Why the interview is the step to plan for

Winning a scholarship to a US university gets you admitted and funded. It does not get you into the country. For that you need a student visa, and for nearly every applicant the visa means sitting a short interview with a consular officer at a US embassy or consulate.

This guide covers the F-1 visa, which is the one most degree students need, with a note on J-1 at the end. It assumes your school has already issued your Form I-20. If you are still comparing countries, our guide to studying in the USA explains the funding side first.

Check your nationality before anything else

Before you pay for anything, check whether the US is currently issuing student visas to nationals of your country. The State Department’s page on visa suspensions, last updated on 2 February 2026, says Presidential Proclamation 10998 took effect on 1 January 2026 and fully or partially suspended entry and visa issuance for nationals of 39 countries.

For 19 countries, issuance is fully suspended: Afghanistan, Burma, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Documents issued by the Palestinian Authority are also covered.

For another 19, issuance is partially suspended, and the page says this includes F, M and J student and exchange visas: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, The Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The page lists limited exceptions, for example for dual nationals who apply on a passport from a country that is not on the list. Read the page itself for the exact rules and for any update, because this is the one part of the process that can decide your plans before the interview is even booked. If your country is on either list, ask your school’s international office what it advises before you spend money on fees.

Assume you will be interviewed in person

The State Department says interviews are “generally required” for visa applicants, and consular officers “may require an interview of any visa applicant.”

Since 1 October 2025, the list of applicants who can skip the interview has been short. It covers diplomatic and official visas plus some renewals of visitor (B) and agricultural (H-2A) visas. Student visas are not on it. Plan for an in-person appointment, and do not count on a waiver unless your embassy tells you otherwise.

Book where you are a national or a resident

The State Department’s student visa page tells you to schedule the interview at the embassy or consulate “in the country where you live.” A notice updated on 15 July 2026 widens that to the country of nationality or residence. It says nationals of countries where the US is not conducting routine nonimmigrant visa operations must apply at a designated embassy or consulate, unless their residence is elsewhere, and it links to the list of designated posts.

If you apply on the basis of residence, you must be able to demonstrate that you live in that country. The notice also warns that applicants who schedule at an embassy or consulate outside their country of nationality or residence, or outside a designated processing post, might find it more difficult to qualify for the visa. Fees paid for such applications “will not be refunded and cannot be transferred,” and those applicants should expect to wait significantly longer for an appointment. Booking in a neighbouring country to beat a long queue can therefore cost you the fee and the slot.

To see how long you may wait, check the State Department’s global visa wait times page. It shows the next available F, M and J appointment for each post and is updated monthly. The page says its estimates do not guarantee an appointment within a set time.

Get the order of steps right

Do these in sequence:

  1. Check your I-20. Your school sends it once it has entered your information in the SEVIS database. Your name and dates on it should match your passport.
  2. Pay the SEVIS I-901 fee. For F and M applicants it is $350, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It is separate from the visa fee.
  3. Complete the DS-160, the online visa application, and print the confirmation page.
  4. Pay the visa application fee. The State Department lists it as $185, and it is non-refundable. Depending on your nationality, you may also pay an issuance fee if the visa is approved. Check your embassy’s fee page for any other charges, because the fees can change.
  5. Book the interview through your embassy’s appointment system.

ICE says you can book the interview before paying the SEVIS fee, as long as payment is done by the day you appear. It also advises allowing “at least three business days” for payment to be verified, so pay well before that.

Timing also matters at the other end. A new student’s visa can be issued up to 365 days before the course starts, but you cannot enter the US on it more than 30 days before the start date.

Make your social media public before the interview

In June 2025 the State Department announced a comprehensive vetting, including online presence, of all F, M and J applicants, and said they would be instructed to set the privacy settings on all their social media profiles to “public.” Its announcement page, last updated on 18 September 2026, still lists F-1, M-1, F-2, M-2, J-1 and J-2 among the categories this vetting applies to.

Do this before your interview, not after an officer asks. Look at your accounts the way a stranger would, and make sure the names you list on your DS-160 match what is actually online.

What to bring

The State Department lists these as required:

  • A passport valid for at least six months beyond your intended stay
  • The DS-160 confirmation page
  • The application fee receipt, if your embassy has you pay before the interview
  • Your Form I-20

ICE also “highly” recommends bringing your SEVIS fee receipt, which you can reprint at any time from fmjfee.com.

The officer may also ask for evidence of:

  • Transcripts, diplomas or certificates from schools you attended
  • The standardized test scores your US school required
  • Your intent to leave the US when your course ends
  • How you will pay all educational, living and travel costs

For a scholarship holder, that last point is where your award letter does the work. Bring the letter that states the amount and what it covers. If it does not cover everything, also bring proof of how you will pay the rest. Our guide to proof of funds covers what counts as acceptable evidence.

What the officer is actually deciding

The legal test is section 214(b) of US immigration law. The State Department explains that a refusal under it means an applicant did not show they qualify for the visa category, or did not overcome the presumption of immigrant intent.

In practice, you need to show two things. First, that you are a genuine student with a clear plan and the money to carry it out. Second, that you have “strong ties to your home country” that will lead you to leave at the end of your stay. The State Department describes ties as the various aspects of your life that bind you to your home country, such as your job, your home, and your relationships with family and friends.

How to prepare your answers

EducationUSA, the State Department’s advising network, notes that visa interviews are short. It advises you to explain why you want to study in the US, how you plan to support yourself, and what you plan to do when your studies are finished.

Write a one or two sentence answer to each of those three questions in your own words. Then practise saying them out loud.

  • Why this programme, in the US? Name the course and what it gives you that options at home do not.
  • How is it paid for? Name the scholarship and the amount, and explain any gap in one sentence.
  • What happens after? Describe a concrete plan at home: a job, an employer, a field you will work in.

Keep your answers consistent with your DS-160, your I-20 and your award letter. An officer who sees one figure on a form and hears another in the interview has a reason to doubt the rest.

If the answer is no

A 214(b) refusal applies to that application only. There is no appeal, but you can reapply if there have been significant changes in your circumstances since your last application. You will need a new form, a new fee and a new interview. Our guide to student visa refusals walks through how to make a second application stronger.

If your scholarship puts you on a J-1

Some sponsored awards place you on a J-1 exchange visitor visa instead of an F-1. In that case your programme’s designated sponsor issues a Form DS-2019 instead of an I-20, and that form is what lets you seek an interview. The SEVIS fee for J applicants is $220 at the full rate, according to ICE. The interview and the rules for proving ties work the same way, so the rest of this guide still applies.