Ep 24: What Is English For "F1 Student Visa?"
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The F1 visa is a non-immigrant student visa that allows international students to pursue academic studies in the US.
It's vital to the US economy as it attracts talented individuals who often go on to start unique businesses and contribute significantly to the workforce.
In this shortie episode, we cover the legal definition of the F1 visa, the application process, the duration of stay, employment opportunities, financial considerations, investing, starting a business, tax filing requirements, and treaty provisions, amongst other aspects of the visa.
Jane moved to the US on an F-1 visa, so this is another one that draws on personal experiences.
The speakers' views and opinions discussed in this episode should not be considered financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult your advisor for any legal, cross-border tax, and financial advice.
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Jane Mepham, CFP (00:02.255)
So the other day I had somebody reach out to me and ask me about one of my all time favorite visas. What's an F1 visa? And I was like, I just started explaining what it's all about. And part of it is because I came to the US on an F1 international visa and I've gone through the whole journey of F1.
H1B, green card, and finally becoming a citizen. And one of the key things I always talk about when I talk about the F1 visa is how critical it is to the US economy, because you have a lot of people, and usually the best of the best in their country, come to the US on these student visas, end up getting work visas, becoming green card holders or citizens.
and studying a lot of jobs. For example, somebody like Elon Musk, he came to the US on F1 visa and there's a whole bunch of other folks that we can talk about. So let's tell you what the F1 visa is in 10 minutes or less.
Manasa Nadig, EA (01:16.216)
Awesome. So let's start out with what is the legal definition of F1 visa. And then we'll, of course, like always, break it down for you. The F1 visa is a type of a non -immigrant student visa that allows international students to enter the United States to pursue academic studies and or language training programs.
The effort students must maintain a full course of study at an accredited college or university or high school or a private elementary school or a seminary or a conservatory or any other academic institution, including language training programs. So let's elaborate on that, right, Jane?
Jane Mepham, CFP (02:13.231)
Yeah, so to be eligible to get the F1 visa, the applicant, and again, I go back to my situation, even though it's many, many years ago now, you must have a foreign resident and you must prove to the U .S. embassy that you intend to return there upon the completion of your studies. Additionally, you must be enrolled in an academic educational program. Some of what Manasa just
talked about. The bottom line is you get accepted into the program. You then use that go to the embassy. So you actually now go through the whole application process. And this involves not only, I think I've talked about the school, but also something called the exchange visitors program, S E V P. So paying the S E V I S fees, again, completing the application form, which is remember DS.
160, scheduling and attending the visa interview, and then of course paying the required visa application fee. So it's a process and it's a process that will cost you money. You just have to be prepared.
Manasa Nadig, EA (03:23.896)
Right, right. And once you're here, the duration of the stay for any F1 visa holder is, of course, typically the duration of what your academic program is. Plus, you get another 60 days to prepare to leave the country or transfer to another school or change your visa status.
As far as employment opportunities go, typically you're not permitted to work off campus, at least during the first academic year. You may accept on -campus employment. Those are subject to certain conditions and restrictions, I think. And after the first academic year, you can engage in some types of off -campus employment.
These are popularly known as CPT, OPT, and STEM OPT. Basically, those stand for curriculum, sorry, curricular, practical training, optional practical training, and of course STEM is the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics OPT. So those are some employment opportunities. You could bring your dependents here.
They do come to the US on the F2 visa, but remember, F2 dependents are not permitted to work in the US. So you have to remember about how to manage that financially.
Jane Mepham, CFP (05:07.311)
Right. Which is probably a good thing because we talk about money on this podcast. One thing I wanted to say, you talked about the duration of status. So if you look at your passport, they actually stamp it DS, duration of status, because folks have said, how do I know what my duration is? It basically says DS, which is duration of status. So as long as you're a student, as long as you're able to pay the fees, you're good. Of course, this doesn't mean you should
Manasa Nadig, EA (05:12.12)
Yeah.
Jane Mepham, CFP (05:36.527)
be a permanent student, because remember, as an F1 student, you're paying the international fee rate. So think of a state school. If my kids go to a state college right now, they'll pay what the state fee is. If an F1 student comes in, there's a fee for them, which typically could be two, three, four times what the state student is paying. So part of what we want to make sure you're aware of is it's expensive.
And you want to make sure you have the funds and the resources to do that. And then the next question that comes in is, okay, I'm here. I'm on F1. Can I invest in something? What can I invest in? Can I save money? This is going to need a longer description, which is fine. But all I'm going to say is in this shortie, yes, you're allowed to invest in the U S market.
the accounts you'd be investing in, like I get the question all the time, can I invest in a Roth? But we won't go into specific details. It all depends on that type of account. The question is, should you be investing in this something? So two completely different questions. And again, that's something that probably needs a longer and deeper discussion. And then can I start a business? That's the other question that I see. Well, you were here specifically to go
to school. The one thing I say to folks all the time, immigration is very specific about, we give you this visa for this thing. So this is the thing that we want you to stay with. But there's still some ways you can start a business, but we're not talking simple businesses. So again, I think this is something that we'll probably need to do a whole podcast on what can you do on the F1 visa? Let me see.
What about taxes? What do you think, Manasa?
Manasa Nadig, EA (07:31.96)
Yeah, definitely. That of course goes without saying, you do have a tax filing requirement. Now, if you remember and you go back to one of our earlier episodes, we spoke about what is called the SPT or the Substantial Presence Test. The F1 visa holder for five years, their SPT is not counted.
So that means you are technically still considered a non -resident for your tax filing obligations. So you will file a 1040 -NR. And NR obviously stands for non -resident. You may want to look at your treaty provisions with the country you're from.
for claiming dependents or what filing statuses you can use. Say, for example, the first one that comes to my mind is India, because if you are a student on an F1 visa from India, there are special treaty provisions for claiming your dependents and as well as filing jointly with your spouse. So that's one place that you should be looking at before you file your tax return. And if you have your dependents here in the US with you.
And briefly also mentioning that even though you are technically considered a non -resident, you may still be required to file certain international information forms. For example, the Form 3520, which is to report gifts received from non -US citizens above a certain threshold. And of course, you have to file returns every year.
and your return due date is April 15th. So I think we covered quite a bit on the F1 visa. What do you think, Jane?
Jane Mepham, CFP (09:37.679)
Yeah, the one thing I want to make sure we don't forget, and I know we are coming up on 10 minutes, is you talked about the filing requirements every year. There's a second filing requirements, you know, the form where they need to declare their NR status. So we won't go into the details of the form because I gotta keep an eye on that 10 minutes. But in conclusion, I think,
The F1 visa is a great opportunity for students around the world to really expand their horizons by experiencing education in the US. The key thing is to really make sure you're prepared, you understand all the visa rules, and you follow the rules to the T. And if you got questions, always reach out to people that, you know, ahead of you or people that definitely work in this field. Okay, Manasa, do you want to conclude it for us?
Manasa Nadig, EA (10:31.032)
Absolutely. So thanks for listening dear IMC listener. Do remember that we are now on YouTube and these shorties are going to be on video. So let us know what you think of that. And of course always email us if you have questions and stay tuned in for more. Thank you.
