The I-20 and the Student Visa Validity Period December 11, 2019

As long as your student visa remains valid (even if your I-20 has expired) your stay in America may be mistakenly considered a legal stay.

The I-20 form is attached to the F1 visa. Your I-20 must be valid for the duration of your study. The validity period is stated on the first page of the I-20 form.

The validity period of your visa is stamped on the visa page.

These two periods of validity are not necessarily limited to one another.

Let’s consider an example where the student has enrolled in a six-month program. The I-20 document states a validity period of 6 months; however, the F1 visa has been approved for a period of 5 years.

*There may be some cases where schools allow a validity period of one year or more even for a six-month enrolment. Each school’s policy differs on this*

The most important thing for students holding an F1 visa is to ensure that they also have a valid I-20. If the validity period expires on their I-20, they must do one of the following:

• Transfer into a different school within 60 days from your current program ending date
• Leave the United States within 60 days from your current program ending date
• Have the I-20 renewed at the current school (this may or may not be possible)

The abovementioned 60 days are referred to as a “grace period”. If a student completes a program at their enrolled school, they will receive a legal-stay period of 60 days.

In cases students are terminated by the school with some reasons, then they do not receive this 60-day period and they may be unable to transfer to another school.

If, during the 60-day grace period, a student does not go through the procedure to transfer schools and remains within the US, their stay will become an illegal one.

In cases where a student’s program has finished but they wish to continue their studies in the US, we ask that they extend their program and acquire an extension of their I-20 from their school. Students should always ensure that they personally retain their currently valid I-20.

The extension procedure at the New York English Academy is as follows:

1. Complete the application form for the next program
2. Prepare the certificate of bank balance
3. Pay the fees for the next program

Even if your visa expires while you are residing in the United States, as long as you hold a valid I-20 your stay will be a legal one. It will not become an illegal stay.

However, if you temporarily leave the country and re-enter, you will require a valid visa and will need to go through the visa extension procedures.

It is not possible for students to extend their visa within America, so they will be required to do so from outside the country or from their home country. Please contact your individual schools for the documents necessary for a visa extension application. The New York English Academy will assist you with any documents required to avoid any issues with your visa extension, including your transcripts and a support letter from the school.