 visa, University typically asks for the funds proof and also asks for sponsor details and the loan letter, everything to issue I20…I am not sure, how they are issuing I20 without that…They may or may not help. They will just issue I20 and you will need to file the COS. Technically, USCIS should be fine as long as there are funds to cover the education and expenses for living. I am not sure, if you can put in somewhere saying she will stay with you…The expectation from USCIS is that your spouse is full time student and she need to have funds to cover entire course or have a loan that covers the full course fee and expenses. One of the things I can suggest is to set up an appointment at nearby USCIS office to understand more. It is free advice and called info pass : https://my.uscis.gov/appointment
I’m in the same situation as yours. I need to apply for a COS from H4 to F1 and I’ve a loan sanctioned from an Indian bank.
I’m assuming by now you would’ve already gone ahead with your application for COS and received a response. Could you please share your experience i.e. if the loan documents were accepted as a sufficient proof of finances or if you used any additional documentation.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Yes I applied for COS and currently status is RFE Response Review in Progress. Regarding funds to be on safer side apart from Loan Documents, I also submitted my and my friends last three months bank statement (USA) which were sufficient to cover one year fees. I got RFE for update start date on I20. What I have heard is They want to see finances in your account. I am not sure if they will consider loan document as sufficient evidence of finance.