Application Timeline - 3 Months Before

Updated on Friday 22 July 2011

• Apply for your student visa

You can get a student visa application form from the U.S. embassy or consulate nearest you. When you apply for a visa, the consular officer may want to see the following:

1. An I-20 or IAP-66 form from an accredited college or university
2. Original documents evidencing your educational credentials for the previous four years
3. Your test scores from the standard entrance exams that you have taken, such as the TOEFL, SAT, GRE or GMAT
4. Financial documents which show that you have sufficient funds in a bank to pay for the first year of your studies in the United States. In addition, you should be able to prove the sources of your academic funding for subsequent years of study. It is not sufficient to show assets. You must be able to prove income generated by assets, family business or property.

Please visit our student visa information pages to find out all the information about what to do and how to get your visa.

• Research health insurance options for your time abroad

With only three months to go before your departure to the U.S., you should be investigating and purchasing health insurance. Please visit International Student Insurance for all the comprehensive health insurance information you will need about insurance products in the United States.

• Make travel arrangements for when you arrive in the U.S.

You need to make all the arrangements to fly to the U.S., schedule someone to meet you and pick you up at the airport and arrange temporary accommodation for your first night in the USA. Try to arrive at least 10 to 15 days before your school’s orientation will begin, as this will give you time to get familiar with your new surroundings and acclimated to life in a new country.

Our Travel Section contains all the tools you will need to book flights, make connections, reserve a hotel room, and more.